The Home of Steven Barnes
Author, Teacher, Screenwriter


Monday, April 18, 2005

Year-Long program 4-15

We've just finished an extensive discussion of relationships and how they reveal personality.  There is much more to be said, but it's more important right now to relate this to the process of writing.  The best way to connect the inner and outer worlds of the writer is to look and see what your own personal issues might be, the blockages that keep you from rising to your highest level as an artist and a human being.  Then create characters dealing with similar issues, and have those issues exist as background or foreground in your plots.  In this way, you are continually creating what Eriksonian Hypnosis refers to as "Therapeutic Metaphors" for your own growth.  As you write, you heal.  As you heal, you write at higher and higher levels.  This will summon the very best writing that you are capable of, and you will probably surprise yourself with the depth and quality of your work.  This goes way beyond mere cleverness: "you can run out of clever, but you can never run out of the truth."  Trust your own experience, people.  You can't get it in books, seminars, or on-line blogs.  It is your life, the greatest source of wealth and inspiration you will ever have.  Tap into it, and you are on your way to expressing your particular genius.

No comments: