Week 1: Story Lab
It was the first week of the semester in 2016, everything was so different compared to the system that I had back in Advanced Diploma. We had to decide on the major, the studio and the electives. This is a different experience for me and I actually felt like I’m living an undergrad student’s life for the first time.
We were asked to read two books and a short story in the first class: The Substance of Story by Robert Mckee, The Philosophy of the Short-story by Brander Matthews and Lamb to the Slaughter by Roald Dahl. Among the three readings, I enjoyed reading The Substance of Story the most as I can relate the most to Mckee’s words. He specifically broke down the characteristic of a protagonist into many parts, which was something that I have never thought of when writing a story. I know how important it is for the protagonist to have an aim or objectives but the way Mckee explained why the protagonist may have a self-contradictory unconscious desire really clicks in my head, and that’s when I thought this could be the tip to write a better story.
