Class Monday 2-20-22

In class on Monday, the main topic of conversation was dialog and how crucial it is for developing your story.  As professor Jenkins mentioned, it moves the story along and provides the reader with information.

When it comes to dialog though you have to be careful because it’s easy to make mistakes and in class we discussed some of the major ones. One issue is having too much dialog. While some people remember monologues, everybody remembers one- liners.  For example, “I’ll be back”. I don’t even have to say what movie or actor said that because I’m sure you knew, the second your read it.

Another issue is sounding too real and using too much jargon. With using slang and trying to sound real you can run the risk of sounding fake. You need to just focus on grammar short cuts and conveying complete interactions.

Another thing to add to the list of no-no’s is using a name too often. It’s not natural and it doesn’t sound right.  You also have to avoid telling the reader what they already know. Don’t repeat yourself.

You also need to give your characters distinctive voices or else you run the risk of having them all sound the same. Consider their education, culture, accent, regionalism, age, physicality and the list goes on and on. All of these things can help determine how you want to portray your characters voices.

And finally, a important and major thing to consider when writing dialog is making sure to convey the emotion of your characters. Make sure that the dialog reflects what they are feeling.  It helps the reader relate.

Class on monday we learned that the brain is the most powerful source of conflict and I find this comment to be completely true. It goes with the idea that the best antagonist is yourself.  Which reminds me of one of my favorite shows,  United States of Tara (showtime)

Tara combates to control her body while struggling with DID, dissociative identity  disorder. It is pretty crazy and awesome at the same time, at least in my opinion. Plus its based out of Overland Park, Ks.

We than discussed that we need to be careful not use the "God Machine" which Jenkins described as totally proponderous, which I agree with. 

That in particular reminds me of my nerdy RPG days when a group of friends and I would all write a story with our own characters on a message board, all of us contributing. Every once in a while someone would try to do what we called "Godmodding" or "power playing" and they would give their players outrageous powers or abilities or made it so their characters never died, which was unrealistic and boring. They usually got banned. 

But moving on, Jenkins went of to use the term deus ex machina, which means for "An unexpected power or event saving a hopeless situation, esp. as a plot device in a play or novel."(google.com) which Jenkins called unrealistic and we cannot have an external force assist a character. Which I obviously agree with.

We also discussed in class the three act structure, which looks like a baseball diamond. this system will help us the the structure of our stories and see how our story will develop. 

Wednesday class 2-1-12

Class today was more on character development. We went into further discussion of the Maslow Hierarchy and how when we are below existing, we are more focused on ourselves. That being said, we can still strive to help others and by doing so we are also more focused on others and our mind and spirit. We hope to aspire and are more giving.

The opposite of that is being more in tune with our animalistic side and we are lazy and self-seeking.  Jenkins said it is The Body v. The Soul. The soul being more in tune with our spiritual side and the Body the animalistic side.

We then went on to discuss characters v. characterization. Characterization is something we want to avoid when developing and writing about characters. It’s just the exterior shell of a character, characterization, and it’s a cliché we want to avoid.

Characters though are revealed under pressure. We then went on to discuss a very sad scenario where two characters are put under pressure when trying to decide which special needs kids to save from a burning school bus, on a bridge.  And after making assumptions before and seeing how some of them are untrue because of it just being a characterization, we really see who the characters are when put under pressure. Very interesting.

Monday Class, 1-30-12

Monday we talked more about characters. The question we are to always ask when writing a story is, who? Who are you writing about? Who cares?

We also learned that there are two essential things needed to make your characters interesting; active characters (who try and take control in every situation) and passive characters (passively go through life).           

When I consider which one of these characters I would be, I’m pretty sure I’d be a passive one, sadly. I like to avoid confrontation and be a silent observer in most situations.

As readers, we like out of the ordinary and passive doesn’t fit that description often. And when writing a story, we must make sure that the protagonist is an active character.

As an active character, they needs motivation. What makes them do or react in certain ways? Many ignore finding the motivation for a character, yet as Professor Jenkins mentioned, it is key to having a good story.

To figure out what our characters do what we do, Jenkins introduced the Maslow Hierarchy of needs. Here is a graph I found that depicts what we should consider for our characters and their development:

It’s very interesting and it’s hard to figure out where I am personally along the chart. I know am past exist and I know that I’ve found love and belonging, yet I’m not sure if I’ve found security yet. That’s what I’m going to college for, to at least find a way to have financial security, hopefully. Very interesting.  

Friday class- Jan 27th

For class Friday we went over how to find original characters. Being original is important when writing a story, because the more original you are the more captivated your reader will be.

            The recipe for a perfect story is two characters, one conflict, and one resolution. The point of view of the story comes from the protagonist or the antagonist.

            We try to avoid 1^st level creativity and clichés. We don’t want our audiences to tune out and not listen to our message. What drives the story and with the antagonist trying to stop the protagonist is power.

            There are multiple ways to find inspiration for new characters. Professor Jenkins advised using public sources and such, not just your friends and colleges around you because using your friends and colleges as inspiration can lead to clichés, which we are trying to avoid.

Characters

Four of the Typical Characters

Wendy- She is what you imagine when you think of a smart Asian. She excels in academics and is president of the student council and proud member of the marching bad. Yet secretly she yearns to become a super famous rock star.

Alison- She is the captain of the cheerleading team. She is the most popular girl in town, with her parents involved in city government. Yet secretly she is seriously depressed and longs to be part of the super alternative indie group at school.

Ted- He is the kid that nobody remembers. He hangs out with the potheads and Rastafarian. Yet he hates his social status and is desperately in love with Alison, the captain of the cheerleading team.

Jamar- He is the african-american captain of the football team and debate team. He is a wanted by all the ladies, and already has scholarships to all the best schools.  But he has dreams of becoming the best dub-step  DJ in the world!

Class #3- 1/13/2012

So Friday we discussed the basic elements of a story. Every story has a message where the writer is trying to persuade you to change.  The core of a story includes three key items; characters, conflict and resolution. There must be at least two characters, a minimum of one conflict and finally at least one resolution to that one conflict.  With that being said, here is my attempt at a story.

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Once upon a time there was a girl named Mallory and beautiful German-shepherd mix named Izzie. When Izzie was about a year old, Mallory and her fiancée decided that it was time to let Izzie roam their apartment freely while they were away at school or work during the day.  Unfortunately Izzie’s first day of being free to roam the apartment was horrible, at least for Mallory. Mallory had come home, after a long day at school and work, to ripped up papers, a toppled over trashcan, and an unwelcome present waiting in their hall way. Izzie had been so happy to see Mallory when she had first entered the apartment, but the moment Mallory saw the mess, Izzie hid in her kennel for most of the evening, embarrassed of her mistake.  Mallory and her fiancée tried many different things to keep Izzie from making messes before the left the apartment, but every time they came home to another mess or broken item. They had finally come to a point where they were about to give up and leave Izzie in her kennel while they were out, when Mallory had an idea.  One morning, before leaving for school, she hid the trashcan, put way anything izzie could destroy, and took the pup to do her business outside. She then took some dog treats and tossed them to her pup,  “Be my good girl, Izzie, I’ll be back!” Mallory said, before leaving quickly while she was eating her treat.  Surprisingly, after a full day of school and errands she came back to a happy pup and a clean apartment.  While it was probably the preparation before Mallory left for the day that left Izzie happy and less destructive, she likes to think that it is the simple saying “ Be my good girl, Izzie, I’ll be back”