The "Le Menu" - A useful tool to get your story going

In the beginning of “Crafting Short Screenplays that Connect” by Claudia Hunter Johnson there is an exercise the writer refers to as “Le Menu”.

Write five to ten answers to:

• What I love
• What I hate
• What I fear
• What I believe
• What I value
• What I want
• What I know about
• People who made a difference in my life
• Discoveries that made a difference in my life
• Decisions that made a difference in my life

She phrases her playwriting teacher Sam Smiley:
“In order to create art works of many worth, each artist must have something to say, some values, some attitudes, some store of experience – a vision”

“That’s what Le Menu is all about – identifying those attitudes, values and experiences that will energize our work as screenwriters, creating a menu of what we know and care deeply about. It’s one of the most important things we can do as screenwriters, because our unique material and vision is the source of unique screenplays.”

As a writer I can honestly say there are many times I feel lost within my own words. It's hard to find my personal inflection on each character if I can't understand what they're going through and where their journey has taken them.

The Le Menu is the one writing exercise I come back to with each project. I try to fill in different answers to the questions above as I get older, meet new people, and mature in my writing.

Let's see where it takes you!