Day 16
Word count: 31,256 words
Word count goal: 32,000 words
Mapping the Hero’s Journey: Ordeal
Save The Cat: Bad Guys Close In

#vss very short story

A master of circular logic, Ben was sure he could cure a broken heart. It included a revenge fantasy and never falling in love again, but Alice was so nice; she never got mad at his attempts to hurt her and over time, she only got more beautiful. Soon, he knew, she would break his heart.

Plotting with Tarot

Today’s scene is part of a sub-plot. I decided to do a reading of The Ordeal between two secondary characters. As you can see, it’s going to be one hell of a scene. 🙂

The Ordeal: The Devil- bondage, the key to your freedom is in your own hands

The lowest point for secondary character: Seven Swords- futility, hopelessness

The thing your secondary character will lose or thinks he loses during the ordeal: Magician upside-down-  a lack of confidence or perhaps too much, under-skilled or inadequate in this situation, lacking the right tools and a workable plan to make it a success.

My interpretation: This reading couldn’t be more literal. My scene for today includes a man being tied up and questioned, most likely tortured. Thus, at his lowest point he will give in to the futility and hopelessness of his situation. He got himself into this mess by boasting and laying false claim, so his lesson learned is to stop taking credit for things that have nothing to do with him. He finally sees consequences for his actions.

Ask Your Character

from Writing for Self Discovery: A Personal Approach to Creative Writing by Myra Schneider and John Killick

• Do you have particular expectations from relationships?
• Do you feel the need for intimacy with a lot of people or only a few?
• Do you enjoy spending periods of time on your own?

Word Of The Day

importune: v. to plead or beg for persistently

8 Action Verbs:

anticipated          cleared          counseled           examined

increased            monitored          rendered            structured

Poem prompt

The PAD (poem-a-day) Chapbook Challenge from Robert Lee Brewer’s Poetic Asides on Writer’s Digest. As the Chapbook manuscript requested for the challenge only includes 10-20 poems, it’s not too late to join in.

I like the prompt from yesterday:  take the phrase “Stranger (blank),” replace the blank with a word or phrase, make the new phrase the title of your poem, and then, write your poem. Possible titles include: “Stranger Danger,” “Stranger Than Fiction,” or “Stranger Things.”

Stranger Inside

Such negative thoughts in my head
Make me not want to get out of bed.
Years of “No”s and “You can’t”s created a stranger inside.

A battle of wills for free will.
The hateful words spin like a drill,
A display of the strength of the stranger inside.

I don’t recognize that voice.
I would not have made that choice.
Sometimes I lose to the stranger inside.

I didn’t open that door.
Why is the stereo in the middle of the floor?
Wouldn’t I hear a stranger inside?

Why come at me with such rage?
The child didn’t unlock my cage.
You should have listened to the stranger inside.

Awesome Sentence Challenge

Inspired by Crafting Dynamic Dialogue: The Complete Guide to Speaking, Conversing, Arguing, and Thinking in Fiction (Creative Writing Essentials) by The editors of writer’s digest.

Create a dialogue exchange in which information is being revealed. Try adding an interruption to the scene so the most important information is delayed, perhaps even to another scene.

Today’s Simple Task

Sudden attack by antagonist!

Warm-up Exercise

Have your MC write his or her obituary. Then let him or her plan the funeral and memorial service.

Recommended Word Crawl

Secret Agent Word Crawl

Extra Challenge

This writing prompt came in the PNWA Newsletter. I’m going to try it, so I thought I would share.

And Don’t Forget To Read

I finished Lunatics by Dave Barry and Alan Zweibel. It was a zany adventure and a fun read. Two anti-heroes are thrown into one strange situation after another, leading to a series of international incidents and ending at the republican national convention as guests of Donald Trump, at the time, not a nominee. The book came out in 2012, so prescient? Possibly.

Happy Reading and Writing!