Happy Friday!
With everything opening up, suddenly there’s so much dancing!
When I reached a milestone in my rewrite, I came into the city to do a little “research,” otherwise known as dancing.
My studio has a proper dance floor, and I’m lucky to be able to have my friends come up to practice. Because Tango is improvisational, practicing dancing is the equivalent of doing a writing exercise, in that both practices can open new possibilities in what you’re doing.
Here is a video of me practicing with my friend Tomas Corbalan.
Tango is a dance that causes anxiety because it requires a fair amount of technical proficiency. It sounds a lot like writing, doesn’t
it?
I always think of writing as being in a relationship with the character I’m writing about.
The exercise for the week is to write a scene where you interact with your character in your story.
For example, my character, Dotty, is very driven. If I were in a scene with her, I would want to give her the message to relax, take it easy, and don’t try so hard.
I’m working on this blog, and I just figured this out! So I know this exercise works! Now that I know this, I can imagine a scene where I can share that with her, disguised as a character in the book.
The benefits of doing this exercise are that you’ll not only find out what you think of your character, but you’ll also discover the theme and find a turning point in the story.
Very happy to share the latest episode of Joke on a Stick #77.
Here’s to your successful writing,
Professor Marilyn Horowitz
