"From despair to hope, weakness to strength, folly to wisdom, love to hate, and back again. It's these emotional journeys that hook an audience and make a story worth watching."
After reading this quote, my first thought goes back to one of the three stories I had picked two weeks ago. The Pixar story “UP” includes every one of these. Despair to hope taps into the emotions of an audience. Strength brings the audience happiness to see a character overcome a challenge. Wisdom goes a long way in having an audience build trust with a character and see a character as an authority figure. The love and hate also bring up emotions, connecting an audience to the characters.
"Crossing the First Threshold marks the turning point between Acts One and Two. The hero, having overcome fear, has decided to confront the problem and take action. She is now committed to the journey and there's no turning back."
I chose this quote because the concept of crossing the first threshold is what seems to push the entire story in a direction that the audience knows there is no going back and they can begin thinking about possible endings based on the actions in the story. My first thought when learning about crossing the threshold is also from the movie UP, when Carl releases the balloons and begins lifting off the ground, there is no going back from that.
"Every story needs such a life-or-death moment in which the hero or his goals are in mortal jeopardy."
I chose this quote because when writing stories and reading them, I tend to view things very differently. When reading a story I do tend to dislike when things go south for a character I’m rooting for, but at the same time I am so much more engaged and I feel so much more for the character which sets apart great stories from mediocre stories. As for writing stories, I know I enjoy just making a continuous stream of good happen for my character because I feel good continuously as I write it out. What is important is to make sure to include all these elements of a great story that really set up people for an emotional rollercoaster.