{"id":2820,"date":"2010-06-23T14:37:45","date_gmt":"2010-06-23T14:37:45","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/etbscreenwriting.com\/\/?p=2820"},"modified":"2021-07-30T21:38:14","modified_gmt":"2021-07-30T21:38:14","slug":"how-to-use-byron-katies-four-questions-for-your-characters","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/etbscreenwriting.com\/how-to-use-byron-katies-four-questions-for-your-characters\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Use Byron Katie’s Four Questions"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"9254764_gal\"<\/a>MADRID<\/p>\n

Yesterday I posted Byron Katie’s four questions<\/a>. \u00a0These questions get at the fear and fearful thinking that causes personal suffering. \u00a0As many of you know the best definition of fear I have ever heard is: \u00a0“Fear is the anticipation of grief.” \u00a0Anticipating something often makes it true– That’s where the saying “a self-fulfilling prophecy” comes from. Here is how to use the questions in fictional character development:<\/strong><\/p>\n

1. \u00a0Is it true?<\/strong> Every character has a specific view of the world, of themselves and of their role in the role. \u00a0This is based on the person’s Character Type. \u00a0These beliefs and or philosophies limit the character in some profound way. \u00a0For example, a Power of Truth<\/a> character believes that the world is fundamentally uncertain. \u00a0These characters believe life is filled with hidden pitfalls, secret agendas and you can’t really trust in or believe anything.<\/p>\n

When operating out of fear these character doubt everyone and everything. \u00a0They don’t even trust themselves– second-guessing every decision, doubting themselves and others. \u00a0Mickey Sachs (Woody Allen) \u00a0in Hannah and Her Sisters <\/strong>at his most anxious neurotic state is a great comic example of the Power of Truth Character Type<\/a>. \u00a0Mickey says:<\/p>\n

\n
\u201c…I really hit bottom. \u00a0You know, I just felt that in a Godless universe, I didn’t want to go on living. \u00a0Now I happen to own this rifle which I loaded, believe it or not, and pressed to my forehead.\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cAnd I remember thinking… I’m gonna kill myself. \u00a0Then I thought\u2026 What if I’m wrong? What if there is a God? \u00a0I mean after all, nobody really knows. But then I thought, no. \u00a0You know, \u00a0maybe is not good enough. \u00a0I want \u00a0certainty or nothing.\u201d<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n

\u201c…I really hit bottom. \u00a0You know, I just felt that in a Godless universe, I didn’t want to go on living. \u00a0Now I happen to own this rifle which I loaded, believe it or not, and pressed to my forehead.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd I remember thinking… I’m gonna kill myself. \u00a0Then I thought\u2026 What if I’m wrong? What if there is a God? \u00a0I mean after all, nobody really knows. But then I thought, no. \u00a0You know, \u00a0maybe is not good enough. \u00a0I want \u00a0certainty or nothing.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mickey nearly shoots himself but the gun slides off his forehead and he escapes in the resulting mayhem. \u00a0He \u00a0run into the street, walks for hours and then retreats into a movie theater where a Marx Brother\u2019s movie is playing.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

2: Can you absolutely know it’s true? <\/strong>In a climatic moment, Mickey realizes he can’t be absolutely certain there is no God. \u00a0He says:<\/div>\n
\n
\n
\n
\u201c…I went upstairs to the balcony, and I sat down and, you know, the movie was a film that I’d seen many times in my life since I was a kid, and I always loved it. \u00a0And, you know, I’m watching these people up on the screen, and I started getting hooked on the film, you know?\u201d<\/div>\n
.<\/span><\/div>\n
\u201c…And I started to think how can you even think of killing yourself? I mean, isn’t it so stupid? \u00a0Look at all the people up there on the screen. \u00a0You know, they’re real funny, and, and what\u00a0if the worst is true?\u201d<\/div>\n
.<\/span><\/div>\n
\u201c…What if there’s no God, and you only go around once and that’s it? \u00a0Well, you know, don’t you want to be part of the experience? \u00a0You\u00a0know, what the hell, it’s not all a drag.”<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n
3: How do you react\u2014what happens\u2014when you believe that thought? <\/strong>When Mickey believes\u00a0there is no real certainty he fells anxious, depressed and self-destructive. \u00a0When he doubts everything he wants to kill himself.<\/div>\n
.<\/span><\/div>\n
4: Who would you be without the thought? <\/strong>Without obsessing about certainty or the lack of it, Mickey can begin to enjoy his life, relax and be more open, fun-loving and tolerant of ambiguity. \u00a0He says:<\/div>\n
\n
\n
I’m thinking to myself, geez, I should stop ruining my life… searching for answers I’m never gonna get, and just enjoy it while it lasts. \u00a0And\u2026 I mean, you know, maybe there is something. Nobody really knows. \u00a0I know, I\u00a0know maybe is a very slim reed to hang your whole life on, but that’s the best we have.\u00a0And\u2026 then, I started to sit back, and I actually began to enjoy myself.\u201d<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n
Absolutely nothing changed but Mickey’s attitude. \u00a0 When he let go of his obsessive thoughts, based on his fears and narrow world view, he became more comfortable with uncertainty and more available to life and it’s enjoyments.<\/div>\n
.<\/span><\/div>\n
Byron Katie’s process is another way of looking at the Leap of Faith<\/a> described in the Character Map eBook<\/a>. \u00a0Every character must, at some point, let go of their self-limiting view of the world and of themselves. \u00a0This is the only way to make the transformation that is so scary but so emotionally satisfying.<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

MADRID Yesterday I posted Byron Katie’s four questions. \u00a0These questions get at the fear and fearful thinking that causes personal suffering. \u00a0As many of you know the best definition of fear I have ever heard is: \u00a0“Fear is the anticipation of grief.” \u00a0Anticipating something often makes it true– That’s where the saying “a self-fulfilling prophecy” […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":11959,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"nf_dc_page":"","_uag_custom_page_level_css":"","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[47,108],"tags":[970,25,26,27,28,30,31,32,33,34,35,36,37,38,39,40,41,42,70,540,71],"class_list":["post-2820","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-random-thoughts-pop-culture-political-movie-television-blog","category-writing-advice-wednesday","tag-bryon-katie","tag-character","tag-characters","tag-emotional-toolbox","tag-etb","tag-film","tag-films","tag-laurie-hutzler","tag-movies","tag-nine-character-types","tag-screenplay","tag-screenplays","tag-screenwriting","tag-script","tag-scripts","tag-scriptwriting","tag-tv","tag-writing","tag-writing-advice","tag-writing-exercises","tag-writing-tips"],"acf":[],"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":["https:\/\/etbscreenwriting.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/30710870_10211699141895539_4496568718662303744_n.jpg",960,720,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/etbscreenwriting.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/30710870_10211699141895539_4496568718662303744_n-150x150.jpg",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/etbscreenwriting.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/30710870_10211699141895539_4496568718662303744_n-300x225.jpg",300,225,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/etbscreenwriting.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/30710870_10211699141895539_4496568718662303744_n-768x576.jpg",768,576,true],"large":["https:\/\/etbscreenwriting.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/30710870_10211699141895539_4496568718662303744_n.jpg",960,720,false],"ttshowcase_normal":["https:\/\/etbscreenwriting.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/30710870_10211699141895539_4496568718662303744_n.jpg",125,94,false],"ttshowcase_small":["https:\/\/etbscreenwriting.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/30710870_10211699141895539_4496568718662303744_n.jpg",75,56,false],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/etbscreenwriting.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/30710870_10211699141895539_4496568718662303744_n.jpg",960,720,false],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/etbscreenwriting.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/30710870_10211699141895539_4496568718662303744_n.jpg",960,720,false],"Image 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fear I have ever heard is: \u00a0“Fear is the anticipation of grief.” \u00a0Anticipating something often makes it true– That’s where the saying “a self-fulfilling prophecy”…","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/etbscreenwriting.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2820","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/etbscreenwriting.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/etbscreenwriting.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/etbscreenwriting.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/etbscreenwriting.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2820"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/etbscreenwriting.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2820\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/etbscreenwriting.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/11959"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/etbscreenwriting.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2820"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/etbscreenwriting.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2820"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/etbscreenwriting.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2820"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}