(reposting here, after realising that I posted in the 2021 pre-event assignments by accident. apologies!)
I. ACT OF STORY STATEMENT
Four friends must grapple with individual griefs and hauntings within, in order to deal with the hauntings happening without.
II. ANTAGONISTIC FORCE
The unknown and the spirit realm. The malicious side of this takes form through a grimoire-kind of book that promises secrets for a high price tinged in crimson. It also demonstrates itself in the form of the house itself, exploring the concept of a place as the origin of the tragic situation and a haunting ground that traps them within it. Stakes become raked across their backs the moment each of their feet cross over the threshold. There is the sensation of oppression in each corner of the rooms. There are weighted, hanging things dangling from the ceiling. Representations of the not-dealt-with internal struggles? True ghosts? Someone orchestrating this from the shadows who has a larger plan? It might go that far, it might not. It all depends upon their choices, how this antagonistic force works. It spies vulnerabilities and pounces on them and tears them apart. It is shaped by their hands, despite how their hands feel all tied up in it. Ironic, isn’t it? And does that not mirror the internal struggle we all experience? So is the point.
EDIT: It does go that far. Someone has been orchestrating this whole thing for quite some time. A feared emblem of folklore mixed with a sad case of being in the wrong place at the wrong time.
III. BREAKOUT TITLE(S)
In Dark Rooms (current, working title)
The River Between Us
By the Skin of Our Teeth
IV. GENRE / COMPARABLES
Genre: Speculative (southern) Gothic fiction
Comparables:
Donna Tartt’sThe Little Friend.In pacing, cast of characters, underlying unease created by the familial dynamics as well as the initial tragedy that begins everything, it would be remiss of me not to include this one, considering it, and Donna Tartt in general, are a great inspiration to me, and to the manuscript as well.
Gillian Flynn’sSharp Objects.In sarcastic voice, morally-grey and bewildering cast of characters, antagonistic force, as well as the conflict coming both from within and without. The grit that layers over everything despite outward appearances. When I read the complicated family there, it tickled something that hadn’t been in a while.
Honourable mentions include Louise Erdrich’sThe Round House,Edgar Allan Poe’sThe Fall of the House of Usher,Charlotte Brontë’sJane Eyre,and Toni Morrison’sBeloved.
V. LOGLINE / CORE HOOK
After the sudden death of one of their close friends, the four remaining friends swear a simple oath at her funeral: return to the house where it happened to make sure no one falls to shambles. What they end up receiving instead is a lot more than anyone bargained for.
VI. OTHER MATTERS OF CONFLICT
The turmoil stems from the stages of grief. The unexpected death rocks them to their cores in various ways; one is the sibling to the deceased, the others are close friends. It was a tight-knit group, and now, there is an open absence that can’t be ignored for too long. This will be furthered by the conflict caused by the book, which one individual in particular uses a bit more than it should be used. Hypothetical causes of conflict will be literal ghost hauntings, in which they will be dragged in, and have to drag each other back out; the house closing doors to “trap” them in singular rooms; the outside of the house no longer becoming safe; and so forth. Anything to increase that sensation of isolation despite not being alone.
Interpersonal conflicts are there from the start; there is a somewhat frazzled romantic relationship, a living-sibling relationship, a deceased-sibling relationship, and fractured friendships amongst the four due to a lack of communication (and other ridiculous things, that we as humans instigate amongst each other, when we love each other a lot.) There will also be tertiary conflicts re: ancestral history and family members that are not a core of the friendship group, but still bear witness (or perhaps know something more) to what happens. Tension, more miscommunication, attempts to help that are rejected. Symbolic, really. We cannot escape what goes on out there, we cannot escape what goes on in here. That’s just the long and short of it.
VII. SETTING
That border between the midwest and the south that gets lost in people’s minds. Deep, deciduous woods of Tennessee, Kentucky, Missouri. Corn fields, abandoned farmhouse, long, dirt roads. Rural. The house itself is located in the heart of the forest, close to a river. The nearby somewhat-small-town, a college town, will serve as a sub-setting, considering all of them are college students / of college age. The river will, as well as the forest, and the house itself. Potential for scenes to take place in a lot of accessible places, but also isolated places. The river itself, a conduit, a healing or not-healing place. Rooms within the house stocked full of memories. The café. The archives. The place where one of the boys works, the practise rooms with the tinny pianos. Endless possibilities in liminal spaces (or… are there?) These places will change with their decisions, the progression of the events, and reflect what’s going on within them — like Silent Hill, like Home Sweet Home. Considering this is also going to be a commentary about identity, well, we can imagine how that’s connected.
New York Pitch Assignments - March 2022
in New York Write to Pitch 2023 and 2024
Posted
(reposting here, after realising that I posted in the 2021 pre-event assignments by accident. apologies!)
I. ACT OF STORY STATEMENT
Four friends must grapple with individual griefs and hauntings within, in order to deal with the hauntings happening without.
II. ANTAGONISTIC FORCE
The unknown and the spirit realm. The malicious side of this takes form through a grimoire-kind of book that promises secrets for a high price tinged in crimson. It also demonstrates itself in the form of the house itself, exploring the concept of a place as the origin of the tragic situation and a haunting ground that traps them within it. Stakes become raked across their backs the moment each of their feet cross over the threshold. There is the sensation of oppression in each corner of the rooms. There are weighted, hanging things dangling from the ceiling. Representations of the not-dealt-with internal struggles? True ghosts? Someone orchestrating this from the shadows who has a larger plan? It might go that far, it might not. It all depends upon their choices, how this antagonistic force works. It spies vulnerabilities and pounces on them and tears them apart. It is shaped by their hands, despite how their hands feel all tied up in it. Ironic, isn’t it? And does that not mirror the internal struggle we all experience? So is the point.
EDIT: It does go that far. Someone has been orchestrating this whole thing for quite some time. A feared emblem of folklore mixed with a sad case of being in the wrong place at the wrong time.
III. BREAKOUT TITLE(S)
IV. GENRE / COMPARABLES
Genre: Speculative (southern) Gothic fiction
Comparables:
Gillian Flynn’s Sharp Objects. In sarcastic voice, morally-grey and bewildering cast of characters, antagonistic force, as well as the conflict coming both from within and without. The grit that layers over everything despite outward appearances. When I read the complicated family there, it tickled something that hadn’t been in a while.
Honourable mentions include Louise Erdrich’s The Round House, Edgar Allan Poe’s The Fall of the House of Usher, Charlotte Brontë’s Jane Eyre, and Toni Morrison’s Beloved.
V. LOGLINE / CORE HOOK
After the sudden death of one of their close friends, the four remaining friends swear a simple oath at her funeral: return to the house where it happened to make sure no one falls to shambles. What they end up receiving instead is a lot more than anyone bargained for.
VI. OTHER MATTERS OF CONFLICT
The turmoil stems from the stages of grief. The unexpected death rocks them to their cores in various ways; one is the sibling to the deceased, the others are close friends. It was a tight-knit group, and now, there is an open absence that can’t be ignored for too long. This will be furthered by the conflict caused by the book, which one individual in particular uses a bit more than it should be used. Hypothetical causes of conflict will be literal ghost hauntings, in which they will be dragged in, and have to drag each other back out; the house closing doors to “trap” them in singular rooms; the outside of the house no longer becoming safe; and so forth. Anything to increase that sensation of isolation despite not being alone.
Interpersonal conflicts are there from the start; there is a somewhat frazzled romantic relationship, a living-sibling relationship, a deceased-sibling relationship, and fractured friendships amongst the four due to a lack of communication (and other ridiculous things, that we as humans instigate amongst each other, when we love each other a lot.) There will also be tertiary conflicts re: ancestral history and family members that are not a core of the friendship group, but still bear witness (or perhaps know something more) to what happens. Tension, more miscommunication, attempts to help that are rejected. Symbolic, really. We cannot escape what goes on out there, we cannot escape what goes on in here. That’s just the long and short of it.
VII. SETTING
That border between the midwest and the south that gets lost in people’s minds. Deep, deciduous woods of Tennessee, Kentucky, Missouri. Corn fields, abandoned farmhouse, long, dirt roads. Rural. The house itself is located in the heart of the forest, close to a river. The nearby somewhat-small-town, a college town, will serve as a sub-setting, considering all of them are college students / of college age. The river will, as well as the forest, and the house itself. Potential for scenes to take place in a lot of accessible places, but also isolated places. The river itself, a conduit, a healing or not-healing place. Rooms within the house stocked full of memories. The café. The archives. The place where one of the boys works, the practise rooms with the tinny pianos. Endless possibilities in liminal spaces (or… are there?) These places will change with their decisions, the progression of the events, and reflect what’s going on within them — like Silent Hill, like Home Sweet Home. Considering this is also going to be a commentary about identity, well, we can imagine how that’s connected.