One of my favorite teachers advised to make character development the structure instead of following structure formulas. By page blah blah blah have an explosion.
The class was for screen adaptation, but the advice applies to any story. =) I improved the beginning of a story by working on the characters' journeys and goals.
Another screenwriting teacher did not believe in writer's block. She suggested to check if you strayed from the story's path at one point. Perhaps you put in a scene for its own purpose instead of the whole story's purpose. Sometimes you have to let go moments or lines. Save the draft though because you could try using that scene in another story.
Screenwriter Nicholas Meyer wanted to express his dislike of punk rock music through the time-traveling hero in Time After Time. Meyer had to omit the scene, but he rewrote it in Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home. I found the well-known scene, but the song was changed:
I thought the following chinese proverb from my daily planner was worth sharing. "A child's life is like a piece of paper on which every person leaves a mark."
There are humorous villains who cry about the toy he didn't get or not being hugged enough. However, the quote applies to everyone as the influence and as the one influenced.
Here are three villain examples with an impacting childhood moment anyway:
Gru from Despicable Me,
Ego the critic from Ratatouille (Spoliler),
And Megamind.
Megamind at the top. Metroman at the bottom.
The last two are cast into the roles of villain and hero according to looks and homes.
Can you think of an example? It does not have to be a villain or from a movie.
