Writing Exercises
After a holiday break, it time to start flexing those muscles again, with more writing exercises.
As well as a relevant video essay I’ve found, here’s a writing exercises to help kickstart your creative process. It’s exercises like this that form part of my One Hour Screenwriter course, which will help you write an entire feature film script in 22 weeks. You can purchase it at the shop here. You can also read testimonies here that show my methods have worked for many different writers.
This week, it’s time to get a room…
Describe a Room and How It Made You Feel.
Take a moment and describe a room you remember vividly from your childhood. What kind of room was it? What was in the room? Make a list as quickly as possible of all the physical details you remember.
Look in every corner in your mind’s eye. What do you see? What do you hear? Jot down memories, descriptions and objects as you remember them.
Write as rapidly as possible. Write in no particular order. Don’t worry about being creative, articulate or interesting. Just write!
Next, populate the room. Remember the individuals from your childhood who would come from and go to that room. How do they enter? How do they inhabit the space? What are they doing in the room? What do they want? What do you or others do in response?
Describe each person you remember in the room as clearly and specifically as you can.
Describe your reactions to those people. Are you glad they came or are you anxious for them to leave? Why?
Now have those people speak. What is are the replies or how are people answering one another? How do you feel about these people? Describe your interactions with as much detail as you can.
Continue to write and remember the time and place. Do the room and/or people in it spark any other memories from childhood or beyond? Do any of the objects in the room have a particular meaning or evoke specific feelings? Describe these in greater detail.
Write for about 10 minutes or until you have exhausted all your memories of the room and people in it. Dig deep to find the child you once were.
Now try writing this exercise from your main character’s perspective and concentrate on your character’s fears. Many of our deepest fears originate in childhood.
Can you use this exercise to further excavate your character’s fears? What did you discover? How can you use this material in your character present? How can you make those childhood fears active in the here and now?
How are those childhood fears activated in the immediate story as it unfolds in Act Two?
Video Essay of the week
Speaking of fear and details, relating to reactions, now you see it has a great video essay:
Let me know what you think of this week’s writing exercise by emailing me at [email protected]. I’d love to hear from you as we go forward with more of these writing exercises. Next week, it’s time to end it all…
Until then, remember- all you need to do is Get Started and Keep Going!
– Laurie
I hope you’ve been enjoying Writing Advice Wednesday for the last few months, It’s exercises like this that form part of my One Hour Screenwriter course, which will help you write an entire feature film script in 22 weeks. You can purchase it at the shop here. You can also read testimonies here that show my methods have worked for a variety of writers.
This week, it’s time to really let loose…
Describe what makes you explode
Write about something that makes you furious. It can be a work situation, a political issue, a personal dispute with someone, an aggravating annoyance of modern life, an unreasonable demand made upon you, an infuriating relationship or anything else that raises your blood pressure and makes you want to scream!
Take seven minutes and describe as completely as you can the source of your ire and outrage.
Is your anger generated by a specific person? What does he or she look like? What exactly does the person say or do to drive you mad? Describe the physical circumstances of the dispute or bad blood between you. Be as specific as you can.
Is your anger generated by an issue, situation, or annoyance of modern life? What is it about those circumstances that is so
unfair, unreasonable, outrageous or personally offensive?
How does your anger about this make you feel? Does some kind of fear trigger your anger? Be as florid and passionate as you can.
Now take seven minutes to argue and rage from the opposite point of view. Put yourself in the other person’s shoes or on the other side of the issue.
Describe yourself or the situation from the opposing perspective. Be as detailed and cutting as you can.
Make just as strong a case why you are totally wrong, misguided, insensitive or uncomprehending of their position or situation.
Discuss in detail why you are deluded, naïve, selfish, stubborn, shallow or ungrateful. Be as passionate and as convincing as you can.
Great writers argue just as ardently for their villains as they do for their heroes. Even though the villain may be wrong, destructive or deluded, he or she must have a strong personal rationale for all actions and choices.
Explore what fear might be driving the antagonist’s behavior or position. Be zealous on his or her behalf. Suspend your judgment and personal opinion and really try to see the world from your antagonist’s point of view.
Write down all the reasons why your antagonist believes he or she is justified in taking action against your character.
Outline in as much detail as possible your antagonist’s rationale. Describe why your antagonist truly believes he or she is right.
Video Essay of the Week
Speaking of antagonists, Lessons from the Screenplay reminds us of one of the best examples in recent memory:
Let me know what you think of this week’s writing exercise by emailing me at [email protected]. I’d love to hear from you as we go forward with more of these writing exercises. Next week, you’ll find out just how much a simple conversation can reveal…
Until then, remember- all you need to do is Get Started and Keep Going!
– Laurie
At the heart of any character’s inner conflict is change or transformation. The rage and divide in US politics is all about the perception that the country is changing. “It’s not the country I know anymore.”
Demographics are changing. Social mores are changing. Moral taboos are changing, Resistance to these changes is summed in the theme song of the television hit All in the Family.
In a story, someone or something provokes some kind of shift or change in the character or the character’s world. Change is disturbing because what comes next is uncertain. “You are no longer who I expect you to be. You are not predictable.”
Studies have shown that people would rather get a predictable electric shock (pain) now than maybe be (unpredictably) shocked (or not) later. People show greater anxiety when waiting for an unpredictable shock (or pain) than an expected one. The Joker says: “Because it’s all part of the plan.”
Writers are always advised to write what they know. What writers (and all other human beings) know the most about is change.
Living, by definition, is to change. Nothing in life is static. Change and transformation are all around you. Both impact you every day. You live in an unsettling and constantly changing world. That is especially true today, with the backtracking, outright lying, and whiplash-inducing policy and personnel shifts in the White House.
The world is (and always has been) full of political uncertainty, evolving relationships, personal and professional ups and downs, and, conflicting responsibilities, loyalties, commitments, and desires. Your characters should experience their world in exactly the same way.
You know how painful change and transformation can be. You have experienced extreme, dramatic and, sometimes excruciating change. Your life has been full of unexpected reversals, complex dilemmas, and difficult growth experiences- and so should the lives of your characters. (And there’s no reason why all this turmoil, chaos, and pain shouldn’t be hilarious. Great comedians know: “If it doesn’t hurt. It isn’t funny”.
One of the downsides of the awesomeness of human consciousness is the ability to worry about the future. We know the future exists, but we don’t know what’s going to happen in it. In animals, unpredictability and uncertainty can lead to heightened awareness.
What’s unique about humans is the ability to reflect on the fact that these future events are unknown or unpredictable, This uncertainty itself can lead to a lot of distress, anxiety, and pain. And that is scary.
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What better time than Halloween week to discuss fear- an important part of my Character Map eBook. Below is a short excerpt.
The Character’s Fear
There are nine specific types of fears which can drive characters’ actions.
At the deepest root of all these fears is: How the character believes he or she is or might become unloved or unlovable.
The character asks: “What must I hide or deny so that others will love and/or accept me? If others knew who I really am they would surely turn surely away from me.” This is the secret doubt or dread the character must face in order to live in his or her true self (instead of the false self of the mask). The character’s fear is that deep anxiety, worry, self-doubt of inner shame that prevents the character from making a Leap of Faith toward the true self. Indeed, it is only possible to be truly loved by taking the chance to be one’s self.
Indeed, it is only possible to be truly loved by taking the chance to be one’s self. It is only through honesty, openness, and vulnerability that intimacy can be built. Without such intimacy, there can be no real love.
Fear and Shame
A character’s fear is the greatest burden he or she carries. It is the yoke the character cannot escape. It defines the secret shame that character never wants to face or acknowledge. It is the unspoken reason the character truly believes he or she is (or could be) a disappointment or disgrace to others (and therefore could be or become unloved or un-loveable).
It is the unspoken reason the character truly believes he or she is (or could be) a disappointment or disgrace to others (and therefore could be or become unloved or un-loveable).
What secret fault or failing does your character hide? Does he or she ask— Am I unworthy of love? Will I ever deserve love? What must I do to win or work for love? What do I have to do to prove I am loveable? Will I always do or say the wrong thing? Am I such a failure or disappointment that I will never be loved?
Choose one of these questions and force your character to confront this issue in all his or her dealings with others— and especially with the antagonist. Force your character to risk everything in facing the fear behind the question. Unless your character faces his or her fear or secret shame, your character will never be free. Your character will constantly be forced to cling the mask and seek its “protection.” A character that hides a secret shame will never be able to live a truly authentic life. As long as that fear and shame exist.
Fear Drives All Conflict
Whenever you are having trouble with a scene, a sequence or an act, ask yourself— How is the character’s fear manifesting itself in this situation? How is the character denying, avoiding, camouflaging or hiding the fear? How is the character trying to cope with or manage the fear? How is the fear tempting the character to get into trouble? How is the character facing the fear? Or, how is the character surrendering to or personally manifesting the fear?
You can purchase The Character Map at the ETB store for more insights in creating a three-dimensional, engaging character that will help you craft the best character you can.
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Each type of film has an emotional structure, what we term alien invasion films, disaster films, horror films, are most often Power of Reason films.
It is always impossible to “understand” the inexplicable or the supernatural. Horrific, bizarre, or nightmarish occurrences cannot be explained, understood or approached in a rational manner.
For example, What is the answer for those stranded on the Lost mysterious island? How do they respond when chaos and terror repeatedly break into and disrupts their lives? In every episode of the highly-rated Season One of Lost, salvation comes through creating personal connections and developing more intimate relationships with each other.
Each inexplicable or horrific event brings the survivors closer to one another. They deepen their bonds and learn more about each other. Certainly, there are interpersonal conflicts among everyone stranded on the beach. But their experience tells them (and us) that in the face of chaos or horror all we have is each other. In fact, the early tagline of the show was: “Live together or die alone.”
Human connection is the only antidote to chaos and horror. People always cling closer together in the face chaos or disaster. We all live together or we die alone.
What contaminates, soils or infects us so that we lose our souls or our humanity? What is the difference between a man and a monster? How does the human become monstrous? How does the monstrous become human? What are limits of connectedness and intimacy? How do we become distanced or alienated from our emotions or the warmth of others? Those are some of the fundamental questions at the heart of the Power of Reason story.
Jack Shephard, on Lost, is a Power of Reason character. He wants to solve things logically but hits on the real theme of the show in this scene.
For more information on this Character Type and other Character Types click HERE
For more examples of all the character types, you can purchase my in-depth e-books at the ETB shop, or you can read more articles on all the “Power Of…” types including James Bond, Doctor Who, Batman and Sherlock Holmes, every Tuesday. There are also 9 pinterest boards full of character examples online. Check them out and let us know at [email protected] if you have any other suggestions.
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… (W)e stand at the rich uncertain dawn of a new level of scientific innovation. The wireless technology we carry in our pockets today was the stuff of the science fiction in our youth. Our technological arrogance mirrors more and more the Wellsian dystopia of dissatisfaction, while allowing us to feel safe and connected at all times. We can call, see or hear almost anything and anyone no matter where we are. For most people then, the only remote place remains within. “Know thyself” we do not.”
The above quote is from Guillermo del Toro, the director of Pan’s Labyrinth, and author Chuck Hogan writing in The New York Times about the sudden spate of Vampire movies and television shows like HBO’s True Blood or all the variations on the Dracula tale.
The internal conflict central to “Know Thyself” is key to making any script work. Over the course of a really satisfying film or television show a character makes that risky and dangerous “voyage within.” A character’s internal obstacles and emotional journey rivets the audience much more so than any external or physical threat the character faces.
A character’s internal conflict should create the kind of personal choice that pushes the character to take actions that define what is most fundamentally important or true in a character’s life. The character should be forced to make a stark, definitive and active choice of one fundamental value over another.
As one value is ultimately chosen, the character negates or surrenders the other competing value. Competing values are neutral. They are a simple (often one word) expression of a fundamental truth or an ideal a person holds dear. No value is inherently better or worse than another. For example: Freedom and Security are two fundamental American values.
America sees itself as “the home of the brave and the land of the free.” Lady Liberty is an iconic symbol of the nation. But to survive, every nation (or character) must be secure in its person, property and borders. Security is also a fundamental American value, especially in these potentially very dangerous times. The question is: What happens when a character (or country) is forced to make starker and starker choices in favor of one value over (or to the exclusion of) another?
How much freedom are you willing to sacrifice or surrender in order to be secure? As citizens are pushed to give up more personal autonomy, liberty or privacy, when do they cease to be free?
Alternatively, how much security are you willing to sacrifice or surrender in order to be free? If civil libertarians too often thwart important safety measures, can a nation be adequately protected and its citizens secure? As the risk rises and a nation (or person) is pushed to the brink, it is forced to chose one value over the other. In a script, a series of choices should lead to a final definitive action that negates or eliminates one value in favor of another.
Any decision driven by fear is a bad decision. Fear clouds judgment and it shakes a character’s confidence in his or her higher nature. The price of fear is often the sacrifice of a character’s soul and his or her truest most authentic self. Any decision driven by faith ultimately leads the character closer to those “better angels of our nature.” But the price of faith is high. It can lead to the sacrifice of a character’s life. When a character makes a decision based on faith he or she looks fear in the face and does not blink. The character realizes that even if his or her worst fear is realized, he or she will be okay. A bedrock of peace and serenity accompanies the character even if the price is death.
For example: In A Tale of Two Cities, Sidney Carleton says (as he goes to the guillotine standing in for his friend): “It is a far, far better thing that I do, than I have ever done; it is a far, far better rest that I go to, than I have ever known.”
Although all characters struggle with external events and obstacles, the deepest conflicts and greatest battles are always within the character. The Character Map eBook help you chart the values and emotional tensions deep inside the character and how those tensions lead to his or her transformational choices.
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“Fear is static that prevents me from hearing myself.” Samuel Butler (English novelist, essayist and critic, 1835-1902). Truer words were never spoken. A character’s fear is the greatest burden he or she carries. It is the constant “static” the character cannot escape. It defines the secret shame that character never wants to face or acknowledge. It is the unspoken reason the character truly believes he or she is (or could be) a failure, a disappointment or a disgrace to others (and therefore could be or become unloved or un-lovable).
Force your character to risk everything in facing his or her fear. Unless your character faces the fear or secret shame, your character will never be free. Your character will constantly be forced to cling the mask and seek its “protection.” A character that hides a secret shame will never be able to live a truly authentic life. As long as that fear and shame is lurking in the background the character will always be its slave.
Love and fear are inextricably bound together. All your character’s worries and anxieties about love will cluster right at the root of his or her fear. Your character’s worries and concerns about love don’t just color his or her romantic relationships. They bled into every single relationship and interaction the character has with another human being in the story. These fears are especially intense in dealing with the antagonist. The smart antagonist deliberately plays on this fear to try to weaken or tempt your character to be his/her own worst enemy. In a story and in life any decision based on fear is the wrong decision.
Your character’s fear is your most important emotional tool as a writer. Anytime you get in trouble in a scene, a sequence or an act— go right to your character’s fear. How does this constant underlying static of anxiety or worry operate in the dramatic or comedic action of the story? Bring the character’s fear to the surface in every scene, every sequence and every act. Take every opportunity to make the character’s physical and emotional situation and entanglements play off the fear and magnify it.
Make fear wreak havoc with the character internally. Find a way to demonstrate this conflict externally through the character’s actions. Make the worst thing that could possibly happen to the character take place on successively deeper and more risky personal levels. Then show us what the character does in response. Remember: It is through action that a person’s true character is revealed.
Fear isn’t just a prime motivator of protagonists. When antagonists do evil deeds they are most often motivated by fear. Giving the audience an glimpse of the antagonist’s fear humanizes him or her and makes this character a more complex and fully realized individual.
The above is an excerpt from The One Hour Screenwriter eBook.
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I have been silent on the blog these last few days because I’ve been struggling with a terrible cold. Not a pleasant way to spend a romantic holiday in Paris with my husband (he’s been sick too)– but there you have it. It’s a good thing we are staying with loving family members who have taken good care of us.
I am now preparing for a television show I’ll be working with in Europe. I just received a bio which describes a new character soon to be added to the show’s ensemble. It is a male character, a father, whose greatest fear is described as the terror that something might happen to his daughter.
When I first developed the Character Map I asked writers “What is your biggest fear?” This kind of answer would often come up. As adults we often fear most for those we love, especially our children.
I realized this was the wrong way to ask the question. I then asked “What was your biggest worry as a child?”
This question yielded much more useful answers. How do we turn around the character’s natural fear about a child’s welfare into something more specific to that particular character?
We must look at the ways the character is most worried about failing others and becoming unloved or unlovable. This often is traceable back to the character’s own childhood fears. These early fears powerfully stay with us and color our adult lives.
The question to ask the character (a father) in this case is– “How do you fear you might be the cause of something terrible happening to your child?”
This makes the fear specific and personal and keys it directly to the Character Type. Here are some examples:
I fear I am not strong enough to protect my child. If I show any weakness my family might be exposed to danger. This is at the root of the fear for a Power of Will father (like Tony Soprano on The Sopranos).
I fear I am not good enough to protect my child. If I don’t judge correctly or make bad choices my family might be exposed to danger. This is at the root of the fear for a Power of Conscience father (like Coach Eric Taylor on Friday Night Lights).
I fear I am not cautious enough to protect my child. If I don’t see all the hidden dangers my family might be exposed to danger. This is at the root of the fear for a Power of Truth father (like the father fish, Marlin, in Finding Nemo).
I fear I am not extraordinary enough to protect my child. If I don’t act with honor and heroism my family might be exposed to danger. This at the root of the fear for a Power of Idealism father (like William Wallace in Braveheart).
I fear I am not objective enough to protect my child. If I don’t act rationally my family might be exposed to danger. This at the root of the fear for a Power of Reason father (like Dr.Matt Fowler in In the Bedroom)
I fear I am not successful enough to protect my child. If I don’t have enough money my family might be exposed to danger. This is at the root of the fear for a Power of Ambition father (like Fletcher Reed in Liar Liar)
I fear I am not responsible enough to protect my child. If I don’t have enough maturity my family might be exposed to danger. This is at the root of the fear for a Power of Excitement father (like Samuel Faulkner in Nine Months).
I fear I am not useful enough to protect my child. If I my family doesn’t realize I know best they might be exposed to danger. This is at the root of the fear for a Power of Love father (like Stanley Banks in Father of the Bride).
I fear I am not significant enough to protect my child. If I am too simple my family might be exposed to danger. This is at the root of the fear for a Power of Imagination father (like Guido Orefice in Life is Beautiful).
The trick is to make the fear personal to the character and fit the Character Type. Simply fearing for a child is too general. The fear must speak directly to the character’s own Worldview, View of Love and how one protects and cherishes those one loves. Or how specifically one might fail to do so.
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In my Character Map workshops I talk a lot about fear. This article from the Huffington Post makes a clear statements about fear in politics, everyday life and storytelling. It is a wonderful summary of the discussion of fear I have with workshop participants. (The italic in parenthesis are my additional comments to the author’s statements.)
The following article excerpt was written by Kathlyn and Gay Hendricks:
]]>If we could counsel John McCain at this moment in history, when he has squandered much of the honor and good will Americans used to grant him, we’d embrace him, look him in the eye and say this:
“Go ahead and let yourself feel scared. It’s normal, it’s human and it helps you connect with the rest of us. When you feel scared, let yourself feel it. (Face it) Breathe with it. Dance with it. Above all, don’t tempt the universe by shaking a fist at fear and saying that you will not acknowledge its existence. Doing that puts you on a collision course with the forces of nature, like shaking your fist at thunder and saying you’re never going to listen to it again.
Instead, let your fear in. Speak about it to the ones you love. (Make yourself vulnerable and let intimacy and love in.) …Ultimately, love is the best cure for fear. If you really want to have a great relationship with yourself and other people, love your fear (face your fear) just as it is, and watch the miracles that unfold as a result.”
What happens when you let yourself feel your fear is that it opens up a direct connection to your creativity. The more you’re willing to open up (face) and embrace your fear (and be vulnerable), the more creativity flows through you. We would never have believed that remarkable fact until we experienced the truth of it ourselves and saw it work its magic on many other people.
An Integrity Problem
Being cut off from fear or any emotion puts you out of integrity with yourself. As one our mentors, Jack Downing, M.D., put it, “Integrity glitches cause body twitches.” The source of John McCain’s odd display of twitches, jaw-clenches and chilly grins is a fault-line gap of integrity (and authenticity) at the center of himself, a place where he has cut himself off from fear and the rest of us.
He wants to become a super hero, The Man Without Fear. That’s not a bad idea for a cartoon, but in real life (and in most storytelling) it would be a disaster. In real life (and in real stories), we need real heroes, people who are willing to acknowledge fear (and face fear) and look within it, to the gift it brings.
Read the whole article here: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/kathlyn-and-gay-hendricks/body-politics-the-source_b_134900.html