For two years now I have been conducting writing trainings with elements of psychodrama and gestalt for people for whom it is important to write some texts, from advertisements to dissertations and books. And, of course, I analyze which techniques work best. There is one trick, one way of looking at the text that I especially like. This is to see the elements of drama in the text and name them. It's amazing how it brings a person to life in his writing. For example, I tell a person the simplest thing: “Oh, look, this is your turn!”, or “This is your inversion!”, or “This is where an event occurs in this dialogue!” - and then in the exercises I see how he begins to consciously use this tool. A person simply learned the name of what he already knows how to do, and this naming turns out to be very supportive. Of course, at the beginning we discuss these same dramatic tools. And we start with Event, because this is the basic tool. The shortest definition is this: An Event is a Change. What else you need to know: if the text (any text!) is filled with events, it’s interesting to read. And it happens that there are a lot of words in the text, but no events happen, and the reader is bored. So, for a writer it is important to be able to create these events. Here is a fragment of a lesson where we analyze an event in the text of a training participant. A person reads his text - the way he recorded the conversation he heard. Conversation means interaction, which means an event will definitely happen. It is important to discern and name this event. CONVERSATION IN THE MARSHRUTUKA Vladimir: - I was sitting in the minibus, and two girls were talking. Moreover, one monolobed, and the second was like “Hee-hee!”, “Hee-hee!” I heard them at the end. “Girl: - I tell him: “You are not my husband, and not even my common-law husband. We're just dating. This ride – drive – pick me up from somewhere doesn’t suit me. I can solve my problems, do something at home, find money for something, even pay off debts - I can do that myself, I don’t need a husband. To give flowers, to go to an exhibition with me is... Otherwise you behave like a husband. But I don’t need a husband! And he said, “You need my support.” I say: “All that supports me in life is my spine!” Vladimir: - And then I came out. Zhenya: - What event do you think happened between these two women? Sergey: - Declaration of Independence by one girl. Zhenya: - Yes, that’s an option. Of course, there is not enough information, something will have to be completed. Their relationship. Because we have two women. One speaks, the other simply giggles. What happened between them? Sveta: - One tells the other, in fact, how great everything is in her life. That is, they are going to support her, and there is something else there... And the second one listens, warms the soul. I even got the impression that maybe she doesn’t really approve of her... One declares how wonderful everything is with her. Zhenya: - You can call it intimacy, what do you think? Sveta: - Well, no. I would not say. This is bragging, I would say. One boasts to the other. Sergei: - It still seems to me that this is a declaration of independence. One declares to the other her independence from her husband. Not just from my husband, but, in principle, from men. Zhenya: - In what you say, I can discern the idea of ​​theatrical play. Playing for the public. So? Because it is important for us to take into account the two sides, what happened between the two of them. Sergey: - Yes, it seems. Vladimir: - I would take the next step. I really like this, but I would add one more step here. That one girl distances herself from the other, finding herself in a situation where she is not feeling very good. And she feels that she is somewhere becoming close to her friend, and she distances herself from her, exaggerating her indifference to the other. Zhenya: - Are you talking about the one who giggles? Vladimir: - No, the one who speaks. Zhenya: - Oh, for you this event is a kind of distancing, right? Vladimir: - Yes. The fact is that she is no match for her. It is precisely because she says this that she understands that she is somewhere close to her. Zhenya: - That is, she creates.