Abstract
This chapter details how the writer creates a Master Brainstorming List based upon six writing exercises. The first three are indirect engagement exercises: Questionnaire—an initial foray into a character; Biography—a preliminary take on the character’s personal history; Free Scene—a scenario to explore the character’s behavior. The second three are direct engagement exercises: Interview—converse with the character in an “I – You” dialogue; Monologue—getting into the “head space” of the character to hear what they have to say; Stream of Consciousness—bonding with the character to see what they are thinking and feeling. This chapter lays out an approach for each engagement exercise and provides an example of a Master Brainstorming List for the movie Up.
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Notes
- 1.
While scientific research has called into question the concept of “hemisphericity,” writers may use left brain and right brain as metaphors for specific types of writing exercises. See: The left brain / right brain myth, OECD.org, https://www.oecd.org/education/ceri/neuromyth6.htm.
- 2.
Allan Metcalf and David K. Barnhart, America in So Many Words: Words That Have Shaped America (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 1999), pp. 220–221.
- 3.
Ibid., p. 221.
- 4.
There is an example of a Master Brainstorming List at the end of this chapter.
- 5.
A concern sometimes arises about the questionnaire exercise: Are the answers to questions more a reflection of the writer’s take on characters or that of the characters themselves? This is a legitimate concern, one addressed at the end of this chapter in the section BRAINSTORMING STRATEGIES.
- 6.
If you prefer, use a pen and paper.
- 7.
I tell my students the Monologue and Stream of Consciousness exercises are like Spock on the TV series Star Trek conducting a “Vulcan mind meld” wherein he places his fingertips on a person’s forehead and merges his mind with theirs.
- 8.
Go Into The Story interview: Robin Swicord, Scott Myers (editor), Go Into The Story, May 30, 2017, https://gointothestory.blcklst.com/interview-robin-swicord-7d43e3fa8177.
References
Myers, S (editor) (2017). Interview: Robin Swicord; Go Into The Story.
Peterson, B & Docter, P (screenplay), Docter, P & Peterson, B & McCarthy, T (story) (2008). Up; Walt Disney Pictures / Pixar Animation Studios.
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Myers, S. (2022). Breaking Story II Master Brainstorming List. In: The Protagonist's Journey. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-79682-2_16
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