How Will We Write About This Moment?
let's analyze that scene from the oval office
Hey friends and happy March. I was going to write the ides of March but that has the negative connotation of doom and misfortune. Let’s head into March with the happy, bouncing fortune of the leprechauns!
Let’s also do something different today - scene analysis.
And to make it spicy, let’s analyze a very tense and charged moment: the scene where President Zelensky of Ukraine met with President Trump in the Oval Office on February 28, 2025.
Ya’ll ready for this?1
In every good scene, you will have story principles that include:
Context and Point of View (what is the history of this scene and who’s telling the story?)
Characters (motivations, dreams, fears)
Setting (sets and shapes the scene)
Plot (what’s the action? What’s happening?)
Conflict (tension; what’s at stake?)
What did you observe from this scene in the oval office?
I felt a wide and wild range of emotions, but by the end, the overwhelming feeling was one of great sadness.
If only it was fiction.
How about you? What’s your take?
I’d love to hear your scene analysis (and hope you liked the video; kindof fun and maybe I’ll keep doing it…)
How will we write about this moment?
I think it’s important that we do. We, the writers, are the sacred keepers of history.
Love, Amy
p.s. just before I hit send, President Trump halted all U.S. aid going to Ukraine…
Baby Bump Painting of the Week: the sweet potato
Attention is the beginning of devotion…
The Last Part:
School visits: Looking for a class visit? I love visiting classrooms. Let’s talk brain and heart anatomy, resilience, family relationships, the power of reading and writing…be in touch!
Reading: The Labors of Hercules Beal, The Heaven and Earth Grocery Store on Kindle, Go As a River on audiobook
Eating: This chocolate cake, oh my
Feeling: I wish I could say warm but it’s still so cold! 6 degrees this morning.
Taking: I’m still taking 5mg of creatine every morning (mixed with orange juice) and I think I can report: it’s making a difference in strength and longevity of workout.
The Unforgettable Guinevere St. Clair is part-mystery, part understanding of the human heart 💖
Ten Thousand Tries is Golden’s quest to save his dad and the soccer team ⚽
The McNifficents is one summer with six rambunctious kids and their miniature-schnauzer nanny 🐕 New Hampshire’s 2024 Great Reads for Kids selection!
Space Jam haha! Also outside of it being a disturbing and sad moment in reality, this is such a clever idea to take a scene like this and analyze it from a story perspective. Very cool.
When I think about that scene, I feel sadness and disgust. The absence of human decency is appalling. Sigh...
Now I really want to see that sweet potato drawing!