FREEDOM... 

This is posting on July 4th, Independence Day for the United States of America.

Since this holiday is a profound reminder of the VALUE of FREEDOM,  I thought I would have us consider how this value is experienced by our characters. 

While for our country it's freedom from Tyranny, what does it look and sound like for an individual person? 

• For Hiccup... it's freedom from the cultural expectation of killing dragons. 
• For Will Smith in the movie Independence Day... it's freedom from alien annihilation. 
• For Moana... it's freedom from the limitations of her culture which is shackled to fear and the lies of their ancestors.
• For Wiley... it's freedom from the road runner's teasing. 
• For Kylo Wren... it's freedom from the lies of the dark side that taint the actions of Ben Knobi. 
• For Frances in Under the Tuscan Sun... it's freedom from the devastation of infidelity, divorce, and her own playing small. 

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Recently I watched "The Making of The LAST JEDI," the number 8 film in the Star Wars series. I'm a diehard Star Wars fan as I remember watching the 1st one in the theater at 6 years old (which gives away my age) and thus find it a joy to watch the "making of documentaries." 

In this one the writer/ director, Rian Johnson, walked us through his process. Since he was BOTH writer and director, he had interesting light to shed on the characters, plot, themes, and settings (the major legs of any story). 

One of the most profound things he said was this, "I started with each character and asked WHAT DO THEY WANT?"

The answer to this question is deep and may or may not be in the awareness of the character. But dig harder enough and you find a core WANT which becomes the driving motivator for this character. 

Thus today, we are going to dig into a "CORE WANT."  

Creativity Muscle Exercise #6

• Select a character you like from a book, TV, film, or game. 
• ...