Have you ever been watching a film that just makes you go, “When will this ever end?!” There’s a way to fix that.
(spoilers ahead)
This week’s movie was Nacho Libre starring Jack Black and directed by the same guy who brought you Napoleon Dynamite. I had a great time - for the most part. Towards the end I found myself staring at the walls and at the ceiling wondering when it would ever end.
And I know why I felt that way - there was no Story Limit. Well, to add insult to injury, there was only a shmidge of an Objective Story in there at all. Most of the story was centered around Black’s Main Character monk and his dream of becoming a famous wrestler.
With no real overall story (though there could’ve been one - orphaned children losing their monastery in a land grab or something to that extent), I found myself, towards the end, wondering when it would ever end.
Napoleon Dynamite had this feel as well, but at the situations and characters were so compelling in that, that I wasn’t as bored. Jack Black, although I really like him, didn’t have enough to work with, and the surrounding cast - although fascinating to look at - really was just window dressing.
So today’s tip of the day - PLEASE - when you’re writing make sure, that from the very first act, we know when the sucker is going to end. Are the characters going to run out of time or run out of options? And remind us, once an act, that there is indeed a limit to your story. You don’t have to give us the ending, but at least let us know there will be one.
“This is what you get when you don’t set a limit to your story!”
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