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Eric
Miller's
Story Composition Workshop in Chennai
Storytelling Festival 2024. February
2024. Via Zoom. This Workshop is inspired by –
and is being held in honour of – Professor George Pierce Baker and his "Workshop 47" (Playwrighting) Course,
Harvard University, 1905-1924; and "Playwrighting" Course, Yale
University, 1925-1933. On the 100th year anniversary of
Professor Baker's shift from Harvard to Yale (which occurred because Harvard
would not provide a theatre for students' productions, and Yale would provide
such a theatre). "George Pierce Baker (1866-1935) played a great
role in the development of USA theatre.
Through his courses at Harvard, Radcliffe, and Yale, he gave
self-confidence, enthusiasm, and technical assistance to his students, many
of whom went on to be the greatest USA theatre figures of the 20th
century. He was always giving advice
to young playwrights, either singly or in groups." ( https://tinyurl.com/AboutGPB ) "From 1925 until he retired in 1933, Baker was professor
of the history and technique of drama at Yale University, founding a drama
school there and directing the university theatre. Many innovative techniques in theatre,
motion-picture, and television production had their origins in his work at
Yale." ( https://www.britannica.com/biography/George-Pierce-Baker
) *** Topics in the Story
Composition Workshop would include: ___ One's Life Story (the Mother of
All Stories). Themes in One's Life Story. ___ Creativity Exercises such as: 1) Have a Conversation with a Character
in One's Memory or Imagination (Role-playing with possible Story Characters).
3) Question-based
Story-making. ___ Examples Would be
Discussed Regarding the Following: Story Sources: Ideas, Dreams (During Sleep), Dreams (Hopes), etc. Are There any Improvements One Would like
to See (Personal or Public)? Does One
Yearn for Justice, Fairness, and/or Balance in Any Area? If a Story One Creates is Interesting
to Oneself, the Story Will Likely Also be Interesting to Others. Relevance (the Relation of a
Story to Conditions of the Current Time and Place). In General, and in Each Time and
Place: What is On Peoples' Minds? What Touches and Moves People? What Makes People Tick? What are Peoples' Deepest Hopes and
Fears? From Idea to Story.
Personification (for Example, Having a Character Represent an
Idea). Metaphors (a Thing Represents
another Thing), and Symbols (a Thing Represents an Idea). Emotion. Emotional
Tension. Ways to Build It
Up. Ways to Release It. It is Not Ideas, but Rather It is Characters (Feeling Emotions Due to the Situations They are In)
that Drive a Story and Hold the Attention of
Observers. Where One's Emotions Go, One's Thinking Mind Follows. Dramatic Tension, Suspense,
Foreshadowing
(Audience Members Expect a Consequence After Every Action, Even After Just an
Appearance of an Image or An Occurrence of a Sound); and Ways to Play with
These Expectations.
As the Expression Goes: Observers are "Waiting for the Other Shoe
to Drop". An "Inciting"
Incident (an Event that Sets a Story in Motion). One Can Create Suspense Near
the Beginning of a Story, and Develop the Suspense Throughout to a Final
Climax Near the End of the Story. Dramatic Structure. Theories of Story: Problem and
Solution. "What
Does a Character Want?" "The
Well-made Play" (Conflict, Climax,
and Result). Joseph Campbell's "The Hero's Journey." Theodora Goss' "The Fairytale Heroine's
Journey." Vladimir Propp's "Loss
and Reformulation of Togetherness."
Aristotle's "Catharsis." What is a Story Essentially About? Are There
One or More Points to a Story? (According
to the Creator of the Story, and According to Other People.) Action. ("Actions Speak Louder than Words." However, the Speaking of Words Can Also be Actions.)
Physical Actions and Behaviours of Characters Tend to Have More Emotional
Impact on Audience Members than What Characters Say. Unity of Time (the Action Occurs Continuously) vs at Numerous Times. Flashbacks. Characters May Give Exposition
(Background.) Unity of Place (the Action Occurs in
One Place) vs in Numerous Places. Unity of Action (all Events in a
Story are Connected, and Contribute to the Whole) vs There are Superfluous
Events. Artistic Unity (the Story is in a
Single Genre, such as Comedy or Tragedy) vs the Story is in a Combination of
Genres. Psychological Dynamics of Story
Perception: Imagination,
Identification, Projection, Empathy, and Imitation. Mirror Neurons (Neurons that Imitate Perceived Actions) –
"I Felt Like It was Happening to Me". Characters Addressing
Each Other
vs Characters Addressing Audience Members. The
In-performance Transference Process (Audience Members are Placed In the Positions
of Characters Who are Being Addressed). Characterisation. Ways to Portray the Feelings, Purposes, and Motivations
of Characters.
Characters Revealing Their Natures Gradually vs Characters Developing, Growing, and Transforming. Carl Jung's Model of Character
Development: Individuation (Self-knowledge and Integration
of the Various Aspects of Oneself; and Achieving Clarify Regarding One's Relationship with Ideologies, Social Movements, and the Cosmos.) Hero and Heroine. Anti-hero. If There is a Narrator: What Characters Do and Say Tend to Have
More Emotional Impact than What the Narrator Does and Says. Is a Narrator Needed?
Or Can Characters Enact a Story Through Dialogue with Each Other, and
Through Addressing Audience Members?
(In Drama There Usually is Not a Narrrator; in Storytelling There Usually
is a Narrrator.) Uses of a Chorus (a Group of Characters
that Comments on the Action). Modifying Stories (Adding and
Subtracting Characters and Events.
Changing Ways a Scene Ends). ___ A Look at Some Favourite
Stories of Participants. A Look at a Story: "The Tempest", by
William Shakespeare. A Look at a Story: "The Epic of the Anklet"
("Silappathikaram"), by Prince Ilango Adigal. Participants Could Create and Share Stories, and Receive
Feedback. <complete>
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