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Roberto VERRI's avatar

I feel characters just like real people are mirrors to us and most time of our hiden self. I think that the difference between a bad guy and a good one depends on the type of reflection he/she radiates on us. At the end i am capable to perceive the roles each plays in the comedy or tragedy that i am watching and my impression is that the bad guy is not that bad neither the good is that good. Are just roles, more difficult is to play the bad one...

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Katie Maxim's avatar

I love this new section of your newsletter! It strikes me as so generous that you are taking the time to share the details of your process, especially the questions you are wrestling with and how you are noticing what you need to do to take care of your creative energy. I am learning something with each post, and you are making it all sound so pleasant, even though I know it is damn hard work with plenty of frustrating puzzles to solve.

That portrait of Caroline makes me want to reach back in time and raise her up off her knees, unravel that sash, toss the heavy-looking kimono out the window and take her for a run through wet grass.

I don't have any words of writing wisdom regarding some of the issues you presented in the post, but I am thinking of some questions posed in a recent workshop on Exploring Conflict and Change Through Poetry, facilitated by the Irish poet Pádraig Ó Tuama. I have been thinking about these particular questions in my own writing of the moment. "What are the griefs of the characters? What is your measuring of the griefs? How are the characters punishing each other? What kinds of power does each character hold? How do they measure each other's power? What is the level of choice being experienced by the characters? i.e. Can they leave? What would happen then?" Just a share for you, since you've shared so much with this reader! Looking forward to the next installment!

(Questions adapted from Change & Conflict - Motivation, Resistance and Commitment. Chapter by Eric C. Marcus in The Handbook of Conflict Resolution: Theory and Practice.

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