I came across this story and it immediately made me think of the different choices available to us as writers. For those of you that haven’t heard, the twin brother of the recently deceased president of Poland is very close to winning the runoff election, and being named the new leader of the country.
As an exercise:
Take a moment to consider what genre you would write in to tell this story. Would it be a drama, where a brother bravely takes the place of his fallen sibling? Or a comedy where a hapless relative has to assume control (think King Ralph)? Or a thriller where the wrong brother actually died in the crash? Or maybe it’s a science fiction piece where the twin is actually a clone… or an alien!
Quite often writers tell me they feel confined inside their story. A quick solution is to immediately imagine how your story would be different if you told it a different way. Even if you don’t “use that way” in your actual movie script, you will almost certainly reveal new layers of your story.
Note: My assistant loves “pairing” movies the way that many people pair wines with food. His favorite example is The Game and The Man Who Knew Too Little. Both films are about a hero who may or may not be involved in an elaborate game. But they are VERY different films. What’s your favorite movie pairing?
