John and Craig welcome back Megana Rao to look at rituals and what they can tell us about our characters. But what are characters doing deliberately, and what is just routine? They separate routines from rites, and how both can help deepen our understanding of characters and the threats that face them.
We also follow up on un-locking pages, industry software and health insurance for writing teams, before answering a listener question on transitioning from writing plays to writing movies.
In our bonus segment for premium members, John, Craig and Megana talk about coming-of-age rituals, and Craig reveals the theme of his Bar Mitzvah (it’s even nerdier than you think).
Links:
* [Standard Operating Procedures](https://johnaugust.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/SCR-20240721-juob.png) from Writer Emergency Pack
* [Long Island Compromise](https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/621963/long-island-compromise-by-taffy-brodesser-akner/) by Taffy Brodesser-Akner
* [Free AF non-alcoholic cocktails](https://us.af-drinks.com)
* [Microsoft Re-Designs the iPod Packaging](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EUXnJraKM3k)
* [Fantasmas](https://www.max.com/shows/fantasmas/25e36613-26ba-44ff-a777-b39ceafbcf58) on HBO/Max
* [AlphaBirds](https://alphabirdsgame.com/)
* [Get a Scriptnotes T-shirt!](https://cottonbureau.com/people/scriptnotes-podcast)
* [Check out the Inneresting Newsletter](https://inneresting.substack.com/)
* [Gift a Scriptnotes Subscription](https://scriptnotes.supportingcast.fm/gifts) or [treat yourself to a premium subscription!](https://scriptnotes.supportingcast.fm/)
* Craig Mazin on [Threads](https://www.threads.net/@clmazin) and [Instagram](https://www.instagram.com/clmazin/)
* John August on [Threads](https://www.threads.net/@johnaugust), [Instagram](https://www.instagram.com/johnaugust/?hl=en), [X](https://twitter.com/johnaugust) and [Mastodon](https://mastodon.art/@johnaugust)
* [Outro](http://johnaugust.com/2013/scriptnotes-the-outros) by Nick Moore ([send us yours!](http://johnaugust.com/2014/outros-needed))
* Scriptnotes is produced by [Drew Marquardt](https://www.drewmarquardt.com/) with help this week by Megana Rao. It is edited by [Matthew Chilelli](https://twitter.com/machelli).
Email us at ask@johnaugust.com
You can download the episode [here](http://traffic.libsyn.com/scriptnotes/652standard.mp3).
**UPDATE 10-7-24:** The transcript for this episode can be found [here](https://johnaugust.com/2024/scriptnotes-episode-652-rituals-transcript).