Pro Tip: JUMP START YOUR WRITING—Paul Guyot
OUTLIERS WRITING UNIVERSITY
What do you write when the words just aren’t coming?
Screenwriter and Outliers instructor Paul Guyot has a writing exercise for those days when your current project just does not want to cooperate.
Open a blank page and try this:
• Choose two characters
• Put them in any setting
• Give them one assignment: write a breakup scene
• Now write that exact scene in three completely different genres
Maybe it starts as a romantic comedy, then it becomes horror, then espionage. With each genre, you’ll have to rethink the tension, pacing, dialogue, and even what the breakup means.
This is a low-pressure way to experiment with craft, get yourself writing again, and, as Paul puts it, “keep your writing instrument sharp.”
What three genres would you choose?
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