Story development

1. Create a world that's true to real life or fantastical or that mixes the mundane with the magical. But whatever set of rules you create for that world, make sure you follow them.
2. Write a conflict that builds as the play progresses. As you structure the conflict, think in terms of your play having a beginning, a middle and an end.
3. Write characters that want something (which puts them in conflict with other characters) and try to get what they want at every moment.
4. Make sure that each character has something at stake, a consequence if he doesn't get what he wants.
5. Create a "ticking clock" that puts the characters under pressure to get what they want right away.
6. Make sure there is a good reason, an "event," for your play. It's not enough for two characters to sit around and talk for a while and then leave. There needs to be some important reason why we're watching them now, at this particular moment.
7. Write dialogue that illuminates your characters and advances the plot at the same time.
8. Make each character speak in a distinctive voice. If you have trouble with that, try imagining a specific actor you know - even if it's someone who will never play the part - in the role.
9. Do not have a character tell us something she can show us instead. For example, it's much more effective to hide under the bed than to say "I'm afraid."
10. Give each character a "moment," something that justifies the character's existence in your play and that makes him attractive for an actor to play.

Courtesy : http://www.playwriting101.com

This is for learning Purpose

What It takes to be Great!

There are times when you say to yourself: “My life is frustrating!”, “I’m going to die as a mediocre”, “I’m not doing what I wanted to be! or at least what I’m meant to be...” ,“Even people younger than me are have a high paying jobs, gorgeous flat in MG Road and a resplendent wife, what am I doing !”

Now it doesn’t end there, you’re going on to say, “Dhanush is acting with Sonam Kapoor!!!”

And when you are almost there thinking in a right way that you are not doing what you wanted to, the demon inside you wakes up and says, “Brother, they were born with it, not just that, they had rich celebrity parents and God was also very partial to them” Before you put a period to this statement, the demon goes on rambling, “Oh yeah, it was also pure luck. Have you not seen this Dhoni guy, he was some TTE in railways and now he is Captain Cool itseems!”

And that is when you say, “Oh I can’t. I’m done. I’ll follow what others are doing. They are prodigious, blessed but I’m not. So, I have to live with this!”

Yes, the time when you had this idea in your mind, you definitely lost the battle of what it takes to be great!

Dhoni was not just TTE who by chance got into cricket; untold version is that, he made his debut for Jharkhand when he was 18 and now he is 31. It took almost a decade for him to become the World cup winning Captain. Once in an emotional interview Yuvraj Singh mentioned, “Skipper was struggling for runs but he did not lose heart and kept on working very hard in the practice sessions.” Do you still think that is by mere luck?

If you think Jet Li is a child prodigy then think again. It took him seven long years to become the “Gifted” kid who won several Gold medals in All China Games at the age of 12. There is nothing called a child prodigy but instead they are the ones who start early.  Most of the time, they were born to parents to “highly involved parents” as Geoffrey Colvin, Senior Editor at Large to Fortune says. These highly involved parents have made their kids work from the time they start understanding things and start show interests in various art/science/sports. Do you still believe that they are child prodigies? If you still think then autobiography of Tiger Woods will prove you wrong, he started playing Golf when he was 18 months and it took him 15 years from then to become the US Amateur Champion. When his friends were enjoying the worldly fun Tiger Woods put in hours of hardwork and meticulous practice and that is how he became Tiger Woods!

Now, the question on your mind will be “Then what did they have in common?” Indisputably, it was HARDWORK.

Abraham Lincoln, the Champion American president had to fail 18 times in various life time events before becoming the President of United States of America. Master Blaster, Sachin Tendulkar had to wait for 74 matches to score his first century. Oprah Winfrey was fired from her job because she was “Unfit for TV”. Steven Spielberg got rejected from film school, not once but thrice. Michael Jordon was not selected for his High School Basketball team! It was never an easy one for them; if you just fantasize their riches and fame then it’s time to get prepared to face the battle for life.

Now, you might raise a question, “What should I do?” Researchers say that the great people are the ones who have put their heart and soul into something for 10,000 hours. When you break it down to nine hours a day including the weekend after all the work/School/College you do,             it roughly comes to nine years; and if it is two hours a day then 13 years. Yes, you are just 13 years away from the zenith that you wanted to reach all life! Tiger Woods used to swing his ball twice not hit a bucket of balls and that shows the dedication and effort that was put in by him and that’s what took to get better. And that will get you to want you want to become.

Talking this path is tougher as you might lose your heart in the middle. Loosing heart doesn’t mean, you say “I can’t” but instead the loosing heart will trick you with words, “You are better than this!”, “Not your cup of tea” and it just goes on, not just your heart but the whole world will tell you. Every Tom, Dick and Harry will criticize you, Laugh at you. But remember one thing, as Mahatma said, “First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win!”

The journey that you are going to take will not just result in success but also leave you with sweet memories that you can cherish forever. After all, life is lived once, and it definitely deserves the happiness of achieving.

I always strongly believe that, we are the ones who know ourselves better than anyone else and we know what we are going through better than anyone and therefore we should ask ourselves, “What to do we want to yearn when we are about to say a big bye to this beautiful world? “And once we decide it, then “Nothing else matters”.  

I say it again, “Nothing else matters!”

“Life is ours, we live it our way “,

Alagiri

Inspired by the article “What it takes to be great” by Geoffrey Colvin (Senior Editor at Large, Fortune Magazine)