Day 12
Word count: 23,791 words
Word count goal: 24,000 words
Mapping the Hero’s Journey: Test/Allies & Enemies
Save The Cat: Fun & Games

#vss very short story

Harold couldn’t make the pieces fit. All he could do was listen to his heart. His heart kept singing, “Go beat the crap out of that idiot.” It wasn’t a very good song.

Plotting with Tarot

My next scene is a confrontation from the antagonist’s point of view, so I decided to do a Test, Allies and Enemies reading for the antagonist.

Test: Page of Cups – the muse

What antagonist learns from the test: Knight of Cups upside-down – a fight for the heart or soul, once won quickly forgotten; reversed

Allies: Ten of Cups – a supportive community or group of friends

Who antagonist’s main ally is: Wheel of Fortune – luck- both good and bad

Enemies: Eight of Pentacles – diligence and craft, hard work

His enemies’ motivations: Ace of Swords – an intellectual breakthrough, the moment of truth.

My interpretation: This was a fun reading. It holds insights and predictability. My antagonist and his allies are all about the Cups. I think, in today’s scene, this represents their music. Perhaps my antagonist’s test is the muse because he is having trouble finding inspiration ever since the horrible event that led him to meeting my protagonist. Maybe today’s encounter leads him to searching for long-term redemption instead of trying to cover up what he did. I see his allies as his band-mates, but his true ally is luck. Some sort of luck, be it good or bad, will lead him to this better decision. The enemies card obviously represents my protagonist and his motivations for today’s scene have to do with needing answers. His moment of truth is confronting the antagonist.

This reading provided a lot of insights into my antagonists emotions and motivations. It also gave me some ideas for the effects of the encounter. I think this was the most helpful reading, in terms of plotting, I have done so far.

Ask Your Character

• What traditions have been passed down in your family?
• Who were your favorite relatives?
• Do you remember any of the stories they used to tell you?

Word Of The Day

recidivist: n. repeat offender

8 Action Verbs:

allocated          checked          coordinated          enlarged

immunized          mediated           raised          specified

Poem prompt

Compare your protagonist to your antagonist in rhyme.

No More Time For Doubt

What is that old, wrinkled mess doing here?
I start to shake as bleak future draws near.
A life without long, luscious hair is my fear.
How does he look at himself without tears?

His stringy long hair makes him look like a fool.
Up on that stage, he thinks he’s so cool.
I can tell that his band-mates think he’s a tool.
Wasting his time, he should go back to school.

He looks so weak with his skin hanging off
Does he think he can fell me with one sickly cough
I’m here with my boys, a cocktail molotov
Whatever he wants, his words will get scoff.

Look at him preening and looking around
I can’t wait to throw that foul smirk to the ground
I’ll shock him with muscle. I won’t make a sound.
One hit and he’ll leave all that pride in a mound.

You think you know me?
Got me figured out?
Come at me. I’m waiting.
No more time for doubt.

Awesome Sentence Challenge

Look at the last paragraph you wrote yesterday, or a paragraph you wrote this morning. For each sentence in the paragraph, write ten different sentences to say the same thing. You can use different words, but don’t change the meaning. Choose your favorites of the new sentences and combine them to reform the paragraph. Compare and contrast.

Today’s Simple Task

MC compares self to other characters in story – false sense of achieving goal

Warm-up Exercise

Set your timer for 15 minutes. What problems are coming for your protagonist that s/he is not aware of yet?

Recommended Word Crawl

Fallout 3 Word Crawl – Part 1

If you haven’t played it yet, but love post-apocalyptic adventures, you might want to get yourself Fallout 3: Game of the Year Edition as a reward for winning NaNoWriMo.

Sunday Summary

So how did your week go? Did you use some of the prompts? Which ones are your favorites? I found a combination of the tarot reading, action verbs, poetry prompt and either the simple task or the warm-up, got me focused on aspects of the day’s scenes.

This week, I had a couple days that writing did not come easy. It was tough for me to see that my sweetie was so excited about his story that he finished a novella, and my writing buddy on twitter’s words are flowing like a river to the ocean when I was not having the same experience. My words are a steady trickle making me push and prod the stream along like kicking at puddles. However, everyone is different, and I’m right on track to reach my goals.

I may not have reached my daily writing goals every day, but I have written every day and that is what NaNoWriMo is about; the practice. Some days, some scenes, will be easier than others. Speaking of practice, I hope you’re trying out some of the Awesome Sentence Challenges. Not only do they help you write better sentences, they inspire creativity.

We have an exciting week ahead on our Hero’s Journey. We’re going to hit the half-way point in our own NaNoWriMo adventure and we’ll be ratcheting up the suspense and conflict as our hero approaches The Inmost Cave or the Supreme Ordeal. I know you’ve fallen in love with your characters, but you’re about to get really mean, making their lives harder and harder until they may even be staring death in the face. Like I said, we have an exciting week ahead of us. Buckle your seat-belts.

Happy Reading and Writing!