Jane Knowles Marshall, in an article on filmsound.org, has written:
Though we might think of film as an essentially visual experience, we really cannot afford to underestimate the importance of film sound. A meaningful sound track is often as complicated as the image on the screen. The entire sound track is comprised of three essential ingredients:
- the human voice
- sound effects
- music
Write a scene for cinema or fiction with emphasis on using the human voice, sound effects and music together in the scene.
Writing a character with a new lifestyle
The synopsis of the movie A Simple Plan, on the back of the DVD cover reads:
The lives of three small town people are turned upside down when they discover a small plane concealed by snow in the mountains. Inside the plane could be the only way out of their insufficient lives, in the form of a duffel bag containing four million in cash next to the dead pilot. Two of the men, Jacob and Lou, are eager to keep the money but have a hard time convincing Jacob's brother, Hank, not to turn it in. Hank agrees, but on one condition, he will hold the cash until it is safe to keep. It's a simple plan and all goes well until Jacob overreacts to an untimely visit by a neighbour and the plan begins to unravel. With loyalties frayed each person involved must decide how far they are willing to go to cling to their ill-gotten fortune.
Use the above as inspiration to write a story about a character who finds a way out an insufficient life not by finding money, but by finding a new way of behaving.
The lives of three small town people are turned upside down when they discover a small plane concealed by snow in the mountains. Inside the plane could be the only way out of their insufficient lives, in the form of a duffel bag containing four million in cash next to the dead pilot. Two of the men, Jacob and Lou, are eager to keep the money but have a hard time convincing Jacob's brother, Hank, not to turn it in. Hank agrees, but on one condition, he will hold the cash until it is safe to keep. It's a simple plan and all goes well until Jacob overreacts to an untimely visit by a neighbour and the plan begins to unravel. With loyalties frayed each person involved must decide how far they are willing to go to cling to their ill-gotten fortune.
Use the above as inspiration to write a story about a character who finds a way out an insufficient life not by finding money, but by finding a new way of behaving.
Characters learning lessons
Kristin Thompson has written the following about the movie Groundhog Day:
The film's trajectory is a bit like that of Tootsie, where the actor Michael had to learn how to be decent to women. At the start of Groundhog Day, however, Phil is much worse than Michael ever was, insulting everyone around him. It is almost as if Tootsie had been made with the goal of reforming not Michael but Ron, the TV director. Michael had to learn his lesson by fairly extreme means - posing as a woman - but Phil's transformation will require even more. Indeed, such a drastic character change is unusual for a classical narrative. Still, as I will show, a great deal of motivating material is provided.
Choose a story and develop a basic idea about what a major character learned throughout the story. Imagine how the story might be different if one of the other characters learned a similar lesson and use that as inspiration to write a story.
The film's trajectory is a bit like that of Tootsie, where the actor Michael had to learn how to be decent to women. At the start of Groundhog Day, however, Phil is much worse than Michael ever was, insulting everyone around him. It is almost as if Tootsie had been made with the goal of reforming not Michael but Ron, the TV director. Michael had to learn his lesson by fairly extreme means - posing as a woman - but Phil's transformation will require even more. Indeed, such a drastic character change is unusual for a classical narrative. Still, as I will show, a great deal of motivating material is provided.
Choose a story and develop a basic idea about what a major character learned throughout the story. Imagine how the story might be different if one of the other characters learned a similar lesson and use that as inspiration to write a story.
Writing about people skills
In How to Win Friends and Influence People, Dale Carnegie wrote:
Any fool can criticize, condemn and complain - and most fools do.
Write a story about a character who criticizes, condemns and complains and how they overcome these habits.
Any fool can criticize, condemn and complain - and most fools do.
Write a story about a character who criticizes, condemns and complains and how they overcome these habits.
Combining prompts
Select the titles of two Daily Writing Prompts from the right-hand column and combine them however you like as inspiration to write a story about someone seeking a new start in a new place.
What happens beyond unaided human sight
According to a post on movingimagesource.us about the BBC documentary series Life:
An early voiceover from the "Insects" episode [says]: "Because they are so small, we rarely see how extraordinary they really are." With insects, the issue is scale, not time, and it is macrophotography, rather than time-lapse, that allows us to "enter their world." In both instances, though, Life claims to offer unique access to nature through its innovative use of technology, to reveal behavior that is invisible to the human eye.
Write a story that involves seeing things that are not discernible to human sight without the aid of extra equipment.
An early voiceover from the "Insects" episode [says]: "Because they are so small, we rarely see how extraordinary they really are." With insects, the issue is scale, not time, and it is macrophotography, rather than time-lapse, that allows us to "enter their world." In both instances, though, Life claims to offer unique access to nature through its innovative use of technology, to reveal behavior that is invisible to the human eye.
Write a story that involves seeing things that are not discernible to human sight without the aid of extra equipment.
Storytelling through action and dialogue
The following quote from Akira Kurosawa has been used in an article on thestorydepartment.com:
It’s easy to explain the psychological state of a character at a particular moment, but it’s very difficult to describe it through the delicate nuances of action and dialogue. Yet it is not impossible. A great deal about this can be learned from the study of the great plays, and I believe the “hard-boiled” detective novels can also be very instructive.
Write a story about a character who earns the trust of another character through their integrity, told through action and dialogue (that is, no 'internal dialogue,' description of character thoughts and feelings, description of memories and backstory etc).
It’s easy to explain the psychological state of a character at a particular moment, but it’s very difficult to describe it through the delicate nuances of action and dialogue. Yet it is not impossible. A great deal about this can be learned from the study of the great plays, and I believe the “hard-boiled” detective novels can also be very instructive.
Write a story about a character who earns the trust of another character through their integrity, told through action and dialogue (that is, no 'internal dialogue,' description of character thoughts and feelings, description of memories and backstory etc).
Using Daily Australia Focus as a prompt
Click on the link to Cinema and Fiction Daily Australia Focus, select one of the posts and use part or all of it as inspiration to write a story.
Inspiration from a synopsis
Click the link to movies.com, click on one of the movies on the first page and use the synopsis as inspiration to write a story set in your local area.
Using a biography as a writing prompt
Stephen King started his book On Writing with:
I was stunned by Mary Karr's memoir The Liars' Club. Not just by its ferocity, its beauty, and by its totality - she is a woman who remembers everything about her early years.
I'm not that way. I lived an odd herky-jerky childhood raised by a single parent who moved around a lot in my earliest years and who - I am not completely sure of this - may have farmed my brother nad me out to one of her sisters for awhile because she was economically or emotionally unable to cope with us for a time.
Find an autobiography or think of a person, develop a basic idea about that person's approach to life and write a story that starts with a first person narrator comparing your idea of someone's approach to life with their own.
I was stunned by Mary Karr's memoir The Liars' Club. Not just by its ferocity, its beauty, and by its totality - she is a woman who remembers everything about her early years.
I'm not that way. I lived an odd herky-jerky childhood raised by a single parent who moved around a lot in my earliest years and who - I am not completely sure of this - may have farmed my brother nad me out to one of her sisters for awhile because she was economically or emotionally unable to cope with us for a time.
Find an autobiography or think of a person, develop a basic idea about that person's approach to life and write a story that starts with a first person narrator comparing your idea of someone's approach to life with their own.
Writing an animal perspective
Japanese professor Soshichi Uchii has a simple story on his website told from the perspective of his cat. It begins:
Once upon a time ....
I was a stray cat, I had no name, and I don't know who threw me aside.
All I remember is that I had a mother. I still miss her milk!
Write a story with a first-person narrator that is an animal, other than a human.
Afterward, you could use that story as inspiration to write a story about a human in the same setting as the animal story.
Once upon a time ....
I was a stray cat, I had no name, and I don't know who threw me aside.
All I remember is that I had a mother. I still miss her milk!
Write a story with a first-person narrator that is an animal, other than a human.
Afterward, you could use that story as inspiration to write a story about a human in the same setting as the animal story.
Using story beats for inspiration
Click on the link to blakesnyder.com and use one or more of the story beats for How To Train Your Dragon as inspiration to write a story.
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