{"id":114,"date":"2010-07-24T06:13:55","date_gmt":"2010-07-24T14:13:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wayofstory.com\/?p=114"},"modified":"2013-08-08T13:05:21","modified_gmt":"2013-08-08T21:05:21","slug":"interview-in-england-with-imagine-magazine-july-2010","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wayofstory.com\/?p=114","title":{"rendered":"Interview in England with Imagine magazine. July 2010"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>38 www.imagineanimation.net www.imagineanimation.net 39   <br \/>Interview_The_Writer    <br \/>\u2018The Way of Story\u2019, the workshop and the online course is for    <br \/>all forms of narrative writing. Anything with story, it helps, and    <br \/>animated films have story.    <br \/>So what happens on your workshops and courses?    <br \/>It\u2019s a little different in that it\u2019s not like a lecture or something    <br \/>like that, it\u2019s experiential. I do teach craft, craft is very    <br \/>important, but I also teach what I call \u2018the invisibles\u2019. That    <br \/>means intuitive writing and getting your stories from dreams    <br \/>or channelling from the deeper part of yourself. I sometimes    <br \/>use conversation to teach people because dramatic writing,    <br \/>which animated films would also be, is not just writing that    <br \/>should stay on the page, it has to walk. So sometimes in the    <br \/>workshops I get participants on their feet to spontaneously    <br \/>act out a premise or theme and then they learn what the    <br \/>dialogue should sound like.    <br \/>You\u2019ve written for television, stage and film. Do you    <br \/>have a favourite and why?    <br \/>I\u2019ve been asked that before. If I had three children, would you    <br \/>ask me which of the three children is my favourite child? I like    <br \/>them all, they are all different forms. Of course screenwriting    <br \/>is more visual, it\u2019s a more visual place, and you focus more    <br \/>on the dialogue. But I like them all. I don\u2019t think I will agree    <br \/>to choose.    <br \/>When you think of an idea, what makes you decide    <br \/>to put it on the stage, big screen or television?    <br \/>Well ideas for stories come in different ways. I wrote a    <br \/>movie for Dolly Parton called \u2018Unlikely Angel\u2019 and it\u2019s    <br \/>interesting how that came to me because it came to me    <br \/>in a dream and it was a fully-fledged story, even the title.    <br \/>So, sometimes ideas come to me when I\u2019m asleep. I    <br \/>always tell my clients and students that even when you\u2019re    <br \/>sleeping to keep a notebook next to your bed. Some of    <br \/>the best ideas come from dreams. Sometimes a story will    <br \/>come from a theme; you want to write about something    <br \/>you feel strongly about. Sometimes it may come from    <br \/>a character that comes to mind or it may be based on    <br \/>something that happened to you in your own life. So it    <br \/>can come in different ways. In Hollywood sometimes I\u2019ve    <br \/>been asked to adapt a true story or a novel so a lot of    <br \/>movies are made from books, just like a lot of animated    <br \/>films are made from children\u2019s books and comic strips.    <br \/>How can animators who aren\u2019t used to writing    <br \/>unlock their writing potential?    <br \/>Well \u2018The Way of Story\u2019 the book has a series of short    <br \/>exercises that can help jump-start the writing process. It can    <br \/>even help people find their story or, as I like to say, help their    <br \/>story find them. I often say to my classes that the hardest    <br \/>part of writing is sitting down. It\u2019s really about getting yourself    <br \/>in the chair. The process will happen if you commit to it.    <br \/>What do you think is the secret to your success    <br \/>and longevity?    <br \/>One reason I wanted to write my book is to say loudly and    <br \/>clearly that there is no one way to write anything or to launch    <br \/>your career in Hollywood or in film. There\u2019s no one way to    <br \/>do it any more than there is one way to live your life. The    <br \/>best way is just to follow your own vision. In other words,    <br \/>I write the stories I want to see up there on the screen.    <br \/>Everyone\u2019s success story will be a totally different story. Also,    <br \/>a lot of people will write what they think the market wants. I    <br \/>discourage that because the films that become successful    <br \/>are usually the ones that come out of unique individual vision.    <br \/>A lot of people will say write what you know about and I don\u2019t    <br \/>agree with that axiom either because, for instance, George    <br \/>Lucas never travelled into space as far as I know.    <br \/>What do you think makes a great writer?    <br \/>Well of course there\u2019s no one thing that makes a piece of    <br \/>writing great. But I can\u2019t think of any piece of writing that    <br \/>has become great that isn\u2019t an individual vision of a creative    <br \/>mind.    <br \/>For further information visit: www.wayofstory.com    <br \/>01 Catherine Anne Jones    <br \/>01    <br \/>Words by: Michelle Grady    <br \/>\u2794Where did you get the idea for the    <br \/>concept of your book \u2018The Way of Story\u2019?    <br \/>I was in Mexico lying on a hammock and    <br \/>watching the clouds, and I was in a kind of    <br \/>dream-like state. Very clearly I heard \u2018The Way of Story\u2019    <br \/>which became the title and I knew that I was being asked to    <br \/>write this book. At the time I had never written a book, I had    <br \/>been writing plays and movie scripts and screenplays. I didn\u2019t    <br \/>start it until another year or year and a half later and I know it    <br \/>sounds kind of strange but it was like it was in the ether and    <br \/>I was just being asked to bring it down to earth. Of course    <br \/>I had had a career teaching at the University of California    <br \/>film school, the number one film school in America, so I had    <br \/>taught screen writing and writing but I just hadn\u2019t written a    <br \/>book on writing before.    <br \/>How might the book help people who are writing    <br \/>scripts for animation?    <br \/>\u201cthe hardest    <br \/>part of writing    <br \/>is sitting    <br \/>down. the    <br \/>process will    <br \/>happen if you    <br \/>commit to it.\u201d    <br \/>Award-winning New    <br \/>York playwright and    <br \/>Hollywood screenwriter,    <br \/>Catherine Ann Jones,    <br \/>has over twenty    <br \/>years experience as    <br \/>a professor at major    <br \/>American universities. <a href=\"http:\/\/ihd.f2e.mytemp.website\">www.wayofstory.com<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>38 www.imagineanimation.net www.imagineanimation.net 39 Interview_The_Writer \u2018The Way of Story\u2019, the workshop and the online course is for all forms of narrative writing. Anything with story, it helps, and animated films have story. So what happens on your workshops and courses? It\u2019s a little different in that it\u2019s not like a lecture or something like that, [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[21],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-114","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-interviews"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wayofstory.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/114","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wayofstory.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wayofstory.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wayofstory.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wayofstory.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=114"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/wayofstory.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/114\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":115,"href":"https:\/\/wayofstory.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/114\/revisions\/115"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wayofstory.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=114"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wayofstory.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=114"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wayofstory.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=114"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}