We received a theme last week to give us a little direction on where to start. The headquarters of where to begin the adventure on finding that big ol' 'X' on that stupid blank map.
I really love the theme. It's dislocation. Although, initially I heard 'this location', my brain making sense of it by assuming that it was a vague little teaser to a specific location that we would receive on the day. I didn't find out 'til Tuesday that this was a mishearing. Doi hoi.
Dislocation. This actually makes it a really broad theme to work with. You can play with chaos, dystopian concepts, and further involve the impurities of a character and how s/he deals with the world around him/her. Perhaps there is another who plays off, and it's just one big tennis match; back and forth, back and forth.
Chaos is good. Without chaos, there is no order. Without chaos, life would also be pretty damn dull. Of course, you don't want a lot of chaos, but you need something to spice things up a wee bit. Naturally, we do need obstacles to help shape ourselves and, of course, so do fictional characters. The cause and effect is a natural element within writing that allows our series of events to unfold. Nothing is perfect; no way, no how. But it's up to us to make the most of it.
Our map is gonna have a lot of obstacles, it seems. Ones that are seemingly obvious to get around or over take but perhaps we can't actually see what's right in front of us. What route do we take to go around these obstacles? Is the new route actually worth taking as opposed to just tackling the obstacle in front of us? Sometimes we need to ask for help. Maybe in the form of a supporting character, but sometimes they can be just as blind without necessarily taking the same road. They can both be hard, but in different ways and in different levels for those characters to deal with. Maybe we don't see them dealing with them, maybe they don't even attempt to deal with them at all.
Say we have a fence. We could totally jump that fence if we tried, but what would the consequences be if we got caught? Suddenly, our minds invent all sorts of unpleasant scenarios that lead us to fear trying. We could try being sneaky but everything has its risks. Uhh, let's go around the fence.
The fence was an obvious and immediate obstacle. From taking a new route, we actually risk bumping into even more difficult obstacles. Or worse yet... absolutely none at all. You've learnt nothing.
Now what?
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