Did You Ever Wish For....?

Working on a script the other day I ended up reviewing part of Chris Vogler’s book THE WRITER’S JOURNEY (3rd Edition). Chris wrote the foreword to The Moral Premise, and I was honored that he did it, considering his fame in Hollywood as a premiere story guru. I have been fortunate to work with him for a few days on some projects years ago.

The chapter I read (perhaps for the first time) in his thick Third Edition is titled Stories are Alive (starts on page 299).

He worked for Disney for years, on staff, as a lead story researcher. This paragraph on page 307 is important. 

He writes about the power of wishing.

Wishes of heroes are the strong point of identification for many people, since we all have wishes and desires that we secretly cherish. In fact, that’s one of the main reasons we go to movies and watch TV and read novels — to have our wishes granted. Storytellers are, most of the time, in the wish-granting business. The Disney empire built its entire corporate identity around the belief in wishing, from its theme song “When You Wish Upon a Start” to the wish-granting fairy godmothers of Sleeping Beauty and Cinderella to the genie who grants three wishes in Aladdin. Hollywood executives and best-selling novelists aim to know the secret wishes of their audiences and fulfill them.  (p 307)

In another place Chris writes that a good way to begin a story pitch is to ask “Did you ever wish for ________? Well, that’s what this story is about.”   It’s a good way to connect with the folk you’re pitching to.

Thanks, Chris.