• About
    • Meet Joel
    • The IMPOSSIBLE Shirt
  • Speaking
  • Giving

IMPOSSIBLE ®

Push Your Limits | Do Something Impossible

  • Home
  • Impossible List™
  • Blog
    • Archives
  • Gear
  • Apps
    • Running + Fitness Calculators
    • Move Well – Mobility Exercises
    • Cold Shower Therapy
  • Podcast
  • Events
  • 777
You are here: Home / Mindset / Drop a Plane out Of The Sky

Drop a Plane out Of The Sky

May 14, 2019 By Joel Runyon 4 Comments

"People love to have lived a great story, but few people like the work it takes to make it happen. But joy costs pain."
– @donaldmiller

— Joel Runyon (@joelrunyon) April 13, 2019

One of the best pieces of advice on getting “unstuck” in life I’ve ever heard was from Donald Miller – I’ve filed it away in my head as the “drop a plane out of the sky” rule.

When it comes to writing characters – Don had a conversation about taking one of the characters to the next stage of the story with some more experienced writers.

He thought the reason the character would change and move on was because “he wanted to.”

“That’s not how it works, man,” Ben said, pushing his hair back and nodding.

“Characters don’t really choose to move. They have to be forced.”

When he said that, I thought about those women I’d heard about on the radio. “How do we get Don to go?” I asked Ben. I was thinking about women, but I was also thinking about myself sitting in my chair watching the Tour de France, wishing I was out riding a bike, all the while completely able to ride a bike but for some reason not doing it. I thought about my father too, and how I wasn’t moving on that story. And I thought about a specific girl I wasn’t going after, and realized that the principle that characters do not want to change applies to more than fiction.

“We make him go,” Ben said. “We blow something up,” Steve said. “We get somebody pregnant or drop a plane out of the sky.”

A Million Miles in a Thousand Years

The idea is that most characters in a story can get complacent and bored if they’re in the same scene long enough. If that story is your life, you’re that character, and your scene isn’t changing – you might be bored too.

“The inciting incident is how you get (characters) to do something. It’s the doorway through which they can’t return, you know. The story takes care of the rest.

Donald Miller

Growth comes out of pain, discomfort and change – and often not by choice. So, if you want your character to change – you need to force them to take action (in writing – they call this an inciting incident).

A lot of times, these incidents are outside your control – a divorce, death, freak accident, illness, breakup or something else – but it’s also possible to avoid these for long periods of time given how comfortable modern life is.

That’s where the “drop a plane out of the sky” rule comes in…

If you want to get unstuck – drop a plane out of the sky (metaphorically) on the character in your story (aka you).

Do something drastic. Change the fabric of your character’s reality. force the character (read: you) to walk through a door that they can’t come back through.

Move. Make the call. Start the blog. Apply for the job you’re “not qualified for.” Write the letter. Quit the job. Sign up for the race. Send the invoice. Take a step outside your current boring story.

Change the scene.

Then, figure out what a good character would do in your situation and do that.

The new story will take care of the rest.

1/ One of the best pieces of advice on getting “unstuck” I’ve ever heard was from @donaldmiller – I've filed it away in my head as the "drop a plane out of the sky" rule.

— Joel Runyon (@joelrunyon) July 6, 2018

2/ The idea is that most characters in a story can get complacent and bored if they're in the same scene long enough. If that story is your life, you're that character, and your scene isn't changing – you might be bored too.

— Joel Runyon (@joelrunyon) July 6, 2018

3/ So you have to get the character (aka you) to do something (writers call this an inciting incident).

— Joel Runyon (@joelrunyon) July 6, 2018

4/ “The inciting incident is how you get (characters) to do something. It's the doorway through which they can't return, you know. The story takes care of the rest.” – via @donaldmiller

— Joel Runyon (@joelrunyon) July 6, 2018

5/ A lot of times, these are outside your control – a divorce, death, freak accident, or something else – but it's also possible to avoid these for long periods of time given how comfortable modern life is.

— Joel Runyon (@joelrunyon) July 6, 2018

6/ That's where "drop a plane out of the sky" comes in…

— Joel Runyon (@joelrunyon) July 6, 2018

7/ If you want to get unstuck – drop a plane out of the sky (metaphorically) on your character.

— Joel Runyon (@joelrunyon) July 6, 2018

8/ Do something drastic. Change the fabric of your character's reality. Force the character (read: you) to walk through the door they can't come back through. Change the scene.

— Joel Runyon (@joelrunyon) July 6, 2018

9/ Then figure out what a good character would do in your situation and do that. The story takes care of the rest.

— Joel Runyon (@joelrunyon) July 6, 2018
Tweet
Pin
Share
0 Shares

Filed Under: Mindset, Stories

About Joel Runyon

I started IMPOSSIBLE to push myself to try to live a life worth writing about by pushing my limits, living an adventure & telling a great story by doing the impossible. You can get free updates in your inbox via your new favorite newsletter, free fitness training tutorials, and see all my businesses at Impossible X and our philanthropic efforts at Impossible.org

Comments

  1. Steve T. says

    May 14, 2019 at 7:29 pm

    Ok it is ironic that I am trying to get back to flying for a living and I now live under the approach end of the local big metro airport to be closer to my dream of flying. So it is very, very, very unlikely but these airliners are only a couple of thousand feet away from my home. Not sure I want to picture that a plane drops out of the sky, but it is a good reminder every 4 minutes when they fly overhead. LOL

    Reply
  2. Steve T. says

    May 14, 2019 at 7:31 pm

    By the way, I pictured the plane coming down and it got me up to do my hour walk, might be something to this!

    Reply
  3. Leesalu says

    May 15, 2019 at 3:29 pm

    This is just what I needed to hear today. Do. the. thing. (and don’t think about it any longer). Pure movement.

    Reply
  4. Sanjay Prafullachandra Doshi says

    May 20, 2019 at 2:20 am

    Move your butt and things get started !

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

the-impossible-shirt

Hi, I'm Joel Runyon


I created IMPOSSIBLE to help people push their limits by taking on impossible challenges and living a good story.

Follow @joelrunyon

My I recently finished running 7 ultra marathons on 7 continents and raised nearly $200k for Pencils of Promise. Read more about my story here.

Subscribe & Listen To The Podcast

How To Start A Blog Walkthrough

how-to-start-a-blog-guide
impossible abs

no-excuse-workout

cold-shower-therapy

The 777 Project

THE IMPOSSIBLE FAMILY

  • IMPOSSIBLE • Blog + HQ
  • IMPOSSIBLE Fitness • Tutorials & Training
  • IMPOSSIBLE Podcast • Podcast
  • IMPOSSIBLE X • Businesses
  • IMPOSSIBLE.org • Giving
  • IMPOSSIBLE Gear • Apparel + Supplements

"How To" Guides

  • How To Start A Blog: The Definitive Guide
  • How To Start A Podcast: The Definitive Guide

Looking For Something?

About The Impossible Shirt

IMPOSSIBLE®

  • Impossible X®
  • Impossible.org
  • Impossible Gear™
  • Impossible Fitness ®
  • Impossible Nutrition ®

RECENT

  • Vulnerability is Overrated
  • 12 Things I’ve Learned From Running IMPOSSIBLE ® For 12 Years
  • How I Got In The Best Shape of My Life at 35
  • Why I Created Impossible Sleep™
  • It’s almost too late

Inspiration

  • An Unexpected Ass Kicking
  • How Bad Do You Want It?
  • The Iron & The Soul
  • The Only 2 Real Excuses Why People Refuse To Take Cold Showers

We Built a School! (2012)

impossible-pop-school

And We Built 7 More! (2017)

777-project

| Copyright © 2022 | Built on Genesis & Hosted By BlueHost | Affiliate Disclosure | An Impossible X Company

IMPOSSIBLE®, the IMPOSSIBLE® logo, IMPOSSIBLE HQ®, IMPOSSIBLE X®, IMPOSSIBLE Nutrition®, and IMPOSSIBLE Fitness® are registered Trademarks of IMPOSSIBLE X LLC.

The IMPOSSIBLE List™, Push Your Limits™, and Cold Shower Therapy™ are trademarks of IMPOSSIBLE X LLC.