Post by Jeff Gerke on Apr 24, 2007 8:00:18 GMT -5
Okiedokie, Smokey, here we go! Here is the blueprint for writing Act I.
Each bulleted item below is an element that must be written into Act I. There will certainly be additional things that happen besides those listed, but these are the things that must be included. (And please don't let those "additional things" go against the elements listed below.)
From the beginning of this project I have endeavored to be as inclusive as possible. I want everyone to feel free to write whichever part of this they're interested in--and in whatever way they want to write it.
That means if you want to write all the scenes that show Qali's feelings of fatherly love toward Aoni, you can do so. If you want to write the opening and closing moments only, go for it. If you want to write only the scenes taking place in the portable city, feel free to do it.
You can write whatever you want in Act I, even if someone else is writing the same scene or element. The only guideline is that whatever you write not violate the story for Act I as we have it below and in the Story Bible.
How will that work, you ask, if multiple people are writing the same scenes? Well, I'm not exactly sure. But I'd rather have multiple people loving the freedom of writing whatever they're interested in than people feeling restricted or depressed because they wanted to write scene X but someone else has laid claim to that part.
If we end up with nine opening scenes, one action sequence, and no dialogue whatsoever--because that's the way our participants felt like writing--then I'm fine with that. I'd rather have fun and participation among you awesome people than a perfectly coherent and sequential story written by only one or two folks.
This is a group activity. I know there are other models for this, like where one person is in charge of a certain character and is the only one allowed to write scenes featuring that character. But I don't want to do it that way.
Let's try this and see if it works. This is, after all, a ginormous experiment.
So...peruse the list below. Read the related document in the Story Bible 1.0 thread (parts 1 and 2) and the discussions about the story bible down in the Storm Chamber.
And then decide what you want to write. And write it! Go for it. Do it now, if you're ready to rumble. All are welcome.
Take a stab. Throw caution to the wind. Forget your inner editor or your fear of being edited by us. Just have some sweet SF vs. Fantasy fun!
Ready...set...GO!
Act I Elements
End of Act I.
Jeff
Each bulleted item below is an element that must be written into Act I. There will certainly be additional things that happen besides those listed, but these are the things that must be included. (And please don't let those "additional things" go against the elements listed below.)
From the beginning of this project I have endeavored to be as inclusive as possible. I want everyone to feel free to write whichever part of this they're interested in--and in whatever way they want to write it.
That means if you want to write all the scenes that show Qali's feelings of fatherly love toward Aoni, you can do so. If you want to write the opening and closing moments only, go for it. If you want to write only the scenes taking place in the portable city, feel free to do it.
You can write whatever you want in Act I, even if someone else is writing the same scene or element. The only guideline is that whatever you write not violate the story for Act I as we have it below and in the Story Bible.
How will that work, you ask, if multiple people are writing the same scenes? Well, I'm not exactly sure. But I'd rather have multiple people loving the freedom of writing whatever they're interested in than people feeling restricted or depressed because they wanted to write scene X but someone else has laid claim to that part.
If we end up with nine opening scenes, one action sequence, and no dialogue whatsoever--because that's the way our participants felt like writing--then I'm fine with that. I'd rather have fun and participation among you awesome people than a perfectly coherent and sequential story written by only one or two folks.
This is a group activity. I know there are other models for this, like where one person is in charge of a certain character and is the only one allowed to write scenes featuring that character. But I don't want to do it that way.
Let's try this and see if it works. This is, after all, a ginormous experiment.
So...peruse the list below. Read the related document in the Story Bible 1.0 thread (parts 1 and 2) and the discussions about the story bible down in the Storm Chamber.
And then decide what you want to write. And write it! Go for it. Do it now, if you're ready to rumble. All are welcome.
Take a stab. Throw caution to the wind. Forget your inner editor or your fear of being edited by us. Just have some sweet SF vs. Fantasy fun!
Ready...set...GO!
Act I Elements
- Establish the ticking time-bomb, possibly in a prologue (see Tip #20 at www.wherethemapends.com/writerstools/writers_tools_pages/tip_of_the_week--11-20.htm)
- Introduce the protagonist, Qali Shayr (see Tip #15 at the same link as above)
- Introduce Qali's dependence on the logic drug
- Also introduce the Relic and Qali's dedication to finding it and destroying it
- Introduce the SF world (by having a scene take place there; remember not to stop the story for paragraphs and paragraphs of exposition, backstory, and telling; SHOW instead)
- Introduce the Fantasy world (same note: show, don't tell)
- Establish what our protagonist is doing when the story begins (landing with a portable city to set up a new mining operation for the Kalorbi, I think)
- Introduce Lord Vanglor and show how he reacts to the strange new structures that have appeared in his realm
- Introduce Aoni
- Introduce Prupheen Gaz
- Show the portable city come under an impromptu attack by the local fantasy people who live nearby
- Show Qali realizing that this planet is inhabited, after all, and show him deciding what he must do about it (try to leave the base to get to a place where he can send a beacon to the Kalorbi Heirarchy)
- Show Qali successfully activating the beacon
- Show how Aoni catches him
- Show Qali trying to convince Aoni not to turn him over to Lord Vanglor or otherwise reveal his presence (and show her agreeing, right away or eventually, to conceal him)
- Show the beginnings of paternal feelings of Qali toward Aoni
- Show how Prupheen Gaz discovers and apprehends Qali
- Show Prupheen Gaz bringing Qali (and Aoni) before Lord Vanglor
- Show the scene in which Lord Vanglor investigates Qali, tries to figure out what species Qali is, and tries to understand what kind of power he's up against in these spacefaring strangers [important scene]
- Show Qali's growing need to get more logic drug in a hurry (going through withdrawal; his emotions are returning, and along with them, his painful memories)
- Show Vanglor determining that the miners are a threat to his authority, and show him deciding to plan an attack against them
- Show Qali agreeing to actually help Vanglor in his coming assault on the portable city--and show why he's doing this: to get a chance to send the beacon, to gain access to his logic drug again, etc.
- Show the preparations for Vanglor's assault on the portable city / mining operation
- Meanwhile, back in the portable city, Miksa Pole (who is in charge of the mining city) is angry that his security chief has gone missing and he suspects Qali is up to no good (because he's Kalobi and therefore not really trustworthy); nevertheless he concocts a lie to cover Qali and keep the miners from panicking; he even conceals the fact that there are people on the planet to keep the miners from reacting
- Show Qali deciding to help Vanglor in the attack in order to sneak away during the battle and gain access to his logic drug
- Show Qali giving Vanglor crucial information about how to defeat the laser and other defenses the portable city will throw at them; here he's showing how low he will stoop to get his fix; what does he owe these miners, after all? (he also holds onto the hope that the fantasy people might overthrow the SF miners, thus giving Qali access to his drugs and the databanks so he can search for information about the Relic)
- Show Qali and Aoni and Prupheen marching with Vanglor's army and beginning the attack on the portable city
- Show Qali's steadily progressing feelings of fatherly love toward Aoni.
- At one or more places along the way we need to see that Qali is constantly on the search for the Relic; maybe he asks everyone he meets whether there might be something like that on the planet; maybe Aoni can point out that he's asking about religion a lot for someone who claims to not believe in anything
- Show the beginning of the battle
- Show how the portable city's defenses and defenders react to the attack
- Miksa Pole Qali among the enemy troops and is enraged (he might also spot Aoni on the other side of the enemy lines and think, "Hey, who's the babe with Qali?")
- Show the middle of the battle--though Vanglor sends wave after wave against the SF defenses, the lasers and such are just too sophisticated--it's going to end badly for Vanglor and his troops
- Show Qali enacting his plan to sneak away and get his stash
- Show how EVERYTHING is brought to a standstill by the appearance of the Being
- Show the entire scene of the Being's appearance--what it's revealing, what it's talking about, what it's asking, etc. (be sure to include a prominent mention of the Relic)
- I think the very last moment ought to be when the Being disappears and Qali (with perhaps others, like Aoli, Vanglor, Prupheen, and/or Miksa) realizes that now...everything has changed.
End of Act I.
Jeff