I really like how Naomi talks and explains about screenwriting, I've already read her books and now I'm watching the interviews, hugs to her and the Film Courage crew.

I have no idea why "dramatic question" is asking a completely non dramatic themes. "Will Clarice catch maniac" its not a dramatic, it external goal. A logline basically.

That's some of the best writing advice I've seen from this channel yet.

This got me writing tonight.

What I love in Back to the Future for example is that the question is will Marty get home. But when the answer gets answered there is room for more. Marty got back home but it's not his home.

She very simply described the Eric Edson video. I watched that video with him, then went and watched another video of him teaching at UCLA, then I bought his book Story Structure. Probably the single greatest book I've read on screen writing which isn't saying much, but I know I landed on a book worth its weight in gold.

I prefer this definition:

I feel like the central dramatic question for Forrest Gump has to do with his mother's wish for him to live a normal life. And at the end we realise that yes he did. So the question was answered satisfactorily. I also few like some slice of life movies have vague questions because we are so entertained by the shenanigans of the characters that we don't really think of which direction the story is going in, until we get to the end and realise that no question was asked by the audience. There is an Indian movie that kept coming to mind when I was listening to this lady. There is no real dramatic question because the antics of the characters are entertainment enough. We are fine with hitching a ride with them even if we don't where they, and consequently we are going. The movie is called Dil chahtha Hai, and when one of the actors, Akshay Khanna, was asked to explain the story, he found it difficult and eventually said it is a slice of life movie. I don't blame him for being confused by the wayward script. I would be too.

In an IP I've made normally the central question is simple and even overt and that is "How will the heroes win?" It is never "Will the the heroes win?" as they almost always do but the base of the text is showing them going though the steps they need to win. Which I think is more entertaning then the heroes jorney and other things you've seen before even if you know the outcome.

I really like how Naomi talks and her advice is very helpful for my own story writing.

I have written a screenplay that deals with a young boy with schizophrenia who sees a lot of death and faces an equal number of hardships throughout his life. The big question for the screenplay's story could be the age-old question: Why do bad things happen to good people?" In my opinion, leaving a movie ambiguous and ending the screenplay with the central character asking an essential question at the end should suggest that the viewers should look into their own lives. If it relates to the film they are watching, ask themselves the same question the main character asks.

Well explained

Love naomi

I'm amazed no one's bringing up the archetypal example:

What happens when the central dramatic question is answered?

Silence of the Lambs? The CDQ is not "Will Clarise catch the killer"?

When writing a tragedy, the answer to the central dramatic question cannot be the end. Because tragedy portrays a character failing to change in order to get what they want, you MUST show someone else change as a result of the story in a later scene. And then you end the story as quickly as possible.

Even if you don´t fully anwer it in your story, you should still know the answer is what I´d say

As a writer myself I have struggled with this in movies and television for, realistically, seven years now; how important are endings to stories? My personal opinion is that endings are vital because they unconsciously teach us nothing lasts forever. But if you look at a lot of tent pole movies and television today, it seems like writers and filmmakers are intentionally leaving out endings. Why do you think that is and is it important?

Is anyone else's brain whispering "Star Wars" to you when listening to this? I know I know - beating a dead horse. I get it.... bu still!