Review exercise: Letter To The Past
>> Purpose of the exercise
- The letter is a practical, personal example of how a character – YOU – undergo an inevitable process of change.
- This process of change is an essential ingredient of any effective story.
> Observation > learn from it.
> Experience
> Memory
- In dramatic writing, the very essence is character change.
A storyteller should be concerned with the potential of every experience.
- EVERYTHING about you – Where you were born, what food you eat, the bump on your forehead – your experiences are unique & irreplaceable.
- Many of your experiences are universal & translatable and can be used in any location.
TIP:
* If you don’t know what to do with a character, make him yourself for a while.
* When you make a character yourself, don’t be exactly like you.
* See how he relates to the world he has been thrown into.
* Plunder your own personal background.
The things that happen to you as you grow up and the things that are currently happening to you make terrific story sources.
All people have fragments of stories.
These potential ideas prompt your desire to know more.
Respond emotionally & intellectually to what you hear.
Good stories are born in the heart, not the head.
Initial ideas are sparked by emotions/memories (heart)
Development stage (in your head)
After all, you ARE the audience.
1. Take them on a ride of discovery
2. Feed them new info.
Memory:
Your memory is a wonderful cabinet of past incidents which you have experienced or been told.
TIP:
Write what you do not know because you will find some part of you that does know.
There is always room for personal discovery!
Experience: What you REALLY go through.
Memory: Manufactured. What you remember.
Sunart
Les Minston
