tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32413710458697096242024-03-13T01:45:14.532-07:00A Story is a Promise Blog
Articles about the craft of writing.
A blog by Bill Johnson that explores principles of storytelling and articles about writing by other authors.
BillJohnsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17990935864671031062noreply@blogger.comBlogger123125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3241371045869709624.post-25788862325360227632024-01-27T17:00:00.000-08:002024-01-27T17:01:44.439-08:00Five phases of writing with Abigail Raeke
HYBRID: In-person and online
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Where: 1336 NW Flanders, Portland, OR 97209, or
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Register for the meeting here. On the day of the meeting, a Zoom link will be sent to your email.
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https://us02web.zoom.us/j/86420294001?pwd=ZTl2VzkvVTNmK0ZhN29lWUwxcFZNdz09
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Join the Portland Chapter on February 6th @ 7:00PM to hear book coach Abigail Raeke talk about the Five Essential Phases of Writing Novels and Memoirs. Completing a successful book is a long-term, multi-faceted project. Get an inside look at the stages that support writing, building, and editing your best book, with practical tools and tips for each stage.
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About Abigail Raeke
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiw0zfw_fvGK5sYEAc-JTfPjxJ5FNkInJPCUGO-JltvIFe_h8_8OUrRrWBJq3G934PixHs1gLuIV8NwjPS0TihX5Yknx9T3Im30sWESa_-PaCbXM9JZ_QahV4AOG5UX7c35L7779N9_sLzKr4yMGIseZrX93GihS7ATi2Ss_r7O2A0p5q_Et47ciMk8tHY/s204/Abigal.jpg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; clear: left; float: left;"><img alt="" border="0" width="200" data-original-height="192" data-original-width="204" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiw0zfw_fvGK5sYEAc-JTfPjxJ5FNkInJPCUGO-JltvIFe_h8_8OUrRrWBJq3G934PixHs1gLuIV8NwjPS0TihX5Yknx9T3Im30sWESa_-PaCbXM9JZ_QahV4AOG5UX7c35L7779N9_sLzKr4yMGIseZrX93GihS7ATi2Ss_r7O2A0p5q_Et47ciMk8tHY/s200/Abigal.jpg"/></a></div>Abigail Raeke is a writer, developmental editor, and certified book coach with an MFA from Mills College. As a coach, Abbie empowers writers to tell their unique stories and craft strong books. Her instructive style demystifies the narrative process and provides skills that help authors achieve their publishing goals.
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<a href="https://abigailraeke.com/">https://abigailraeke.com/</a>
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About Your Chapter Meeting<P>
Willamette Writers meetings are free and open to all writers, 18 and up. Guests are welcome to make a donation at https://willamettewriters.org/donations/ to help support the cost of the meetings. For information on how to become a Willamette Writers member, click here: https://willamettewriters.org/register/individual/
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Wellness<P>
Willamette Writers continue to encourage mask-wearing at our in-person, indoor meetings. If you feel sick, please stay home and join us at one of our online Chapter Meetings.
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Young Writers<P>
Young writers are encouraged to join our **Young Willamette Writers **meetings. Sign Up! Any high school or middle-grade writers are welcome to join us. Sign up for our email list at: http://eepurl.com/hRubBf. A registration link will be sent to our email list before our next meeting.
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See you there!
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For more information about Willamette Writers, visit<P>
<a href="http://www.willamettewriters.org">http://www.willamettewriters.org</a>
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For information about chapters and meetings in Hillsboro, Salem, Corvallis, Eugene, Newport, Vancouver and Southern Oregon, visit<P>
<a href="https://willamettewriters.org/events/">https://willamettewriters.org/events/</a>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAi0qKuMVGWIiKK3B-A1ORX76iCFVdDaU3Sl2kaODD7xRbkYxy8SFr-6fMPrB8QyffnuYuC_mXGiYjMyZ3s2LOaFTGbhbv5up4bH_BZjogETMewBIhxrDFvN45Ase_lQraXm4vHYtqLillp_IExyUNYJwnY44uB1K3d1ebmRWe8seDc3vKIcPVkl89wuk/s1024/Wilwrite24-Save-the-Date-Actual-1920-x-1080-px-1024x576.png" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="" border="0" width="400" data-original-height="576" data-original-width="1024" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAi0qKuMVGWIiKK3B-A1ORX76iCFVdDaU3Sl2kaODD7xRbkYxy8SFr-6fMPrB8QyffnuYuC_mXGiYjMyZ3s2LOaFTGbhbv5up4bH_BZjogETMewBIhxrDFvN45Ase_lQraXm4vHYtqLillp_IExyUNYJwnY44uB1K3d1ebmRWe8seDc3vKIcPVkl89wuk/s400/Wilwrite24-Save-the-Date-Actual-1920-x-1080-px-1024x576.png"/></a></div>BillJohnsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17990935864671031062noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3241371045869709624.post-20025701091547051152023-11-30T12:05:00.000-08:002023-11-30T12:05:13.830-08:00Looking at Experiences with the Energy Body by Bill Johnson
Understand how the energy body is a reflection of thought patterns.
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Learn how to perceive living on an 11 week cycle of the body’s energy flow, from creative highs to a low end where the body feels out of sorts.
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Experience how patterns of thought collapse and powerfully project specific types of thoughts into the conscious mind.
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Experience subconscious thoughts rising into the conscious mind.
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Learn how some forms of depression are restrictions in the energy flow.
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Experience how to connect to ideas in the larger universe of energy.
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Experience the band of energy that runs around the crown of the head, the halo seen in paintings of Christian saints.
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Bill Johnson's journal captures what he learned about his energy body from a year of doing bellows breathing 3-4 hours a day.
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FREE on Smashwords at
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<a href="https://smashwords.com/books/1124821">https://smashwords.com/books/1124821</a>
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#prana #yoga #meditation #apana #spirituality #mindfulness #healing #halo
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOUOq097DM5ql8R1fT8AHNGqfZllqJAiztiJDHkntclcvRg4hVOFLI8kUl7CYumYuP5sLWZplJplu3KVnbR30_AbTOtxmm-U3BlCNEy-GZfUIWglqc0DypUOhRM9P2bJtxjp1hMnI8rYl_ITCJ0tA7-iv7R3d1tiPRSWr-kqw3OCRw0EoYKJlT3IyO6zM/s1000/EnergyBodyCover.jpg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="" border="0" height="400" data-original-height="1000" data-original-width="628" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOUOq097DM5ql8R1fT8AHNGqfZllqJAiztiJDHkntclcvRg4hVOFLI8kUl7CYumYuP5sLWZplJplu3KVnbR30_AbTOtxmm-U3BlCNEy-GZfUIWglqc0DypUOhRM9P2bJtxjp1hMnI8rYl_ITCJ0tA7-iv7R3d1tiPRSWr-kqw3OCRw0EoYKJlT3IyO6zM/s400/EnergyBodyCover.jpg"/></a></div>
BillJohnsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17990935864671031062noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3241371045869709624.post-76168462453825823332023-11-25T13:17:00.000-08:002023-11-30T12:05:55.070-08:00The Ghost Doctor, by Nancy HillWhen the No No lads come to spend the summer with their spinster aunts, the ghost doctor who roams their mansion could not be happier. She has waited decades for a chance to be near children again, and soon the three are inseparable. However, their fun comes to an abrupt halt when the aunts hire humorless Governess Sternly to tend to the mischievous No No lads. But the ghost doctor and the No No lads hold fast to their friendship, which could spell tragedy to everyone involved.
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#Amazon #kindle #booklover #yabooks #fantasy
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https://www.amazon.com/Ghost-Doctor-Nancy-Hill-ebook/dp/B00B2MQ96E?/
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhU4Vv3u0ohLSagPorhxNRpyWWmEfq6HyXCSzXzYz_pkTPs6REgAsGy_O5uif3Gh-zXb0dEHiakumD4nkEKZquDexhxz0242r-YrvPXUm5ymKHBALxpbL5le9Hov_bvBJV8aXGDfGV93AfZOpce65cyZ9iwlBsB8E4QxQ_O-F9PgT_OTkmfI76XfkHmVNU/s1500/GhostDoctor.jpg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="" border="0" height="400" data-original-height="1500" data-original-width="938" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhU4Vv3u0ohLSagPorhxNRpyWWmEfq6HyXCSzXzYz_pkTPs6REgAsGy_O5uif3Gh-zXb0dEHiakumD4nkEKZquDexhxz0242r-YrvPXUm5ymKHBALxpbL5le9Hov_bvBJV8aXGDfGV93AfZOpce65cyZ9iwlBsB8E4QxQ_O-F9PgT_OTkmfI76XfkHmVNU/s400/GhostDoctor.jpg"/></a></div>BillJohnsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17990935864671031062noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3241371045869709624.post-83953812654696372082023-11-19T12:03:00.000-08:002023-11-30T12:06:31.473-08:00A delightful Christmas story that begins when an old woman gives a special fruitcake to her friend. The friend, in turn, gives it to someone else. For twelve days the fruitcake exchanges hands, improving the life of everyone who receives it. Charming, heartwarming, and magical. #Xmas #Christmas #holidays #giftgiving <p><p><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Twelve-Days-Fruitcake-Nancy-Hill-ebook/dp/B00AGIVZNW/">https://www.amazon.com/Twelve-Days-Fruitcake-Nancy-Hill-ebook/dp/B00AGIVZNW/</a>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiezUF_NhHf1kBimwrlsQKF7wfndv3pD5W3RgoRnx0BbTNbPGtje80J155oMrsrro3rMo8nMpM16jnQeYDBpgmEhEULd4zM9PsXN4wvxQ6RM9kDslJ0iZT3HOJaBY_vcFZpA8rspQMpT8W5wNJaX6xniYnq5B4HKUtdaXJB-a94OlyNrOHa1RwmAayN8VY/s1500/Fruitcake.jpg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="" border="0" height="400" data-original-height="1500" data-original-width="984" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiezUF_NhHf1kBimwrlsQKF7wfndv3pD5W3RgoRnx0BbTNbPGtje80J155oMrsrro3rMo8nMpM16jnQeYDBpgmEhEULd4zM9PsXN4wvxQ6RM9kDslJ0iZT3HOJaBY_vcFZpA8rspQMpT8W5wNJaX6xniYnq5B4HKUtdaXJB-a94OlyNrOHa1RwmAayN8VY/s400/Fruitcake.jpg"/></a></div>BillJohnsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17990935864671031062noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3241371045869709624.post-81594306641158031272022-12-21T18:56:00.004-08:002022-12-21T20:30:28.188-08:00A Publishing Primer for Anxious Authors by Laura StanfillLaura Stanfill has always worried about her authors’ worries, as the publisher of Forest Avenue Press. But in 2022, when her debut novel came out with Lanternfish Press, she had to navigate those fears and bumps in the road as the creator of original work, not just as a champion of someone else’s project. She’ll talk about common misperceptions about the publishing industry and anxiety-inducing situations as a way to breathe, laugh and shake off the things we can’t control as authors. Bring your questions and concerns to this interactive conversation.
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQGodBCxmLqOx63V2xoyVi4x-m0KwzAP4oxrqp0QfQQNyF0Oe0UqxEVy3iVpHfbMO7AT3OLRG_pVh7EQhaaJ0mTUjs7iMz-RKVT7PjOcu9qqZRE56K9pZANHaGBTPo4wN70RgRDz3fqb7Flz9riq9UtIjro25mYW9LdmHtg5Ox93vOIGHFHU_pzYNe/s600/Laura-Stanfill.jpg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: left; "><img alt="" border="0" width="200" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="600" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQGodBCxmLqOx63V2xoyVi4x-m0KwzAP4oxrqp0QfQQNyF0Oe0UqxEVy3iVpHfbMO7AT3OLRG_pVh7EQhaaJ0mTUjs7iMz-RKVT7PjOcu9qqZRE56K9pZANHaGBTPo4wN70RgRDz3fqb7Flz9riq9UtIjro25mYW9LdmHtg5Ox93vOIGHFHU_pzYNe/s200/Laura-Stanfill.jpg"/></a></div>Laura Stanfill is the publisher of Forest Avenue Press and the author of Singing Lessons for the Stylish Canary (Lanternfish), Powell’s best book of 2022. She has won two Oregon Literary Fellowships for publishing and was awarded the inaugural Independent Book Publishers Association scholarship to the Yale Publishing Course. She believes in building a literary community at the local level as a way to subvert the scarcity model of publishing.
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Join us to kick off 2023 with Laura Stanfill on January 3rd @ 7:00 pm at Willamette Writers Headquarters at 1336 NW Flanders St, Portland OR. Laura is the author of Singing Lessons for the Stylish Canary and was a keynote speaker for the WW convention this past summer.
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This will be a hybrid meeting, in person and on Zoom. We welcome you to join us by following the instructions below and using this link to register for the event.
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https://us02web.zoom.us/j/9712005385?pwd=Y2YwRTRqSUs1T3F0NkJ6cno0S0hjZz09
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Meeting ID: 971 200 5385<br>
Passcode: 1965
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About your chapter meetings<br>
Willamette Writers meetings are open to all writers, 18 and up. Guests are welcome to make a donation to help support the cost of the meeting (we believe in paying our speakers for their time and skills). This meeting is run by volunteers. We look forward to seeing you there!
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Young writers are encouraged to join our **Young Willamette Writers **meetings. Sign Up! Any high school or middle-grade writers are welcome to join us.
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Sign up for our email list at: http://eepurl.com/hRubBf A registration link will be sent to our email list before our next meeting.
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MASKING: Willamette Writers continues to require mask-wearing at our in-person, indoor meetings. If you are unable to mask, we invite you to join us at one of our online Chapter Meetings.
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Here is a link to our policies.
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### Zoom Details
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If this is a hybrid meeting, in person and on line, you have to be logged into your own personal Zoom account to attend this meeting (to create a FREE account, go to Zoom.us).
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Once you are logged in to your own personal zoom account, register for the meeting with the link provided above.
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On the day of the meeting, log into your Zoom account and then click the link zoom sent you in your email when you registered with the link above. If you are logged into your personal zoom account, you can also click the link above and register again if you need to. If you have not done this before, we encourage you to try logging in a half hour before the meeting begins. We had to change our meeting access because of a few inappropriate guests, but we want to continue to keep our meetings open to the public.
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To learn more about the Portland chapter of Willamette Writers, visit
https://willamettewriters.org/event/portland-a-publishing-primer-for-anxious-authors-by-laura-stanfill/
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To learn more about Willamette Writers chapters in Salem, Hillsboro, Corvalis, Eugene, Newport, and Medford, visit
http://www.willamettewriters.org
BillJohnsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17990935864671031062noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3241371045869709624.post-70023804559331361552022-07-05T14:04:00.000-07:002022-07-05T14:04:40.687-07:00Eric Witchey: Connecting With Your Readers Hearts<iframe src="https://www.facebook.com/plugins/video.php?height=314&href=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2FWillametteWriters%2Fvideos%2F217535939422055%2F&show_text=false&width=560&t=0" width="560" height="314" style="border:none;overflow:hidden" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="true" allow="autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowFullScreen="true"></iframe>BillJohnsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17990935864671031062noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3241371045869709624.post-86968954196171202732022-05-14T13:12:00.006-07:002022-05-19T14:42:13.791-07:00Playwright Kwik Jones on Writing, Staging, and Getting Plays ProducedPlaywright Kwik Jones will speak to the Portland Chapter of Willamette Writers about his process of writing, staging, and getting his work performed and produced. The meeting is Tuesday, June 7th, at 7-8:30 pm via Zoom.
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Kwik has been writing, directing, and producing plays for twenty-eight years. Developing plays such as: A Strange Seed, Forgotten Soul, Voices, Black Like me, Jupiter is Stormy, Spotlight, The Code, Puzzle Dream, Conversations, Organ, L.U.S.T, Both Sides of the Fence, Sweet Mother Jones, Memphis Bound, Water Boyz and many more.
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Awards and honors are such: The Portland Civic Theater Guilds New Play Award, for his play Cat Napper. A finalist for the Downtown Urban Arts Festival in New York City for his plays Memphis Bound and Water Boyz which was also selected as a finalist for the PNMC New Play Readers Series Festival. He was named a semifinalist for the Lanford Wilson Festival for the play The Closet Pigeon. Recently his play A Strange Seed was chosen as one of the six finalists in The Portland Civic Theater Guilds New Play Award and just recently became a semifinalist at the 2022 National Playwrighting Conference.
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Currently he is working on a new play, We Act, which he has been commissioned to write for the upcoming book (ed. Jose Casas and Tiffany Trent) Every Great Dream: Visioning African American Theater for Young Audiences, which will be published by Dramatic Publishing. Also currently commissioned by The Robey Theater in Los Angeles, California for another new work Man’s Favor Devil’s Plan. Along with being 1 out of 16 playwrights commission to write a BIPOC Superhero plays that will be published on Dramatic Publishing.
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Register in advance for this meeting:
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<a href="https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZ0odeGupjMjG9117CttZFpQwsJ4vw-KuA2o">https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZ0odeGupjMjG9117CttZFpQwsJ4vw-KuA2o</a>
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After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSE48NnvuhJIWjLJJ2cGmltop8x5-kVHLQMU9vIpbLRUgRUVOVOSOg6opA4lhTiUwyeqeqb6qtVnN2ERLTTpR7MoeWRHehqxOgakryFc85zCgcmclEb4hKGweA9nhmnJv1mrvSxY43lq1X2zPAdvKVvdlFqKT1CqpubkR9OqoX3Uqfg8qMRGGv9f1X/s960/kwik%20on%20stairs.jpg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="" border="0" height="320" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSE48NnvuhJIWjLJJ2cGmltop8x5-kVHLQMU9vIpbLRUgRUVOVOSOg6opA4lhTiUwyeqeqb6qtVnN2ERLTTpR7MoeWRHehqxOgakryFc85zCgcmclEb4hKGweA9nhmnJv1mrvSxY43lq1X2zPAdvKVvdlFqKT1CqpubkR9OqoX3Uqfg8qMRGGv9f1X/s320/kwik%20on%20stairs.jpg"/></a></div>
BillJohnsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17990935864671031062noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3241371045869709624.post-76902950025241515392022-01-13T22:17:00.002-08:002022-01-13T22:17:43.405-08:00Diversity in Fantasy & Sci-Fi World BuildingThe worlds of fantasy and sci-fi have suffered from a lack of diversity for many decades, despite the wonderful contributions of authors like Gene Roddenberry, Octavia Butler, N.K. Jemisin and Ursula K. LeGuin.
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This problem has seen some major strides in recent years, and yet some authors are still unsure of how to be more inclusive in their storytelling. There are some tricky issues of cultural appropriation and respecting the unique experiences of underrepresented groups in world-building; I would like to share my work from my book, The Wonderous Science, to illustrate how these issues can be tackled in creative ways.
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From researching and using historic elements to ground characters, to adding diverse settings, we’ll discuss how to communicate with readers from a wide variety of cultural backgrounds.
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Join your Portland and Salem chapters online on Wednesday, February 2nd, from 7:00 to 8:30PM for this discussion with Brian W. Parker.
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About Brian W. Parker<p>
Author, Illustrator, and Creator of the Fantastical, Brian grew up in Alaska, then Mississippi, and has always been in love with storytelling in every medium. He earned a BFA in graphic design & illustration and an MA in writing & publishing, and now spends his days working in youth publishing (so cool, right?) through his company, Believe In Wonder, which he co-owns with his wife. He is the author of Crow in the Hollow, You Can Rely on Platypi, and co-author of Obi The Changeling, The Epic of Nicholas the Maker, and The Wonderous Science.
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How to join us
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Register in advance for this meeting:
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https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZAsd-itqDIqHtwDUDCns2BC7idouuT2dyOg
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After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.
<p>
About your chapter
<p>
Willamette Writers meetings are open to all writers, 18 and up. Young writers are encouraged to join our Young Willamette Writers meetings. Guests are welcome to make a donation to help support the cost of the meeting (we believe in paying our speakers for their time and skills). This meeting is run by volunteers. We look forward to seeing you there! BillJohnsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17990935864671031062noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3241371045869709624.post-50883044812640457822021-10-28T13:44:00.006-07:002021-11-05T11:33:43.941-07:00Understanding the Symbolic Halo in Paintings and How It Relates to Creativity
I'd mentioned a band of energy around my skull and a friend asked for a fuller explanation. This explanation comes from my years of experiencing my energy body and what I did to effect changes to it. I was born with this awareness. I didn't know until my early twenties that others didn't share this experience.
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When you see Christian paintings with halos, the halos are symbolic of a band of energy that goes around the crown of the skull.<p>
Think of the spine as a 220 volt current, and the body 110. In the arms and legs you have a strong lines of current. Same for chest and back.<p>
The restrictions in the flow of energy in the body are a reflection of and embodiments of the patterns of thought on the mental landscape. <p>
The muscles tend to hold those restrictions, so when I did the bellows breathing, the muscles in my arm would spasm as that restricted flow opened up.<p>
Took a year of doing bellows breath 3 to 4 hours a day to open the various restrictions in energy flow around my body. <p>
Depression is restrictions in the energy flow in the body that don't manifest as pain. When you are sick with the flu and have aches and pains, those are restrictions in the energy flow, but the restriction that cause depression don't manifest as physical pain.<p>
When you had that experience of muscles of your back in spasms (when I touched your back to transfer energy), that extra current released some restriction and tension in those muscles.
Now when you get to the head, there is a really tight band of energy that runs around the skull. It's supper strong, super intense, and very difficult to change the flow. When I did bellows breathing and managed to open that band slightly, the released force would throw me out a bed into a wall.<p>
When I experience that flow now, it feels like a tight, metallic band.<p>
Many years ago while in therapy I was doing five 12 step groups a week. Since there was a lot of quiet time, I would visualize a current of energy going from my spiritual eye back to the medulla and then back to the spiritual eye.<p>
I basically did this for an hour a night, for six months. As time when on, I could feel the flow of energy.<p>
Then one of those bands rolled on one side of my head. That's when I started to go into high moods of creativity, connecting to info in the universe, not in my mind.<p>
11 weeks later the other side rolled, and my states of intense creativity and connection to a deeper understanding coming in from outside my mind continued.<p>
11 weeks later, the tight bands of energy around my face opened up.<p>
This was all accompanied by my getting my brain re circuited, a very odd and strange process. Think skull being drilled and ants walking on skull. But when those new circuits opened, I could stay in a high mood as I taught.<p>
The work I'm doing now is to again open that band around my crown.<p>
<center> +++++++++++++++++++++++++</center>
<p>
My friend asked me about how this relates to her experience of Satori, an expansion of consciousness and feeling connected to the wider universe.<p>
Yes you can experience Satori, and hold on to the experience, and experience it again, but at some point you return to the mind, the energy body that is an expression of the mind, and the body. And if the energy flow is restricted, that's what you return to.
<p>
When I was young, I thought deep meditation would make me great at relationships, but I was terrible. I was raised in a dysfunction environment and that was the mind and body I returned to when I wasn't meditating. The lessons I learned growing up where embedded in my mind. I needed therapy to start unlearning those lessons.<p>
<center> ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++</center>
<p>
Bill Johnson is the author of a writing workbook, A Story is a Promise, available on <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Story-Promise-Spirit-Storytelling-ebook/dp/B004V020N0/">Amazon</a> and <a href="https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/52699">Smashwords</a>. The ideas in the book came from his spiritual experiences.
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEih5OHMc8V3RYme2wGeMgLeZUJQh7qDoGu5Q-TJ6K_P3mNUn6FM6htCGtWSl-cmciE9Wa4x64cSLFnsdQkvx0XcM_HjGA2rT0g0zpPX0-2-4D5ytYI00MkpvVmqfexlqE-xzs-TuCc6sRA/s327/AStoryPromise.jpg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; clear: left; float: left;"><img alt="" border="0" width="200" data-original-height="327" data-original-width="327" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEih5OHMc8V3RYme2wGeMgLeZUJQh7qDoGu5Q-TJ6K_P3mNUn6FM6htCGtWSl-cmciE9Wa4x64cSLFnsdQkvx0XcM_HjGA2rT0g0zpPX0-2-4D5ytYI00MkpvVmqfexlqE-xzs-TuCc6sRA/s200/AStoryPromise.jpg"/></a></div>
BillJohnsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17990935864671031062noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3241371045869709624.post-40039468109057412302021-10-12T18:19:00.001-07:002021-10-12T18:19:35.220-07:00Fearless Marketing, with William Kenower
<p>
Presented by Willamette Writers Vancouver Chapter Via Zoom
<p>
Mon, Oct 18 · 6:30 PM PDT<p>
Most writers’ love of storytelling does not easily translate to marketing those stories once they are published. Unfortunately, authors are increasingly responsible for their own marketing, a task most writers find boring, irritating, depressing, and often fruitless. In this presentation, William Kenower turns marketing on its head so that authors can take the skills and passion they have for writing and learn how to apply them to marketing. This is not a how-to-market presentation. Instead, it is a how-to-enjoy-marketing presentation. Once you enjoy it, once you stop being afraid of it, you’ll learn how to market your book the same way you learned how to write it.
<p>
How to join
<p>
Click the registration link below, enter your name and email address, and you will receive the meeting link immediately. You will also be able to add the meeting to your calendar.
<p>
Register in advance for the October 18 Vancouver Chapter meeting:
<p>
<a href="https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZcrcOGvqT8oHtEeZfTC3Ov3gzjUImWAEXTk">https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZcrcOGvqT8oHtEeZfTC3Ov3gzjUImWAEXTk</a>
<p>
After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.
<p>
Willamette Writers chapter meetings are free for members to attend, and we ask for a $5 donation from guests: <a href="https://willamettewriters.org/donations/">https://willamettewriters.org/donations/</a>.
<p>
For information on how to become a Willamette Writers member, click here:<p> <a href="https://willamettewriters.org/register/individual/">https://willamettewriters.org/register/individual/</a>
<p>
About the presenter
<p>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDHZM1UEWwJ1CqGC4wupfmjEqg1Q3ZhBTUT-QWxMt3BfdQoV_YK32jjq6lcbocIfh9zSk4eavHnFK21rzKGpGJeMti5agUkbQSbBwoD6NqmtXPrNvUjlnjxzLjrZ-h1TkNaenEXzjs9sA/s800/Bill-Kenower.jpg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: left; "><img alt="" border="0" height="180" data-original-height="200" data-original-width="120" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDHZM1UEWwJ1CqGC4wupfmjEqg1Q3ZhBTUT-QWxMt3BfdQoV_YK32jjq6lcbocIfh9zSk4eavHnFK21rzKGpGJeMti5agUkbQSbBwoD6NqmtXPrNvUjlnjxzLjrZ-h1TkNaenEXzjs9sA/s200/Bill-Kenower.jpg"/></a></div>William Kenower is the author of “Everyone Has What It Takes: A Writer’s Guide to the End of Self-Doubt,” “Fearless Writing: How to Create Boldly and Write With Confidence, and Write Within Yourself: An Author’s Companion,” and the Editor-in-Chief of Author magazine, and host of the podcast Author2Author. In addition to his books, he’s been published in The New York Times, Writer’s Digest, Edible Seattle, Parent Map, and has been a featured blogger for the Huffington Post.
<p>
<a href="https://www.williamkenower.com">https://www.williamkenower.com/</a>BillJohnsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17990935864671031062noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3241371045869709624.post-44643936094039237942021-09-10T17:59:00.001-07:002021-09-10T17:59:34.688-07:00Query Letters That Work, with Curtis C. Chen <center> Query Letters That Work, with Curtis C. Chen
<br><br>
September 20 @ 6:30 pm - 8:00 pm</center>
<p>
Presented by Vancouver Willamette Writers. All are welcome.
<p>
So you’ve written a novel. Great! Now let’s talk about how to sell it. Query letters are still the best way to get an agent (and there’s a specific format that agents expect to see), but the skills used to write a query will also help you with other aspects of book marketing and promotion, no matter how you publish. Curtis will discuss how to feature the important parts of the story without telling the whole story.
<p>
How to join<br>
Click the registration link below, enter your name and email address, and you will receive the meeting link immediately. You will also be able to add the meeting to your calendar.
<p>
Register in advance for the September 20 Vancouver Chapter meeting:
<a href="https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZEvc-ygqD4iEtAYQl_dS7vST1zCHxsi3E_w">https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZEvc-ygqD4iEtAYQl_dS7vST1zCHxsi3E_w</a>
<p>
After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.
<p>
Willamette Writers chapter meetings are free for members to attend, and we ask for a $5 donation from guests: <a href="https://willamettewriters.org/donations/">https://willamettewriters.org/donations/</a>.
<p>
For information on how to become a Willamette Writers member, click here: <a href="https://willamettewriters.org/register/individual/">https://willamettewriters.org/register/individual/</a>
<p>
About the presenter<br>
Once a Silicon Valley software engineer, Curtis C. Chen (陳致宇) now writes stories and runs puzzle games near Portland, Oregon. He’s the author of the Kangaroo series of funny science fiction spy thrillers and has written for the Realm originals Ninth Step Murders, Machina, and Echo Park 2060 (forthcoming). Curtis’ short fiction has appeared in Playboy Magazine, Daily Science Fiction, Oregon Reads Aloud, and elsewhere. His homebrew cat feeding robot was displayed in the “Worlds Beyond Here” exhibit at Seattle’s Wing Luke Museum. Visit him online: <a href="https://CurtisCChen.com">https://CurtisCChen.com</a>
<p>
Kathleen Colvin <br>
Vancouver Chapter Chair<br>
Pronouns: she/her and they is always okay<br>
Willamette Writers<br>
Community. Craft. Career.<br><br>
Connect With Us:<br>
Facebook <a href="https://www.facebook.com/WillametteWriters">https://www.facebook.com/WillametteWriters</a><br>
Twitter <a href="https://twitter.com/wilwrite">https://twitter.com/wilwrite</a><br>
Website <a href="https://willamettewriters.org/">https://willamettewriters.org/</a><p>
********************************************************
<p>
This post was generated by Bill Johnson, author of A Story is a Promise, a writing workbook,
<a href="http://www.storyispromise.com">http://www.storyispromise.com</a>
BillJohnsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17990935864671031062noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3241371045869709624.post-6635523084736868862021-08-11T14:35:00.015-07:002021-08-15T14:21:04.297-07:00The Outsider As Character Type - Review of The Outsiders
The outsider is an enduring character type in fiction, TV series, and movies.
<p>
There are many reasons for this.
<p>
When an outsider arrives in a new environment, he or she upsets the current status quo. This naturally generates dramatic questions. What will be the outcome of this upset? Will the outsider replace a current leader? Change the direction of a group?
<p>
Another form of this character type is someone within a group who changes.
<p>
An example of this is S. E. Hinton's novel <i>The Outsiders</i>.
<p>
The POV character is Ponyboy. He's a Greaser. Wears his hair long, carries a switch blade, and fights in rumbles with his gang against others, mainly SOCs, pronounced SOSHes.
<p>
He's also a high school freshman who gets straight As.
<p>
His family is a brother named Soda who has already dropped out of high school, and an older brother, Darry, who at 20 works two jobs to support his brothers after the death of their parents. Darry also yells at Ponyboy a great deal out of concern that his conformity to being a Greaser might lead him to become a hoodlum. Dally, a wild man and member of the gang, has crossed that line, robbing gas stations and committing other crimes.
<p>
Johnny is another young member of the gang and his actions drive the story. Before the story begins, Johnny had been stomped by a group of Socs, well-off kids who drive fancy cars and appear to want for nothing.
<p>
The Socs and Greasers are tribal enemies who fight whenever their paths cross.
<p>
Johnny enjoys sunsets. He's a sensitive soul but has been born into this Greaser tribe.
<p>
At a fair, Johnny and Ponyboy end up spending some time with Cherry, a cheerleader, and another Soc girl, because their dates came to the fair drunk. The girls are impressed by Johnny's love of sunsets, and Cherry has a way of making Ponyboy understand that she has a depth of understanding about life he'd never suspected. She also conveys that just being a Soc does not guarantee an easy life, which is a revelation to Ponyboy.
<p>
When a fight with Darry sends Ponyboy out of the house, he and Johnny are cornered by Cherry's angry boyfriend and a few others near a fountain. One of the Socs says he's going to kill Ponyboy by holding his head under water. Johnny stabs and kills the Soc and he and Ponyboy are now on the lam with the aid of Dally.
<p>
They have to cut their long Greaser hair to hide out in an abandoned church in a nearby small town.
<p>
A fire erupts in the abandoned church. Ponyboy and Johnny rush into the burning building to rescue some trapped young boys.
<p>
Ponyboy rescues several boys and gets out, but Johnny is seriously wounded. Pony and Johnny are now celebrated as heroes.
<p>
It comes out that Cherry and another Soc are willing to testify that Johnny was just protecting Ponyboy. They are going against their tribe. Pony again must confront the idea that all Socs have an ideal life with no concerns.
<p>
The novel ends with Pony reunited with his brothers, but with a deepened understanding of life. He now appears ready to want the better life that Darry wants for him.
<p>
The Outsiders provides a wonderful example of the drama that can be created by a built in conflict between tribes and the conflict when a tribal member challenges the status quo.
<p>
Changes in the status quo of a family, clan, or tribe fuels many novels. It embeds conflict into the fabric of a story's world.
<p>
Hinton's <i>The Outsiders</i> is a novel that has spoken to different generations of young people trying to find their place in the world.
<p><p>
************************************************************************
<p><p>
For more essays about the craft of writing, visit my website at
<a href="http://www.storyispromise.com">http://www.storyispromise.com</a>
<p>
To find A Story is a Promise on Amazon, use this link, <a href="mybook.to/AStoryIsAPromise">https://www.amazon.com/Story-Promise-Spirit-Storytelling-ebook/dp/B004V020N0/?geniuslink=true</a>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgU7EDi340FZybHri1nWU2lmVyYQoXA6qo_hFXaD-H79jxbSYh54lF2o5aKio0WULzoAHigmPnV4N3DwIRnUSfOt0QeMArge14IkJ56NcQA1i408_A743djxJR2ZSy36g5reKocOd4VeZc/s160/Promise.jpg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="" border="0" width="200" data-original-height="160" data-original-width="160" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgU7EDi340FZybHri1nWU2lmVyYQoXA6qo_hFXaD-H79jxbSYh54lF2o5aKio0WULzoAHigmPnV4N3DwIRnUSfOt0QeMArge14IkJ56NcQA1i408_A743djxJR2ZSy36g5reKocOd4VeZc/s200/Promise.jpg"/></a></div>
BillJohnsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17990935864671031062noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3241371045869709624.post-22348447717394996882020-12-05T22:25:00.004-08:002020-12-05T22:27:57.449-08:00Concrete Plot, Subtle Story Notes on The Queen's Gambit<p> a review by Bill Johnson<br /></p><p>A cornerstone of the a story is a promise concept is that a story
creates movement and the movement transports an audience. Simply put, if
a story isn't going somewhere from its opening lines, it fails to
create the effect of a story.
</p><p>
Plot often operates to set a story into motion around a central question
and sub questions. Each chapter in a novel can be a clearly defined
step along a plot line. It's a concrete way of understanding the ground a
story is covering.
</p><p>
A beginning of a novel also needs to set a story in motion. This can be
subtle or obvious, but it needs to be done to convey meaning to the
action. You resolve a plot, you fulfill a story's promise.
</p><p>
</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPnciqoeCK5uNcQizx_U1TDezZgGgGl0DPT-LzQBkFddodBjh76qTo8O07_Z0Ss6Zf41b6omcR1yljeHN4RL8pBnJ_PLh2lVKsvXCTqJCTfvQ1HdmluFRtDNzCnqNhsiHn50wNmuET6Lc/s327/QueensGambitTevis.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="327" data-original-width="245" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPnciqoeCK5uNcQizx_U1TDezZgGgGl0DPT-LzQBkFddodBjh76qTo8O07_Z0Ss6Zf41b6omcR1yljeHN4RL8pBnJ_PLh2lVKsvXCTqJCTfvQ1HdmluFRtDNzCnqNhsiHn50wNmuET6Lc/s320/QueensGambitTevis.jpg" /></a></div><br />In <i>The Queen's Gambit</i>, eight year old Beth's parents die in a car
accident and she ends up in an orphanage. To keep the children docile,
they are given tranquilizers. Beth is afraid and alone. She hides one
tranquilizer a day to help her sleep at night. Noises at night were
setting her mind racing.
<p></p><p>
Then she realizes an old black janitor (this is Kentucky) in the
basement is not playing checkers but a different game. He rebuffs her
request to teach Beth chess but finally relents. In a short time, she is
consistently beating him.
</p><p>
An older girl, Jolene, (twelve) tries to introduce Beth to sex play, but Beth now lives in her head, playing chess.
</p><p>
When the orphanage is ordered to stop giving the children tranquilizers,
a desperate Beth tries to break in to a locked station to get more.
Caught, she is not allowed to visit the basement for a year. No chess.
</p><p>
Since the author has made it clear that Beth is utterly driven to play
chess, the question becomes what will happen next? To find out, readers
must continue. Again, the plot creates concrete problems to be overcome.
</p><p>
When Beth is adopted by a woman with a husband who seems to be
permanently traveling on business, Beth can now play chess and read
magazines about the game. Since her adopted mother uses tranquilizers
and alcohol to get through her days, Beth can sneak a supply of
tranquilizers to help her sleep at night.
</p><p>
When the absent husband makes it official he's not coming back, Beth's
adopted mother is now short on money ... until Beth wins a chess
tournament and a cash prize.
</p><p>
As Beth plays and wins in bigger and bigger tournaments, Beth's mother
introduces Beth to alcohol. The two become more like housemates than
mother and adopted daughter. And Beth now has two drugs that help her
sleep at night.
</p><p>
When Beth's adopted mother dies, Beth has to work her way through a
period of heaving drinking, a plot complication that threatens her
ability to play chess on a high level.
</p><p>
As Beth wins bigger and more prestigious competitions, she now accepts
some help learning the fine points of chess from more advanced players.
</p><p>
Beth becomes the American chess champion, but this sets up the ultimate
goal/plot destination for Beth, can she beat a Russian grand master and
become a world champion?
</p><p>
Each section of the plot has clearly defined goals and questions.
</p><p>
To win against the Russians, Beth accepts the help of the best American
chess players, but she quickly learns what they can teach her before she
moves on. Beth is also introduced to sex, but sex to Beth is about as
interesting as having tea and toast for breakfast. It barely registers
in her life. It's not chess.
</p><p>
Beth finally meets the Russian world chess champion in competition and loses that match, her first major set back.
</p><p>
Beth realizes she has to give up drinking if she wants to beat that
Russian. Jolene, who had graduated from the orphanage, helps Beth learn
to exercise to keep her body fit so she can better focus.
</p><p>
Beth also comes to realize she wasn't just playing the world champion;
she was up against all the former Russian world chess champions who
helped him win matches by studying moves of opponents.
</p><p>
Beth can have a chess second funded by a religious group, but Beth
refuses to issue a statement in support of Christianity. She's now going
to Russia with a non-chess playing assistant supplied by the U.S.
government.
</p><p>
Arriving in Russia, Beth begins beating the lesser players, but she also
goes for a walk and discovers a park where old men play chess.
</p><p>
In a climactic battle, Beth fears that she can't win if she's alone
playing the Russian and his helpers. At that point she gets a call from a
former teacher, and he along with others help Beth plot her next moves.
</p><p>
This is a subtle story point, but Beth is no longer playing alone in her
head. She's part of a larger community now, a first for her.
</p><p>
With the help of others steadying her mind, Beth beats the Russian and becomes world champion.
</p><p>
At the end of the novel, she returns to the Moscow park and the old men
playing chess. They gather around her, showering her with love and
affection.
</p><p>
That lonely, frightened child now feels she is part of and loved by a larger community.
</p><p>
Compared to the plot, this is subtle, but it is the thread that weaves
the plot together and gives it a deeper meaning. Beth goes from being
alone to part of a larger community.
</p><p>
That offers fulfillment to the story.
</p><p>
I recently read a science fiction novel by someone who had read Promise.
Her novel had a concrete plot, with escalating complications, but I had
to read to the end of the novel to find out what the story was about.
</p><p>
Until that final chapter, I didn't have a clue.
</p><p>
It's possibly the writer didn't know until she wrote that final chapter.
If that was the case, it meant she needed to use that understanding to
convey a story from the first page of the novel.
</p><p>
I've read many novels by unpublished authors that withheld what a story
was about to create a big reveal. Unfortunately, it was hard to care.
</p><p>
Walter Tevis begins <i>The Queen's Gambit</i> with a frightened, lonely orphan because the fulfillment of the story is that she ultimately finds a new family.
</p><p>
One reason I use a breakdown of a Hollywood movie to teach story
mechanics is the failure to generate a story that works with a concrete
plot is often deadly. No reason to care about what happens to the main
character.
</p><p>
In Promise, one technique I suggest is the 0-5-10 technique. Zero is obscure, five is obvious, ten is suggestive.
</p><p>
Struggling writers write toward zero, being obscure about what a main character seeks to fulfill.
</p><p>
Asking someone to be obvious about what a story is about is a path to understanding how to set in motion a powerful story.
</p><p>
In the latest edition of Promise, I explore how great writers create at ten on that scale.
</p><p>
For too many writers, that concrete wall of plot creates an illusion of
storytelling in the same way movies used to use fake storefronts to
suggest a town.
</p><p>
Walter Tevis understood the difference between story and plot.
</p><p>
</p><center>#############################</center><center><br /><br /></center>
<i>The Queen's Gambit</i> also airs on <a href="https://www.rottentomatoes.com/tv/the_queens_gambit/95809">Netflix</a> as a mini-series. <span id="wts3412"><br /></span>BillJohnsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17990935864671031062noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3241371045869709624.post-29763073565335332172020-10-19T12:51:00.006-07:002020-10-19T13:07:05.909-07:00 Creating, Pitching and Producing, Meet Lars Kenseth<p><br />Lars Kenseth will be joining
Willamette Writers for the first time live from Los Angeles to discuss
his varied career as a cartoonist for the New Yorker, writer for TV and
show creator for a new series recently acquired by Amazon. He’s also
looking forward to giving practical advice and answering members’
questions.
<br /> </p><p>Lars Kenseth is a cartoonist and writer whose work has appeared in Barron’s, Playboy, MAD, Esquire and The New Yorker. A TV writer by day, his credits include Chuck Deuce (Adult Swim) and Norm Macdonald Has A Show (Netflix). Currently, Lars is developing I Hate Mondays, an animated comedy for Amazon. He’s a 2016 Sundance Institute Fellow and a long suffering acolyte of the New York Jets.<br /><br />Lars wisely lives in Santa Monica with his wife Liz and their two feline slaves, Omelet and Honeybear.<br /><br />Learn more about Lars at http://larskenseth.com/about-me<br /><br />To see some Lar's cartoons at the New Yorker, visit here<br />https://www.newyorker.com/contributors/lars-kenseth<br /><br />He's on Twitter @larskenseth<br /><br />This meeting is on Monday, November 2nd, 7 - 8 pm, to avoid the Tuesday election.<br /><br />Learn more about Willamette Writers and about becoming a member at<br />http://www.willamettewriters.org<br /><br />This Portland/Salem Chapter meeting of Willamette Writers happens on Zoom. Details about joining the meeting are below.<br /><br />The meeting host is Debby Dodds.<br /><br />You are now able to receive the link in advance for our Chapter meetings. Click the registration link below, and you will receive the meeting link immediately. You will also be able to add the meeting to your calendar.<br /><br />Register in advance for this meeting:<br />https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZElde2rqDMjGtPpMZ15Et1N9Zqm-Am_1DMq<br /><br />This is not the meeting link, it is the registration link. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing the link to join the meeting.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSiMZ8tOPpJxGJWeBcMwW7aOBxbDidajZC6Pf6IlpRGnLR_do3mzhOZGU8tT2tjTwGFOI9o-7hq0YXiOwd5dIcx_mvb7AVW1MQjVPnHUHP4RwY_nI5NLuqYruUXsAuP4p0k2ehxiFXdok/s640/LarsNov20Speaker.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="640" data-original-width="444" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSiMZ8tOPpJxGJWeBcMwW7aOBxbDidajZC6Pf6IlpRGnLR_do3mzhOZGU8tT2tjTwGFOI9o-7hq0YXiOwd5dIcx_mvb7AVW1MQjVPnHUHP4RwY_nI5NLuqYruUXsAuP4p0k2ehxiFXdok/s320/LarsNov20Speaker.jpeg" /></a></div><br /> <p></p><p><br /></p>BillJohnsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17990935864671031062noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3241371045869709624.post-64886749741258677202020-07-04T12:35:00.005-07:002020-07-04T12:42:59.562-07:00Heavenly Birth Insurance (Show)<div><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="270" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/GcQxUwgoGTM" width="480"></iframe></div><div><br /></div><div>Bill Johnson's play Heavenly Birth Insurance was produced as part of the Short+Sweet Theater Festival in Dubai. The play was directed by Nikhil
Mittal and produced by Emotive Productions.<br /></div><br />BillJohnsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17990935864671031062noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3241371045869709624.post-68485626521048208422020-06-14T19:22:00.000-07:002020-06-14T19:49:07.831-07:00Quora Answers About POV in Movies & Other Writing and Movie Questions<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Below are answers to writing questions posted on <a href="https://www.quora.com/profile/Bill-Johnson-31">Quora</a>. Quora allows members to ask question around a variety of topic. What I'm posting here is the question and my answer.<br />
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<span class="CssComponent__CssInlineComponent-sc-1oskqb9-1 TitleText___StyledCssInlineComponent-sc-1hpb63h-0 jPnwvF"><a class="q-box qu-cursor--pointer qu-hover--textDecoration--underline" href="https://www.quora.com/Why-does-The-Affair-have-two-perspectives-of-the-same-story-and-which-one-to-believe" style="box-sizing: border-box; direction: ltr; transition-duration: 180ms; transition-property: text-decoration; transition-timing-function: ease-in-out;" target="_top"><span class="q-box qu-userSelect--text" style="box-sizing: border-box; direction: ltr;">Why does “The Affair” have two perspectives of the same story, and which one to believe? </span></a></span></div>
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<a class="q-box qu-display--inline-flex qu-color--gray_dark qu-cursor--pointer qu-hover--textDecoration--underline" href="https://www.quora.com/profile/Bill-Johnson-31" style="box-sizing: border-box; direction: ltr; transition-duration: 180ms; transition-property: text-decoration; transition-timing-function: ease-in-out;" target="_blank"></a><br />
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<a class="q-box qu-display--inline-flex qu-color--gray_dark qu-cursor--pointer qu-hover--textDecoration--underline" href="https://www.quora.com/profile/Bill-Johnson-31" style="box-sizing: border-box; direction: ltr; transition-duration: 180ms; transition-property: text-decoration; transition-timing-function: ease-in-out;" target="_blank"><br /></a></div>
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<a class="q-box qu-display--inline-flex qu-color--gray_dark qu-cursor--pointer qu-hover--textDecoration--underline" href="https://www.quora.com/profile/Bill-Johnson-31" style="box-sizing: border-box; direction: ltr; transition-duration: 180ms; transition-property: text-decoration; transition-timing-function: ease-in-out;" target="_blank">
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<a class="q-box qu-color--gray_dark qu-cursor--pointer qu-hover--textDecoration--underline" href="https://www.quora.com/profile/Bill-Johnson-31" style="box-sizing: border-box; direction: ltr; transition-duration: 180ms; transition-property: text-decoration; transition-timing-function: ease-in-out;" target="_blank">Bill Johnson</a></div>
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<span class="q-box qu-userSelect--text" style="box-sizing: border-box; direction: ltr;"><span style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal;">The
question reminds me more of the movie <i>The End of the Affair</i>. The movie
starts with a husband confiding to a friend that he thinks his wife is
having an affair. The friend offers to hire a private detective to find
out. This only convinces the husband that his friend had an affair with
his wife in the past.</span></span></div>
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</span>
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<span class="q-box qu-userSelect--text" style="box-sizing: border-box; direction: ltr;"><span style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal;">The
movie goes back into the past and shows the affair from the friend’s
point of view. And it shows the affair ending, from his point of view.</span></span></div>
<span class="q-box qu-userSelect--text" style="box-sizing: border-box; direction: ltr;">
</span>
<br />
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<span class="q-box qu-userSelect--text" style="box-sizing: border-box; direction: ltr;"><span style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal;">Then
the movie shifts and shows the affair ending from the wife’s point of
view, which creates an entirely different understanding of why the
affair ended.</span></span></div>
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<span class="q-box qu-userSelect--text" style="box-sizing: border-box; direction: ltr;"><span style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal;">The movie Hilary and Jackie explores what can be done with switches in a point of view in a more profound way, </span><span class="q-inline" style="box-sizing: border-box; direction: ltr; display: inline;"><a class="q-box qu-cursor--pointer qu-hover--textDecoration--underline" href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0150915/" rel="noopener nofollow" style="box-sizing: border-box; direction: ltr; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; transition-duration: 180ms; transition-property: text-decoration; transition-timing-function: ease-in-out;" target="_blank" title="www.imdb.com">Hilary and Jackie (1998) - IMDb</a><span class="q-inlineBlock qu-verticalAlign--text-bottom" style="box-sizing: border-box; direction: ltr; display: inline-block; height: 16px; line-height: 0; margin-left: 2px; width: 16px;"><span class="CssComponent__CssInlineComponent-sc-1oskqb9-1 IconWrapper___StyledCssInlineComponent-sc-1c5guci-0 eoOMXK"><svg height="24px" viewbox="0 0 24 24" width="24px"><g class="icon_svg-stroke" fill-rule="evenodd" fill="none" id="external_link" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" stroke-width="1.5" stroke="#666"></g></svg></span></span></span></span></div>
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</span></div>
<span class="q-box qu-userSelect--text" style="box-sizing: border-box; direction: ltr;"> </span><br />
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<span class="q-box qu-userSelect--text" style="box-sizing: border-box; direction: ltr;"><span style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal;">Again
the shift of point of view completely changes an understanding of what
happens in the film. The film even ends with an omniscient pov, where a
sister as an adult sees her younger self and sister playing at a beach.</span></span></div>
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</span>
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<span class="q-box qu-userSelect--text" style="box-sizing: border-box; direction: ltr;"><span style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal;">Beautiful film.</span></span></div>
<span class="q-box qu-userSelect--text" style="box-sizing: border-box; direction: ltr;">
</span>
<br />
<div class="q-text qu-display--block" style="box-sizing: border-box; direction: ltr; margin-bottom: 1em; overflow-wrap: break-word; text-align: start;">
<span class="q-box qu-userSelect--text" style="box-sizing: border-box; direction: ltr;"><span style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal;">There
was a TV show called <i>Boomtown</i>. The basic set up was to show a
crime/event, then shift the POV to give a different understanding of
events.</span></span><br />
<br />
<br />
<b>Question, 'What is the redemption in the movie, "The Shawshank
Redemption"?'</b><br />
<b> </b> <br />
Tim Robbins goes from being emotionally numb to an ability to feel. There’s
a shot early in the movie when he goes to prison showing the width of the
walls. That is symbolic of the internal walls that block Tim’s internal life.<br />
<br />
Morgan Freeman’s character gains an understanding of how he ended up in
prison.<br />
<br />
Two men who appear beyond redemption are redeemed.<br />
<br />
Originally Answered: <b>'How many points of view (POVs) are too many in a novel?'</b><br />
<b> </b>
<br />
The problem with a question like this (or doing a prologue) is that someone
skilled at storytelling can accomplish many difficult tasks, including telling
a story with multiple points of view.<br />
<br />
Someone who lacks skills in understanding POV will screw it up.<br />
<br />
Years ago I read a manuscript for an author with a background as a TV
producer. She didn’t understand POV. She would shift POV if someone mentioned
an article of clothing and she’d go off into a POV shift about what someone
thought about it.<br />
<br />
No point to the shift, served no purpose, just wrong.<br />
<br />
I told her how to fix it. She said she did. She got an agent to read her
novel, which was rejected by the agent’s reader because of POV problems. The
agent’s reader refused to review the novel.<br />
<br />
So the author asked for my help. I again explained how to fix the POV
problems and she asked me to ask the agent to again look at the revised novel.
The agent’s reader came upon the same POV mess and refused to read the novel.<br />
<br />
Suggestions that inexperienced writers avoid POV shifts are for the same
reason people are told to avoid doing a prologue and children are advised not
to play with gasoline and matches.<br />
<br />
More than ONE point of view shift is too many if someone doesn’t understand
POV and how to use it.<br />
<br />
<b>Question, 'In novels, do you believe that theme is always more important
than plot?'</b> <br />
<br />
This needs to be broken down.<br />
<br />
To say a story has a theme is a way of saying it has a point.<br />
<br />
A novel that doesn't have a point risks appearing to be pointless.<br />
<br />
When I would be asked to critique pointless novels that eventually had a
character dealing with redemption, the author would put the word redemption in
the 2nd paragraph of the 2nd page and say, 'See, I have a theme. Everything
should be okay now."<br />
<br />
Not really. Consider Harry Potter, which is storytelling/plot 101 in terms
of mechanics.<br />
<br />
Harry wants to fit in. He's the symbol of a war about pure versus mixed
blood (about allowing more people to fit in versus a smaller group of pure
blood).<br />
<br />
That issue connects every character in the novels.<br />
<br />
Each novel is a step in Harry's journey toward fitting in.<br />
<br />
Each chapter in a Harry Potter novel is a clearly defined step along a plot
line, that large step that will resolve the issue of fitting in for Harry in
that novel.<br />
<br />
Rowling uses a process I call question, answer, question. Each short chapter
starts with a question. The answer to the question at the end of the chapter
raises a new plot question to resolve that gives meaning to the next chapter.<br />
<br />
Returning to the issue of fitting in, even the Dursley's want to fit in by
appearing normal. Harry Potter by his existence is a mortal threat to that
desire.<br />
<br />
See the conflict this creates? It creates what I call narrative tension, the
tension an audience feels about whether Harry will be expelled from Hogwarts
back to the Dursley's.<br />
<br />
As the plot of a Harry Potter novel increases the obstacles Harry must
overcome, the narrative tension increases, making each novel compelling (to its
audience).<br />
<br />
Now, compare that to a novel that appears to be pointless.<br />
<br />
The reader has to memorize details until they have a context. By the time
you get to the third character who acts to no apparent purpose, getting through
that is like getting through a swamp. <br />
Using another example from a popular novel, The Hunt for Red October. Ramius
wants to be free of oppression. That's what the story is about, it's theme, if
you will. Each step Ramius takes to gain his freedom increases the obstacles he
must get through. Once a reader is hooked on the question of whether Ramius can
gain his freedom, they have to finish the novel.<br />
<br />
Note that any character in the novel, a Soviet pilot for example, can be in
the novel for two paragraphs, but his actions clearly have a purpose within the
scope of the story, trying to stop or aid Ramius in his quest.<br />
<br />
Like in Harry Potter, every character in Hunt is on a side and their actions
have meaning that advance the plot.</div>
<div class="q-text qu-display--block" style="box-sizing: border-box; direction: ltr; margin-bottom: 1em; overflow-wrap: break-word; text-align: start;">
But these mechanics of storytelling also apply to literary fiction.<br />
<br />
In Joyce's short story The Dead, an intellectual doctor in Ireland takes
his wife to a salon, where other intellectuals debate the issues of the time.
After the salon, riding home in an open sleigh in the snow, the doctor images
his wife is waiting for him to explain the intellectual arguments of the
evening she didn't understand and that will be a prelude to intimacy.<br />
<br />
Instead his wife is thinking of a time when she was a young girl and a
suitor came to see her in the snow just before he passed from consumption
(tuberculosis).<br />
<br />
The intellectual doctor realizes that with all his vaunted intellect, he
could not recognize the mood of his wife. That all the intellectual arguments
of the night are like the snow covering the earth, some frozen water vapor
covering the deeper reality of the earth.<br />
<br />
The plot and characters of The Dead revolve around ideas.<br />
<br />
The Dead as a story is an inch wide and a mile deep.<br />
<br />
The Hunt for Red October is a mile wide and an inch deep.<br />
<br />
But both operate to a dramatic purpose and both have a plot.<br />
<br />
I recently read All the Light We Cannot See, which is a novel about how war
impacts ordinary people. The plot is about which of two main characters will
survive a city being bombed, and then who will survive the war.<br />
<br />
Simple story, complex plot.<br />
<br />
Returning to the issue of theme, in general I avoid using the word and just
come to an understanding of what a story is about. Typically for an unpublished
novel that starts out pointlessly, that revelation can come deep in a novel.<br />
<br />
Another way to consider this is to think of a story in terms of music. Lets
say Harry Potter is told in the key of C. That means there are particular notes
that work and have an effect in that key, and notes that are discordant.
Struggling writers are hitting notes/words in the wrong key.<br />
<br />
The audience can hear the difference. Coming up with different verbs for how
something crosses a room - siddles, glides, dances, strides - doesn’t change
anything if those words are in the wrong key.<br />
<br />
Fixing an unpublished (or self published) novel written by someone who
doesn't understand what key/theme they are playing in can mean conveying an understanding
of storytelling and not thinking changes in grammar or proofreading or changing
the order of opening chapters will fix the overriding problem.<br />
<br />
Also, someone who doesn't understand what a story is about generally doesn't
understand how to create a strong plot. <br />
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<br />
Bill Johnson, <a href="http://www.storyispromise.com/">A Story is a Promise</a><br />
<br />
<br />
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BillJohnsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17990935864671031062noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3241371045869709624.post-54201962517324943082020-03-26T05:11:00.001-07:002020-03-26T05:11:11.309-07:00Using a Mystery to Explore Race<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<center>
<h2>
<b>Using a Mystery to Explore Race</b></h2>
</center>
<br />
<center>
<a href="https://plus.google.com/u/0/100382108865902620132/posts/p/pub" rel="Bill Johnson"> Review by Bill Johnson</a> </center>
<br />
<img align="left" alt="Cover of Allen Esken's novel Nothing More Dangerous." border="0" height="150" src="https://www.storyispromise.com/NothingMoreDangerous.jpg" width="110" />
<br />
Allen Esken's novel <b><i>Nothing More Dangerous</i></b> is set in the
Ozarks in the early 70s. The main character is Boady, a 15 year old boy
raised by a poor mother. Boady attends a nearby Catholic high school on a
scholarship, but has no friends in a new school. His dream in life is
to save enough money to flee his small town at 16.
<br />
The initial thrust of the plot is that Boady hears the story of Lida
Poe, a divorced colored woman accused of stealing money from the local
manufacturing plant before disappearing. What happened is a clearly
defined plot question.
<br />
<br />
That same day, Boady overhears three seniors talking about dumping some
pudding on the one colored freshman girl in the school. On an impulse,
Boady trips the senior with the pudding and races away, managing to
avoid a beat down in the moment. But he can't avoid the bullies before
summer recess, and the leader makes him an offer.
<br />
<br />
An African-American family is moving in to an old mansion across the
gravel road from Boady's house. The father will be a new manager at the
local plant.
<br />
<br />
If Boady spray paints a racial slur on the new home, he will avoid a beating.
<br />
<br />
Boady agrees so he can get away, but then finds his new neighbors have a
son his age. The two become friends, and Boady discovers his casual use
of racial language offends.
<br />
<br />
When the boys go out camping, they find a building in the woods where a
racist group called CORPS meets. Close by, Boady's dog finds the hand of
Lida Poe sticking out from a shallow grave.
<br />
<br />
The title of the book is revealed. It is based on part of a quote by
Martin Luther King Jr. that there is nothing more dangerous than racists
finding each other and organizing.
<br />
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Boady expects the revelation that Lida Poe died and didn't flee with
embezzled funds will get him on the news. Instead, the local sheriff
casually destroys evidence and refuses to follow up leads on who
embezzled the money if Lida Poe didn't.
<br />
<br />
It turns out a leader of CORPS initiated a relationship with Lida Poe
and induced her to embezzle, and then had her killed by his son as his
initiation into becoming a full member of CORPS.
<br />
<br />
To keep details of the theft from coming out, a closeted gay man who works with Boady's mother has his house burned down.
<br />
<br />
With the help of a kind neighbor who has watched out for Boady and his mother, the killer of Lida Poe pays for his crimes.
<br />
<br />
Nothing More Dangerous explores how racism can be rooted in a small community.
<br />
<br />
There is never an attempt to call attention to Boady's transformation
from small town lad who accepts the racial divide in his town to someone
who becomes part of breaking down that division.
<br />
<br />
Influenced by his friend, Boady decides he will go to college.
<br />
<br />
The readers of the Allen Esken's novel share Boady's journey, a journey woven into the fabric of the story.
<br />
<br />
On a personal note, when I was 40, I took a girlfriend to meet my
parents. She asked a question about a woman in a family photo album. It
turned out my father had been married to an African-American woman
before he married my mother. I never knew until that day.
<br />
<br />
<br />
Return to<a href="http://www.storyispromise.com/"> Essays on the Craft of Dramatic Writing</a> Home Page
<span id="wts3412"><br /></span></div>
BillJohnsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17990935864671031062noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3241371045869709624.post-81100199853283796982020-02-13T01:02:00.000-08:002020-02-24T14:37:12.486-08:00Bill Johnson Play Performed in Dubai Short + Sweet Festival<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span class="fwn fcg"><span class="fcg"><span class="fwb"><a class="profileLink" data-ft="{"tn":"l"}" data-hovercard-prefer-more-content-show="1" data-hovercard-referer="ARSIK8lPU9yJFrXfBqf70m2FxJsDc2SH0JBHreC36Rcl0hKn09W5o70bpNdNvdzeyd4" data-hovercard="/ajax/hovercard/user.php?id=708955253&extragetparams=%7B%22__tn__%22%3A%22%2CdlC-R-R%22%2C%22eid%22%3A%22ARCeE_5A0mVbx1oHyplPAyPZ7qMv_YCWg4r_gDpmsbM7YqJjp87H0Eot8pH_nkYBHb4ALA5nq2bv4FKW%22%2C%22hc_ref%22%3A%22ARSIK8lPU9yJFrXfBqf70m2FxJsDc2SH0JBHreC36Rcl0hKn09W5o70bpNdNvdzeyd4%22%2C%22ref%22%3A%22nf_target%22%7D" href="https://www.facebook.com/nikhilscm?__tn__=lC-R&eid=ARCeE_5A0mVbx1oHyplPAyPZ7qMv_YCWg4r_gDpmsbM7YqJjp87H0Eot8pH_nkYBHb4ALA5nq2bv4FKW&hc_ref=ARSIK8lPU9yJFrXfBqf70m2FxJsDc2SH0JBHreC36Rcl0hKn09W5o70bpNdNvdzeyd4&ref=nf_target&__xts__%5B0%5D=68.ARAza0VH48jeie7ZnKNTmfHQkm-ewgstLsXl896bL5oI17Ld3WUvRZ4o_bpCfTsaY4MHFOfozJoMbEgATIEpk6O7ZNZObMbQPFdXdGchQV5ErKCNEbJaO1EMSM3m2c1bZEdJ3REhYzrH_9SDssfgIUn9OX_twvvZTpzBbrYuRuxwtN0NlwKtPhncWTfSpiPZ6M7kduADAaUuRIzFYmnbbPNO2i02RICQ30-siNojTjEZduUfql98OOa9NUMEm4cIcVgY9VKf6jLVRSKydP9yNpDpmT9pWKM">Nikhil Mittal</a></span> is with <a class="profileLink" data-ft="{"tn":"l"}" data-hovercard-prefer-more-content-show="1" data-hovercard-referer="ARSIK8lPU9yJFrXfBqf70m2FxJsDc2SH0JBHreC36Rcl0hKn09W5o70bpNdNvdzeyd4" data-hovercard="/ajax/hovercard/user.php?id=717175264&extragetparams=%7B%22__tn__%22%3A%22%2CdlC-R-R%22%2C%22eid%22%3A%22ARD83JXmyNwt2At0j7HbtQ0vcYinctUS7OUmyok_IllryGvvKECs91P17rxgCKOEi1SdoWRyNLnAYsl_%22%2C%22hc_ref%22%3A%22ARSIK8lPU9yJFrXfBqf70m2FxJsDc2SH0JBHreC36Rcl0hKn09W5o70bpNdNvdzeyd4%22%2C%22ref%22%3A%22nf_target%22%7D" href="https://www.facebook.com/zille.rehman.16?__tn__=lC-R&eid=ARD83JXmyNwt2At0j7HbtQ0vcYinctUS7OUmyok_IllryGvvKECs91P17rxgCKOEi1SdoWRyNLnAYsl_&hc_ref=ARSIK8lPU9yJFrXfBqf70m2FxJsDc2SH0JBHreC36Rcl0hKn09W5o70bpNdNvdzeyd4&ref=nf_target&__xts__%5B0%5D=68.ARAza0VH48jeie7ZnKNTmfHQkm-ewgstLsXl896bL5oI17Ld3WUvRZ4o_bpCfTsaY4MHFOfozJoMbEgATIEpk6O7ZNZObMbQPFdXdGchQV5ErKCNEbJaO1EMSM3m2c1bZEdJ3REhYzrH_9SDssfgIUn9OX_twvvZTpzBbrYuRuxwtN0NlwKtPhncWTfSpiPZ6M7kduADAaUuRIzFYmnbbPNO2i02RICQ30-siNojTjEZduUfql98OOa9NUMEm4cIcVgY9VKf6jLVRSKydP9yNpDpmT9pWKM" title="Zille Rehman">Zille Rehman</a> and <a data-ft="{"tn":"l"}" data-hover="tooltip" data-tooltip-content="Bill Johnson
Shital Adesara Gusani" data-tooltip-position="below" href="https://www.facebook.com/nikhilscm/posts/10163000803635254?notif_id=1581925075644062&notif_t=tagged_with_story#" rel="dialog" role="button">2 others</a> at <a class="profileLink" data-ft="{"tn":"k"}" data-hovercard-prefer-more-content-show="1" data-hovercard-referer="ARSIK8lPU9yJFrXfBqf70m2FxJsDc2SH0JBHreC36Rcl0hKn09W5o70bpNdNvdzeyd4" data-hovercard="/ajax/hovercard/page.php?id=1411800792459886&extragetparams=%7B%22__tn__%22%3A%22%2CdkC-R-R%22%2C%22eid%22%3A%22ARDuqicoKCRocpN8zA4n4T804LyGVgH-860jOM5M2ispxsIRZM7W995zXgpGCnIH7f6PX_1IroaIW8A8%22%2C%22hc_ref%22%3A%22ARSIK8lPU9yJFrXfBqf70m2FxJsDc2SH0JBHreC36Rcl0hKn09W5o70bpNdNvdzeyd4%22%2C%22ref%22%3A%22nf_target%22%2C%22fref%22%3A%22tag%22%7D" href="https://www.facebook.com/TheJunctionDubai/?__tn__=kC-R&eid=ARDuqicoKCRocpN8zA4n4T804LyGVgH-860jOM5M2ispxsIRZM7W995zXgpGCnIH7f6PX_1IroaIW8A8&hc_ref=ARSIK8lPU9yJFrXfBqf70m2FxJsDc2SH0JBHreC36Rcl0hKn09W5o70bpNdNvdzeyd4&ref=nf_target&fref=tag&__xts__%5B0%5D=68.ARAza0VH48jeie7ZnKNTmfHQkm-ewgstLsXl896bL5oI17Ld3WUvRZ4o_bpCfTsaY4MHFOfozJoMbEgATIEpk6O7ZNZObMbQPFdXdGchQV5ErKCNEbJaO1EMSM3m2c1bZEdJ3REhYzrH_9SDssfgIUn9OX_twvvZTpzBbrYuRuxwtN0NlwKtPhncWTfSpiPZ6M7kduADAaUuRIzFYmnbbPNO2i02RICQ30-siNojTjEZduUfql98OOa9NUMEm4cIcVgY9VKf6jLVRSKydP9yNpDpmT9pWKM">The Junction</a>.</span></span></h5>
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<span class="fwn fcg"><span class="fcg"> </span></span><span class="oi732d6d ik7dh3pa d2edcug0 qv66sw1b c1et5uql a8c37x1j s89635nw ew0dbk1b jq4qci2q a3bd9o3v knj5qynh oo9gr5id"><div class="kvgmc6g5 cxmmr5t8 oygrvhab hcukyx3x c1et5uql ii04i59q">
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Putting up “Heavenly Birth Insurance” on stage has been a learning experience like no other. <span aria-label="😅" class="q9uorilb tbxw36s4 knj5qynh kvgmc6g5 ditlmg2l oygrvhab nvdbi5me fgm26odu gl3lb2sf hhz5lgdu"><span aria-hidden="true"><img alt="" height="16" src="https://static.xx.fbcdn.net/images/emoji.php/v9/tac/1.5/16/1f605.png" width="16" /></span></span></div>
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Thank u <span><a class="oajrlxb2 g5ia77u1 qu0x051f esr5mh6w e9989ue4 r7d6kgcz rq0escxv nhd2j8a9 nc684nl6 p7hjln8o kvgmc6g5 cxmmr5t8 oygrvhab hcukyx3x jb3vyjys rz4wbd8a qt6c0cv9 a8nywdso i1ao9s8h esuyzwwr f1sip0of lzcic4wl oo9gr5id gpro0wi8 lrazzd5p" href="https://www.facebook.com/bjscript?__cft__[0]=AZXWKaOJV7Cq_AeRiEKkOGAOblnohFxTh5xrriTj8eZ-3VMyjAPChN5yZscjWGz-DhlPJ0l9ja_M8h8SQMpAYKqoloWIzq5F2gNFHsPsQAWGNp-sILmikrSNX-zDI0ZH19UN2eIZX4Zz3xeGvL4FAdvW&__tn__=-]K-R" role="link" tabindex="0"><div class="nc684nl6">
<span><strong>Bill Johnson</strong></span></div>
</a></span> for the beautiful script. It was exciting, enriching & challenging to bring your story to stage. <span aria-label="🙏" class="q9uorilb tbxw36s4 knj5qynh kvgmc6g5 ditlmg2l oygrvhab nvdbi5me fgm26odu gl3lb2sf hhz5lgdu"><span aria-hidden="true"><img alt="" height="16" src="https://static.xx.fbcdn.net/images/emoji.php/v9/td9/1.5/16/1f64f.png" width="16" /></span></span></div>
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Thanks a lot to my actors <span><a class="oajrlxb2 g5ia77u1 qu0x051f esr5mh6w e9989ue4 r7d6kgcz rq0escxv nhd2j8a9 nc684nl6 p7hjln8o kvgmc6g5 cxmmr5t8 oygrvhab hcukyx3x jb3vyjys rz4wbd8a qt6c0cv9 a8nywdso i1ao9s8h esuyzwwr f1sip0of lzcic4wl oo9gr5id gpro0wi8 lrazzd5p" href="https://www.facebook.com/zille.rehman.16?__cft__[0]=AZXWKaOJV7Cq_AeRiEKkOGAOblnohFxTh5xrriTj8eZ-3VMyjAPChN5yZscjWGz-DhlPJ0l9ja_M8h8SQMpAYKqoloWIzq5F2gNFHsPsQAWGNp-sILmikrSNX-zDI0ZH19UN2eIZX4Zz3xeGvL4FAdvW&__tn__=-]K-R" role="link" tabindex="0"><div class="nc684nl6">
<span><strong>Zille Rehman</strong></span></div>
</a></span> & <span><a class="oajrlxb2 g5ia77u1 qu0x051f esr5mh6w e9989ue4 r7d6kgcz rq0escxv nhd2j8a9 nc684nl6 p7hjln8o kvgmc6g5 cxmmr5t8 oygrvhab hcukyx3x jb3vyjys rz4wbd8a qt6c0cv9 a8nywdso i1ao9s8h esuyzwwr f1sip0of lzcic4wl oo9gr5id gpro0wi8 lrazzd5p" href="https://www.facebook.com/shital.adesara.7?__cft__[0]=AZXWKaOJV7Cq_AeRiEKkOGAOblnohFxTh5xrriTj8eZ-3VMyjAPChN5yZscjWGz-DhlPJ0l9ja_M8h8SQMpAYKqoloWIzq5F2gNFHsPsQAWGNp-sILmikrSNX-zDI0ZH19UN2eIZX4Zz3xeGvL4FAdvW&__tn__=-]K-R" role="link" tabindex="0"><div class="nc684nl6">
<span><strong>Shital Adesara Gusani</strong></span></div>
</a></span> for believing in my vision and having faith and patience as we worked on it as a team giving it our all. We all pushed our boundaries and worked outside our comfort zone. You guys have been just awesome <span aria-label="🙌" class="q9uorilb tbxw36s4 knj5qynh kvgmc6g5 ditlmg2l oygrvhab nvdbi5me fgm26odu gl3lb2sf hhz5lgdu"><span aria-hidden="true"><img alt="" height="16" src="https://static.xx.fbcdn.net/images/emoji.php/v9/t56/1.5/16/1f64c.png" width="16" /></span></span> <span aria-label="🤗" class="q9uorilb tbxw36s4 knj5qynh kvgmc6g5 ditlmg2l oygrvhab nvdbi5me fgm26odu gl3lb2sf hhz5lgdu"><span aria-hidden="true"><img alt="" height="16" src="https://static.xx.fbcdn.net/images/emoji.php/v9/t10/1.5/16/1f917.png" width="16" /></span></span> <span><a class="oajrlxb2 g5ia77u1 qu0x051f esr5mh6w e9989ue4 r7d6kgcz rq0escxv nhd2j8a9 nc684nl6 p7hjln8o kvgmc6g5 cxmmr5t8 oygrvhab hcukyx3x jb3vyjys rz4wbd8a qt6c0cv9 a8nywdso i1ao9s8h esuyzwwr f1sip0of lzcic4wl oo9gr5id gpro0wi8 lrazzd5p" href="https://www.facebook.com/hashtag/godbless?__cft__[0]=AZXWKaOJV7Cq_AeRiEKkOGAOblnohFxTh5xrriTj8eZ-3VMyjAPChN5yZscjWGz-DhlPJ0l9ja_M8h8SQMpAYKqoloWIzq5F2gNFHsPsQAWGNp-sILmikrSNX-zDI0ZH19UN2eIZX4Zz3xeGvL4FAdvW&__tn__=*NK-R" role="link" tabindex="0">#GODBless</a></span> <span aria-label="❤️" class="q9uorilb tbxw36s4 knj5qynh kvgmc6g5 ditlmg2l oygrvhab nvdbi5me fgm26odu gl3lb2sf hhz5lgdu"><span aria-hidden="true"><img alt="" height="16" src="https://static.xx.fbcdn.net/images/emoji.php/v9/tf3/1.5/16/2764.png" width="16" /></span></span></div>
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Thanks to everyone who gave us their feedback and boosted our confidence and morale. <span aria-label="🙏" class="q9uorilb tbxw36s4 knj5qynh kvgmc6g5 ditlmg2l oygrvhab nvdbi5me fgm26odu gl3lb2sf hhz5lgdu"><span aria-hidden="true"><img alt="" height="16" src="https://static.xx.fbcdn.net/images/emoji.php/v9/td9/1.5/16/1f64f.png" width="16" /></span></span><span aria-label="✌️" class="q9uorilb tbxw36s4 knj5qynh kvgmc6g5 ditlmg2l oygrvhab nvdbi5me fgm26odu gl3lb2sf hhz5lgdu"><span aria-hidden="true"><img alt="" height="16" src="https://static.xx.fbcdn.net/images/emoji.php/v9/te8/1.5/16/270c.png" width="16" /></span></span></div>
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BillJohnsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17990935864671031062noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3241371045869709624.post-64956568269910492482019-12-05T17:35:00.003-08:002019-12-05T17:35:25.679-08:00Mental Illness as a Literary Device, Notes on Allen Eskens' The Life We Bury<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Mental Illness as a Literary Device<br />
<br />
Notes on Allen Eskens' <i>The Life We Bury</i> <br />
<br />
<br />
<center>
<a href="https://plus.google.com/u/0/100382108865902620132/posts/p/pub" rel="Bill Johnson"> by Bill Johnson</a> </center>
<br />
<img align="right" height="280" src="https://www.storyispromise.com/LifeWeBury.jpg" width="250" />
The use of mental illness in Allen Esken's The Life We Bury demonstrates it as a powerful technique to create drama.
<br />
<br />
Joe, the novel's main character, has left a chaotic home to attend
college. He works odd jobs as a bouncer to pay his tuition. His mother
is untreated bi-polar and she self-medicates with alcohol. Joe also has a
young, autistic brother that he has left behind to go to college.
Except when his mother is arrested and he must either return home or
take his brother to stay in his cramped college town apartment. When his
mother is arrested, Joe simply tells his brother his mother is
attending a meeting. Some of the meetings last for days, which the
brother mostly accepts.
<br />
<br />
And soon, the mother will put at risk Joe attending college, which Joe
considers his best shot at creating a new, better life for himself
<br />
<br />
Eskens starts the novel with this sentence...
<br />
<br />
'I remember being pestered by a sense of dread as I walked to my car
that day, pressed down by a wave of foreboding that swirled around my
head and broke against the evening in small ripples.'
<br />
<br />
This naturally creates drama around the question, what is the cause of
this dread? The prime directive of a first sentence is to give the
reader a reason to read a next sentence. Esken has accomplished that.
<br />
<br />
The first paragraph ends with...
<br />
<br />
'Or would I still travel the path that led me to Carl Iverson?'
<br />
<br />
The outcome of this premonition is named, Carl Iverson, while raising a new question, who is Carl?
<br />
<br />
The novel continues with this note about Joe's mother and her effect on his life...
<br />
<br />
'Or-and this is where I'd place my bet-maybe she {a high school
counselor who doesn't think Joe is college material} knew who my mother
was and figured no one can change the sound of an echo.'
<br />
<br />
This is a cryptic way of saying that being raised by his mother will affect Joe's choices in life, not in a good way.
<br />
<br />
In this opening chapter, Joe has traveled to Hillside Manor, a retirement home and a place...
<br />
<br />
'...with its gray walls streaked green with moss, its raggedy shrubs run
amok, and its mold, the color of oxidized copper, encasing the soft
wood of every window sash.'
<br />
<br />
Even the details of the environment convey illness.
<br />
<br />
Joe is at the manor because he needs to interview an elderly person for a
class project that he is late to start (increasing the tension).
Because so many of the inhabitants are senile, Joe needs permission to
interview a prisoner who has been sent to the manner to die of cancer.
Carl was sent to prison for life for raping and murdering a young girl.
<br />
<br />
In the manor, Joe has a memory of his grandfather that foreshadows learning why Joe blames himself for his grandfather's death.
<br />
<br />
'There were weeks, however, when the sound of rain splashing against a
windowpane would seep into my subconscious and he would visit me in my
dreams-dreams that would end with me sitting bolt upright in my bed, my
body covered in a cold sweat, and my hands trembling from the memory of
watching him die.'
<br />
<br />
The details of how the grandfather died and why it had such a major
impact on Joe's mental landscape is revealed deep in the novel. Here the
question is framed for readers to expect an answer.
<br />
<br />
Joe decides he will interview Carl, the convicted, dying murderer, but
he then gets a hysterical call from his mother. In between screaming at
her arresting officer, Joe learns she was arrested for a DUI and will be
detox and jail for several days.
<br />
<br />
Joe must now make decisions about how to take care of his brother and continue in school. The first chapter ends with...
<br />
<br />
'A block away from Hillview, I pulled into a parking lot, gripped the
steering wheel with all my strength, and shook it violently. "God
dammit!" I yelled. "Dammit! Dammit! Dammit! Why can't you just leave me
alone." My knuckles turned white, and I trembled as the wave of anger
passed through me. I took a deep breath and waited for the throbbing in
my throat to subside.'
<br />
<br />
In spite of his rage, Joe must now return home to take care of his
brother and later deal with his mother and her latest boyfriend when she
is released from jail.
<br />
<br />
In the next chapter, the town where Joe grew up and his mother lives is
detailed. Note the structure. First we are drawn in to Joe's life and
drama, then we get more details about his environment. Struggling
writers often start with the details of environment.
<br />
<br />
Because his mother lives hours from the college, Joe must make a
decision about how to care for his autistic brother who can't be left
alone.
<br />
<br />
Returning home, Joe has a memory of an accident that hurt his brother.
After the accident, he has to visit local bars to find his mother and
bring her home. When she sees Joe's brother bleeding from the head, she
explodes...
<br />
<br />
"You had to use my good towel," she yelled. "You couldn't just grab a
rag. Look at this blood in the carpet. We could lose our damage deposit.
Did you ever stop to think about that? No. You never think. You just
make the goddamn mess and I have to clean it up."
<br />
<br />
This scene conveys the emotional minefield Joe must navigate each time he needs to deal with his mother.
<br />
<br />
Joe also has to be artful to convey a new living situation to his autistic brother.
<br />
<br />
'It was easy to lie to Jeremy, his trusting temperament being incapable
of understanding deceit. I didn't lie to him to be mean. It was just my
way of explaining things to him without the complexity of nuance that
came with the truth.'
<br />
<br />
Eskens does an excellent job of setting out the dramatic situations Joe
must deal with to try and gain a better life by going to college.
<br />
<br />
The second chapter ends with...
<br />
<br />
'As I pulled out of the driveway, I contemplated my work and class
schedules, trying to find gaps that would allow me to keep an eye on
Jeremy. On top of that, distracting questions ripped through my brain.
How would Jeremy get along in the unfamiliar world of my apartment?
Where would I find the time or money to bail my mother out of jail? And
how the hell did I become the parent in this wreck of a family?'
<br />
<br />
Excellent questions that increase Joe's inner tension and that pull readers forward to turn the page and begin chapter three.
<br />
<br />
Chapter Three begins...
<br />
<br />
'On the drive back to the Twin Cities, I watched the anxiety pace back
and forth behind my brother's eyes, his brow and forehead as he
processed what was happening.'
<br />
<br />
Bringing his brother to his college town apartment has an unintended but
welcome introduction and connection to the girl next door, Lila, who
volunteers to help with Jeremy.
<br />
<br />
It only comes out much later how damaged Lisa is.
<br />
<br />
Returning to Joe's mother...
<br />
<br />
'Add to that cauldron {untreated bi-polar} an ever increasing measure of
cheap vodka-a form of cheap medication that quelled the inner scream
but amplified the crazy-and you get a picture of the life I left
behind.'
<br />
<br />
And the life that won't stay behind.
<br />
<br />
At the end of chapter three, Joe considers...
<br />
<br />
'When I finally fell asleep that night, I did so wrapped comfortably in
the belief that my meeting with Carl Iverson would have no down side,
that our encounter would somehow make my life-easier. In hindsight, I
was at best naive.'
<br />
<br />
Joe ultimately discovers that Carl was suicidal while serving in Vietnam
over his inability to save a young girl from rape. Which is how, in
part, Joe comes to believe that Carl was not guilty of raping and
killing a young girl who lived next door to his house.
<br />
<br />
Carl is yet another character with a deep mental wound.
<br />
<br />
The Life We Bury does a great job of using mental illness to greatly
complicate and add drama to Joe's life. The drama is organic to the
story. It creates a situation where there's no easy path forward for
Joe, the hallmark of creating narrative tension in a novel.
<br />
<br />
This is a novel with excellent story dynamics.
<br />
<br />
<br />
Copyright 2018 Bill Johnson
<span id="wts3412"><br /></span></div>
BillJohnsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17990935864671031062noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3241371045869709624.post-92032110382738415222019-10-09T20:07:00.002-07:002020-06-14T22:21:19.078-07:00Notes on the Movie Joker<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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This film is brilliantly acted by Joaquin Phoenix. The movie sets out the descent into utter madness of a barely working clown when his meds are stopped because of budget cuts. The film offers a gritty portrait of his life and delusions. But the ending of the film strains for a big moment that doesn't register.<br />
<br />
In Fellini's 8 1/2, the director Quito is creatively stuck while trying to find an ending for his latest film. He sets out on a path of 'retiring' the memories and moments of his life that have defined him and his creative spirit. At the climax of the film, he realizes he can integrate all those memories to support his creative self and this is acted out by a celebratory ending that includes a marching band. This scene has been recreated in other movies, including Big Fish and Shortbus.<br />
<br />
The moment of celebration in Joker is set off by Author Fleck killing a talk show host on live TV setting off a riot for which he is a symbol. But the intense focus on Arthur's life never quite explains why he has become that symbol and, if he is that symbol, why anyone would care about Arthur Fleck.<br />
<br />
Somehow the moment is meant to convey that Arthur is fully integrating with his persona the Joker. I was left wondering if it was just another delusion.</div>
BillJohnsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17990935864671031062noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3241371045869709624.post-74165118208631028582019-09-02T17:46:00.000-07:002019-09-16T18:43:01.118-07:00What IS Plot? An Online Workshop Offered by Pennwriters<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<h2 class="heading_2 aqua" style="text-align: left;">
What IS Plot?</h2>
Pennwriters Online Class:<br />
October 3-31, 2019<br />
Class Title: <b>What IS Plot?</b><br />
$49.00<br />
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with PayPal<br />
<br />
Register online at <a href="https://pennwriters.org/what-is-plot/">https://pennwriters.org/what-is-plot/</a><br />
<br />
Or send a check to Treasurer, Pennwriters, Inc. PO Box 685 Dalton, PA 18414<br />
<br />
Many writers are consumed with the idea of creating the effect of what a plot <b>does</b> without first understanding what a plot <b>is</b>. What a plot <b>does</b> is raise dramatic questions a reader or viewer will follow to get answers. What a plot <b>is </b>is
the process of generating questions around the outcome of a story’s
promise that gives a story a dramatic shape and outcome fulfilling to an
audience. This workshop is designed to guide writers to an
understanding of what creates a dramatic plot, and to offer practical
advice on how they can create dramatically satisfying plots for their
stories.<br />
Writers in this workshop will be guided to understand a simple plot
outline for some popular stories with simple plot mechanics. This
outline will convey a fundamental truth of storytelling, how the
elements of a story transports its audience.<br />
<br />
Writers will then be asked to use that knowledge to outline the plot of a popular story they enjoy.<br />
Finally, writers will be guided to apply this understanding of plot
mechanics on a project they are working on. This could be outlining a
story they have only begun to create an understanding of the underlying
mechanics of that story, to creating a plot outline that guides a
revision of a complete manuscript.<br />
<br />
The completed outline will include creating plot questions for each step of the novel.<br />
The goal of the workshop is for students to be able to create a
detailed plot outline for a novel or script and to understand the
mechanics of how other popular stories are constructed.<br />
<br />
<b>Instructor Bio:</b><br />
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</div>
<br />
Bill Johnson is a produced
playwright, optioned screenwriter, and has read manuscript submissions
for a literary agent. He is the author of A Story is a Promise and The
Spirit of Storytelling, a workbook
that explores how to create dramatic, engaging stories; and web master
of Essays on the Craft of Dramatic Writing, a site that explores
principles of storytelling through reviews of popular movies, books and
plays (<a href="http://www.storyispromise.com/">www.storyispromise.com</a>); Bill
has lead workshops on writing around the United States, including the
Southern California Writing Conference, Write on the Sound Conference,
and the Expo Screenwriting Conference in Los Angeles.<br />
<br />
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BillJohnsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17990935864671031062noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3241371045869709624.post-37378560958590758272019-06-16T19:12:00.000-07:002019-06-16T19:12:41.288-07:00A Perspective on Shifts in Tone in Stories<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;"></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">by Bill Johnson</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">I was recently a judge in a
screenwriting contest. I noted a particular issue in scripts by inexperienced
writers. They often used a shift in tone to create a dramatic effect. For
example, a script with a realistic tone shifting to a comic tone. Or a script
with a realistic tone shifting to a melodramatic tone.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">These shifts can have the
effect of disrupting the flow of a story. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">To understand why this
happens, consider that the foundation stone for what I teach about writing in A
Story is a Promise is that a story creates movement, and the movement
transports the audience.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">That movement can be simple:
boy meets girl, boy loses girl, boy gets girl back. Or complex: Mulholland Drive.
Memento.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">To understand this jarring
effect, consider that you have grown up in Portland,
Oregon, you are downtown, and request an Uber
ride to the Portland
airport, which is East. The driver shows up and gets on Highway 26, driving
West.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">You're going to have a
visceral reaction to this. The direction of the movement of the vehicle is
wrong. At a minimum, you're probably wishing you called a cab. If you are a
young woman, alone, and it's night, you are probably having more desperate
thoughts.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">The reaction to a shift in
tone in a movie, novel, or play is more subtle, but the reaction is the same.
You go from sitting back to enjoy the ride to wondering why something just
happened. You have been bumped from the story.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">I'm not suggesting a movie
can't have a twist. In the recent film Arrival, the main character appears to
be having flash back about the birth and death of a daughter. These are
actually flash forwards. I was tremendously impressed by the skill with which
this was pulled off. But the issue of how we and the aliens in the movie
interpret time was part of the story. The twist arose from the nature of the
movement of the film.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">Years ago Peter O'Toole was
in a movie where he's an English aristocrat who believes he's Jesus Christ. He
hangs himself on a cross. His extended family is desperate that he have a heir
to continue the family lineage.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">At the end of the film, Peter
appears to be normal and goes off to attend a session of the House of Lords.
But when seen from his point of view, he's switched from thinking he's Jesus to
believing he's Jack the Ripper.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">While the movie has a comic
tone, Peter's family has always been in deadly earnest about the need to
reshape his personality. The movie always had a realistic tone under the
comedy.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">A more recent example comes
from the Men in Black series. In the first film, there's an overall comic tone
but the character played by Tommy Lee Jones gives the story a moral center. He
looks at humanity and individuals with a clear gaze. It's a wonderful film.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">The most recent film, Men in
Black: International, has one of the main characters played as a buffoon.
Buffoons carry no dramatic weight. So the plot ambles along until the movie is
over.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">That shift in tone from
comedic with a serious undertone to borderline slapstick deflates the action.
It might have worked in a stand alone film, but as part of a series it just
feels like the movie is going West when the airport is East.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">Whether a dramatic effect is
within the scope of a story's overall movement or not is situation where a
writer might need to lean on skilled readers to convey whether an effect was
amazing or disconcerting.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">The recent online commotion
over the ending of Game of Thrones is an example of what happens when the
expectations of an audience are violated.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>*********************</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">Bill Johnson is the author of
A Story is a Promise & The Spirit of Storytelling, available on <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Story-Promise-The-Spirit-Storytelling-ebook/dp/B004V020N0?tag=gevert-20">Amazon</a> and
<a href="https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/storyispromise">Smashwords</a>.</span></div>
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BillJohnsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17990935864671031062noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3241371045869709624.post-77255675401961480212019-04-25T18:33:00.001-07:002019-04-25T22:05:10.522-07:00Elizabeth Lyon on Style and Voice<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="344" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/8BfHGeZqJvE" width="459"></iframe></div>
BillJohnsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17990935864671031062noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3241371045869709624.post-8190212602608105342019-01-28T12:17:00.001-08:002019-01-28T16:13:00.951-08:00Poet Laureate to speak at Peace Corps Writers<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "helvetica" , serif , "emojifont";"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica neue" , "helvetica" , sans-serif , serif , "emojifont";"><span style="color: black;">Our special guest will be
<b>Kim Stafford, </b></span></span></span></span><span style="color: black; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica neue" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Oregon's 9th Poet Laureate</b>. </span><br />
<br />
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica neue" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">He is a poet and essayist having published many articles and several books including;
<i>Having Everything Right: Essays of place </i>and <i>100 tricks Every Boy Can Do</i>.
He is the founding Director of the NW Writing Institute at Lewis &
Clark University. As Poet Laureate he travels throughout the state of
Oregon. “Poetry is our native language,”
says Stafford. “We begin with imaginative experiences as children and
lyric language can be a can be a realm of delight throughout life." </span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica neue" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">This
event is open to Returned Peace Corps Volunteers, friends, and the
public. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica neue" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Guests may bring refreshments to share. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica neue" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Expect a writing exercise or two. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Tuesday 2/19, 7:00 pm to 9:00 pm - Writers Workshop – 318 SW Palatine Hill Rd (big yellow church) in Portland. Hosted by Mimi Sanders. Contact Mimi for details, mimisandersart@hotmail.com</span><br />
<br />
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BillJohnsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17990935864671031062noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3241371045869709624.post-85357547265121738682019-01-24T18:52:00.000-08:002019-01-24T18:52:27.232-08:00Visual Storytelling, Clark Kohanek, February 5th, PDX<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<br /><br />Writers employ story structures,
plot designs and character arcs to explore, examine and reveal their
creations. Directors, Art Directors and Cinematographers use similar
tools that parallel these structures, designs and arcs, to express their
vision. We’ll examine aspects of their craft as it pertains to writing
and explore the psychological dimensions of symbol, analogy and metaphor
in relation to visual subtext, in context, to content.<br /><br />Clark
Kohanek is a freelance illustrator, storyboard artist, writer and
director. Clark has worked for a variety of advertising agencies,
production companies and studios over the last 22 years. (i.e.
Weiden&Kennedy, Universal Studios, Anonymous Content, Dark Horse,
Disney, Jerry Bruckheimer, Tim Robbins, Bryan Singer to name a few.)
Clark’s 2012 micro-budget sci-fi film called CONTAINED opened a door to
20th Century Fox – Bad Hat Harry, which paved the way for action sci-fi
THE 37TH PARALLEL, an elevator pitch that turned into a 2015 studio
pitch tour to SONY, DREAMWORKS, UNIVERSAL, LEGENDARY, LIONSGATE, MGM, to
name a few. Clark recently completed - JUNKIES - an animated
horror-comedy being pitched to Sony later this month. Clark currently
works and lives in Portland, Oregon though travels teaching visual
storytelling and screenwriting workshops at various writing conferences
throughout the year.<br /><br /> ********************************************<br />
<br />
<br />
This meeting is Tuesday, February 5th at the new Willamette Writers PDX chapter location: The First
Congregational United Church of Christ in downtown Portland (1126 SW
Park Ave, Portland, OR 97205).<br /><br />This
meeting is free to members of Willamette Writers and full time students
under 25, and $5 for guests, including MeetUp guests.<br /><br />For more information about Willamette Writers, visit<br />willamettewriters.org<br />
<br />
For more information about Clark, visit<br />
<a href="https://clarkkohanek.wordpress.com/">https://clarkkohanek.wordpress.com/</a><a href="https://clarkkohanek.wordpress.com/">https://clarkkohanek.wordpress.com/</a></div>
BillJohnsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17990935864671031062noreply@blogger.com0