How to Use Rituals and Traditions to Reveal Deeper Meaning in Story
02/10/22 • 22 min
S2_E24 – How to Use Rituals and Traditions to Reveal Deeper Meaning in Story
Last week, we started talking about how one of the best tools you’ll ever learn how to use in story is to establish and pattern and then break it. When you do this, it immediately adds deeper meaning to the story, reveals character progression and/or a change in character relationships, adds energy to the narrative, and does all of this in a visual way. It’s a wonderful tool to master.
This week, I’m expanding on that to explore the use of Ritual and Tradition in story. This is another fabulous tool that you can use to reveal character information, and help us understand who a character is at their core. Show us your character’s rituals or traditions. And notice from the outset what you’re setting yourself up to be able to do, because what is a ritual or a tradition if not an established pattern? So, this can also be used to show a deviation down the road, but it doesn't have to deviate from the pattern in order to successfully be used to reveal a great deal about that character. We glean a lot of significant knowledge from the rituals and traditions that our character performs, from who they are at their core, to what the status is of their current relationships, with God, themselves, and others.
DOWNLOAD FULL TRANSCRIPTS FOR FREE at www.thestorytellersmission.com.
WHAT'S NEXT? Join us next Thursday for another layer to this technique. Here, we’ve talked about establishing a pattern and breaking it. Next week, we’ll see this applied in a variety of different ways so that you can get an idea of how helpful this tool can be.
NEED HELP? The Storyteller’s Mission online platform is your go-to place for help with all your writing needs. Sign up for one-on-one COACHING, get a SCRIPT CRITIQUE, or register for one of our ADVANCED CLASSES ON WRITING today!
TOPIC REQUESTS? If you have a question or a specific writing related topic that you would like Zena to consider addressing in a future podcast, SEND AN EMAIL to [email protected]. We’d love to hear from you!
SPECIAL THANKS to CARLA PATULLO for the original music used in the intro and outro of this podcast. To find out more about this amazing talent, go to www.carlapatullo.com
S2_E24 – How to Use Rituals and Traditions to Reveal Deeper Meaning in Story
Last week, we started talking about how one of the best tools you’ll ever learn how to use in story is to establish and pattern and then break it. When you do this, it immediately adds deeper meaning to the story, reveals character progression and/or a change in character relationships, adds energy to the narrative, and does all of this in a visual way. It’s a wonderful tool to master.
This week, I’m expanding on that to explore the use of Ritual and Tradition in story. This is another fabulous tool that you can use to reveal character information, and help us understand who a character is at their core. Show us your character’s rituals or traditions. And notice from the outset what you’re setting yourself up to be able to do, because what is a ritual or a tradition if not an established pattern? So, this can also be used to show a deviation down the road, but it doesn't have to deviate from the pattern in order to successfully be used to reveal a great deal about that character. We glean a lot of significant knowledge from the rituals and traditions that our character performs, from who they are at their core, to what the status is of their current relationships, with God, themselves, and others.
DOWNLOAD FULL TRANSCRIPTS FOR FREE at www.thestorytellersmission.com.
WHAT'S NEXT? Join us next Thursday for another layer to this technique. Here, we’ve talked about establishing a pattern and breaking it. Next week, we’ll see this applied in a variety of different ways so that you can get an idea of how helpful this tool can be.
NEED HELP? The Storyteller’s Mission online platform is your go-to place for help with all your writing needs. Sign up for one-on-one COACHING, get a SCRIPT CRITIQUE, or register for one of our ADVANCED CLASSES ON WRITING today!
TOPIC REQUESTS? If you have a question or a specific writing related topic that you would like Zena to consider addressing in a future podcast, SEND AN EMAIL to [email protected]. We’d love to hear from you!
SPECIAL THANKS to CARLA PATULLO for the original music used in the intro and outro of this podcast. To find out more about this amazing talent, go to www.carlapatullo.com
Previous Episode
Why Establishing a Pattern and then Breaking it in Story is One of the Best Tools You Can Learn
S2_E23 – Why Establishing a Pattern and then Breaking it in Story is one of the Best Tools You can Learn
One of the primary rules that we learn as storytellers that we need to accomplish is show don't tell. But what I find is that many writers simply struggle with that concept. One reason why is because they're unclear exactly what it means, let alone how to accomplish it.
Today, I want to share with you a fantastic trick that you can use to start mastering this skill of showing vs. telling. Namely, you establish a pattern and then break it. The basic premise behind this technique is that you’re learning to think in terms of creating visual cues or images that your audience can interpret to determine what’s happening inside of the character, or where they are at emotionally. This works for their internal emotional journey as well as for developing character relationships. It’s a fantastic tool that all writers should master, because it’s so effective at communicating gobs of information to the audience.
DOWNLOAD FULL TRANSCRIPTS FOR FREE at www.thestorytellersmission.com.
WHAT'S NEXT? Join us next Thursday for another layer to this technique. Here, we’ve talked about establishing a pattern and breaking it. Next week, we’ll see this applied in a variety of different ways so that you can get an idea of how helpful this tool can be.
NEED HELP? The Storyteller’s Mission online platform is your go-to place for help with all your writing needs. Sign up for one-on-one COACHING, get a SCRIPT CRITIQUE, or register for one of our ADVANCED CLASSES ON WRITING today!
TOPIC REQUESTS? If you have a question or a specific writing related topic that you would like Zena to consider addressing in a future podcast, SEND AN EMAIL to [email protected]. We’d love to hear from you!
SPECIAL THANKS to CARLA PATULLO for the original music used in the intro and outro of this podcast. To find out more about this amazing talent, go to www.carlapatullo.com
Next Episode
Using Objects & Metaphors to Show the Internal Emotional Arc of Your Character
S2_E25 – Using Objects & Metaphors to Show the Internal Emotional Arc of Your Character
For the last few weeks, we’ve been discussing how to “show, don’t tell” in story by employing a few of my favorite techniques that help writers accomplish this without having to write pages and pages of dialogue. Namely, how to create significant actions for your characters, how to establish a pattern and then break it in order to convey deeper meaning, and how to utilize Rituals and Traditions as a way to reveal character – who the character is at their core.
Today, we’re going to continue this dialogue by exploring two more tools at your disposal: How to create visual metaphors that reveal the internal emotional arc of your character, and how to use props and objects to help show how a character has changed over the course of the story. Both of these require the same primary tool of establishing a pattern and then breaking it. And yet, this should give writers even more insight into what’s possible for their own stories.
This list is by no means exhaustive. If you’re interested in taking an online course dedicated to this topic, sign up for The Storyteller’s Digest on the website, where you’ll be notified just as soon as that class is available online.
DOWNLOAD FULL TRANSCRIPTS FOR FREE at www.thestorytellersmission.com.
WHAT'S NEXT? Join us next Thursday for another exciting episode, whatever that may be!
NEED HELP? The Storyteller’s Mission online platform is your go-to place for help with all your writing needs. Sign up for one-on-one COACHING, get a SCRIPT CRITIQUE, or register for one of our ADVANCED CLASSES ON WRITING today!
TOPIC REQUESTS? If you have a question or a specific writing related topic that you would like Zena to consider addressing in a future podcast, SEND AN EMAIL to [email protected]. We’d love to hear from you!
SPECIAL THANKS to CARLA PATULLO for the original music used in the intro and outro of this podcast. To find out more about this amazing talent, go to www.carlapatullo.com
The Storyteller’s Mission with Zena Dell Lowe - How to Use Rituals and Traditions to Reveal Deeper Meaning in Story
Transcript
THE STORYTELLER’S MISSION WITH ZENA DELL LOWE
S2 E24. How to Use Rituals and Traditions to Reveal Deeper Meaning in Story
PODCAST TRANSCRIPT
Published February 10, 2022
00:00
INTRO: Hello, and welcome to The Storyteller's Mission with Zena Dell Lowe, a podcast for artists and storytellers about changing the world for the better through story.
00:10
TOPIC INTRODUCTION: On the last episode,
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