Let’s collaborate on an art project! This is WEEK 1, so jump right in! Here is how it works.

Write a story, true or not, in roughly one-two paragraphs. From those stories I will choose one for us to be inspired by, and the following week, we will all create an image (or any art!) based on that story.

Create art based on the chosen story. Submit it in the comments of my blog after I release the next video. The top 3 interpretations will be chosen plus featured on my blog, and the first place winner will receive a personalized package from me containing one of my costumes.

1. Know your character. A character can be anything from a person to an animal to an inanimate object. Think of character as the main subject of focus in your story. It should have an arc. For example, often that means the character will make a tough decision, go on a journey, or discover something about him or herself. Understand who that character was, why you are choosing this particular moment to write about that character, and where that character is going.

If you are writing a true story, still consider each of these things. Often they lead to the most compelling part of a story which helps to narrow your focus on what to include in the narrative.

2. Connect the dots. It always helps me to think, as simply as possible, in terms of beginning, middle, and end. For example, I ask myself the following questions: How did my character end up here? What is stopping my character from getting what he/she wants? How will my character resolve the problem?

3. Find the theme or moral. Every good story has an overarching theme to it, or something that a viewer can connect with because they inherently understand the point the story is trying to make. Often this comes in the form of a moral, or a lesson to be learned from the story. Other times it comes from a motif, or a recurring tone that the story takes on which lets you know it is dealing with a bigger picture.

Great movie examples of this would be The Lord of the Rings or Alice in Wonderland. In the Lord of the rings the moral is that truth, honesty and goodness will win. In Alice in Wonderland, the theme is magic and the importance of believing in the impossible.

This isn’t about finding the best writer, just the most compelling story. Put yourself out there in a new way this week. Embrace it!

Good luck!