Biz Blog:

Dara Marks at Biz Books

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Biz Books was thrilled to partner with FTX West to bring Dara Marks and her weekend workshop, based on her bestseller, Inside Story, to Vancouver this past weekend.

We were also very jazzed to have her drop by the store on Thursday night, for a book signing and a preview of the weekend. In addition to answering many individual questions, Dara (seen here with Bronwen) discussed her approach to using the “transformational arc” in storytelling.

She explained why the arc is so important and why stories that ignore this crucial approach often fail to capture the investment of the audience. Dara also stressed the importance of allowing your characters full access to your own instinctive reactions to the challenges they encounter along their journey. Too often, she said, writers feel a need to “create” characters’ feelings in a given situation, rather than tapping into how they, the writer, would feel in that same situation and it is essential to trust those personal responses as honest, valid and appropriate. Listening to those internal reactions, she went on, will often provide the writer with deeper, more genuine insights into the next development in the character’s arc. A truly “transformational” evening indeed!

Posted on February 2, 2009.
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Comments

Okay, what’s going on here? Is this some kind of joke? Am I the only one who noticed that Bronwen is in every single picture? Is it some kind of secret “Where’s Waldo” game???

— Rebecca Coleman · Feb 3, 07:49 AM · #

Should it be any other way?

— Bronwen Smith · Feb 4, 12:05 PM · #

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