Holiday Homework: IT’S A WONDERFUL LIFE

There is something a whole lot of us do this time of year that we can turn into an almost miraculous 2 1/2 hour masterclass on writing. We sit down with the family (or with a bottle of champagne) and watch It’s a Wonderful Life.

My books and workshops are all about using movies to learn the craft of writing — not just screenwriting, but very much novel writing, too. And like the other classic anti-totalitarian fantasy of the WW II era, The Wizard of Oz, IAWL is much much more than a feel-good fantasy.

The story packs a staggering emotional and thematic impact on young and old (I used to show it to the incarcerated gang kids I taught in the Los Angeles County prison system, and it always bowled them over — they GOT it).

And there’s no better film to watch (and watch again, and again, and again) to internalize some of the most basic lessons of powerful storytelling. So this year, why not do a few minutes of prep before the movie and resolve to look out for how the filmmakers handle these essential STORY ELEMENTS that are the DNA of every book, script, or TV show:

INNER AND OUTER DESIRE

One of the most important steps of creating a story, from the very beginning, is identifying the protagonist’s overall INNER DESIRE and OUTER DESIRE in the story. You also hear this called “internal desire” and “external desire,” and “want” and “deep need” — but it’s all the same thing. A strong main character will want something concrete, pretty immediately in…