John and Craig look at how writers and their characters handle the obstacles they encounter. They outline proven techniques for solving problems both in life and on the page, why it’s important to see characters solving problems in a story, and how taking big swings can open up exciting possibilities.

We also follow up on episodes that focus on a single character, long takes, making your phone less interesting, words we don’t have in English, present the definitive guide to the lunch run, and look into this stupid movie tariff thing.

In our bonus segment for premium members, John is back from Egypt and Jordan, and ready to answer all of our questions about tombs and travel in the Middle East.

Links:

• The Production Assistant’s Guide to the Lunch Run


• Indiana Jones and the Great Circle


• Note On Long Takes by Aidan Moretti


• Video tour inside the Great Pyramid of Giza


• Donald Trump Says He’s Pursuing 100% Tariffs On Movies Produced Outside U.S. and John Voight’s proposal


• Sustainability by the Numbers by Hannah Ritchie


• Solving for Climate


• The Mr. Rabbit Magic Show by Rusty Lake


• Birdigo


• Get a Scriptnotes T-shirt!


• Check out the Inneresting Newsletter


• Gift a Scriptnotes Subscription or treat yourself to a premium subscription!


• Craig Mazin on Instagram


• John August on Bluesky, Threads, and Instagram


• Outro by Spencer Lackey (send us yours!)


• Scriptnotes is produced by Drew Marquardt and edited by Matthew Chilelli.

Email us at ask@johnaugust.com

You can download the episode here.

UPDATE 5-14-25: The transcript for this episode can be found here.

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