THE ACT OF STORY STATEMENT
To avoid the shame of being ‘Talent-blind’, 51-year old Seja works her farm and raises the children in solitude, until her grown son is kidnapped and she leaves everything to rescue him. During her search she learns of a dark Talent behind the kidnapping, who’s plotting world domination. She must find a way to unblock her elemental Talent and work with an overbearing dragon to thwart the dark Talent’s plans.
THE ANTAGONIST PLOTS THE POINT
Kasiran of Ryemin, born in Arjenkaria, the eastern continent, to parents so poor they have not earned a surname. At 6 he’s tested in the annual Sweep for Talents. He’s highly gifted in four elements, something unknown for generations, so the Tester stops looking after finding Earth Talent. He’s taken from his family, his parents are paid a year’s wages and forced to sign a contract dis-owning him.
At the state academy he’s outwardly a good student. Only allowed to specialize in 1 or 2 elements, he practices in secret, gradually falling into dark uses of Talent. At 14 he accidentally kills a classmate. The Head Teacher has him abducted from school and left in the wilderness. Taken from his family, betrayed by the school, he vows to never be controlled again. He believes four element Talent makes him invincible. He can take over the minds of his followers, and keeps slaves to draw life-force for healing himself after using dark Talent. In his late 20's he allies with extremists who believe Talents are entitled to rule, and others are lesser. They move to Riata, take over an abandoned fort at Ryemin, and begin taking steps to conquer the entire continent.
CONJURING YOUR BREAKOUT TITLE
I'm still looking for other titles. These are just the first few I've thought of.
The Fire that Reveals
Child of Earth & Fire
An Unwanted Dragon
COMPARABLES FOR YOUR NOVEL
Eye of the World, Robert Jordan
I'm certainly not at the level of Robert Jordan, but the "magic" system is somewhat similar, in that it uses inborn gifts that rely on mental focus, and is impossible or difficult to use if the practitioner has an emotional difficulty.
(still looking for a newer novel as a second comp)
(place holder for #2)
FIFTH ASSIGNMENT: write your own hook line (logline) with conflict and core wound...
Deserted by her husband and now Talent-blind, a middle-aged woman and an overbearing dragon must work together to defeat a dark Talent attempting to enslave their world.
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.
(I'm taking "sketch" literally and writing this as a description of the scene, rather than an actual scene in the novel.)
The main protagonist, Seja, as eldest daughter of her clan, is the “Dai”, or leader of the clan. The Dai is responsible for the clan members’ well-being, success, and their jointly-owned land. Raised by parents who valued self-control above displays of affection, Seja presents an invulnerable front to the world, of not needing love or help from anyone in her life. Her parents’ love was conditional on meeting their standards of behavior and achievement, so she learned she was not worthy of love unless she could do everything for herself to a very high standard. She is undemonstrative, and uncomfortable when others show her affection. 16 years ago her husband Teral left her, and she believes it was her fault he was unhappy, even though she's Talent-blind as a result. For her, showing vulnerability, needing help, is to invite rejection from the people she cares about. Her emotional journey is learning that she’s worthy of love, it’s alright to need others, be vulnerable, and accept help without feeling like a failure.
While searching for her kidnapped son, Seja is captured by a group of border raiders and discovers her long-lost husband is with them. He pretends not to know her, and she notices he is close to another woman in the group. This confirms her belief that she isn’t worthy of love, but seeing it with her own eyes is devastating. When Teral approaches her secretly one night, wanting to talk, she expresses her pain as rage, pouring out so much vitriol that he never gets a word in and has to leave before others notice.
The next day she’s tortured by the group’s leader to find out what she knows about the border situation. That night Teral’s female companion, Atanet, comes to clean and heal Seja’s wounds. Bound hand and foot, Seja must allow it, but is angry and silent. As she works on Seja’s wounds, Atanet quietly tells Seja what happened to Teral and that they’re both unwillingly trapped in this group. Seja refuses to respond and the woman leaves. But Seja considers what Atanet said and begins to get the barest glimmer that it might not be all ‘her fault’. Maybe Teral’s discontent was partly due to his own dreams of what his life could be, and his failure to communicate with her.
A few nights later, when nearly everyone else is asleep, Teral and Atanet come to the tent where Seja is held. They untie her, give her food and water, and together they sneak out of camp. Their plan is to help Seja escape, and they will escape in another direction. They get away from camp but someone wakes up, notices Seja is gone, and the group comes after them. They run. Teral is seriously wounded by an arrow. They find a cave to hide in. Teral insists Seja leave so she can get away before they're found. Seja runs, but is torn with many conflicting emotions, including gratitude, anger, fear, regret.
SECOND CONFLICT; sketch a hypothetical scenario involving the social environment. Will this involve family? Friends? Associates? What is the nature of it?
Conflicts with society: Nerreth society now looks down on Seja as one of the Talent-blind. Elemental Talents are born more frequently in Nerreth compared to other places. They allow Talented people to draw the life-force of the planet and use it manipulate earth, water, fire or air in various ways. One can be highly or modestly Talented, but usually it can help the person with various important tasks, including making crafts and goods to a very high standard. Now Seja cannot heal anyone, and her craft-work is seen as low quality. Plus, without her Talent, working the farm has become far more difficult and time-consuming.
As a result she stays at home, avoiding village society in general. Whereas before she frequently went out to heal people or animals, or help other farmers with soil and plant health.
Conflicts with family:
At the beginning of the story the barn burns down. She and her son can’t put the fire out, something she could have done with Talent. Even more humbling, she can’t heal their wounds, so they have to be healed by the village healer. Soon after, her son leaves home to start his career. Now Seja's alone, her family is concerned she can’t take care of the farm. Her sister wants to move her family to the farm so her children can learn more about it, but Seja refuses. She feels she’s being treated as a decrepit old woman who can’t fend for herself.
Seja and her daughter Jyra don’t get along. Jyra blames her mother for her father’s desertion, and doesn’t understand why her mother hasn’t got over it yet. Jyra was still young when her father left, so has less understanding of what really happened. Jyra is highly Talented with Air, and is ashamed that her mother, once a respected healer and farmer, is now Talent-blind.
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?
......
THE ACT OF STORY STATEMENT To avoid the shame of being ‘Talent-blind’, 51-year old Seja works her farm and raises the children in solitude, until her grown son is kidnapped and she leaves everything to rescue him. During her search she learns of a dark Talent behind the kidnapping, who’s plotting world domination. She must find a way to unblock her elemental Talent and work with an overbearing dragon to thwart the dark Talent’s plans. THE ANTAGONIST PLOTS THE POINT Kasiran of Ryemin, born in Arjenkaria, the eastern continent, to parents so poor they have not earned a surname. At 6 he’s tested in the annual Sweep for Talents. He’s highly gifted in four elements, something unknown for generations, so the Tester stops looking after finding Earth Talent. He’s taken from his family, his parents are paid a year’s wages and forced to sign a contract dis-owning him. At the state academy he’s outwardly a good student. Only allowed to specialize in 1 or 2 elements, he practices in secret, gradually falling into dark uses of Talent. At 14 he accidentally kills a classmate. The Head Teacher has him abducted from school and left in the wilderness. Taken from his family, betrayed by the school, he vows to never be controlled again. He believes four element Talent makes him invincible. He can take over the minds of his followers, and keeps slaves to draw life-force for healing himself after using dark Talent. In his late 20's he allies with extremists who believe Talents are entitled to rule, and others are lesser. They move to Riata, take over an abandoned fort at Ryemin, and begin taking steps to conquer the entire continent. CONJURING YOUR BREAKOUT TITLE I'm still looking for other titles. These are just the first few I've thought of. The Fire that Reveals Child of Earth & Fire An Unwanted Dragon COMPARABLES FOR YOUR NOVEL Eye of the World, Robert Jordan I'm certainly not at the level of Robert Jordan, but the "magic" system is somewhat similar, in that it uses inborn gifts that rely on mental focus, and is impossible or difficult to use if the practitioner has an emotional difficulty. (still looking for a newer novel as a second comp) (place holder for #2) FIFTH ASSIGNMENT: write your own hook line (logline) with conflict and core wound... Deserted by her husband and now Talent-blind, a middle-aged woman and an overbearing dragon must work together to defeat a dark Talent attempting to enslave their world. 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. (I'm taking "sketch" literally and writing this as a description of the scene, rather than an actual scene in the novel.) The main protagonist, Seja, as eldest daughter of her clan, is the “Dai”, or leader of the clan. The Dai is responsible for the clan members’ well-being, success, and their jointly-owned land. Raised by parents who valued self-control above displays of affection, Seja presents an invulnerable front to the world, of not needing love or help from anyone in her life. Her parents’ love was conditional on meeting their standards of behavior and achievement, so she learned she was not worthy of love unless she could do everything for herself to a very high standard. She is undemonstrative, and uncomfortable when others show her affection. 16 years ago her husband Teral left her, and she believes it was her fault he was unhappy, even though she's Talent-blind as a result. For her, showing vulnerability, needing help, is to invite rejection from the people she cares about. Her emotional journey is learning that she’s worthy of love, it’s alright to need others, be vulnerable, and accept help without feeling like a failure. While searching for her kidnapped son, Seja is captured by a group of border raiders and discovers her long-lost husband is with them. He pretends not to know her, and she notices he is close to another woman in the group. This confirms her belief that she isn’t worthy of love, but seeing it with her own eyes is devastating. When Teral approaches her secretly one night, wanting to talk, she expresses her pain as rage, pouring out so much vitriol that he never gets a word in and has to leave before others notice. The next day she’s tortured by the group’s leader to find out what she knows about the border situation. That night Teral’s female companion, Atanet, comes to clean and heal Seja’s wounds. Bound hand and foot, Seja must allow it, but is angry and silent. As she works on Seja’s wounds, Atanet quietly tells Seja what happened to Teral and that they’re both unwillingly trapped in this group. Seja refuses to respond and the woman leaves. But Seja considers what Atanet said and begins to get the barest glimmer that it might not be all ‘her fault’. Maybe Teral’s discontent was partly due to his own dreams of what his life could be, and his failure to communicate with her. A few nights later, when nearly everyone else is asleep, Teral and Atanet come to the tent where Seja is held. They untie her, give her food and water, and together they sneak out of camp. Their plan is to help Seja escape, and they will escape in another direction. They get away from camp but someone wakes up, notices Seja is gone, and the group comes after them. They run. Teral is seriously wounded by an arrow. They find a cave to hide in. Teral insists Seja leave so she can get away before they're found. Seja runs, but is torn with many conflicting emotions, including gratitude, anger, fear, regret. SECOND CONFLICT; sketch a hypothetical scenario involving the social environment. Will this involve family? Friends? Associates? What is the nature of it? Conflicts with society: Nerreth society now looks down on Seja as one of the Talent-blind. Elemental Talents are born more frequently in Nerreth compared to other places. They allow Talented people to draw the life-force of the planet and use it manipulate earth, water, fire or air in various ways. One can be highly or modestly Talented, but usually it can help the person with various important tasks, including making crafts and goods to a very high standard. Now Seja cannot heal anyone, and her craft-work is seen as low quality. Plus, without her Talent, working the farm has become far more difficult and time-consuming. As a result she stays at home, avoiding village society in general. Whereas before she frequently went out to heal people or animals, or help other farmers with soil and plant health. Conflicts with family: At the beginning of the story the barn burns down. She and her son can’t put the fire out, something she could have done with Talent. Even more humbling, she can’t heal their wounds, so they have to be healed by the village healer. Soon after, her son leaves home to start his career. Now Seja's alone, her family is concerned she can’t take care of the farm. Her sister wants to move her family to the farm so her children can learn more about it, but Seja refuses. She feels she’s being treated as a decrepit old woman who can’t fend for herself. Seja and her daughter Jyra don’t get along. Jyra blames her mother for her father’s desertion, and doesn’t understand why her mother hasn’t got over it yet. Jyra was still young when her father left, so has less understanding of what really happened. Jyra is highly Talented with Air, and is ashamed that her mother, once a respected healer and farmer, is now Talent-blind. 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? ......