Film Courage: What is a story? Charla Lauriston, Screenwriter, Comedian
and Owner of The Werking Writer: I think in its simplest form a story is The Human Experience
because when people if you notice when people write stories that are oh this it's just about
magic and it's wild things going on and it's fun and it's funny but there's no
Human Experience there's no heartbreak there's no loss there's no love you know between two
people or the love of a cheeseburger whatever it is what The Human Experience is about loss
it's about love it's about wanting it's about hope it's about friendship it's about family
whether you're losing the family gaining the family it's never forget if you're if you want
to tell a story about a spaceship if there isn't a human aspect to the experience then
you're not really telling a story you're just telling us about a spaceship we need to know
who lives in the spaceship what their lives are about what do they want what's their history
so that we know where they're going we know what we're following
that person's want that desire to live The Human Experience is the story
so I hope that's clear but I definitely think ultimately your stories have to have
those things it has to have love it has to have loss not all at the same time you can
be just one of them but some aspect of The Human Experience is what your story needs to be about
what is character flaw and why is it so important to creating story oh character flaw is
the story or it is the the journey I would say so I would say that the character flaw is the
Journey of the story if your character doesn't have a flaw that they need to overcome it's
going to be difficult I think as a Storyteller to figure out the journey that they need to go on to
overcome that flaw so if your character has no flaw what exactly are we watching we're watching
someone who wants something and can easily get it and nothing's gonna stand in their
way and then nothing does and then they get it end of story that's not a story
or at least it's not a satisfying one but if you're watching somebody who wants something
and it's very hard for them to get it because of who they are because of something that is that
they are struggling with internally and then we represent that internal struggle in the physical
world so let's say I'm a very shy girl who really wants to sing on American Idol so that is my the
physical representation of my internal flaw which is that I'm shy and why am I shy because of some
because of some core wound where you know maybe let's say my dad always told me that I was
uglier that I should always you know be in the background my dad never did that my dad's awesome
but whatever the whatever the wherever the flaw is coming from and the flaw doesn't have to be
something that is an obvious flaw it doesn't have to be oh she's flawed because she's a birthmark a
literal flock doesn't have to be a literal or obvious flaw this person is really selfish it
could be something that you you know that becomes a flaw because maybe the person loves too much or
something that and they're external their external representation of that is that they are in a
they need to find they need to find their partner for in a dating game show and that's the whole
episode of you know the whole episode of TV or maybe it's the whole movie and them not being
able to do it because they they love too much but point of matter is your internal flaw your flaw is
what directs you as a writer to figure out what journey your character is going on because
whatever the internal flaw is you'll be able to reflect it in their physical reality in the story
is there a character you can think of male or female where you just you loved how the flaw
was portrayed and it made them more human I'm trying to remember the name of this movie so
I think in Palm Springs you have in the female character a woman who really doesn't believe in
love and you have Andy Samberg who is someone who just thinks that you know nothing matters
anymore because he's been reliving the same day over and over for God knows how long and
you know in the movie her flaw is portrayed to be someone who's kind of you know it's well-worn
territory she's cold she doesn't believe in love she's kind of heartless because of
some I don't want to ruin the movie some bad experience that she had and what's interesting
was that the resolution to the movie the way that they figure their way out of the time warp it's
her flaw that helps her figure out her way out of the time warp it's her dogged relentless drive
it's how smart she is it's how irreverent she is how much gumption she has so the things that are
kind of negative about her that make her and Andy Samberg butt heads is also the thing that
gets them out of the time warp I don't know where they end up if they actually end up in present
time but the the the the the way that they used her flaw I thought was really creative and really
true to life that things don't always resolve perfectly and the things that we think are not
the things that we think about ourselves that our flaws are also our strengths sometimes
so I really love the message that movie why is change important in the story yeah I think
changes the story I think there is no there is no story if there's no change if there's
no realization if there's no resolution the change is what marks the end of our story
so it's hugely important even with Groundhog Day or Palm Springs there it sounds there's
little bits of change that finally get the characters to evolve in some way absolutely
and that's the big difference between a a feature film or a TV a TV episode even it's
in in a TV episode you have 30 minutes to show a character or characters go through some change
in the film you have about 90 minutes to show a character go through change
but change nonetheless whether it's in 90 minutes or 30 minutes so it's very much there if you're
if there is no change if your character doesn't undergo some sort of change whether it's a change
in their perspective a change in their attitude it changes something a change in direction
then we really didn't end the story didn't really resolve it
is that something that's the most I wouldn't say contentious in the TV writer's room but where
you're you're the writers as a group are figuring the way out of the story or are people taking
turns with different episodes so that's not really an issue I mean the writer's rooms that I've
worked in have all been extremely collaborative so you know in order for us to write a story together
we have to be on the same page and I wouldn't say that it's contentious I would say that usually the
beginning is a little bit more contentious because the premise the beginning determines the outcome
so even in the Grand Crew writers room I remember the we had a really big debate in the room about
whether or not Noah and Simone should get married because at the end of season one
he proposes and I won't you know I won't ruin it for anybody who hasn't watched it but I love Grand
Crew you should definitely watch it but we're we're the contentious part is the beginning do
they do we answer this question how do we answer this question is it a yes or a no because that
the way that we answer the question determines everything it determines the end of that episode
it determines the season it determines that the season finale so it's just I think the
way you start is so much more important because your end organically comes from your beginning.