The WA Movie

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10 years ago

I want to comment on working with WA but I have little experience in online marketing. However, since I do have experience writing screenplays, I thought I used that as an analogy.

Screenplays and the movies made from them fall into three acts. Act 1 is the Beginning. Act 2 is the Middle. Act 3 is the Ending. Nothing earth shattering so far. Working in WA and growing your online business has (IMO) three stages too. I call them Institution, Constitution and Resolution.

In the WA movie as in a movie playing on the silver screen, the first Act is all about beginnings. It's where the Hero (you) institutes or sets in motion his or her plan. It's the time when the Hero moves out of the comfort of the Ordinary World (his 9-5 job or whatever) and accepts the challenge of something that will lead to greater things. In scriptwriting, they say stasis = death -- i.e. when you're standing still, you're actually going backwards because forward-thinking people pass you by. So Act 1 is where you plan; where you build the skills you'll need to face to face the challenges of moving out of your comfort zone. The Hero girds his "loins" for battle, he gathers the resources (people and things) he needs . . . and so do you.

Act 2 is the middle. In scriptwriting this is the longest act, traditionally twice the length of Act 1. It is the time when the Hero builds, a time to establish and be a part of the whole. This is the hardest time for the Hero because he has to consistently maintain his resolve to battle the Villain. In the WA movie, this can be impatience, unrealistic goals, envy, fear of failure, lack of self-confidence, second-guessing and so on. But the Hero needs the second act to build and gather the strengths and knowledge that constitute the ammunition he will need to defeat the Villain in Act 3.

Fortunately for the Hero, there is a break in the middle of Act 2, called the Midpoint. Two things can happen here. The Hero can realize he's been going about things all wrong and his course of action will cause him to fail. At this point the Hero can just give up and return to the Ordinary World. This is a no-no in regular movies and should be the same in the WA movie. So the Hero implements Plan B (there should always be a Plan B), and comes up with the fix that will sustain him through the rest of this act. Of course, the Midpoint can also be the place where the Hero realizes he is on the right course and redoubles his efforts to take full advantage.

Whatever the Hero decides at the Midpoint is enough to get him through Act 2 and into Act 3 where the end of his journey (victory) is in sight. There are still tweaks to be made (there are always tweaks to be made) but the Hero is definitely on the road to resolution.

In realistic movies (like the WA movie), the Villain is never completely vanquished, He's always lurking in the shadows awaiting a second chance. So the Hero has to remain vigilant. And so should you.

Life is never the same for the Hero after Act 3. The changes are always positive and provided the Hero does not lose sight of his new goal or become complacent, there could even be an Act 4: the Hero rides off into the sunset on his residuals.