Hi Madhavi here. Here is my submission. Looking forward to the feedback. Thank you
1. Story statement -what's the mission of your protagonist? The goal?
Some stories must be told. They represent the truth and are the testament of the times we live in. They are the stories of inner battles of human beings who try to fight against all odds to live every day. The book is a collection of short stories on existential agonies of people in both America and India. These are stories of wounded souls of the western world looking through a kaleidoscope and stories of the lost hiding souls of the eastern world watching them through a magnifying glass.
2. sketch the antagonist or antagonistic force in your story
Antagonistic forces in each story are different.
In America, they are the unplanned wars, immigrants' fears, misunderstood religion, confused sexual orientation, untimely love, sudden divorce, cultural shock, Autism with social anxiety, hunger and Anorexia, MENSA intellectual loneliness etc.,
While in India, the antagonist forces are the rigid traditions, interreligious marriages, under the table corruption, color discrimination, fake religious gurus, overambitious parents, dowry harrassment, male dominance, body shaming, power politics etc.,
3. Title of the book :
a. Broken strings make beautiful music
b. Melodious Blues from broken strings
c. Life sans color, Laughter sans joy, music sans melody
4. Develop two smart comparable for your novel.
a. Genre is literary fiction
b. There are stories of immigrants as in Jhumpa lahiri “Name sake”, there are realistic characters in the novel with all their flaws as in Aravind Adiga’s “White Tiger” and the story narration is in the lines of “Broom of the System” by David Foster Wallace.
5. write your own hook line (logline).
A young student from India must navigate through the melting pot of America meeting many wounded souls on the way while on his return to India, he has to blend with shrinking souls hiding life in a tight fist.
6. sketch out the conditions for the inner conflict your protagonist will have. Next, likewise sketch a hypothetical scenario for the "secondary conflict" involving the social environment.
Inner conflict for protagonist - core wound – Each story has its own inner conflict – the core wound
· For a soldier it is the death of his dear friend to road side bombs
· For a Mexican cook the stress of being caught and sent home
· For a bright spell bee champion untimely love and teenage pregnancy
· For a middle eastern man in witness protection the fear of being recognized
· For a professor in theology the clash between his professional beliefs and personal love for his overly religious wife
· For an orphan child in India being rejected by prospective parents
· For a Hindu Muslim couple, love caught between religious fights
· For a rape victim, holding on to the child of the enemy in her tummy
· For a bright poor engineering student, the deadly cancer disease
2. secondary conflict is the social environment
· The soldier dealing with war has to also deal with loss of a limb and not be able to hold his new born daughter
· A Mexican cook not only deals with immigration issues but also feels the pain of being away from his sister and parents when he gets arrested
· For the spell bee champion it is not only teenage pregnancy that bothers her, it is also the emotional struggle with her over ambitious Indian parents who were terribly disappointed by her pregnancy
· Hindu muslim couple not only have to deal with their inner battles because of different customs and traditions but also must deal with societal pressure from family, friends and even strangers
· Rape victim has to deal with her inner struggle of learning to love the child within her after being impregnated by a man who abused and raped her but also deal with the society treating her like a outcast
All the characters have both primary and secondary conflicts.
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7. sketch out your setting in detail.
For each story , settings is different
a. For the soldier it is Afghanistan, Iran
b. For a spell bee champion, it is a first generation Indian household living in Usa
c. For a Mexican cook it is Mexico and all the countries he crossed to enter America
d. For Hindu Muslim couple it is a small town in India with lot of temples and mosques.