Day 3

4th July 2019

Activities:

1. Today, we began by exploring the trajectory of writing a scene. This involves four parts, namely exposition, plot points, characters, and dialogue. Exposition leads to the development of plot points, after which we can insert characters who make up the scene, and finally, to bring them to life, we write their dialogues.
2. We did an activity to heighten our senses and really take in what is around us, and used our observations to craft a plot. First, we had to write down, from the time we woke up and left home to reach the Lab, ten things that we saw, heard, did, or passed by. Next, we had to insert a fictional event anywhere in between the list of ten things that we observed. After this, to take things forward, we were asked to add a character. By beginning from this new, fictional event, and keeping in mind our new character, we had to fashion a new list of events that took place from there, until we reached the lab. 
3. A simplified visual of how this works is:
   [A being the starting point, home, and B being the ending point, the Lab]
   A —————- B
   A ——–^~~~~ B (^ is the fictional event)
   A ——–^~~(new character)~~~~ B
4. Having created a fictional journey out of our mornings, we had to then write down a list of questions that we would like our stories to answer. This could be any set of questions that said more about how our characters and storylines might develop. We found that these questions provided great insight into what each person wanted to navigate, and how this could be done just by using our own morning trips. 
5. Finally, we had to write a scene that took place between ourselves and the new character whom we introduced while traveling from point A to B. We had to do this keeping in mind three important things:
   1) Can the questions that we wrote, just prior to this, find a place in the scene that we write?
   2) How do we bring a new character into this series of fictional events and have them interact with us?
   3) How do we bring in the fictional event that we created which caused a rupture in our travel?

Questions considered:

1. What are the components of a scene? What makes a good scene? How should individual scenes relate to the play’s larger questions and plot?
2. How does one integrate characters into the play-worlds they are inhabiting? What must one keep in mind when thinking of the relationship between a character and their environment?
3. How does one write a scene that asks larger questions without appearing didactic?
4. What are the ways in which a writer can find material from their own lives and the world around them?