i participated in a writing workshop this morning…these can be either dreary affairs or enervating experiences…kind of a crap shoot…hence my general reluctance to take part in them…i find it hinges mostly on the instructor…luckily this was associated with The Lighthouse…which is always an indication of high quality…and it was helpful in many different ways…
although…
i have a problem with the standard approach to storytelling that insists the central character must be transformed or redeemed somehow by the events of the story…a point of view presented at this morning’s event…
my first problem with this is it’s boring, boring, boring…three acts laden with obstacles to the protagonist’s central desire requiring him/her to learn some valuable life lesson in order to become a more fully realized human being…this has been the central structure to every trite cliched story since…well, since forever…
second, experience has taught me that this is not the norm for human nature…most people do not change…most people will resist change unto death…recent history is an excellent example…
some of the most enduring stories and characters in human history deal with characters that don’t change…Galahad, Holmes, Shane, Bond, McGee…and these are fascintating characters with dimension and depth…
what do i know…i’m just an unpublished nobody…
we’ll see…