"The Chronicles of the Natural Mobster" and "Bright Freedom"

I completed another writing exercise this week and contemplated the feedback I had on my “Bright Freedom” treatment.

"The Chronicles of the Natural Mobster"

I  did my writing exercise based on the title "The Chronicles of the Natural Mobster" this week. I got it recorded and posted.

Was James Smith a natural mobster?

·         https://soundcloud.com/dynamiclethargy/the-chronicles-of-the-natural-mobster

 

 

 

"Bright Freedom" Treatment Feedback

I had feedback on my treatment from several people this week. The big issue, which has always stopped me in the past, is that people would criticize me for being a white guy writing about a woman of color.

One person wondered if I could change the character to a white man. I felt that if you did that, the story wouldn’t make any sense. Another possibility that occurred to me would be to either introduce a new character, or change the character George, to be the protagonist. I think this would make things worse, since it is really Bright’s story.

I have clarified what I see as my options for the project are.

·         Give up on it and find a different story to tell,

·         Work with a sensitivity reader,

·         Find a collaborator who will work with me on the project, or

·         Find someone to take over the project altogether.

What to Write Before You Write

In the writer’s group we got into a discussion of the difference between a treatment and an outline. In many ways they are similar. As I see it, the main difference is in who the intended reader is. The goal of a treatment is to explain to someone else what you intend to write. The goal of an outline is to help you work out the story before you write it.

A few years ago, I wrote an article about how to write a script where I identified a bunch of other pieces of writing you might write before you write the first draft of a script.

·         https://dynamiclethargyfilms.ca/articles/how-to-write-a-feature-movie-script/

My views have evolved since then, but I still believe in the idea that you need to write a lot of background material before you start to write. In my own experience, I only do that for a longer piece. For a short story, I find I can just dive into the writing.

This post is a mirror from my main blog http://www.dynamiclethargyfilms.ca/blog