3-Acts with the New Religion Idea

[Jeff Gerke]

Okay, over in the plot and Christianity forums I've posted the idea that maybe neither the fantasy nor the SF sides know real Truth. In the middle of a battle between the two, somehow the True God reveals Himself to them both and these warriors must unite around what they've seen.

So maybe the 3-act structure would look like this:

Act I

Everything leading up to the revelation on the battlefield. So this would include the fantasy world and character set before the invasion and the SF world and character set before the invasion. All the reasons for the first contact and the conflict. The preliminary struggles. The early romances. The protagonists' inner journeys begin. The Big Bad Thing is set in motion--maybe the SF powers are deciding to decimate the fantasy world. The decision by both sides to commit to a massive land battle. The battle itself. The ebb and flow of the battle. The thrilling conclusion to the battle--which is interrupted by the appearance of the Being. And the Great Pronouncement from the Being that ends the battle and leaves both sides in shock.

Act II

The aftermath of the battle. The warriors from this battle figuring out that these two sides must now unite. Picking up the dead and caring for the wounded. The beginnings of cooperation and even friendship--and even romance, because of course we've got men and women there from both sides. The realization that everyone else has it wrong and they've got to pool their resources to avert the Big Bad Thing (because the artifacts from the new religion are to be found only on this planet) and bring about this new religion. This is the heart of the story, the fun part in which this new alliance tries to make things right. These new disciples are opposed by the religious establishments of both the fantasy and SF societies, who themselves are a new and unexpected alliance. Romances continue. The new religion is worked out. Both sides learn from the other. The protagonists' inner journeys are furthered. This act goes until the final gambit is ready to go, be it the attempt to seize the intergalactic transmitter and broadcast the New Religion's promises, or whatever.

Act III

The execution of the gambit. The last wild chance. The conclusion or consummation of the romances and betrayals. The resolution of the protagonists' inner journeys. The aversion of the Big Bad Thing (hopefully). The defeat of the bad guys. The victory and/or survival of the New Religion. The resolution of the relationships. The denoument.

Thoughts?

Jeff

[tk1912]

This structure could be kind of fun because, in Act II, we could have some "fish out of water" tales.

In the wake of the battle as both sides disengage, the sci-fi overlords recall their army to regroup and replan their next assault.

Some of the converted space marines defect to the other side to help the Templar Knights ready their defenses for the next assault. In the process, they see the fantasy world for what it is and clash not only with the culture and religions, but also with their own sense of duty.

Some of the fantasy world people, though, return to the sci-fi government with some of the space marines to try to convince them to leave their planet alone. When the fantasy world denizens see the wonders of the sci-fi world, they wonder why such an advanced people would be so consumed with destroying their world, thus hinting that at the Big Bad Thing that the leaders of the sci-fi government are trying to bring about.

[dulci]

I wonder if having the battle pretty early on and then...well...no battle later would seem anticlimactic.

Perhaps, when the Being appears and ends the battle, it's subtly realized the spiritual battle-behind the battle...? Demonic-type hoardes unleashed, angelic-type ranks unleashed forcing our societies to SEE the need for change? Or maybe there's a faction of either scifi or fantasy that refuses to comply no matter what, and there be some sort of climactic clash between them and those that wish the truth (and the defeat of the Big Bad Thing.)

[Jeff Gerke]

The end of Act I doesn't have to be early in the story. In my novels it's usually at the midpoint of the book. So you've got half the book to get to this turning point, then almost half again to do Act II, with Act III being the set of scenes leading up to, including, and following the climax.

About the gambit in Act III: whatever the last gambit is, I think it would be fun if it was something that uses the best of both the fantasy and the SF worlds. It has to be a blending, like a wizard set loose in a computer network or a virtual reality engineer directing a battle on dragonback or a space marine shooting a crossbow. I could see an advanced superfighter dock with the space station, only to have a band of paladins spring out and attack the techs.

But it has to also be the SF and fantasy people working together, merging their distinctives into something better than what either could be alone.

Maybe the final surprise is that this amazingly advanced technological society is defeated by the most basic thing: sleight of hand, or a simple dagger (or arrow), or an act of sacrificial love.

Jeff

[Jeff Gerke]

And, of course, the climactic moments have to work best if listening to "O Fortuna!" by Orff while reading them.

:-)

Jeff

[dulci]

admin said:

The end of Act I doesn't have to be early in the story. In my novels it's usually at the midpoint of the book.

Guess I'm not used to the 3-Act, mine are usually 5-Act or something else altogether!

On the fusion of scifi and fantasy, I say full speed ahead! Wow, that'd be imagination run wild. Maybe some of those fantastic griffin-pilots could come in about then!

[mongoose]

Like the forced working together of sci fi and fantasy people, but only on a small scale. You don't have the majority of Iraqis working with the majority of Americans, and we're a lot nicer (we think) than the SF people in this story. It's just not believable if everyone gets together and makes lovey dovy, especially if they're trained, life long soldiers.

Still can't handle the big revelation in the sky, though I proposed an alternative in one of the other plot synthesis threads that I think would work for all of us. Hope so, anyway. It'd be nice if it would.

I was planning on Kihn shooting a cross bow, or preferably, a composite recurve bow, anyway. :-P