Dramatizing has a limited but powerful scope. Many writers find it invaluable when writing personal narrative (to learn more about themselves or other significant people), when writing about literature, or when writing to inform or persuade (to analyze the intended audience). We first need to define a few key terms:

• Action (the "what"): anything that happens, has happened, will happen, or could happen. Consider physical events (speaking at a convention), mental events (recognizing a mistake you made), or emotional events (falling in love). Action may also include the result of an activity (a new herb garden).
• Actor (the "who"): one who is involved in the action. The actor may either be directly involved in the action or merely affected by the action. The actor is not always a person: it may be a force or something that causes an action.
• Setting (the "when" and "where"): the situation or the background of the action. Although we frequently consider time and place, setting also includes historical background, or all that has gone on before the action.
• Motive (the "why"): the reason or purpose for the action. Motive includes the actor's intention or the end achieved by the action.
• Method (the "how"): whatever makes things happen. Method can be the way the action occurs or the techniques the actor uses to achieve the action.

To use dramatizing, write answers to as many of the following as possible. Give yourself permission to be playful and exploratory; remember, you are generating material, so try not to sabotage yourself.

• What is the actor doing?
• How did the actor come to be involved in this situation?
• Why does the actor do what he/she does?
• What else might the actor do?
• What is the actor trying to accomplish?
• How do other actors influence--help or hinder--the main actor?
• What do the actor's actions reveal about her/him?
• What does the actor's language reveal about him/her?
• How does the event's setting influence the actor's actions?
• How does the time of the event influence what the actor does?
• Where did this actor come from?
• How is this actor different from what she/he used to be?
• What might the actor become?
• How is this actor like or unlike the other actors?

Updated: 08.16.07