Happy Friday!
This week included Yom Kippur, the highest holy day in the Jewish calendar. The purpose of this holiday is to take stock of your behavior over the last year and to make amends for anything that you did wrong.
I always like the idea that you have a direct relationship with God and could discuss life with such a deity, whether or not you were actually a believer.
One of the projects I am developing is about a mobster who makes a Faustian bargain with God. To get to know my characters, I use an exercise where the hero and the villain interview each other, using The 4 Magic Questions of Screenwriting. This is not about religious beliefs-it is about discovering how your character feels about Spirituality. The easy way to do the exercise is to simply put on a piece of paper the four questions: What is your dream? What is your nightmare? What would you “die“ for? And what would be the final outcome for you?
If you set a timer for 10 minutes, and first answer the exercise questions as if you yourself are talking to God and then you reset the timer and do the exercise for your character, you will find out a lot of useful information to put in your story.
I’d be curious to know what your experience of doing the exercise was so please feel free to email me your thoughts.
I wish everyone happy New Year full of sweetness, health, prosperity and fun!
Here’s to your successful writing,
Professor Marilyn Horowitz
