Sherri Sheridan
Member
What a wonderful idea for a thread! Without a great story you have nothing to shoot or animate. And if you do not know how to juggle plot, character and theme effortlessly in a visual story you are shooting in the dark!
How I use to write: I have 1000’s of short stories in lots of notebooks and five unfinished novels in various states, along with several screenplays some of which are finished. I would start out with a story based on a cool idea about a character in a place doing something original and interesting. I would spend too much time and writing energy explaining how things looked, and how the character felt which was not visual enough. Occasionally there would be some type of plot goal or conflict or antagonist, but not often and rarely all three. I did not know how to use a hidden theme yet so there was no deeper meaning just a bunch of emotions shifting and strange things happening to keep the story going.
I would write until something happened or until I ran out of steam then try to pull it all together for an ending that did not really work since it was tacked on after the initial story was written. Later during rewrites I would try to excavate the best parts of the short story into something longer. This would be hard to do since the whole story basically wandered looking for a plot, and to try and stick one in later in was like trying to replace parts of a suspension bridge without the whole thing snapping apart. I would write and write and write then forgot what I had written later. Every time I wanted to work on that story again, I would need to sit down and reread everything which would then make me too tired to fix it since it seemed so complicated and I did not really know how to fix everything. I thought I knew what I was doing but could tell things were off in places and missing. I found it very hard to keep track of all the little details that add up to carefully constructed plot. Rewrites were very painful and difficult because I still did not understand things like 40 plot points for a feature, theme, suspense, ticking clocks, the importance of plot goals and a scary antagonist and 1000 other things I still had to learn.
How I write now: After teaching over 4000 graduate 3D animation students how to write a short animated script in 15 weeks, and writing 3 books on the subject, plus a 20 hour DVD workshop I now write completely different.
1) I still start with a spark of a cool idea usually with a character in a situation and make sure the opening hook is really original, strong and interesting. I see the story as a movie unfolding in my head and make sure it is one I would want to see. After watching Avatar I often see the movies now in 3D and add a Z plane.
2) After the first sentence my mind starts asking key story questions automatically: “What is the main character’s plot goal? Who is trying to stop them and why? What is the theme or hidden message I am trying to communicate on a deeper level, and how can I do it visually using metaphors and symbols? What kinds of sudden twists or shocks can I include for suspense? What is the conflict for the main character and the plot? What are the metaphors and symbols that will repeat and change to tell the theme and story visually? How can I show don’t tell more without using much dialogue and more action and events? When a character does speak how can they have a unique voice? What type of genre story am I telling and what is the plot structure (Hero Journey, Tragedy, Postmodern, City Symphony, Ensemble or combo)? What are the setups and payoffs that link together for the plot goal? How do I make sure every character is one the audience will love with lots of character identification? How does the story end with a big unexpected twist?”
3) If the story is looking really good and something I may want to turn into a feature or novel, I will do a 40 plot point outline fast with one sentence for each one. Then I do paragraphs for each one and really work on the plot structure with goals and setups and twists linking together. Each plot point gets a really cool unique symbolic setting, color, emotional mood and time of day.
4) I then start writing the 40 scenes of the story asking these types of questions: “What is the subtext of each scene (hidden emotions beneath the surface)? How many scene reversals can I include (unexpected scene twists and turns)? What is the emotional arc of each scene and how many strong emotions can I pack into the scene in + - + - - + + type structure (starts happy gets really sad, joyful then big death moment)? What is the plot goal and conflict of each scene? How can I use all four basic types of conflict in each scene (inner, social, environmental and personal)? Where is the antagonist and how can I make them scary and cut back and forth to them coming after my lead character? How many ticking clocks can I add to each scene? What are the main character's basic trait sets? How do I link each scene together in an interesting way?...” I then create a one page scene worksheet for each plot point that answers these questions to organize the structure.
5) If I am having fun with the story, I will write a short story for each plot point keeping in mind all of the above then rewrite it in screenplay format later. I generally do one plot point a day using the scene worksheet for that one in the morning and write about 3 pages. In 40 days the story is done.
6) Rewrites are more of a fine tuning process now instead of a nightmare since the story is already in place and does not need a lot of fixing. Sometimes new ideas come up while writing that are easy to incorporate since the basic structure is sound.
There are over 30 free YouTube videos including ones on 40 plot points for a feature film, 15 plot points for a Hero Journey and ones on pretty much everything I mention above at YouTube.com/MyFlik1 or MyFlik.com if you want more information on how I do story structure. Everyone has their own process, like everyone says so you need to find one that works well for you. Good luck with your stories!
(I forgot I posted earlier on this thread and wanted to answer the question a little better.)
How I use to write: I have 1000’s of short stories in lots of notebooks and five unfinished novels in various states, along with several screenplays some of which are finished. I would start out with a story based on a cool idea about a character in a place doing something original and interesting. I would spend too much time and writing energy explaining how things looked, and how the character felt which was not visual enough. Occasionally there would be some type of plot goal or conflict or antagonist, but not often and rarely all three. I did not know how to use a hidden theme yet so there was no deeper meaning just a bunch of emotions shifting and strange things happening to keep the story going.
I would write until something happened or until I ran out of steam then try to pull it all together for an ending that did not really work since it was tacked on after the initial story was written. Later during rewrites I would try to excavate the best parts of the short story into something longer. This would be hard to do since the whole story basically wandered looking for a plot, and to try and stick one in later in was like trying to replace parts of a suspension bridge without the whole thing snapping apart. I would write and write and write then forgot what I had written later. Every time I wanted to work on that story again, I would need to sit down and reread everything which would then make me too tired to fix it since it seemed so complicated and I did not really know how to fix everything. I thought I knew what I was doing but could tell things were off in places and missing. I found it very hard to keep track of all the little details that add up to carefully constructed plot. Rewrites were very painful and difficult because I still did not understand things like 40 plot points for a feature, theme, suspense, ticking clocks, the importance of plot goals and a scary antagonist and 1000 other things I still had to learn.
How I write now: After teaching over 4000 graduate 3D animation students how to write a short animated script in 15 weeks, and writing 3 books on the subject, plus a 20 hour DVD workshop I now write completely different.
1) I still start with a spark of a cool idea usually with a character in a situation and make sure the opening hook is really original, strong and interesting. I see the story as a movie unfolding in my head and make sure it is one I would want to see. After watching Avatar I often see the movies now in 3D and add a Z plane.
2) After the first sentence my mind starts asking key story questions automatically: “What is the main character’s plot goal? Who is trying to stop them and why? What is the theme or hidden message I am trying to communicate on a deeper level, and how can I do it visually using metaphors and symbols? What kinds of sudden twists or shocks can I include for suspense? What is the conflict for the main character and the plot? What are the metaphors and symbols that will repeat and change to tell the theme and story visually? How can I show don’t tell more without using much dialogue and more action and events? When a character does speak how can they have a unique voice? What type of genre story am I telling and what is the plot structure (Hero Journey, Tragedy, Postmodern, City Symphony, Ensemble or combo)? What are the setups and payoffs that link together for the plot goal? How do I make sure every character is one the audience will love with lots of character identification? How does the story end with a big unexpected twist?”
3) If the story is looking really good and something I may want to turn into a feature or novel, I will do a 40 plot point outline fast with one sentence for each one. Then I do paragraphs for each one and really work on the plot structure with goals and setups and twists linking together. Each plot point gets a really cool unique symbolic setting, color, emotional mood and time of day.
4) I then start writing the 40 scenes of the story asking these types of questions: “What is the subtext of each scene (hidden emotions beneath the surface)? How many scene reversals can I include (unexpected scene twists and turns)? What is the emotional arc of each scene and how many strong emotions can I pack into the scene in + - + - - + + type structure (starts happy gets really sad, joyful then big death moment)? What is the plot goal and conflict of each scene? How can I use all four basic types of conflict in each scene (inner, social, environmental and personal)? Where is the antagonist and how can I make them scary and cut back and forth to them coming after my lead character? How many ticking clocks can I add to each scene? What are the main character's basic trait sets? How do I link each scene together in an interesting way?...” I then create a one page scene worksheet for each plot point that answers these questions to organize the structure.
5) If I am having fun with the story, I will write a short story for each plot point keeping in mind all of the above then rewrite it in screenplay format later. I generally do one plot point a day using the scene worksheet for that one in the morning and write about 3 pages. In 40 days the story is done.
6) Rewrites are more of a fine tuning process now instead of a nightmare since the story is already in place and does not need a lot of fixing. Sometimes new ideas come up while writing that are easy to incorporate since the basic structure is sound.
There are over 30 free YouTube videos including ones on 40 plot points for a feature film, 15 plot points for a Hero Journey and ones on pretty much everything I mention above at YouTube.com/MyFlik1 or MyFlik.com if you want more information on how I do story structure. Everyone has their own process, like everyone says so you need to find one that works well for you. Good luck with your stories!
(I forgot I posted earlier on this thread and wanted to answer the question a little better.)
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We will see what my final draft brings this year. LOL 
