CREATIVITY RULES!
A WORKSHOP FOR WRITERS

prepared and
presented 
by John
Vorhaus

PART ONE: CREATIVITY

GOOD WRITING

What is good writing?
The union of honesty and style
The residual benefit of all writing
All creative problems are divisible by two
A good writing exercise

BAD WRITING

What is bad writing?
The self-negating prophecy of bad writing
Platform thinking
Stating and solving the problem
A bad writing exercise

RECORDING REALITY

The arbitrary choice
Levels of detail
Physical, emotional and relational reality
Delving into detail

FILTERS

Filters define characters
Types of filters
Sums of filters
Three primary filters
Character construction through filters

STORY

The function of story
The relationship of story to theme
Snapshot storytelling
The detail trap

THE TRANSFORMATIONAL TEMPLATE

Why transformational stories?
Pre-existing condition
Change bomb
The pressure-response piston
Boom
Brink
The blessed beyond

 

PART TWO: RULES!

HOW TO INVENT NEW WORDS

Language as code
Writer as custodian of language
Rules and reality
Strategies for inventing new words
Your evolving vocabulary

THE WRITER'S LIFE

Who makes the rules?
The writer as talker 
Special knowledge
The practice of writing
Enemies and allies
Your job list

GAMES

Search and destroy
soundOUBTS
True fact/bar fact
800 roulette
Good verbrations
Any questions?

WRITER'S BLOCK BUSTING

What is writer's block?
Fear of bad outcomes
Lack of information
Strategies for busting writer's block
Your writer's block snapshot

AND BEYOND

Why writers write
Platform thinking revisited
Relentless pursuit of the paradigm shift
In sum
Q & A