FIRST ASSIGNMENT: write your story statement.
Save a piece of the developing world and return home a transformed person.
SECOND ASSIGNMENT: in 200 words or less, sketch the antagonist or antagonistic force in your story. Keep in mind their goals, their background, and the ways they react to the world about them.
Who is the antagonist in my novel? Since the story is in process, this entity has yet to come into view. I see the protagonist on a pathway, looking at the horizon. Today, the sky is clear, but for a few clouds, the view is far, the air fresh, the sky blue, the pathway flat, paved with concrete. All represent a potential albeit boring future. It's all right there for enjoyment on her morning walk. Then, a bicyclist comes charging down the pathway. Is she prepared? She is walking on the righthand side, the biker coming towards her on the left, and the passing is easy, quick; only some wind is blowing in her hair as the sound ascends from behind her view. Then another biker, this time from behind, yells on your left, and she steps left in a moment of disorientation. What happens next prevents that day from taking its intended form and creates a new day requiring new ways for her to navigate her world. You might say that was an unintended antagonist. It's all behind her now. But is she prepared for the next time? Probably not, for this is not a morning walk, and she does not know yet.
THIRD ASSIGNMENT: create a breakout title (list several options, not more than three, and revisit to edit as needed).
The Unfolding Stone
Rough Ridge Over Yonder
FOURTH ASSIGNMENT: - Read this NWOE article on comparables then return here.
Develop two smart comparables for your novel. This is a good opportunity to immerse yourself in your chosen genre. Who compares to you? And why?
I don't know who compares to me because I am still working on a writing style. Memoir is what I initially thought I'd write, but after attending a creative nonfiction writer's conference, I changed my mind and felt my genre to be that. Once I learned more about creative nonfiction, I decided I did not want to write in that genre. Since then, I have chosen to write in the third person. I am reading the The Algonkian Novel Development and Craft Guide - 2022 and am making note of suggestions for writing in third person.
Authors I have liked and types of books I Like to read that might help answer this question are: Barbara Kingsolver and Susan Mock Kidd do Historical fiction; Sharyn McCrumb does Appalachian "Ballad" novels; Louise Penny does mystery fiction. The two best potential comparables would be historical mystery fiction. I enjoyed David Grann's Killers of the Flower Moon, narrative nonfiction. These are all risen stars, so I will keep looking for that one who is rising as a comparable.
FIFTH ASSIGNMENT: write your own hook line (logline) with conflict and core wound following the format above. Though you may not have one now, keep in mind this is a great developmental tool. In other words, you best begin focusing on this if you're serious about commercial publication.
Enjoying Ice-cold beer on white sandy beaches did not drown the angst; the catalyst to connecting would happen unexpectedly in a confrontation on a trip to a different island on an outward bound adventure.
SIXTH ASSIGNMENT: sketch out the conditions for the inner conflict your protagonist will have. Why will they feel in turmoil? Conflicted? Anxious? Sketch out one hypothetical scenario in the story wherein this would be the case--consider the trigger and the reaction.
The protagonist is conflicted about why they have come to this tropical hell on earth. Besides the bottomless, rich, dark coffee on the boardwalk, they gasp, seeing broken people wandering off large boats looking for easy prey. It's a hot, steamy morning. A woman on a bench gives her infant son to what appears to be a total stranger. He grabs the child, turns his back on the woman, and walks away. The protagonist's heart drops somewhere in the intestine, and a whisper inside her head says, "Oh shit.
Next, likewise sketch a hypothetical scenario for the "secondary conflict" involving the social environment. Will this involve family? Friends? Associates? What is the nature of it?
The protagonist feels alone here, and friends seem few and far between. Here she is stamped with Dona fitting a particular role as in a silo; she walks around in this container only and appearance of what could be an authentic self with a true calling.
FINAL ASSIGNMENT: sketch out your setting in detail. What makes it interesting enough, scene by scene, to allow for uniqueness and cinema in your narrative and story? Please don't simply repeat what you already have which may well be too quiet. You can change it. That's why you're here! Start now. Imagination is your best friend, and be aggressive with it.
The story takes place in a small mountain village on the defunct Virginal Creeper train line before the immigrant population built roadways. Today, what once was a major stopover of the creeper, an old hotel in the middle of town, is currently being renovated. The library sits on a hill, claiming its statue as equal to the surrounding mountains. There is one main street and two back streets. The smallness of the village is deceptive because the whole place is run by big businesses and the Christmas tree industry that imports workers every year to do the hard labor of processing trees. These workers come and go invisible to the local community and visitors who enjoy the local small arts scene, community theater, and a publishing co just on the outskirts of town.
As suggested, I will build on one aspect of the scene, such as the old hotel, the library, or the arts community, in my novel.
FIRST ASSIGNMENT: write your story statement. Save a piece of the developing world and return home a transformed person. SECOND ASSIGNMENT: in 200 words or less, sketch the antagonist or antagonistic force in your story. Keep in mind their goals, their background, and the ways they react to the world about them. Who is the antagonist in my novel? Since the story is in process, this entity has yet to come into view. I see the protagonist on a pathway, looking at the horizon. Today, the sky is clear, but for a few clouds, the view is far, the air fresh, the sky blue, the pathway flat, paved with concrete. All represent a potential albeit boring future. It's all right there for enjoyment on her morning walk. Then, a bicyclist comes charging down the pathway. Is she prepared? She is walking on the righthand side, the biker coming towards her on the left, and the passing is easy, quick; only some wind is blowing in her hair as the sound ascends from behind her view. Then another biker, this time from behind, yells on your left, and she steps left in a moment of disorientation. What happens next prevents that day from taking its intended form and creates a new day requiring new ways for her to navigate her world. You might say that was an unintended antagonist. It's all behind her now. But is she prepared for the next time? Probably not, for this is not a morning walk, and she does not know yet. THIRD ASSIGNMENT: create a breakout title (list several options, not more than three, and revisit to edit as needed). The Unfolding Stone Rough Ridge Over Yonder FOURTH ASSIGNMENT: - Read this NWOE article on comparables then return here. Develop two smart comparables for your novel. This is a good opportunity to immerse yourself in your chosen genre. Who compares to you? And why? I don't know who compares to me because I am still working on a writing style. Memoir is what I initially thought I'd write, but after attending a creative nonfiction writer's conference, I changed my mind and felt my genre to be that. Once I learned more about creative nonfiction, I decided I did not want to write in that genre. Since then, I have chosen to write in the third person. I am reading the The Algonkian Novel Development and Craft Guide - 2022 and am making note of suggestions for writing in third person. Authors I have liked and types of books I Like to read that might help answer this question are: Barbara Kingsolver and Susan Mock Kidd do Historical fiction; Sharyn McCrumb does Appalachian "Ballad" novels; Louise Penny does mystery fiction. The two best potential comparables would be historical mystery fiction. I enjoyed David Grann's Killers of the Flower Moon, narrative nonfiction. These are all risen stars, so I will keep looking for that one who is rising as a comparable. FIFTH ASSIGNMENT: write your own hook line (logline) with conflict and core wound following the format above. Though you may not have one now, keep in mind this is a great developmental tool. In other words, you best begin focusing on this if you're serious about commercial publication. Enjoying Ice-cold beer on white sandy beaches did not drown the angst; the catalyst to connecting would happen unexpectedly in a confrontation on a trip to a different island on an outward bound adventure. SIXTH ASSIGNMENT: sketch out the conditions for the inner conflict your protagonist will have. Why will they feel in turmoil? Conflicted? Anxious? Sketch out one hypothetical scenario in the story wherein this would be the case--consider the trigger and the reaction. The protagonist is conflicted about why they have come to this tropical hell on earth. Besides the bottomless, rich, dark coffee on the boardwalk, they gasp, seeing broken people wandering off large boats looking for easy prey. It's a hot, steamy morning. A woman on a bench gives her infant son to what appears to be a total stranger. He grabs the child, turns his back on the woman, and walks away. The protagonist's heart drops somewhere in the intestine, and a whisper inside her head says, "Oh shit. Next, likewise sketch a hypothetical scenario for the "secondary conflict" involving the social environment. Will this involve family? Friends? Associates? What is the nature of it? The protagonist feels alone here, and friends seem few and far between. Here she is stamped with Dona fitting a particular role as in a silo; she walks around in this container only and appearance of what could be an authentic self with a true calling. FINAL ASSIGNMENT: sketch out your setting in detail. What makes it interesting enough, scene by scene, to allow for uniqueness and cinema in your narrative and story? Please don't simply repeat what you already have which may well be too quiet. You can change it. That's why you're here! Start now. Imagination is your best friend, and be aggressive with it. The story takes place in a small mountain village on the defunct Virginal Creeper train line before the immigrant population built roadways. Today, what once was a major stopover of the creeper, an old hotel in the middle of town, is currently being renovated. The library sits on a hill, claiming its statue as equal to the surrounding mountains. There is one main street and two back streets. The smallness of the village is deceptive because the whole place is run by big businesses and the Christmas tree industry that imports workers every year to do the hard labor of processing trees. These workers come and go invisible to the local community and visitors who enjoy the local small arts scene, community theater, and a publishing co just on the outskirts of town. As suggested, I will build on one aspect of the scene, such as the old hotel, the library, or the arts community, in my novel.