Dispatch From The Quest: Paul Wie
Over the course of the 24 weeks I am working with the writers in The Quest, each will write a weekly dispatch to share with the GITS community. There are several reasons for doing this, the main one educational: Hopefully you will learn something of value for your own understanding of the craft from the experiences of the Questers. I should also add they are a great group of people, so I expect you will enjoy getting to know them.
Today: Paul talks about “becoming who you are”:
For years, I romanticized New York City. I used to see it as the solution to my woes of living in Los Angeles. I thought if I could drink lattes at a Greenwich Village coffee shop instead of at a strip mall Starbucks, I would be more inspired. I thought if I took the subway to work instead of a car on the 5 freeway, I would feel more alive. I thought if I ate late-night pizzas instead of late-night burritos, I would be cooler. But after visiting the Big Apple this week, I returned to my temporary home in Waltham with my illusions politely shattered. The city I once idolized looked different under the harsh light of reality. I still enjoyed Central Park and the endless array of good food, but I was less enamored by the crowds, noise, and busy-ness I thought I loved. What I really needed was a clean quiet place to work, a tree-lined park to run through, and some culture and beauty to stay inspired. And I didn’t need to move here to find it. Even my New York friends whose lives I had admired from afar were all struggling in their own ways to become who they wanted to be, and suddenly, my own career path didn’t feel so odd. In fact, while riding the bus back home, I felt wiser — glad to have come and glad to go — because what I thought I liked turned out to be different from what I actually did, and by shedding these illusions, I had become more of myself.
“Becoming who you are” is at the heart of the Quest’s character-based screenwriting and all storytelling for that matter, because that is our life’s trajectory. In every story, the Protagonist must deal with a series of problems and circumstances in order to achieve his destiny and his most honest self. This self-realizing journey is one the writer takes as well. While developing my script, I’m constantly searching and solving problems to see what works and what doesn’t until I’ve found a combination of characters, scenes, and moments that resonates most deeply for me. And like any character-building process, challenges continue even beyond the main stretch of the journey. For example, this week, my story’s plot points sparked some interesting discussions about my movie’s demographic. Not surprisingly, having to explain and clarify my approach gave me more conviction about what I was doing. With feedback from my fellow writers, I felt even more confident in following my instincts to write a story that would be strong and singular. So again I end this week in gratitude for this process, the people, and all the obstacles helping me grow into a better writer. Every week, I’m challenged and inspired.
The seeds of a Protagonist’s metamorphosis already lay planted within the character’s psyche from the beginning of a story. Something happens and the narrative unfolds and throughout the rest of the story, that change emerges both from without — the events of the plot — and within — the seeds of the character’s authentic being coming into full bloom.
We see this dynamic over and over again in movies.
It’s also an apt description of how a writer brings a story into existence. The seeds are already there. Our task: Water them with our imagination and tend to them until they grow to full maturity.
Tomorrow: Another Dispatch From The Quest.
About Paul: Director + Writer. Loves Spielberg, Truffaut, Abrams, Kurosawa, Attack the Block, cinematic stories beautifully told. @paulhwie.