Even The Rock Can't Save a Bad Story
The one where we rant about Christmas movies, talk how to end a story, and spill secrets for handling bad mental health weeks
We live to brave another Monday!
Jared and I fight about Christmas. Actually, my opinions about the holiday go against every other sane person’s in my life. I happen to love the Christmas spirit and want the music and decorations to stick around as long as there is a possibility of snow (which ACTUALLY CAME to NC this week!). Because Jared made me editor-in-chief of this newsletter, he now has to deal with the consequences of me posting Christmas-themed articles after December. So because I’m in charge, you all get to suffer.
(Then again, the article is REALLY about how to make sure that your story doesn’t suck, so you still win despite the extra Christmas mention).
Wishing all you curmudgeons bah humbug!
(OBA Media Newsletter Editor-in-Chief)P.S. Scroll all the way down to get your early recording of the next “Let’s Talk Stories: After Hours” episode!
Red One Was a Mess—Here’s How to Make Sure Your Writing Isn’t
I hate all Christmas movies except Die Hard (it’s a Christmas movie, don’t start). But yes, I hate them. There, I said it. What I hate most of all is how crappy most of them are.
That said, not every movie can be a win, and when we find the ones that aren’t, we can learn just as much from them as we can from great stories.
Over the holiday I had the distinct displeasure of watching Red One, a strange little action adventure film where Santa is kidnapped and his head of security must team up with a hacker to stop a plot to destroy Christmas. It is, in fact, as silly as it sounds. While I was reminded that The Rock plays the same character in every movie, I also learned some very interesting “Don’ts” of storytelling.
Whether you’re writing a novel, screenplay, or short story, these universal faux pas should be avoided at all costs. I’ll be honest: I know I’ve been guilty of some of these “Don’ts,” even in recent stories. But I’ve learned from my mistakes — and I’ll tell you how to avoid them so you don’t have to learn the hard way like I did.
Don’t Rely on Clichés or Familiar Tropes
Stories are old. There are trillions of them, and because we’ve been consuming them since birth, it can be challenging not to lean on tired tropes and clichés while neglecting to add something fresh to your work.
Don’t get me wrong — clichés are clichés because they work. But they’re also done to death. They tend to lead to bland or uninteresting stories, which is fine if you just want your reader to reach the end of your story. But over at OBA Nation, we want your stories to stick in readers’ minds long after they’ve finished engaging with them.
In Red One, the story leaned on predictable holiday and action tropes: the standard reluctant hero and the over-the-top villain. We’ve seen and read about these characters a million times before. The movie didn’t even bother to subvert or deepen these characters, which left them about as memorable as a fence post for me.
Why Don’t All Old Tropes Die?
Readers and audiences crave familiarity, and that is why Hollywood keeps pumping out remakes and adaptations. We love what we know. But we also love surprises, which explains our exhaustion with whatever regurgitated trend is going around at any given time. Overused clichés make a story feel uninspired. As we talk about here at OBA all the time: authenticity should be our north star. If your story isn’t authentic, you’re not going to make an impact.
How To Surprise Your Audience
Challenge the trope. If you’re using a familiar archetype, ask yourself how to flip expectations. For example, Mad Max: Fury Road flips the “male hero saves the day” trope by making Furiosa the real hero (imo).
Clash tropes. Smash tropes together. Instead of just having a dystopian society or a story about gladiators, combine them. For example, The Hunger Games gives us a young woman in a dystopian society fighting in a televised death match.
Add specificity. Root a character, setting, or theme in a unique detail. Take Get Out, for instance. The film refreshes the “sinister in-laws” cliché by centering the experience around the plight of a Black man, adding layers of racial tension.
Don’t just follow the formula. Bend it, challenge it, and make it yours to discover what your story can really do.
Don’t Neglect Your Characters
It’s easy to reduce a character to an archetype — the guide, the sidekick, the love interest. This reduction happens especially in high-concept stories where the plot takes center stage. But when we do ignore character development, we make our cast feel flat and unrelatable.
In Red One, the filmmakers relied on Dwayne Johnson and Chris Evans’ charisma to give their characters some level of interest, effectively treating the actors themselves like archetypes. The result is a film with no meaningful character arcs, and the ones we do get don’t feel earned.
Characters Vs. Faces
Characters are the heart of every story. They aren’t props, set dressings, or paper dolls you stick into the dollhouse that is your setting and plot. Without depth, they don’t breathe, and the audience loses emotional investment in your tale. I don’t care if Bobby Do-Right stops the bomb if I don’t care about Bobby. Make him a real person.
Even the most action-packed or visually stunning stories fall flat when they lack relatable characters and motivations. (Yes, I’m talking to you, Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets.)
How To Make Your Audience Like Your Character
Give that fool some history. Develop character backstories. Whether you use the interview method, mix and match traits of people you know, or some technique you invent, give your characters background. The material doesn’t all have to appear on the page — in fact, it likely shouldn’t — but knowing their history will inform you of their choices and make them feel real.
Everybody needs self-help. Show growth. If your characters aren’t evolving or helping others evolve, they aren’t real. Let experiences force them to grow or encourage others to change.
A story lives or dies by its characters. Make them more than vessels for the plot. Make them people.
Don’t Forget to Watch Your Tone
Mashing genres together to create a more interesting story is a great idea. I encourage the style. Some of the greatest stories come from genre mashups (for example: Brick–A Detective Noir meets Teen Drama; What We Do in the Shadows–the Vampire Mocumentary mixing supernatural shenanigans with comedy). But balancing multiple genres or tones gets tricky. Tonal inconsistencies make your story feel like being on an acid trip at a parent-teacher conference: everything’s melted, but we’re still expected to take in the kids’ artwork with a straight face.
In Red One, the filmmakers struggled to juggle action, comedy, and holiday spirit, resulting in odd tone shifts that ruined the chance for any immersion.
Why Can’t My Story Do Everything?
Consistent tone keeps us emotionally engaged. If Jack Dawson was confessing his love to Rose and suddenly leapt off the Titanic to save a child in a thrilling action sequence, (badass as that might be), it would ruin the romance and destroy the tone the filmmakers were going for. When your audience is distracted, they won’t pick up on the message your story is trying to impart.
How To Mashup Correctly
Set the tone quick. Decide what you want your audience to feel emotionally early on, set that tone, and stick to it. F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby nails this technique by establishing melancholy and longing tone early then maintaining it through themes of wealth, love, and the failure of the American Dream.
Make the combination a marriage, not a rivalry. If you’re mashing genres, let them complement each other. Don’t let one genre dominate or pull focus inconsistently. For example, Shaun of the Dead blends comedy and horror perfectly, with both genres working together seamlessly.
Tone is your story’s emotional glue. Keep it steady, even when blending genres. Respect the glue.
Make Your Story Stand on Its Own Merit
Red One teaches us that whether you have a blockbuster screenplay, an epic novel, or any other kind of story it is important to pay attention to these essential fundamentals. I challenge you to reflect on your own work. No matter what you are writing, take a moment to ask yourself the following:
Are my characters’ arcs clear and compelling?
Does my story stand out from popular trends and tired cliches?
Is my tone clear and consistent?
Master these elements and you’re going to have an unforgettable story on your hands.
Do you need tailored advice on how to un-mess your story? The team at OBA Media is here for you! We want to help you craft stories that resonate and gain the confidence to tell them well.
Let’s Talk Stories: After Hours with
Subscribers to OBA’s newsletter get early access to our biweekly podcast episodes. In the off weeks, Jared hosts “Let’s Talk Stories: After Hours.” In these short episodes, Jared answers your questions and shares insights that didn’t make it into the conversation with all of us about effective storytelling techniques from pop culture. Today, he’s talking about breaking rules to find your authentic voice and finding the best ending for your story.
Let's Talk Stories After Hours Episode 2
In this episode, Jared Moses discusses the importance of letting go of conventional rules in storytelling to find one's unique voice. He emphasizes the value of authenticity in writing, drawing parallels between personal experiences and universal themes that resonate with a wide audience. The conversation also touches on how to decide the best ending for your story...
Listen to the discussion with all of us that inspired this episode here:
To submit a question for Jared to answer in the next “After Hours” episode, feel free to reply to this email or drop a comment!
CAPTAIN’S LOG
1/27/2025
A couple of weeks ago, therapy helped me confront just how anxious I am about running and building a company. The sleepless nights, the overwhelming thoughts of what’s next before we even get there—all of it felt normal, even though I knew it wasn’t healthy. I described it as an “anxiety network”—all panic attacks, all the time.
During our session, my therapist introduced me to a technique I hadn’t considered before: scheduling time to freak out. Setting aside dedicated time to worry about whatever’s weighing on me—or if I’m feeling depressed, giving myself space to truly feel it—and then, once that time is up, moving on.
So, this past week, I put it into practice. I scheduled an anxiety/depression vacation—a full week to sit with my feelings and let the anxiety steamroll me. No shrugging it off, no toxic positivity. Just raw, unfiltered emotions.
And honestly? It helped. I showed up this week with a level of clarity and focus I haven’t felt since we started this whole thing.
This isn’t to say I’ll never be anxious or feel low again. But giving myself permission to feel—without guilt—was crucial. It reminded me that sometimes, growth isn’t just about pushing forward; it’s about making space for everything that comes with it.