Every Character Needs a Spine

Earlier this year, film-maker Andrew Stanton gave an inspirational Ted Talk on storytelling. One quote in particular stuck with me, and it's this: "I took a seminar this year with an acting teacher named Judith Weston and I learned a key insight to character. She believed that all well-drawn characters have a spine. And the … Continue reading Every Character Needs a Spine

The DNA of Storytelling

I blame writer and storyteller Damien Walter for setting me off on this train of thought. In his blog post Two. four. Seven. More. How many stories are there? he discusses various theories on the reduction of narrative to its basic building blocks. Paulo Coelho reckons there are four primal plots, Aristotle says two and … Continue reading The DNA of Storytelling