Miller was excited to start writing with Steve and Ben, dividing time between his house in Portland and their homes in Nashville. Miller was ready to write a great story, but their first sessions were unsuccessful. After hours of thinking about what should happen in the story and what the character wanted, Ben suddenly asked about Don’s father.

Miller was perplexed by the question since, in his memoir, he mentioned that he barely knew his father. Ben insisted that the character of Don should desire a connection with his father in the story of the film. Miller avoided the discussion, deeming the idea corny. Steve explained that the subplot about Don’s father would humanize the character since he must confront something difficult. Miller wondered if they were speaking about himself or the character in the story.

Miller had not spoken to his father for 30 years. He knew he was a basketball player and had vague memories of him but no relationship. Miller recalled McKee’s seminar and realized that characters must confront their greatest fears. As he pondered Ben and Steve’s questions, he realized his fear was that his father might reject him. Relaying this anecdote, Miller argues that people’s fears are “relational,” and most stories are about relationships. He describes feeling that the story was calling him and knew in that moment that he would reconnect with his father. He notes that if people understand what it means to live a better story, they will not have a choice but to pursue it.

During a break between writing, Miller had a brief conversation with Ben in which Ben argued that Don would get his life together by the end of the film.

Miller asserts that the point of a story and life is “character transformation.” He explains that if a character does not change, the story does not happen. He suggests that, like in storytelling, the point of real life is to change and evolve.

Miller refers to Marcos, a friend who was an art student. In his thesis, Marcos worked on the physical evolution of people. He concluded that humans “are alive for the purpose of the journey, a kind of three-act structure” (68). They are born, they discover the world, then navigate a middle where they must mate and reproduce, and finally reach an ending when the body becomes slower. Miller was fascinated by the idea of the transformation the journey brings. Marcos emphasized that people’s bodies were designed to change and that people are different every season. Inspired by such observations, Miller reiterates that the character arc is the point of a story. He suggests that people are “designed to live through something rather than to attain something” (70).

As Miller realized the power of storytelling, he began to explore ways to create a better story for himself so that he would not need to escape his boring life. He learned more about stories, emphasizing that a good story needs a specific kind of character and ambition. The principles are fixed, and screenwriters know them.

During a writing session with Steve and Ben, Steve told Miller that characters are what they do and emotions must be shown not told on screen. Miller recalls a conversation with a friend who had just welcomed a daughter with his wife. His friend explained that his daughter changed his life as he began to focus more on life at home. Miller wondered how his wife felt about his change. His friend responded that they didn’t need to discuss it because she just knew from his actions. Miller connects this moment to his emerging understanding that a character is what he does.

Miller recalls McKee’s ideas, noting that to know who a character is, one must witness him react and make decisions under pressure. He believes this principle, which he also learned while writing with Ben and Steve, remains the most challenging to live in real life.

Miller realized that as a writer, he lived in fantasies that he used as an escape from his reality. He felt his life was “empty of real stories” because he spent his life crafting fake stories rather than actually living them (76). Feeling awakened from a fantasy, he understood that his life lacked people who would compel him out of his daydreams.

Wanting to live a real story with real action, Miller thought about his father and whether he was dead or alive. As they were writing, Ben spoke about his own father—Ben never knew him as he died when he was a child. But Ben went to his grave with his wife and, in this way, he said goodbye. He said it felt powerful.

Miller argues that throughout history, people have always needed stories. He notes that he reconnected to his love of writing while working on the screenplay. Several times, he suggested ideas for scenes to Ben and Steve who responded that it was too early in the story for them to happen. To help Miller, Ben suggested a book called Save the Cat. He explained that to engage an audience, the protagonist must do something good in the first 20 minutes of the story, even if it is not related to the film’s theme. In this way, the audience will be interested in and care for the character and their goal.

Miller recalls writing a novel and planning how to create the story and what he wanted his characters to do. As Miller worked on the novel, he thought the process resembled life. Miller references the biblical account of God “speaking the world into existence” and suggests he also feels “written” like a character (86). He feels that his sexuality, his gender, and his traits were written by God. Whether people call it God or conscience, Miller says, there is a “knowing” that guides people towards a better story and character. For Miller, there is a real voice inside him, a kind of wisdom that distinguishes right from wrong. As he was writing the novel, Miller felt more and more that a writer was trying to make him live a better story and he felt himself start to obey. When the “writer” told him he must find his father, Miller initially refused to do it.

Miller read an excerpt of Edmond Browning’s A Year of Days with the Book of Common Prayer about the experience of being a grandfather. Miller felt that through their grandchildren, grandparents understand the significance of love and beauty better. Then, he thought about God as a Grandfather who sees infinite generations, a “loving community” of children come and gone. Miller writes that he heard God’s voice again, telling him he should find his father, and knew it would guide him to a better story.

Miller describes telling his friend Jordan that he was not telling a good story. Jordan asked him if he was writing another book about himself, and Miller explained he was talking about his real life. He said he tells good stories in books, but he does not live a good story. Jordan suggested his life was a “blank page” and that he should put something on it.