Writing in Paradise
We are in Chautauqua New York, where Tananarive is receiving their famous award for her novel THE REFORMATORY. What a beautiful place, what an amazing woman with whom to share life's path. She is a LIONESS, and reminds me every day to be a LION.
Tananarive gives her speech tonight, and we get home tomorrow. My first job will be to be sure everything is on track for the CREATING UNFORGETTABLE CHARACTERS workshop coming up Saturday. I'm excited because one view of story is simply the interaction of plot and character. Or of humanity and the world that humanity lives within and perceives. Its so connected to those most basic questions:
Who am I? (What is a human being)
What is True? (What is the world and existence, and how can we know?)
There is a very real sense that "Plot" is nothing more than the way a specific human being deals with a specific slice of reality. Could be conflict within themselves, between each other, or between a human being and the environment…preferably all three!
This means that you can start ANYWHERE in that dynamic sphere. Give me four points, and I'll draw you the rest of the sphere. Tell me a human being and what they want, and you are led to questions about how the world is organized to offer resistance. Tell me a particular world situation, and I'll ask who is the perfect character to provide perspective, someone whose entire being will be exposed by attempting to solve this problem.
So we can start with the world…and create characters and plot. We can start with plot…and evolve character and world. Or start with character…and evolve the world and situation that will test them to the limit.
I tend to start with plot, then evolve the world and characters. Tananarive enters stories with character, which means that she really can't think about plot until she knows the people. Drives me crazy some times…but I can't deny the power and effectiveness of her approach. Hell, I'm not the one winning the L.A. Times book award, or the Chautauqua prize. THEY SEE SOMETHING in her work that is exceptional, and I can promise that that "something" is hidden somewhere in her beliefs, strategies, and actions.
She's going to go DEEP into her approach to Characterization this Saturday, and frankly I don't know exactly what she's going to say, and I can't be happier to take notes and interview her! There's still time to attend this amazing experience, from 2-5 pm Pacific this Saturday the 24th. Remember that because of the honesty and generosity of our students, we can afford to maintain our exclusive "slidiing scale" for the workshop: PAY WHAT YOU CAN.
Why? Because we love teaching. Love writers. Love WRITING. And love sharing that love.
So join us! Go to www.writerwebinar.com and get ready for magic!
Write with passion!
Steve
