“No one wants to read polite”

“You can teach almost anyone determined to learn them the basics required to write sentences and paragraphs that say what you want them to say clearly and concisely. It’s far more difficult to get people to think like a writer, to give up conventional habits of mind and emotion. You must be able to step inside your character’s skin and at the same time to remain outside the dicey circumstances you have maneuvered her into. I can’t remember how many times I advised students to stop writing the sunny hours and write from where it hurts: ‘No one wants to read polite. It puts them to sleep.’”

I love this advice from author Anne Bernays. Another good reminder as we finish up our first draft, prepare ourselves for rewriting, and as we approach writing in general.

“No one wants to read polite. It puts them to sleep.”

For whatever reason, people find conflict entertaining. Internal conflict. External conflict. Overt conflict. Subtle conflict. Not manufactured, but authentic conflict relative to precisely who the characters are within the specific context they find themselves.

And that’s the key to surfacing conflict: “You must be able to step inside your character’s skin.” For each one of us, as are our characters, are divided souls.

If you want to be a writer, you need to set aside your manners and sensibilities of civility, and actively seek out the drama that lies at the heart of your story.

You want polite? Join a bridge club. Because:

“No one wants to read polite.”

The Quest” has entered Week 23! And so did Go On Your Own Quest, an opportunity for anyone to follow the structure of “The Quest” to dig into screenwriting theory [Core — 8 weeks], figure out your story [Prep — 6 weeks], and write a first draft [Pages — 10 weeks]. It’s a 24-week immersion in the screenwriting process and you can do it here — for free!

Today and every Monday through Friday for 10 weeks, I’ll use this slot to post something inspirational as GOYOQ participants pound out their first drafts.

For background on “Go Into The Story: The Quest,” go here and here.

For all the previous weeks of Go On Your Own Quest posts, go here.