The Threshold Between Yin and Yang

Creativity can readily be found at the border between two worlds. Apple might be "Art + Technology." Les Miserables might be "Good people + Unjust world." This creativity can be tasteful, or it can be obvious: Cowboys and Aliens might be "Cowboys + Aliens."Whether you're just having fun or writing a serious work, thresholds between worlds are useful for generating creativity. Tension rises when unlike things are brought together. Unforeseen circumstances push characters into situations that are inevitable but, because of their unusual nature, not predictable. A list of worlds that have never been brought together can help a writer get started.One writer who understood this in particular was William Shakespeare. A few of the exercises in this set will honor him, since 2016 is the 400th Anniversary of his death. Consider the following couplet from Romeo and Juliet:Why then O brawling love, o loving hateAnything of nothing first create?Three points in the passage heighten tension because they bring together two worlds that are not commonly in contact: 1) love and hate, and 2) anything and nothing. At the threshold, authors can generate great stories, and in the same way they can also generate great sentences.Today the exercise is to make a list of thresholds to cross.***Love and hateLove and selfishnessHate and attractionLife and deathConscious and subconsciousSleep and awakePacifism and violenceAncient world and technologyMasculine and feminineNihilism and meaningFaith and doubtRacism and diversityNight and dayTruth and liesObjectivity and subjectivityMilitarism and liberalismRich and poorCounty and citySick and wellEast and westNorth and southDancing and fightingFriendship and enmityInnocence and guiltArt and trashPoliticians and beggarsKings and beggarsMiddle class and poorSuburbia and inner city***Getting Started: 4Character: 3Point of View and Tone: 3Plot and Narrative: 3Dialogue and Voice: 3Descriptive Language and Setting: 3Revision: 3Overall: 3*Level 3*