Notes

PROPER WRITING FORMAT.

Assignments in the class will use:

• Present tense
• 3rd person
• visual voice   

The 3rd person/present tense

- A character is “narrating” the story as it is happening.

eg. Mark picks up the gun and holds it in his hands. It begins to tremble,as if alive.

-It presents a more immediate and urgent feel to the material.

The “3rd person/present tense”

 Commonly used it:

- Screenplays

• The story/film is unfolding as we read it.
• Fosters a more urgent and immediate feel to the story.

- Thriller & Suspense Genres

Passive vs Active voice 

Passive voice

• uses weak verbs
• tells what’s happening in the character’s head.
• distances the reader from the story

Active voice

• uses strong action verbs
• shows the action
• uses an immediate sentence structure
• conveys the story in a lively manner

Eg.The sky was blue with alot of fluffy white clouds – > passive

Mark was angry with jane for trickering him into helping her ”

Fluffy white clouds drift like cotton in the ocean blue sky – > active

Mark slams the door and stalks across the chamber. He Shouts,”Bitch!” ”

TIPS FOR WRITING:

• Everyone will not have problems coming up with a list of excuses for procrastination.
• The biggest problem is getting started.
• If you have a work in progress, NEVER stop for the night if you are stuck.
• Always solve the problem and keep going until you are in safer water. A good night’s sleep is important. Sleeping on problems is a myth.
• If you can’t get started on a project,start writing anyway. To do this,you need to have some words to type.
• It doesn’t matter what you write. You’ll soon begin to think and move in your own rhythm/pace.

Class Exercises 1A: Openers

Hannah walks into the library wearing a wet suit and a clown nose.

Her sight starts to wonder around the library searching for hot guys. She spots a guy with a pink blouse and his shirt tucked in. He has neat centre parting hair and seems to be holding on to a copy of MAXIM.He smells like fish but weirdly,she begins to feel attracted to him. 

She starts to approach him,but felt rather shy and just stayed behind the shelves peeping at him. Her heart raced like a wild donkey and her stomach feels like the home of crazy bees. Her weird outfit does not seem to be bothering herself at all,infact she feels rather attractive.

• Note down questions you were asking yourself as you wrote it.
  - Whose story am i telling?
  - What is the point of this story?
  - How can i engage the attention of the audience? 

Ex. IB

• Write 12 opening phrases in your blogs under openers page.
  Egs. – Sally keeps glancing at her watch..

*******Elements of dialogue

• Dialogue reveals character
  -A character will talk about himself and other people will talk about him. 
• Dialogue establishes relationships between characters
  -once you have established your main character’s POV, you can use dialogue with other characters to show that they have other attitudes,creating opposite/alternative POVs. 
  -This helps to create and sustain the element of conflict between characters. 
• Good effective dialogue will move the story forward
• Dialogue communicates faces and information to the auddiences
  -it conveys essential exposition
  -Characters will talk abut what happened,establishing the storyline.
• Dialogue comments on the action 
• Dialogue ties the script together
  - It is one of the devices that you as a writer can use to expand and enlarge your characters.     

  “If you can see it or heart it,don’t write it”
  -nevile smith

• Dialogue should be used sparingly
• Never tell the audience what they can see for themselves
  -Dialogue is no substitute for action 

In Hollywood when they look at a page and it’s got too much black,too much ink on the paper, they say:
” SHIT! It’s freeze the camera time!!”

• Common Mistake
  - Students sometimes never achieve a level of competence as they tend to reproduce conventional spoken language,long statements of “REAL TALKING”,and defend their decision by telling us that:
  ” It’s how the character speaks.”
• Good dialogue is not somebody’s ability to write authentic speech as heard in real life.
  -If that was all there is to it,you can just push a button on the tape recorder and than go collect your Oscar. 
• Good dialogue is the illusion of reality
  - You’ve got to know how to edit what people say without losing any of the spirit.
• Common mistake
• -students tend to create radio shows with images.  
   

Exercise: Writing dialogue

The exercise:

• Write a short scene composed of dialogue between husband and wife.

Husband,:” Hey honey, Im home.”

Wife,”Oh finally,i thought you got into an accident..Wait. Have you been drinking?”

H: “Erm,i can explain. We had this huge client and..”

Wife butts in,” You used this excuse the LAST time.”

Husband,” Ok fine, John and the rest asked me to come along to relieve some stress from work and…. Cmon hun don’t look at me like that!”

Wife,” You need to stop hanging around with them Tim. I told you this last time. I dont mind the drinking but i just wish the next time you do,you would phone home and tell me. Instead of me sitting here like an ASS,waiting for YOU to get home.”

The real exercise:

• Repeat “The experiment” but:
• Husband and Wife are YOUR own parents. 

 

Mum：huh 你去哪里？

Dad：去和John他們暍酒咯。

Mum：你跟我說你要吃畈，害我在這里等你。

Purpose of the exercise:

We write best what we know well

Storytelling Tool 1: Observation

• Adopt a keen eye
• Develop a natural sense of curiosity
  - An observed event,when subject to simple questions,can set up a sequence of possiblities that will develop into a story worth telling. 
• Whom am i writting about?
• Who is my character?
• What is he/she/it like?
• What does he/she/it do?
• What happens to him/her/it in the story

-People rarely observe familar people or things closely

-Most people pass through the day with 20-30 awareness

Observe in a conscious way.

Develop the ability to see and record people:

• Their movements
• Their physical characteristics
• The setting/places they’re in

Exercise:People-watch

1. Walk into the canteen/library,etc and watch people pass by.
2. Eventually,one will catch your attention.
3. Write down as many details as possible through observation.
4. Repeat steps 1-3 for a second character.
5. Transcribe all these details into the “People-watch” page that will create on your blog.

 

Characterization : Defining the character

The character is the heart,the soul and nervous system of your story.

It is through your characters that the viewers experience emotions.

Without a character,there is no action.
Without a action,you have no conflict.
Without conflict,you have no story.
Without story,you have no screenplay.

Developing Characers.

When developing a character,ask yourself:
-who is your character?
-Who does he want?
-What is his quest?
-What drives him to the resolution of the story?

1. Establishing your main character.
Characters should have a 3 Dimensional structure. 

a)Physiology

• sex
• Age
• Height,weight
• colour of hair,eyes,skin
• posture
• Appearance
• Defects,abnormalities,deformities,birth Marks,diseases
• Heredity

b)Sociology

• Class(lower,middle,upper)
• Occupation:type of work,hours of work,income,condition of work,attitude towards organization suitability for work
• Education:Amount,kind of schools,marks,favourite subject,poorest subjects,aptitudes.
• Home Life:parens living,earning power,orphan,parents serperated/divorced,parent’s habits,parents’s mental development,parent’s vices,neglect,character’s marital status.
• Religion
• Race,Nationality
• Place in the community;leader among friends,clubs,sports
• Political Affilitations
• Amusements:hobbies,books,newspapers,magazines he/she reads. 

c)Psychology

• Sex life,moral standards
• Personal Premise,Ambition
• Fustration,chief Disppointments
• Temperament:choleric,easy-going,pessimistic,optimistic
• Attitude towards life:resigned,militant,defeatist
• Complexes:obessions,inhibitons,superstitions,phobias
• Personality;extrovert,introvert
• Abilities:language,talents
• Qualities,imagination,judgement,taste,poise
• I.Q
• What is the deep and personal secret this character has which he is desperate to protect/hide?

Interior

The interior life takes place from birth til the moment your story begins.

It is a process that forms character,[when you start formulating your character from birth,you see your character build in body and form]

• How old is he when the story begins?
• where does he live?
• Does he have siblings?
• What kind of childhood did he have?
• What was his relatoionship to his parens?
• What kind of child was he?
• is he married,single,widowed,seperated or divorced?

 EXTERIOR

It is a process that reveals character.

• Who are they and what do they do?
• Are they sad or happy with their life?
• Do they wish their life was different? Another job,another wife?

YOU MUST CREATE YOUR CHARACTER IN RELATIONSHIP TO OTHER PEOPLE OR OTHER THINGS

All dramatic characters interact in 3 ways:

1.They experience conflict in achieving their dramatic need.
[eg.Need money-rob and banks,rob a store,rob a person?]

2.They interact with other characters.
[Either in an antagonistic,friendly or indifferent way]

3.They Interact with themselves.

[Eg.He overcame his fear of being caught by pulling off the robbery successfully]

THE ROLE OF CONFLICT

• Conflict is the central feature of the screenplay
  -man against man
  -man against environment
  -man against self
• It’s variations of sex,age,religion and culure which provide variety to the conflict.

Conflict = change

• As universal as change may be,people often resist it for fear of the unknown.
•  people must learn to cope with change if they want to survive
• The action in drama depends on conflict.

CONFLICT

• Definition
• (Opposition of persons or forces)
• It is the interaction of opposing ideas,interests or wills,and creates the plot.
• plot cannot be constructed without conflict.
• As your character attempted to reach their goals,they come into conflict with each other.
• The end of the story nears when the protagonist and antagonist approach their goals and the conflict rises to generate maximum suspense and excitement.

Creating conflict

• The protagonist and antagonist must be locked together with no possible compromise between them.
• This is done by having characers of strong conviction and purpose who will fight for what they want.
• The more evenly matched they are,the stronger the battle will be and the more suspense will be aroused.

Exercise:50 word stories

• Write an essasy of exactly 50 words.
• post 5 stories each on a “50 word stories”page on your blog.

Storytelling tool 2: Memory

• Your memory s a wonderful cabinet of past incidents which you have experienced or been told.
• These memories are points of reference to your own past existence

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. 

EXERCISE: LETTER TO SOMEONE FROM THE PAST

• This might be a person to whom you can no longer speak to
• Could be someone you completely lost touch with
• Even someone who is dead 
  You could describe yourself exactly as you are in present time and then try and contrast that image with how you were earlier,when you and the recipient were together.
• Entries to be posted on your blogs under the page “Letter To The Past”.

Purpose of the exercise  

• The letter is a practical, personal example of how a character underago an inevitable process of change.
• THis process of change is an essential ingredient of any effective story. 
• In dramatic writing the very essence is character change 

 

• EXPERIENCE 
• A storyteller should be concerned with the potential of every experience
• Everything abut you- where you were born,what food you eat,the bump on your forehead – your experiences are unique and irreplaceable.
• Many of your experiences are universal and traanslatable and can be used in any location.

TIP:

1. If you don’t know what to do with a character, make him yourself for a while. 
2. See how he relates to the world he have been thrown into.
3. Plunder your own personal background.
   The things that happen to you as you grow up and the things that are currently happenin to you make terrible story sources . 

Exercise 5: True & False stories  

• Write 2 short stories
• One is completely true
• one is completely false 

False
As i lay half awake on my bed this one night,when i was really exhausted after a hard day. I close my eyes and slowly drift to sleep. However,suddenly i got woken up by this sharp tweaking sound in a corner of my room. It had red eyes and it seems to be staring menacingly at me. Snaping out of my drowsiness, i dared not move. I lay still and quietly on my bed, with half open eyes afraid the creature know that im aware of its presence. I thought than, maybe if i pretend to be asleep it might leave quietly. 

Purpose of the exercise  

• A True story is not necessarily a good story 
• Good stories have to be reworked and re-worked. 
• True life stories do not offer neat and relevant endings. 
• Life is unpredictable
• In a story, we can and must control the events and sequences so that it gives the appearance of being like life.

Written paper

20th nov 2007 

Writing is rewritting 

• Revision and rewriting
• Rewrittng is not just rewriting
• Its rethinking , reconceptualizing and approaching new things
• Everyone should at least try and rewrite their stories 5 times.
• You will never find out what is really in you until you write and rewrite.
• This doesn’t mean just polishing phrases
• TIP:
  -Study your story, see it with a new vision and changed values
  -Write it afresh 
  -After this,then you can being “polishing”
  - Finding expressions with character, dialogue that has rhythm
  - It may take 2 or more versions to bring out the full colour of the characters or yourself. 

THE FINAL DRAFT

•  Read with a fixed eye  
  - Re read through your story carefully
  - Focus on a particular aspect each time, ie, character
• The chainsaw is your friend
  -now is the time to look at scripteconomy
  - why have your reader dying to finish afer 4 pages when they could be craving for more after 2?
• Crank it up
  - the stakes are high- can they be higher?
  - more to lose = more dramatic tension