“Movies and television is always what I wanted to do,” says Eric Martin. “I don’t remember it wasn’t a time it wasn’t the main interest in my life, but screenwriting is something I was a little bit late too. I was a latchkey key and I viewed writing as work, something to get done to go watch movies.”

“But there were a series of teachers who kept pulling me aside and said, ‘You’re a writer, do you enjoy this?’ It kept happening so the message finally got through to take it seriously and put in that kind of effort.” Looking back, Martin says he understood story structure just from watching so many movies. He also had a teacher teach the hero’s journey to write essays.

“I don’t actually think about structure when I write. Use the hero’s journey. Don’t use it. I personally hate writing textbooks. Any book that tells you how to write is bullshit. I think you pick it up and inherently understand it. I think it’s baked in even if you think you’re following it. It’s just there. It’s part of the western storytelling ethic.”

Rather than obsessing over screenwriting books, Martin would tell you to “go live some life.” He adds, “Don’t try to read a bunch of things and use a theory on anything. Live some life and I think you’ll understand [life] on a deeper level. I see a lot of stuff out there and it feels hollow. People who do depthful work live interesting lives.”

This has led Martin to focus on “character and story.” As a screenwriter, this is always the focus, whether it’s his TV movie The Other Mother, the Starz series about professional wrestling Heels, or his latest project, the newest installment of Loki for Marvel and Disney.

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