In Batman Begins Alfred said it best...

"And why do we fall, Master Bruce?"

"So that we might better learn to
pick ourselves up."

If Alfred were here, he would say...tell the story.

I'm very new to Go Into The Story and I read Scott's great posts and reader's questions daily.

But I am beginning to see a pattern of questions that I have been guilty of asking myself.

When is my spec ready?
Will anyone like this?
Is this a "good" spec?
Is the protag "this" is the protag "that?"

Maybe the answer is..."McGuffin"

Over thinking the mechanics can kill the process...

Tell the story.

A few days ago I replied to a question Scott addressed from a reader's question..."How do you know if you've written a good script?"

A valid question...

My answer...follow your gut.

Tell the story.

The rest will take care itself. Good or bad.

We all fail. But it makes us better people. Because we know how to better ourselves in the long run.

Tell the story...
Tell the story...

Then...

Rewrite the story...
Rewrite the story...

Then...

Rewrite the story.

Make it as great as you can.

Then your gut will tell you to let it go.

If you fail...you fail.

However, you will know what to do to make it better.

And it will pay off in the end.

Alfred was a hell of a cook...

But his wisdom was a hell of a lot tastier!

Thank you Scott...

For posting late in the evening...

And EARLY in the morning...

Your drive to educate inspiring writers (like myself) is a blessing.

Allowing me to blather is worth a LARGE "Thank You" as well!

Write on!

Courtney, what a touching comment. Seriously. In your own way, you conveyed the essence of "go into the story." At the end of the day, that's it. For the writer to so dig into their story material, that they develop a 'relationship' with it, taking it from I-It, to I-You. For when we do that, magic happens.

The theories, paradigms, guidelines, style guides, all of that is important. And part of our consciousness should be attuned to that at all times. But the 'spiritual' part of our writer's journey is at least as important. For it's there we discover and uncover the heart, blood, soul, and breath of our characters, our plot, our story.

As you say with sublime simplicity:

"Tell the story.

The rest will take care itself."

My long-winded way of saying thanks for your comment.

And you've inspired me to summon up a blast of creative juju to all GITS readers.

BOOM!

There! You're all awash in it! Soak it up! And write like hell!

Amen. Is what say me. Amen, again.