these questions to save time and get better prepared for writing:
· Why do I want to write this story?
· Am I passionate about my story?
· What is this story about?
· Whose is this story? Who is the driving force?
· Why should I care? Why should my audience care?
· Is this story about me, about my story, about my characters or about the audience?
· Does it appeal to the heart?
· Who is the target audience?
· What is the perception of the audience about the culture of the story?
· Have I forced my audience to ask both "What next?" and also "Why?"
· What does the hero want?
· Is this need real? Why?
· Is the hero driving the story?
· Is the hero growing to the place of his wound?
· Are the decisions of the hero also his actions? (Action=Decision)
· Is the past of the hero serving his decisions?
· How does the hero affect the world around her/him?
· Is the hero taken to the end of the line?
· There is a cost to pay: Is the hero paying it?
· Are the conflicts played out on three levels: inner (man to self); interpersonal (man to man); external (man to world/society/nature) & in 3 dimensions: physical, mental, emotional or moral?
· Is the hero’s risk a rising spiral?
· What are the elements of surprise?
· Does the story turn by coincidence? (It never should!)
· What is the center of good? Is the hero revealing it?
· What is deeper in this story than external actions? What can I say about the human condition?
· What is the selling line of this story? (One sentence capturing it all…)
· What are the hooks in this story that makes the producer make it, and the audience watch it? (Pitch your story to find the hooks that sell!)
“Why people write? Sheer egotism, immortality,
getting back
at people who put you down, and
trying to get the world to be a better
place.”
George Orwell
SO, WHY WRITE?
Write to entertain your audience.
Write to create emotions in your audience.
Write to make a difference in your audience's lives.
Write to make your audience treasure the experience.
Write to change your audience.
