>>> Item number 35249 from WRITERS LOG9408B --- (46 records) ----- <<< Date: Sun, 14 Aug 1994 18:35:01 JST Reply-To: WRITERS Sender: WRITERS From: Mike Barker Subject: EXERCISE: Basic Needs... 1. Pick a character. Any character! 2. Pick two of the following types of needs: physical--food, shelter, water, etc. safety/security--marriage, wealth, etc. love/belonging--relationships, family esteem--honor, rank, fame, etc. self-control--decision, challenge, etc. understanding--closure, patterning, truth, etc. artistic--balance, symmetry self-actualization--?? 3. Refine these for your character. S/he needs challenges, growth in self, but also needs the safety and security of marriage. Perhaps the challenge lies in wilderness survival, perhaps in picking a color for the curtains, or wherever you like. The marriage? Is it the boy next door or a strange prince from another dimension? Up to you! What do these needs mean for you and your character? 4. List (oh, no, not another list? yes!) at least five ways that these two needs might conflict with each other. Make the conflicts realistic and difficult... 5. Now arrange two or three of these conflicts in order of increasing difficulty and stress. Consider how resolving one, even partially, could lead into the next. 6. Write up the scenes and disasters as your character is torn between their own needs. Can they compromise? Or do they give up on one for the other? In losing one, do they lose both? [incidentally, the grouping of needs usually is described as a hierarchy, with the suggestion that until the lower needs are met, it is harder to concentrate on meeting the higher needs. I listed them from low to high--according to this theory, until you've met your physical needs, artistic needs aren't terribly interesting...] write soon, write later, but write! tink