Writing Exercises
As well as a relevant video essay I’ve found, I’ve given you writing exercises if you need some motivations to start a new script or novel. 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 lots of different kinds of writers.
This week, as this series of Writing Exercises comes to a close, it’s time to think about the person behind the typewriter- yourself.
What Would You Be?
In the film Sideways, Miles Raymond (Paul Giamatti) loves a particular kind of wine, Pinot Noir. When someone asks him why he is so passionate about this specific variety he answers with a wonderful description of the wine.
In describing the wine, he is actually describing himself.
Maya: “You know, can I ask you a personal question, Miles?”
Miles: “Sure.”
Maya: “Why are you so in to Pinot?”
Miles: (he laughs softly) Maya: “I mean, it’s like a thing with you.”
Miles: [continues laughing softly]
Miles Raymond: “Uh, I don’t know, I don’t know. Um, it’s a hard grape to grow, as you know. Right? It’s uh, it’s thin-skinned, temperamental, ripens early. It’s, you know, it’s not a survivor like Cabernet, which can just grow anywhere and uh, thrive even when it’s neglected. No, Pinot needs constant care and attention. You know? And in fact, it can only grow in these really specific, little, tucked away corners of the world. And, and only the most patient and nurturing of growers can do it, really. Only somebody who really takes the time to understand Pinot’s potential can then coax it into its fullest expression. Then, I mean, oh its flavors, they’re just the most haunting and brilliant and thrilling and subtle and… ancient on the planet.”
Imagine you love or admire a particular kind of:
- Shoe
- Food item
- Beverage
- Item of clothing
- Method of transportation
- Locale (city, state, region or country)
- Animal
- House
- Weather
- Book
Describe one of these items in such a way that you could be describing what is special, unique, interesting, unusual, under-appreciated or unexpected about yourself.
Really put passion into your choice and description.
Now choose another item. Pretend you are very shy and must sell the object to someone you love but who hasn’t noticed you.
Use your description and sales pitch about the item to explain why you are a uniquely lovable person.
Only talk about the special qualities of the specific item. Never mention yourself.
Talking about one thing and describing something else is a great way to explore a character.
This technique builds interest and emotional intimacy. How would your main character describe him or her self by describing something else?
Video Essay of the Week
Speaking of the director, Alexander Payne…
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. It’s going to be a while before I post the next series of these, so your feedback would be incredibly helpful.
Until then, remember- all you need to do is Get Started and Keep Going!
– Laurie
If you do not tell the truth about yourself, you cannot tell it about other people. Virginia Woolf
A good writer thoroughly understands his or her characters’ emotions, inner conflicts and the whole process of internal transformation. Great writers dig deep to find this emotional truth within themselves. A Character Map charts internal conflicts and emotional transformation. In planning your story, each major character should be mapped. This process will help you get inside your character’s emotions. But first you have to start with yourself.
Why start with yourself? Answer: You are a complex, interesting, fully-formed three-dimensional human being. You constantly wrestle with a variety of strong emotions and struggle continually with a whole range of internal conflicts. These are the kinds of characters you should write about.
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 and challenge you every day. Both offer opportunities and threats.
Now more than ever you live in an unsettling and constantly changing world– economic, cultural, political and social norms are shifting all around us. The world is in turmoil, full of 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 from personal experience exactly 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 and pain shouldn’t be hilarious. Great comedians know– If it doesn’t hurt, it isn’t funny.)
So how do you create fictional characters out of all of this? How do you create stories filled with the kinds of emotions and changes you’ve experienced? It helps to have a process to turn your own raw material into fiction. Mapping your own character will help you create more authentic fictional characters. By understanding how change and transformation works in your life, you will gain insight into how to use this powerful process to create complex, interesting fully-formed three-dimensional fictional human beings-characters who are emotionally true and who have a life and integrity all their own.
I believe the creative process always starts with your own emotional truth. The only thing that makes your story unique is your personal point of view. Human beings have been telling stories since we were able to speak. There are no new stories. The only thing new is you and the way you see and experience the world. Who are you? What do you believe? What insights do you have to share with the world? What is the truth as you see it? All great writing moves from the personal to the universal. The Character Map eBook will help you dig deep and find the personal truth that resonate as universally compelling stories.
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