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Creative writing workshop Alvin Ng

 It's the stuff that makes the world go round: human moments, human myths, transcending our limits and prejudices, rediscovering ourselves, laughing at ourselves and believing in our dreams.


Eliza Esquivel-Ads Worth Spreading judge on behalf of TedTalk



Magnify the stupidity of 

If youre not in my shoes, u don't understand. Have you mugged someone before? 

Yes. 

When?

One hour ago.

Wtf.



Chinese people can gangster, can do all things, but to say I love you to their parents, makes their bloody knees shake. 


Storytelling is first and foremost a mindset before


it is a skillset.


It's more like story-sens a deep dive into the human experience, the human journey. It's a call to constant mindfulness. It almost become second nature


Not moral to sit down when I sit

If anyone don't have dreams and hopes he's not alive, if he doesn't have his 

Perse


A lot of heartbreak, family mainly. 

No one would question your authority in storytelling.


Creative alchemy: cross genre approach. 2 things that don't belong to each other and mash it. 


A highly conceptual line must be highly simple in nature


Human theme: Resonant to audience 

Alchemy: unlikely character rep

Genre: specifying and categorizing the bg and setting for story.


1 You admire a character for TRYING more than for their successes.

2 You gotta keep in mind what's interesting to you AS AN AUDIENCE, not what's has to do AS A WRITER. They can be differ 3 Trying for there is important but you won't see what the story is actually about til you're at the end of IL NOW REWRITE

ONCE UPON A TIME there was Every day. One day Because of that Because of that Until Sinally

5 SIMPLIFY FOCUS COMBINE characters. Hop over deltours. You'll feel like you'm losing valuable but IT SETS YOU FREE

6 What is your character good at comfortable with? Throw the polar opposite at them. CHALLENGE THEM. How do they deal?

7 Come up with your ending BEFORE you figure out your middle. Seriously. Endings are hard, get yours working up front.

8 Finish your story. let go even if it's not perfect. In an ideal world you have both, but serve on DO BETTER NEXT TIME 9 When you're stuck, make a list of what WOULDN'T happen next. Lots of times the material to get you unstuck will show up.

10 Pull apart the stories you like. What you like in them is a part of your you've got to RECOGNIZE it before you can use it,

11 PUTTING IT ON PAPER lets you start fixing it. If it stays in your head, a perfect idea, you'll never share it with

12 Discount the 1"thing that comes to mind. And the 2,3,4,5-get the obvious out of the way, SURPRISE YOURSELF

13 Give your characters OPINIONS. Passivamalleable might seem likable to you as you write, but it's poison to the audience. 

14 Why must you tell THIS story? What's the belief burning within you that your story feeds off of? That's the heart of it.

15 If you were your character, in this situation, how would you leal? HONESTY LENDS CREDIBILITY to unbelievable situations 

16 What are the STAKES? Give us reason to root for the character What happens if they DON'T SUCCEED? Stack the odds against them.

17 NO WORK IS EVER WASTED. If it's not working let go and move on-it'll come back around to be useful later

18 You have to know yourself: the difference between doing your best & fussing. STORY IS TESTING, NOT REFINING 

19 Coincidences to get characters into trouble are great, coincidences to get them out of it are cheating. (Plant your Easter eggs, so it'll make sense, checkov gun)

20 EXERCISE take the building blocks of a movie you dislike. How d'you rearrange them into what you DO like? 

21 You gotta identify with your situation/characters, can't just write 'cool'. What would make YOU act that way?



22 WHAT'S THE ESSENCE OF YOUR STORY? Most economical telling of it? If you know that, you can build out from there.


Discussion

Break down each ad:

Identify each oct Describe them

Who is the protagonist and what is his or her mission?

What were the obstacles and how did he or her overcome it?

Did you spot any easter eggs?

Did you notice that you were being led on so the reveal was something you didn't supect?

What was the human theme of the ode?

can you relate?

Do you think you can apply these lessoris in your work?



Bullshit your way into doing coolshit

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