CURIOSITY EXERCISE
Curiosity moves stories on. It builds tension, creates anticipation and leads to a variety of consequences. It is a motive, like greed or fear, but like all motives, can combine to invoke a chain of events. This chain of events can be described in the following formula: motive-motivation-consequence.
A motive, like revenge, is the reason for a certain course of action, whether conscious or unconscious. It can lead to a motivation, the behavioural/psychological act or response engendered, such as shredding the entire wardrobe of an unfaithful husband. From this and other possible motivations follows consequence, the result or effect of a previous occurrence. In the above example, the consequence may be that the husband catches his wife in the act, and she ends up shredding him as well.
As you can see, there are many variants possible in this formula. Thus a simple model might be curious cat (motive) playfully bites through the wires of the Christmas tree lights (motivation), resulting in a frizzled, electrocuted moggy (consequence). A more complex model may involve mixed motives, motivations and consequences, which can often flow into each other. An example is given below. The motives are in bold, the motivations underlined and the consequences in italics - but more may lurk within!
Imagine that a curious grandson pulls out an old suitcase from under his grandpa’s bed. The grandson is convinced that the old-timer is hiding his money somewhere. Fuelled by greed, the grandson bursts open the suitcase, only to find out that it contains his grandpa’s memorabilia. At this point, his grandpa enters the room and the two men argue. The grandson starts a fight, and the grandpa is knocked to the floor, hitting his head against a metal bedpost. He dies. The grandson, covered in blood and frightened, makes a run for it, only to confront the new town sheriff at the front door. The sheriff is looking forward to meeting the grandpa and grandson. This is a special visit, seeing how the sheriff was once the black sheep of the family, but then saw the light and made good. He was the other grandson whose existence and rights to inheritance the rest of the family had denied. This still rankles him, but if the sheriff can find a way to get even in the eyes of the Lord, well....
Exercise 5 - Did you really kill the cat?
1. From the following list, choose a motive and imagine a motivation for that motive.
• Curiosity, Desire, Anger, Revenge, Justice, Self-Improvement, Shame, Love
2. From the following list, choose a motivation and imagine a consequence for that motivation.
• To teach your ex-lover a lesson
• To improve the social health of an impoverished community
• To see what’s behind the locked door
• To get back what is yours
• To climb a mountain
• To destroy any record of its existence
3. Describe a motive and motivation driven by a person’s inaction.
Exercise 6 - In the mind of Pandora
1. Pandora, like Eve, is blamed for her curiosity. What do you think Pandora would say about this? Write a piece, of up to 100 words, expressing Pandora’s thoughts and feelings about curiosity, blame, injustice, evil and hope.
Homework - Write a story of up to 1000 words describing the mental processes of a character from curiosity to consequence.
©John Brewster, January 2009
