{"podcast":{"title":"Draft Zero: a screenwriting podcast","slug":"draft-zero-a-screenwriting-podcast-770577","podcast_index_feed_id":770577,"rss_url":"https://feeds.transistor.fm/draft-zero-a-screenwriting-podcast","website_url":"http://www.draft-zero.com","image_url":"https://img.transistorcdn.com/SNg7vlbjF99Iqt6O0suAq8ASob0lWK1CRClKin7a4gk/rs:fill:0:0:1/w:1400/h:1400/q:60/mb:500000/aHR0cHM6Ly9pbWct/dXBsb2FkLXByb2R1/Y3Rpb24udHJhbnNp/c3Rvci5mbS85NjRj/Yjg4ODAyMWYzZTBk/OGNiM2ZjNmEzZjBk/NWY3NC5qcGc.jpg","author":"Stuart Willis","episode_count":133,"summary":"Two emerging screenwriters – Chas Fisher and Stuart Willis – try to work out what makes great screenplays work. Discovering what it takes by analysing what successful writers put on the page.","last_synced_at":"2026-08-01T04:18:13.115530+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/draft-zero-a-screenwriting-podcast-770577"},"episode":{"title":"DZ-129: Steadfast Character Arcs - Agents of Change","slug":"dz-129-steadfast-character-arcs-agents-of-change","published_at":"2026-07-31T15:42:21+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/draft-zero-a-screenwriting-podcast-770577/dz-129-steadfast-character-arcs-agents-of-change","show_page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/draft-zero-a-screenwriting-podcast-770577","url":"https://draft-zero.com/2026/dz-129/","audio_url":"https://media.transistor.fm/50be671c/a9ed1166.mp3","summary":"Listen to learn how to move an audience with a character who never changes. Do characters need to change for you to have a satisfying story? That's a question we've been asking since, like, episode five of this podcast. And we're finally talking about it! In this continuation of our deep dive into character arcs -- Stu, Chas and Mel break down MOANA, APOLLO 13 and THE DRESSMAKER to work out what carries a story when a character arc doesn't. If your protagonist isn't going to change, the drama has to come from what they do to everyone else. We do manage to figure out some tools that carry a steadfast story: doubt and wobble (a character with no doubt isn't steadfast, they're a psychopath), emotional events between characters, and a distinction borrowed from operant conditioning — additive rewards (you gain something) versus subtractive ones (something is taken away). The subtractive reward is why a happy ending can still feel like loss... and it's the thing we reckon that'll matter most when we get to negative arcs. We also wibble-wobble over WILLOW, TAKEN, FERRIS BUELLER'S DAY OFF, THE MARTIAN, PROJECT HAIL MARY, THE GREY, ALL IS LOST, STAR WARS (as always), GREY GARDENS, PRISCILLA, and how many tampons NASA sent to space. As always: SPOILERS ABOUND and all copyright material used under fair use for educational purposes. LIKE THIS EPISODE? Discuss with our Patrons on Patreon . Watch and comment on YouTube . Send us feedback. Thanks to our Patrons, especially Khrob, Theis, Sandra, Jesse, Randy, Paulo, Thomas, Jennifer, Malay, Alexandre & Natalie and Lily. → Read the transcript for this episode. ——— \"If your characters are not going to arc, if they are going to remain steadfast, then creating multiple smaller emotional events is really important to keep the story dyn…","meta_description":"Listen to learn how to move an audience with a character who never changes. Do characters need to change for you to have a satisfying story? That's a ques…","key_points":[],"chapters":[],"topics":[],"duration_seconds":9380,"processing_state":"not_requested","actions":[{"name":"request_transcript","method":"POST","url":"https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/draft-zero-a-screenwriting-podcast-770577/episodes/dz-129-steadfast-character-arcs-agents-of-change/transcription-requests","description":"Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode."},{"name":"read_markdown","method":"GET","url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/draft-zero-a-screenwriting-podcast-770577/dz-129-steadfast-character-arcs-agents-of-change.md","description":"Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource."}]}}