Strong C.O.R.E. without the Abs
Gather 'round my fellow scribblers. I just read something awesome on Justin Gary’s Think Like a Game Designer blog. He talks about the C.O.R.E. approach that has fueled his career and longevity in the game trade. Justin’s insight lines up with my own thinking on what it takes to thrive in this crazy world of professional screenwriting.
Justin defines these core attributes as Curiosity, Obsession, Resilience, and Empathy. Here’s my take:
Curiosity: This is your fuel, folks. It's about having an insatiable appetite for the world around you. When I was working on Alias, I'd find myself going down Wikipedia rabbit holes about Cold War spy tech at 3 AM. Why? Because you never know when that obscure factoid might be the key to your next great plot twist. On Star Trek: Discovery, I obsessed over the latest theories about quantum physics and time crystals. For Hannibal? I was knee-deep in gourmet cooking techniques (minus the human ingredients, of course). And don't get me started on the pantheon of global mythologies I explored for American Gods. Your curiosity is your secret weapon – it's what makes your stories rich and unexpected.
Obsession: I'm not talking about the unhealthy kind that lands you in hot water with HR. I'm talking about the ability to lock in and focus like your life depends on it. When we were breaking stories for Heroes, I'd lose days in that writers' room. Time would cease to exist. That's the level of obsession you need to craft stories that resonate. Remember when we were crafting the mythology for Lost? We'd spend hours debating the significance of numbers, the nature of the island, and the interconnectedness of our characters. That level of obsession is what turns good stories into great ones. It's what kept me going through those marathon writing sessions on Heroes, fueled by nothing but coffee and sheer determination.
Resilience: In this business, you've got to have skin thicker than a Klingon's forehead. I've had shows canceled (RIP Day One), left projects over creative differences (looking at you, American Gods), and had more scripts rejected than I can count. You're gonna face setbacks. You're gonna get notes that make you want to torch your script. But each reversal is a setup for a comeback. You’ve gotta dust yourself off and jump back in.
Empathy: This might seem odd for a gaggle of introverts who spend most of their time in imaginary worlds, but hear me out. Great storytelling is about understanding the human condition. When we were working on Lost, we weren't just writing about people stranded on an island. We were exploring universal themes of redemption, faith, and human connection. It's what makes your characters leap off the page. When we were developing Sydney Bristow for Alias, we didn't just focus on her spy skills. We dug into her hopes, fears, and vulnerabilities. Always tracking Sydney’s emotional state. For Hannibal, we explored the twisted empathy that connected Will Graham and Hannibal Lecter. Even in a show like Heroes, with all its extraordinary superpowers and save-the-world plots, the heart of the story was always the ordinary and relatable human connections.
Remember, this isn't just about putting words on a page. It's about capturing the human experience in all its messy, beautiful complexity. It’s not a job. It's a lifestyle. It's late nights fueled by caffeine and crazy ideas. It's pouring your heart and soul into every page, every memorable moment, every line of dialogue, and arguing passionately in the writers’ room about character motivations. Chasing the rush that comes when you get through the dip and finally crack a story that's been eluding you.
Keep your curiosity burning, embrace your obsessions, forge your resilience, and never stop listening and learning to understand the people around you. That's the CORE of being a scribbler.
