Got this from a business newsletter I subscribe to– The Point

There is a well known story that goes something like this……. Dan was coming to the end of a long overseas business trip that had seen him visit a number of different cities and countries. He was looking for a gift to take home for his young son and came across a rather unique puzzle that had a map of the world on the front side with the option to have your one of your own pictures printed on the back. As he had a recent family photo with him, this was perfect. He felt this would be a fun gift that would give his son some fun putting the puzzle together while at the same time show him where he had travelled.

When he got home he gave his son the gift, but since his son was quite young he said, “Son, let me help you put the puzzle together first to show you what the world looks like and then you can try.” To his surprise the world puzzle was far more difficult than he thought because all the pieces, especially the seas and the skies, looked the same. Eventually he gave up and said, “Son, why don’t you have a go at it yourself. “

His son took a few minutes to think about it and decided to turn the pieces over and complete the family photo picture instead. In no time at all he had the whole puzzle put together. He turned it back over to show the whole world and took it back to show his dad and innocently said, “See, Dad, if you take care of all the people, the world will take care of itself!”

This is so relevant and applicable to screenwriting.  If you understand each of the characters in your script on a deep emotional level the plot will take care of itself.  Audiences are most interested in characters and less so in circumstance or situations.  One of my colleagues at UCLA once reminded a class– the world may be about to end by threat of meteor, plague, natural disaster or war and what the audience is really invested in is the love story between the daring young hero and the intrepid young heroine.  Take care of the people and the world (and plot) will take care of itself!   To learn more about how to pull plot from character take a look at the Character Map information and eBook