Last year I gave a long seminar to a group of writers at the Hollywood Theater here in Portland. It’s now available on DVD. It’s a four-hour seminar on the art of story, covering how speakers and writers can use story to enhance their communication. It’s a big package and a lot of material, but will make a great addition to your writing library. And it will make for a great day seminar for your writers group.
If you speak before live audiences on a regular basis, the seminar teaches how to capture an audiences attention through story. And if you’re dreaming of writing a novel, the seminar talks about how to plot your story in such a way the novel writes itself.
The seminar is called Into the Elements and it’s available from Blue Fish TV. They brought in several cameras and a light and sound crew so the quality is terrific. You can pick up the seminar here.
The workshop includes:
Session 1: {1 hour 6 minutes}
1. Intro {16 minutes}
2. Why does story matter? {14 minutes}
3. What is a story? {11 minutes}
4. What goes into a good story? {14 minutes}
5. Recap of story {3 minutes}
6. Q and A {7 minutes}
• How do you present authentic truth and still be real to the reader?
• What about confidentiality when writing about other people?
Session 2: {42minutes}
1. Intro {1 minute}
2. The character arc {4 minutes}
3. The art of “Scrooging” {3 minutes}
4. The character arc – questions to consider {4 minutes}
5. Character vs. characterization {5 minutes}
6. What makes a good lead character? {6 minutes}
7. Q and A {10 minutes}
• What’s the difference between arc and character arc?
• What’s the difference between the protagonist and antagonist?
• What are the steps to getting an idea on paper?
Session 3: {23 minutes}
1. Intro {5 minutes}
2. What does my character want? {3 minutes}
3. Inciting incident {8 minutes}
4. Ambition {5 minutes}
5. Q and A {2 minutes}
• When is the best time to introduce an inciting incident?
Session 4: {40 minutes}
1. Intro {1 minute}
2. Conflict {2 minutes}
3. Uses of conflict {6 minutes}
4. Point of crisis {4 minutes}
5. The climax {8 minutes}
6. Resolution {2 minutes}
7. Final thoughts {5 minutes}
8. Q and A {8 minutes}
• Any tips on getting published?
• Are the story principles applicable to all cultures?
• Can there be multiple dimensions to the character arc?
• Do things always have to resolve?
• What part of the story do you start with?
Don,
Quite excited about this. I’m overseas for the next few months. Any talk of this being offered on a digital platform in the not-so-distant future?
I’m speaking tomorrow. Wish I could retain all of this tonight. Looks like some great content.
-Chase
Taiwan, currently.
I’m not much of a story teller, but I do love other kinds of non-fiction writing. I’m not that good at it though. I have all these ideas but they always fall short of great writers (like yourself)!! I hope I get enough money to purchase that dvd! it would be great for me!
Hey Don, thanks for doing this and making it available. I am originally from Ghana and we basically have no culture or history mainly outside of story. I am excited to get into it and learn some of the ins and outs. Thanks