The Screenwriting Life with Meg LeFauve and Lorien McKenna

Meg LeFauve is joined by fellow story junkie and world-leading expert in narrative and a winner of multiple awards, including BAFTAs and a Golden Globe, John Yorke. John's first book, Into the Woods: How Stories Work and Why We Tell Them

His newest release and follow up - Trip To The Moon: Understanding The True Power of Story shifts the focus from how fictional screenplays work to how storytelling shapes the real world.

This episode covers a wide range of topics from structure to theory and more.

Story Structure and Why Stories Work
The Midpoint as the Moment a Character Encounters the “Lesson”
The Midpoint → Crisis → Climax Progression
Storytelling as a Version of the Scientific Method
Conflict and Why Writers Avoid Hurting Their Characters
Characters, Belief Systems, and Psychological Change
Mirroring and Character Opposites
Trip to the Moon and Storytelling Beyond Screenwriting
What are your fears for AI/Is there a use?
What Makes a Great Climactic Action
Creating Emotion in the Audience
Movies vs. Television and Cliffhangers

Looking for more support on your writing journey? Join Meg and Lorien inside ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠TSL Workshops⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.

Episode Links:

https://www.johnyorkestory.com/team/john-yorke/

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The Screenwriting Life is produced and edited by ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Alex Alcheh.⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠
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Lorien McKenna is joined by TSL producer Alex Alcheh for a really exciting exercise.

Get out your pen and paper, make 4 quadrants and follow along.

Lorien asks specific questions about YOUR LIFE to unlock the depth a character should have. They discuss character introductions and how most have such little specificity.

Lorien highlights the import to ask questions of your own life so you can ask those questions about your characters.

And, she gives one additional exercise within the exercise - The Trader Joe's Test.

Looking for more support on your writing journey? Join Meg and Lorien inside ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠TSL Workshops⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.

Episode Links:

Check out the ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠TSL merch shop⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

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The Screenwriting Life is produced and edited by ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Alex Alcheh.⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠
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Meg LeFauve is joined by Simran Baidwan, former power house lawyer turned brilliant writer and executive producer of HBO's hit show, THE PITT.

Simran's thorough and eloquent advice for emerging writers mixed with her raw and real honesty about why The Pitt's writers room is so special is such a gift.

Simran speaks on how they build a season for The Pitt. What happens when an idea shifts the plot lines for the season, and how she attempts to see it as a writing opportunity rather than an "OH S*IT" moment.

And so much more!
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Betsy Beers is a stallwart producer of film and television having been the creative partner of Shonda Rhimes at Shondaland since its inception, shepherding every project the company has ever produced from Grey's Anatomy to Bridgerton.

Lorien, Meg and Betsy dive deep into what it really means to produce at a high level and even more importantly Betsy's specific style of producing which in her words means - doing whatever is needed to make the thing go and to make the writer feel most comfortable to do their best work.


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Act two is every emerging AND professional writers white whale. It is consistently the most challenging part of writing a screenplay and yet the most critical.

Lorien and Meg dive deep into how to approach Act Two, offering a piece by piece breakdown and expectation of what should occur in Act Two. Providing clear examples from some of the best films.

They also answer YOUR specific questions as well.

Looking for more support on your writing journey? Join Meg and Lorien inside ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠TSL Workshops⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.

Episode Links:

Check out the ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠TSL merch shop⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

TSL on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ | ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠TikTok⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

The Screenwriting Life is produced and edited by ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Alex Alcheh.⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices