Dispatch from The Quest: Jordan Earls
Last week as we did here on GITS, the Quest writers focused on the third week of Prep. Today’s dispatch: Jordan gets in touch with her inner Pixar:
I believe I’ve admitted it on GITS before, but I’m a little obsessed with Pixar. Anything and everything Pixar. I’m one of those people who has sat through Finding Nemo, Monster’s Inc., Up, A Bug’s Life, The Incredibles and the entire Toy Story trilogy with commentary. Though, I’ll save myself the embarrassment of how many times I’ve done this (hint: I can’t count on my fingers… or toes). I’ve also watched and re-re-re-watched The Pixar Story. There’s something inspiring about Pixar — their rocky upstart, how they forged their own path in the industry and continually challenge themselves even today. I mean, for a company to put out excellent movies as consistently as Pixar does…
Okay, I’m gushing. I’ll stop.
The reason I covet Pixar is because, as a writer, their work pushes me to do better. I firmly believe Pixar holds the standard of storytelling excellence and, with every movie, it seems they find a way to raise the bar. That’s something all writers should aspire to. How do you do that, though?
If you watch that five minute video, I think the key ingredient is clear: love. Pixar employees love their job. More importantly, Pixar employees love their craft.
There’s a little known disease I’ve nominated myself to name: Terminal Story Syndrome. That is, someone who has a story they must tell and, if they don’t, a piece of them will shrivel up and die. Okay, I’m being hyperbolic but… I’m a dramatist, come on. If writing your script doesn’t feel like that, chances are you shouldn’t write it.
As we pushed through the third week of prep on The Quest, we mapped out the four major plotline points. We’re inching closer, slowly but surely, and the fire under our butts hasn’t cooled down. In fact, the flames are only getting fanned.
Now, this is coming from someone who wore this wig-hat around Portland for an entire day just for shits and giggles (and because I have a bizarre sense of humor):
So, you’re invited to take this with a grain of salt, but I don’t want to imagine how much more insane I would be if I didn’t write. As we’re pushing through the fourth week of prep, inching toward the day we type FADE IN, you should be feeling the burn and it should excite you. That burn should push you to work harder, write better and outline thicker. Your love for the craft should be tangible to the rest of the world. If you don’t have TSS and aren’t writing like your already-questionable-sanity hangs in the balance, why bother writing? There’s a distinct difference between stories that are told with passion, and stories that are told just to be told. Which are you writing? Which do you want to be writing when a company like Pixar is pushing out near-flawless movies almost every year?
Well, anybody who has spent any time on GITS knows my obsession with Pixar. 13 movies, 13 number one hits, and most of them incredibly good stories. After watching that video Jordan surfaced, can you imagine working in their studio in Emeryville?
And yet for all the trappings and fun, the main thing to remember about Pixar is this: They work their asses off. If you need a reminder of that, read my interview with the studio’s head of story Mary Coleman.
Bottom line: Pixar is genius. But it’s genius born of hard work and love of story.
That’s a paradigm for any writer.
About Jordan: Portland based writer. Connoisseur of film with an affinity for Nolan, Boyle and Jackson. Twitter: @jordanpaige00.