Jen must protect her teenage daughter Isabelle from a terrible truth that could destroy them both.
2.THE ANTAGONIST PLOTS
Who will blow Jen’s cancer survivor cover? Will it be Jade, her daughter’s freshman dorm roommate, a young woman fighting for her life and selected to room with Isabelle because of her own cancer diagnosis? Will it be her philandering husband Brian, whose careful crafting of a life of lies gave Jen the idea and the excuse to plunge herself into this game of deceit? Perhaps it will be Reggie from the yoga studio, who sees in Jen’s survival affirmation of the wondrous powers of the angel Ariel, and whose own life depends on belief in her access to another realm. Perhaps Jen will be forced to face the truth herself?
3.BREAKOUT TITLE
“Cancer Mom”
“Mutations”
“Sex, Lies, and Chemotherapy”
4.GENRE AND APPROACHING COMPARABLES
“Beyond Suspicion” An insurance salesman's humdrum existence takes a turn when a stranger, ex-con Auggie Rose, unexpectedly dies in his arms. Assuming the identity of the dead man, the salesman embarks on a double life, keeping it secret from his live-in girlfriend.
“Dear Evan Hansen” A teen builds a false self based on undeserved sympathy and compassion and struggles mightily to maintain it upon reaping benefits—including (almost) getting the girl—that had been forever outside his reach.
Genre fits into the “Psychological Thriller with a Sense of Humor” drawer
5.CORE WOUND AND THE PRIMARY CONFLICT
“Cancer Mom” asks a simple but elemental question: Can you lie your way to the truth? Jen, the protagonist, becomes obsessed with the secret life her husband leads as he carries on an affair. She constructs her own secret life in response, and then a cancer scare, and a subsequent biopsy, leads her to a tantalizing opportunity. Becoming a cancer patient, and then a survivor, results in the end of her husband’s affair, and Jen becomes a hero in her daughter’s eyes, who uses the experience in her application letter to Wesleyan University. Her life complete and whole again, Jen is ready to move on, until…
6.CONFLICT: TWO MORE LEVELS
Having been “Cancer Mom” during her daughter’s last two years of high school, can Jen return to the role for another full year, especially when confronted with her daughter’s ill roommate, fighting her own battle against the disease?
What could the discovery of Jen’s deception do to her family’s reputation? Could her husband’s integrity as a lawyer survive the revelation? Would Wesleyan kick her daughter out, since so much of her admission was weighted on her touching mother-fights-cancer personal statement?
7.Setting
This manuscript is currently a play, and so setting is determined by the nature of the sets, which so far include a yoga studio, a cemetery plot, a dorm room, and the dining room table around which the crisis comes to a head.
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1. THE STORY STATEMENT
Jen must protect her teenage daughter Isabelle from a terrible truth that could destroy them both.
2. THE ANTAGONIST PLOTS
Who will blow Jen’s cancer survivor cover? Will it be Jade, her daughter’s freshman dorm roommate, a young woman fighting for her life and selected to room with Isabelle because of her own cancer diagnosis? Will it be her philandering husband Brian, whose careful crafting of a life of lies gave Jen the idea and the excuse to plunge herself into this game of deceit? Perhaps it will be Reggie from the yoga studio, who sees in Jen’s survival affirmation of the wondrous powers of the angel Ariel, and whose own life depends on belief in her access to another realm. Perhaps Jen will be forced to face the truth herself?
3. BREAKOUT TITLE
“Cancer Mom”
“Mutations”
“Sex, Lies, and Chemotherapy”
4. GENRE AND APPROACHING COMPARABLES
“Beyond Suspicion” An insurance salesman's humdrum existence takes a turn when a stranger, ex-con Auggie Rose, unexpectedly dies in his arms. Assuming the identity of the dead man, the salesman embarks on a double life, keeping it secret from his live-in girlfriend.
“Dear Evan Hansen” A teen builds a false self based on undeserved sympathy and compassion and struggles mightily to maintain it upon reaping benefits—including (almost) getting the girl—that had been forever outside his reach.
Genre fits into the “Psychological Thriller with a Sense of Humor” drawer
5. CORE WOUND AND THE PRIMARY CONFLICT
“Cancer Mom” asks a simple but elemental question: Can you lie your way to the truth? Jen, the protagonist, becomes obsessed with the secret life her husband leads as he carries on an affair. She constructs her own secret life in response, and then a cancer scare, and a subsequent biopsy, leads her to a tantalizing opportunity. Becoming a cancer patient, and then a survivor, results in the end of her husband’s affair, and Jen becomes a hero in her daughter’s eyes, who uses the experience in her application letter to Wesleyan University. Her life complete and whole again, Jen is ready to move on, until…
6. CONFLICT: TWO MORE LEVELS
Having been “Cancer Mom” during her daughter’s last two years of high school, can Jen return to the role for another full year, especially when confronted with her daughter’s ill roommate, fighting her own battle against the disease?
What could the discovery of Jen’s deception do to her family’s reputation? Could her husband’s integrity as a lawyer survive the revelation? Would Wesleyan kick her daughter out, since so much of her admission was weighted on her touching mother-fights-cancer personal statement?
7. Setting
This manuscript is currently a play, and so setting is determined by the nature of the sets, which so far include a yoga studio, a cemetery plot, a dorm room, and the dining room table around which the crisis comes to a head.