Alan Watt (not Alan Watts) on writing from the unconscious

By Xoic · Jan 18, 2024 · ·
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  1. Just stumbled across this, and so far I'm loving it. He talks (among other things) about the need to allow story to emerge from the unconscious (he calls it the subconscious, but it means the same thing). That's just the first video of a playlist—if you click through on the YouTube logo down in the corner it should open the playlist. If not, here's a link:
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Comments

  1. Xoic
    I've made it most of the way through the playlist now, and it seems like it's mostly the first and last video that go into writing from the unconscious. Sheesh, the interviewer is terrible!! She didn't do any homework at all, and seems to be coming up with her "questions" on the spot, and not to know anything about screenwriting. Plus she seems to not want to actually interview him so much as have a conversation as equals, where each time he says something from his deep knowledge and experience, she wants to give her own thoughts and ideas. An interviewer's job is to ask the right questions to give the subject opportunities to share their knowledge or insights, not to try to get equal time in the spotlight and give their own inane thoughts and ideas. So many times she asked incredibly dumb questions and he had to maneuver around so he could talk about something actually relevant, instead of what she was trying to steer him toward. It's Chalie Rose style interviewing, but at least Rose did his research and sometimes had interesting things to say.
  2. HemlockCordial
    Nice find. His advice seems to come intuitively for me - writing from the unconscious is the default. For instance, while researching, it's mostly a process of osmosis: absorbing as much of what will be relevant to the world as possible, and then letting it come together on the page, with the "deep knowing" of what the core of the story is about. So far, it isn't until the story is finished that I see the full implications and all the layers baked in. That is part of the fun.

    There are all sorts of ways to approach storytelling, but his philosophy about character-driven narratives resonates.
      Xoic likes this.
  3. Xoic
    I need to watch the whole thing again and take notes. I've actually forgotten most of it now.
      HemlockCordial likes this.
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