The Formula For Writing A Great Story - John Gray

BUY THE BOOK - THE DESECRATED

Brooklyn born John Gray is an award winning writer-director-producer of films and television, and the creator of the long running TV series, Ghost Whisperer. He has written and directed many feature films and movies for television, including White Irish Drinkers, starring Stephen Lang and Karen Allen; Martin And Lewis, starring Sean Hayes and Jeremy Northam; the Emmy® nominated A Place For Annie, with Sissy Spacek; the Emmy® nominated mini-series Haven with Natasha Richardson and Anne Bancroft; Helter Skelter, and many others.  Gray has directed numerous episodes of broadcast and cable series, including multiple episodes of the NBC series GRIMM and was also the producing director of the CBS series RECKLESS. Gray’s acclaimed short films have played and are currently playing in film festivals all over the world including FRENCH KISS, which has also notched 6.3 million views to date on YouTube.  He is married to writer-filmmaker Melissa Jo Peltier, and they make their home in New York and Cape Cod, MA. John's new novel The Desecrated follows Jennifer, a college dropout hoping to regroup, who joins the night shift at the NYC Morgue.

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#film #movies #writing

[GLIVE]

When someone asks me, "What do I write about?" I tell them the classic line, "Write what you know, write from your experience." And if they still tell me they don't know what to write, then I tell them they should see a therapist and learn how not to be afraid to express themselves, because that fear is what's really holding them back. Everyone has experiences, so everyone can have ideas of what to write about. A writer simply has just enough courage to put those ideas on paper for all to see.

[askarsfan]

"Illustrate characters through their behavior." That's the most important lesson in characterization.

[arzabael]

Yes! Best description of “how a character drives story forward”. “By them not getting what they want”.

[jamespeck]

I published a few months back, and will always recommend to others - and remind myself, how Film Courage - with it's great contributors and thoughtful, helpful questions, were so instrumental in me finishing my book. Amazing that such a quality platform exists. Thank you guys.
One of the best channels on YouTube. .

[antonkovalenko]

Lee Flores, in my opinion, has the best formula for writing great stories:

"An Appealing Character Struggles Against Great Odds to Attain a Worthwhile Goal."

[zenmasterorwhatever]

I'm glad you have multiple screenwriters answering the exact same question because even though that leads to repetitive answers throughout the series (which helps emphasize those points anyway), but those little, and occasionally big, tidbits of new info or new perspectives are so helpful in more fully answering that one question.

[kenrickbautista]

For characters, my overall biggest formula is usually creating an ensemble. You know I love groups. Almost every show I ever come up with (or created) consists a group of some way. Whether it'd be a team, friends, family, whatever. I think groups serve as a way to build relationships and chemistry. Sometimes, family is one of my biggest themes. You know what they say: "Teamwork Makes the Dream Work."

[runarvollan]

Formula:
Act 1: The strength
Act 2: The weakness
Act 3: The combination

[PanosSavvidis]

Finally, someone said it. It's not the structure, it's what are you structuring. If you don't have a story to write, or worse, your story is not interesting, then good structure and good screenwriting technics are more or less useless.

[lucinematic]

Thanks for the advice! Writing is hard, seems like it's the same story all over again, it's hard to come up with something new.

[arzabael]

Had to go back and rewatch this gem for notes. Because he gave some supremely good template-like ways to show through outside actions who you’re main character is on the inside

[purplemashedpotatoes]

Hi Ms Film Courage. We appreciate your helpful content 😊

[deanpapadopoulos]

I truly believe that the best screenwriters are some of the smartest people in our country. Simply

[stsolomon]

My inspiration for writing comes from looking at movies, and sometimes my life experiences.

[vujfojk]

I flesh out my characters a little bit and then just start writing. Eventually the bring themselves to life with their own distinct personalities and tell YOU their story. Then I go back and edit what I got wrong.

[erikaanterie]

It's difficult to judge myself, but wow, he gives me hope that the manga I'm working on may be actually good.

[SaraX]

I like what he says about specificity. It is what actors learn with Stella Adler, as well. Every writer should take an acting class to learn new tools and see it from their point of view.

[Spamkromite]

That was a nice watch. It's cool to see other writers having high respect and appreciation for their characters. Others just give them for granted and waste them like rag-dolls made of cheap drapes and seams. Without care for the characters, the story around them would be of the same cheap quality treatment given to them.

[albertabramson]

Great interview. Great points. One of the best in weeks.

[dejesusgaming]

I honestly just start with my favorite part and work from there.