TRANSFORMATIONS A writing workshop led by Anthony Maulucci for the San Miguel Writers Conference 2018

Transcription

1 TRANSFORMATIONS A writing workshop led by Anthony Maulucci for the San Miguel Writers Conference 2018 Transformation tales have their roots in ancient myths and have been preserved in our most sacred cultural texts. As a result, they are embedded in our collective psyches. There are numerous stories of transformations in Greek mythology. Ovid s Metamorphosis is a collection of mythological stories of human beings undergoing changes into trees or statues or animals. Classical literature made use of this model in works like The Golden Ass by Aupelius, in which a man is changed into a donkey.... Fairy tales also make rampant use of this device... the frog prince, the prince under a spell, etc. Grimm s Fairy Tales, such as Snow White, as well as French Fairy Tales, most notably in Cinderella and Beauty and the Beast... Pinocchio in Italy... Shakespeare in England with A Midsummer Night s Dream... Kafka plays with this concept in his famous story of existential despair, The Metamorphosis. The movies Memoirs of a Geisha, Sabrina and Pretty Woman are obvious examples of the Cinderella story, which is an archetype that exists in almost every culture around the world. The focus of this workshop will be instruction and practice in how to use a major life transformation as the basis for a novel, short story, drama, or memoir. Students will practice writing about transformations with three essential exercises, one with a small group, another with a partner, and a third on their own. America is a nation that usually encourages its immigrants and often compels its minorities to change their names, erase the past, and start life over again as someone new. To adapt and become successful in America, we must continually reinvent ourselves or transform our lives through education. And so stories of transformation have always resonated deeply with us. These were literal transformations. In modern literature, the transformation is figurative; it is emotional and psychological, and it is usually occurs after a crisis or through the process of deep love or great loss. At some point near the end of this process, the central character has a life-altering realization or epiphany. Broadway and Hollywood have always been magnets for people who want to reinvent themselves. Although the entertainment industry continues to exploit actual transformations in musicals and movies, most modern fiction has moved on to the more complex type. Copyright 2017 by Anthony S. Maulucci 1

2 READINGS TO HELP YOU PREPARE FOR THE WORKSHOP (suggested but not required): In Ovid s book The Metamorphosis, you will find many stories of mortals changed into other forms such as trees, bears, and stars. Zeus himself often took on the forms of mortal creatures such as a swan or a bull when he was in pursuit of a beautiful woman. You might want to read some of the tales in this book, which is one of the major sources of what we know about Greek and Roman mythology. Also, you could brush up on your favorite Greek myths. OPTIONAL: My writing guide, The Fiction Writers Handbook, available in print and ebook editions from Amazon.com will give you a clear idea of my approach to writing fiction and should help you learn more about general techniques. Writing Exercise 1, Individual: Freewriting Warm-Up. Put pen to paper and write down whatever comes into your mind. This is a simple form of stream of consciousness writing. Describe your daily activities. How did you arrive at the Conference? What have you done since you got here? You can use this warm-up exercise any time prior to doing any serious writing. Keep a journal at home for this and try to make it a daily writing habit. Writing Exercise 2, Group: Comic Book Superhero Write group narratives about a transformation with at least three other people. Think of these as the plots for comic book stories about a superhero. Begin by writing the common name of a character at the top of sheet of paper. This character is the hero, but he/she is an ordinary person living an ordinary life. Then write down what he/she changes into when he/she becomes a superhero. Names that are unusual work best names like Gritstacker or Ruddlefist something that suggests power. Next, exchange papers and write down this superhero s special power. Exchange again and add the name of a villain, his special power, and the thing he s obsessed with. Example, he wants to steal a famous painting or kidnap Bill Gates or blow up the Eiffel Tower. Exchange papers once more and you re ready to begin writing the story. Rotate papers every 5-7 minutes, read what s been written, and continue writing until the villain has been defeated by the superhero who is possibly working with a partner. Copyright 2017 by Anthony S. Maulucci 2

3 Writing Exercise 3, Individual: Fairy Tales and Mythology Write a variation on a well-known fairy tale such as Cinderella or a Greek myth such as Medea in which the main character goes through a major transformation such as ugly to beautiful, weak to strong, powerless to powerful, or rich to poor/poor to rich. Writing Exercise 4, Individual or with a Partner: Reversals in One Character in a Two-Character Scene 1. Emotional transition from indifference to anger 2. Power shift from one speaker to another 3. Mood change from passive to aggressive 4. Mood change from happy to sad or sad to happy 5. Shift from controlled to controlling Writing Exercise 5, Individual: A Transformation Tale Using the plot formula of Desire-Obstruction-Transformation-Death, write a word transformation tale with an ironic twist. The transformation should be figurative. Begin with There once was a man/woman named who wanted more than anything else in the world.... And end with... and then he/she died. Copyright 2017 by Anthony S. Maulucci 3

4 Example for Exercise 5: The Tale of Roberto Miranda There was once a young man named Roberto Miranda who loved his family s name so much that he wanted to make it known throughout the world. Since he had no artistic talent, business skill, or athletic prowess, he decided he would discover a new place and he dreamt of seeing Miranda Mountain or River Miranda or the Isle of Miranda on a map and hearing people talk about it as if it had that name from the beginning of time. I m going to make you proud to be a Miranda, he told his wife and children in their little blue house by a ravine in New Hampshire and set out for the rest of the world. Traveling by boat, train, camel, and horseback, Roberto journeyed from continent to continent, from the Andes to Katmandu, from Malaysia to Tasmania from Yosemite to the Yukon seeking the undiscovered terrain that would be grand enough to bear his family s name and make it famous throughout the world. But no matter how far he traveled, no matter how wild or remote the territory Roberto found that it had already been discovered it already had a name. The years went by and Roberto became a middle-aged man but still the unnamed place he sought eluded him. At last Roberto wanted to go home. He made his way by freighter across Hudson Bay in Canada, rode in a box car through Quebec and so came back to New Hampshire, a haggard, worn out man with yellow teeth, a gray beard and glassy, yellowish eyes. The little blue house still stood by the ravine but other people lived there now, two divorced women roommates; they had made many improvements, including a garden, a gazebo and a high fence along the ravine. Can you tell me what happened to my family? They used to live here, Roberto croaked when one of the women opened the door a little. The other woman came out and the two of them looked at each other and then at Roberto. Oh, the Miranda family, one of them said. A sad story. The husband disappeared one day, some say with another woman, and eventually his wife went mad and threw herself into a ravine. And the children? Roberto stammered. What happened to the children? The other woman told him they had changed their names and moved away. Roberto set out again in search of his children. The months went by and then the years but Roberto never found them. He was sleeping in a box car when the sound of two men talking awoke him. Just take the road that goes out to Miranda s Ravine, one of the men said. The place where that woman killed herself. Roberto closed his eyes again, a smile pulling at his lips. And then he died. Anthony Maulucci Copyright 2017 by Anthony S. Maulucci 4

5 Writing Exercise 6, Individual: Begin a short narrative based on your own life transformation or personal crisis Have you been through a divorce? Have you had to change careers? Were you one of the first members of your family to graduate from college? Did you adopt a child from another culture? Did you move to another country and adapt to a different lifestyle? Whatever the major change or crisis in your life you can use it as the basis for a short story or a novel. To make it work as fiction, you will need a little distance from the subject so it would be best to change the names of the people involved and modify their characters so that your story is not strictly autobiographical. However, you should keep the major elements such as the setting and time period as well as the actual details of what happened. These realistic details will help make your story more engrossing and believable for your readers. Don t expect to write the complete draft of a story in this workshop. Don t worry about the opening. If you can, get into the most important and essential scene. If not, don t panic, or you will freeze up and block your creative energy and ideas. Begin anywhere in your narrative. The important thing is to start writing and keep it flowing. Start by describing a small part of one scene, such as a place, narrate an incident, or describe one of the characters. Copyright 2017 by Anthony S. Maulucci 5