Out on the Wire Out on the Wire Episode 6.5: Workshop
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Dec 1, 2015 Critiquing scenes, the hosts dive into an ethnographic memoir about marrying into a new culture. They explore a biographical sketch of dancer Gertrude Hoffman, emphasizing her strategy of imitation. A playful radio play about a dispute over an orange showcases creative storytelling and conflict resolution for children. Workshops focus on enhancing emotional beats, pacing, and vivid details. Overall, it's a dynamic session filled with feedback and imaginative writing.
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Write Scenes As Change And Iterate
- Start scenes by ordering bits to build from elements into a coherent argument.
- Read scenes out loud, record, walk, and iterate until the change is clear.
Emotional Arcs Can Drive Scenes
- Scenes can track an emotional arc instead of strict chronology and still succeed.
- Treat emotional beats as the scene's change, not only physical actions.
Make The Central Tension Immediate
- Bring secrecy and hiding forward when that theme shapes the whole book's stakes.
- Use the opening scene to signal the central tension explicitly and early.