• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
Marilyn Horowitz

Marilyn Horowitz

Screenwriting Classes, Coaching, and Resources

212-600-1115
  • Home
  • About
  • Writing Services
  • Guidance
    • Writing Evaluation
    • Writing Guidance
    • Comprehensive Packages
    • Ongoing Coaching
  • Classes & Seminars
    • New York University Classes
    • Seminars
    • Free Video Tutorials
    • Movie Breakdowns
    • Online Stores
  • Books & Media
  • Blog
  • Contact
  • Word of the Day
    • What is the Word of the Day?
    • Word of the Day Cheat Sheet
    • Free Word of the Day Webinar

Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner

August 12, 2016 by Marilyn Horowitz

In this delicious exercise, you’re going to learn more about the most difficult character in your story, your villain, by imagining meeting him or her for the first time. So that you feel perfectly safe with this diabolical being, we’re going to assume that he or she does not have it in for you personally. This way, you’ll be able to talk to your villain or obstacle in the same, easy way that you would anybody you were interested in getting to know better.

So, find a nice quiet place, close your eyes, take a deep breath, and imagine yourself in some beautiful setting. Then, when you’re centered and ready, open your eyes and set your timer for five minutes. (I always recommend a pad and pencil or pen, rather than a computer, for this kind of exercise.)

dinnerfortwoNow, write about the experience of meeting your villain or obstacle, whether it’s at a restaurant, a wedding, a diner, or a picnic. What do you talk about? What do you each order? If you’re in a restaurant, who picks up the check? Or do the two of you go Dutch? Every detail will reveal something important about your villain. How does he or she eat? Table manners can tell us a lot about a person. Describe what happens, if anything, between you and your villain, or between your villain and someone else.

As a reference, I highly recommend watching the scene in the movie Heat where Al Pacino and Robert De Niro discuss how the story is going to end. It’s a perfect example of how the small things often reveal the most about your characters.

So, enjoy this delicious exercise—and bon appétit!

Here’s to Your Successful Writing!

Professor Marilyn Horowitz

Primary Sidebar

Sign Up

for our Screenwriting Newsletter and Receive Our FREE Gift How To Write a Treatment.

Testimonials

Thank you. If it hadn’t been for you Marilyn, I don’t think I would have made the Woodstock film which… Read more “Nancy C.”

I’m very grateful to be able to learn from Marilyn, Her focus on the psychological and spiritual foundations necessary to… Read more ““…grateful to learn from Marilyn””

Marilyn’s techniques helped me stop overthinking and start writing! She gave me exercises to take the pressure off beginning a… Read more “The Word of the Day”

You are always a light. Thank you.

Desiree

“Working with Marilyn Horowitz has challenged every aspect of my creative process from conception to preparation, and most importantly, execution.… Read more “– Larry Lowry”

- Larry Lowry
Writer/Producer, Nickelodeon
View All Testimonials

Television Writing Evaluation & Guidance

Screenwriting Evaluation & Guidance

Classes & Seminars

Footer

Connect

Contact

CLASSES

Contact the office at 212-600-1115

MEDIA & SPEAKING INQUIRIES

Contact Marilyn Horowitz at 212-600-1115

PUBLISHING & FILM INQUIRIES

Contact Koehler Books at 757-289-6006

  • Terms and Conditions
  • Privacy Policy
  • Cookie Policy
  • Home
  • About
  • Writing Services
  • Guidance
    • Writing Evaluation
    • Writing Guidance
    • Comprehensive Packages
    • Ongoing Coaching
  • Classes & Seminars
    • New York University Classes
    • Seminars
    • Free Video Tutorials
    • Movie Breakdowns
    • Online Stores
  • Books & Media
  • Blog
  • Contact
  • Word of the Day
    • What is the Word of the Day?
    • Word of the Day Cheat Sheet
    • Free Word of the Day Webinar
Copyright © 2023 · Marilyn Horowitz. All rights reserved.