Fight for the Soul
Weekly roundup: What makes characters like Rocky, Creed, and Indiana Jones great, and how to tap into the power of true connection with your story
I had a conversation with a fellow Substack friend this week and we mentioned how it feels like a lot of creatives are in the season of taking a respite from creating so they can replenish their inspiration and recenter their focus on their own voice. I love a community that supports the work of genuine creatives and respects the natural flow of creativity. We are humans, not machines, and we tell better stories by constantly engaging with our raw humanity.
And that brings me to the topic of the week here at OBA: where the power of true connection is in stories. No matter how epic your action, entertaining your adventure, or dramatic your characters, if you do not dig into the meaning behind your story, you’ll never impact your audience.
Here’s a summary of the different conversations we had last week about how to achieve this connection in your own writing!
Cheers,
(One Brilliant Arc Editor-in-Chief)📑 WHAT WE’VE BEEN CHATTING ABOUT THIS WEEK
Your Story Doesn't Have to Be Perfect
Even before I saw any of his films, I always knew the adventurer Indiana Jones and I were destined to be friends. As a child (particularly thanks to my father) I can’t remember not knowing about the character. So, when I finally rented "Raiders of the Lost Ark" from Blockbuster as a pre-teen, the experience was a revelation. I was transported into that film in a way few pictures can do. I had a dinner of hamburger and onion rings, and I know so because Indy’s story was so rapturous I ignored my food and my meal went cold. Getting hungry, I paused the movie and got up to warm up my dinner, urgently begging the toaster oven to work faster so I could get back to the Egyptian deserts and the search for the Ark of the Covenant.
To this day, whenever I re-watch "Raiders," I still feel the uncanny magic I did that evening, and that is nothing short of a miracle. Perfection, one could say.
Soon, I devoured the rest of the trilogy, then re-watched them again and again. At the height of the dark days of the Recession, my father, younger brother, and I went to the movie theater to see the highly-anticipated return of the great adventure hero in "Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull." For various reasons, the picture was a disappointment, and, for me, time has not been kind to that film.
Now, my re-watches of the series ended on a twisted ankle rather than the stuck landing that is "Last Crusade." "Crystal Skull" grew into this odd thorn in my side for this beloved series–like something else needed to be and should be said about the titular character. He deserved a better ending.
So, when "Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny" was officially announced after a decade of development, with James Mangold–a director I respect very much–at the picture’s helm, I was excited. The trailers made the film look like so much dang fun. The stars seemed to align, and I was going to get the ending to this tale that "Crystal Skull" didn’t give me. I got tickets to the very first showing for the Thursday previews. The film began, the titles came up, and I shook my brother’s arm next to me like a little kid.
But when the credits rolled and John Williams’ iconic “Raiders March” theme began, I just felt let down. Another Indiana Jones film had disappointed me, and this time there would never be another one.
So, Dial of Destiny became another thorn in my side. In my mind, the adventure genre in live-action cinema was pretty much dead, Mangold’s stardom had dimmed a bit, and Indy’s story remained emotionally incomplete. The film bombed, received mixed reviews, and I could not disagree with those who said it was average at best. For a year and a half, my brother and I bemoaned how the film could have been better and wondered what went wrong.
Finally, in January 2025, I decided I needed to give the film another chance with a first re-watch.
And oh boy, this time, I felt like the picture was really speaking to me.
🎧PODCAST: “Let’s Talk Stories!”
Did you catch our newest podcast episode? The OBA story team unpacked the Rocky and Creed franchises to show you how to use physical conflict in your story to develop internal conflict in your characters' arcs.
Subscribers to our newsletter get an early release of every podcast episode we put out, both “Let’s Talk Stories” and “Let’s Fix Stories!”
Let's Talk "Creed": How to Write Fight Scenes that Hit Harder
In this episode, we’re unpacking how the Creed and Rocky films explore internal conflict through physical struggle. Join us as we discuss how the protagonist, Adonis (Donny) Creed, grapples with his identity and legacy, using boxing as a metaphor for his internal battles. Our conversation centers around the importance of character arcs, the significance of emotional conflict in storytelling, and the power of metaphor to engage audiences with your story. We wrap up by breaking down into 3 steps how to navigate the intricacies of writing fight scenes that convey emotional depth, and going over the biggest pitfalls to avoid in your own writing.
Catch up on our previous conversations over good stories here:
💬 Join the Conversation
We want to hear from you! OBA Nation exists as your community, after all. Let’s get to know each other and share creative perspectives.
What story did you need to give a second chance to before you appreciated it?
What creative rhythms do you see yourself developing to keep your inspiration fresh and voice authentic?
Hit “reply” or comment to drop your answer. We’ll pick some of your responses to feature in our next roundup newsletter and tag you there!
✨Coming Up Next Week…
Our resident cheesecake connoisseur, friend, and writer here at OBA Media,
, will be sharing a serial piece based on their original fantasy story about two desperate adventurers facing the fever-dream perils of the Corpse Flower Zone in search of a cursed relic that promises them a future.This will be our first venture into sharing fictional pieces along with our educational pieces. Please let us know if you are excited about this expansion in our newsletter content and want us to find more stories from other creatives to share with you!