Springtime in Summerville, SC
I love to read fiction, especially good fiction. Also, if I happen to see a movie that contains all of the elements of good story telling, then I tend to remember that movie for some time.
The elements of storytelling are, in no particular order:
- Setting: Where the story takes place, time, location
- Point of view: Who’s telling the story
- Plot: How the story is told. The steps, or sequence of events
- Theme: The underlying message of what the story is about.
- Character: The main participant
- Conflict: some type of struggle, either internal or external
My wife’s all time favorite movie is Seven years in Tibet. This movie, may or may not appeal to you. It depends, I think, on where you are in your life.
The general theme of the movie is change, or perhaps self-discovery, or maybe even renewal. This movie had it all, well placed, and in great measure. It’s probably my favorite Brad Pitt movie. My favorite movie series was The Matrix. Wow! It was more than just a special effects orgy. The theme was about discovery, about discovering that we are one with the Universe. It was all about casting off masks, breaking out of the Matrix, discovering reality, etc. When I watched it the first few times, I didn’t connect; however, after a lot of Tao reading, etc. It began to make sense. I could say that perhaps that is not what the author intended, but the story had enough in it to make sense to me in that way. There is a lot of discussion about it around the web. People take different meanings from it.
As we approach the SoFoBoMo starting line, I’m trying to solidify a theme, a setting, and a plot. It might seem a lofty goal for a 30-day project, but I want to give it a go. Last year’s project was haphazard, but I liked it anyway. There was, however, one section that I particularly liked better than the others, that was the Yin/Yang section. It had a theme. Click the image to the right to see last year’s book.
This year, I might do something about the flow of life. I might just do it in the field across the street. After all, everything occurs there. Birth. Death. Struggle. Triumph. Failure. Competition. It’s all there. That could be my setting. My time line would, of course, be the SoFoBoMo month. The characters, whatever I find like plants, insects, etc. The point of view would be from my point of view could be omniscient limited point of view where I move from character to character and put in my thoughts or feelings about what I see. The plot is the interesting part. How do I put it together to be in line with the theme?
Well, it’s food for thought anyway.
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