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11 May, 2010

Cliches Happen

Hi :)

Sindrow here. Gonna tell you a little bit about Shrines.

As I said in the Author's note preceding the story, this one's originally written as a screenplay. I'm currently tackling on another writing class which is basically killing me slowly by demanding me to write different stories every week. And not just stories! Screenplays, to be exact.

As this is sort of my final week for the class, I'm required to develop a screenplay. It has to have Act One, which is the opening. Act Two, which is the 'movie' where the character is confronted with the obstacles and what-nots. And finally, Act Three, where the problem is resolved. Along with those 3 acts, I had to come up with a premise, which is basically a summary-- not unlike the one you read on the back of a DVD enclosure. They also wanted me to come up with a message, a character arc, and a central question (i.e. will Indiana Jones beat the Nazis and find the Ark of the Covenant?). But enough about the technical stuff.

I was scrambling when I had to the assignment. I've used all my resources for past writing assignments and I've exhausted my brain for my other classes. So I turned to the most cliche advice: Write what you know.

And so I did. What do I know?

  • I know obsess about things-- so let's make my character be somewhat obsessed about something.
  • I know like movies-- so my character will watch movies
  • I know I memorize quotes from movies-- aHa! let's make my character speak in quotes!
  • I know I'm somewhat awkward when it comes to meeting people-- of course, why make our character's life any easier, right?
  • I know I love Love Actually-- hey, let's throw that in the story as well!


So, from all those stuff, I put together:
A premise
Cooper Conlan is an average guy with a dead-end job as a video store checkout staff. He becomes obsessed with the movies that he’s watched. When a girl, Lanie Stotts, comes into the picture, he tries to impress her by reenacting movie scenes. But she knows movies as well as he does and she doesn’t seem to appreciate what he’s doing. Now Cooper has to learn that what happens in a movie doesn’t always work in the real world.

A message
Somebody else’s words can’t compare to your own.

A Character Arc
Cooper Conlan lives in a small town where nothing exciting ever happens. His job in a video store requires him to know every single movie on the shelves. He becomes slightly obsessed with them. He makes comparisons between the real world and the scenes that he saw on his TV and comes to the conclusion that his life would be far more interesting if it were like the movies. Now that the girl that he likes appreciates originality more than anything, Cooper must let go of his obsession of movies and start to direct his own life.

And whaddya know? About 12 hours away from the deadline, I finished a whole story.


So there you go. As much as I hate to admit it, cliches sometimes work.
Write what you know, even if it means you have to write about yourself ;)

-Snd

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