One: Foundations
1. Introduction – Warmup.
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Warmup: The story my mother wants me to write is….
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Writing theTwo-Person scene; Characters A and B; Dialogue and Monologue. Exercises focus writers on the emotional subtext that informs creative writing.
2. Dialogue Rewrite deepens A&B; Dialogue Analysis.
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Dialogue as the shortcut to conflict; conflict as the core of the scene.
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Dialogue means two characters talking with rhythm; rhythm pulls writers close to the heartbeat.
3. Plot—Hidden structures—Cage, Escape, Quest, Dragon, Home.
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Locked in a symbolic cage and driven by a deep inner need, the protagonist devises an escape that launches a quest.
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Antagonists abound, threatening to send the protagonist back to the cage. To get home, the protagonist must confront the dragon.
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Hidden structures link writers to the mythic power of the spiritual descent story.
4. Plot—Visible Structure: Aristotle’s 3 Acts + Climax.
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The curtain falls on Act 1 as protagonist and antagonist lock horns for the first time.
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The curtain rises on Act 2 as the protagonist builds for the confrontation with the antagonist.
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In Act 3, the protagonist confronts the antagonist in the agon.
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The audience sees the rising and falling of the curtain and feels the intense build to climax and revelation.
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A visible structure in three acts—standard for movies and TV—cinches up the dramatic form.
5. Writing the Three-Person scene; Character C + King Replacement.
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What happens to the stranger that intrudes?
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If incorporated, the Intruder-Stranger becomes a member of the tribe; if repelled, the Intruder-Stranger is turned away at the gates to wander and quest; if ejected, the Intruder-Stranger is sent away into exile, incarceration, or death by ritual sacrifice.
6. Scene Rewrite – Going Deeper.
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The essence of the craft is rewriting.
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Rewriting in parts—action, dialogue, setting—gives writers a feel for the components of fiction.
7. Rewriting + Scene Lab. A
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Focus on Dialogue.
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Writer scenes performed in lab conditions – time limits, casting, reading aloud, instructor feedback.
8. Rewriting + Scene Lab.
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Focus on Action.
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Scenes performed under the clock – five minutes, casting, reading aloud, instructor feedback.
9. Extended Essay.
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The topic: Why I must write this particular story at this particular time….
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In a “Gut Check” essay of 10-12 pages, the writer probes the connection to the work, the deep emotional place in the far-away kingdom of Need that drives the writer to commit one, two, or three years to a single work.
10. Performance of scenes.
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The writer’s reward.
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Product transferred to the mouths of actors. Possible video taping for keepsake power.
LINKS TO COURSE PAGES:
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