Day 19
Word count: 39,094 words
Word count goal: 38,000 words
Mapping the Hero’s Journey: The Road Back
Save The Cat: All is Lost

 

#vss very short story

Eagle soared over the mountain. She glided over the back roads and tiny ghost towns. She landed on a picnic table outside an Ivar’s Seafood Bar and screamed until tourists abandoned their fish.

Plotting with Tarot

The Road Back card: The Tower- the change and awakening required to dismantle the artificial; healing, renovation and restoration

What motivates your MC to return: Queen of Wands upside-down- there may soon be a need for you to help out others who are having a problem of some kind. It could also be that an older woman would like to help you with a situation that you are facing, but for some reason she is unable to do so. Her moral support will be helpful.

How the Shadow will attack your MC (his vulnerability): Five of Pentacles upside-down- a welcome sign that change is coming for the better; If you are still in dire circumstances, somebody may come to your help just when you are about to give up all hope of rescue.  You may have to set aside pride in order to accept what is being offered.

My interpretation: This is an interesting reading. My MC has had an awakening. He sees the reality of his situation. He is facing the great truth of his life. He wants to go home to his ordinary life, but it doesn’t exist to go back to. His wife cannot help him, but she does offer moral support. Here’s the most interesting part. Through his trials he has finally learned to ask for help, and this growth becomes a vulnerability because the Shadow will come as someone offering help when he is about to give up all hope. This gives me a lot to think about.

Ask Your Character

• What would you go back and change or do if you had a time machine?
• If you could get away with any crime, what would it be?
• How would you lure someone into a trap?

Word Of The Day

augur: v. to give promise of something to come later

8 Action Verbs:

appointed          collaborated          decided          exhibited

Inspected          Negotiated          represented           supervised

Poem prompt

I like the double prompt from Day 7 of the PAD Chapbook Challenge for today:

1. Write a days of the week poem. Pick one day or work through them all. Have the poem about the days or just name drop a day (or days) of the week in the poem.

2. Write a days of the weak poem. See what I did there with the spelling of “week” to “weak?” The poem could be about weakness in another, yourself, or objects that are weak.

Sunday

A day of rest
To sit as guest
In the Lord’s house
fires of sin to douse
in stiff uncomfortable clothes
shiny-shoed stuffed cramped toes
The longest hour and a half
Warning of the golden calf
When the boring sermon ends
Prayers and tithes to make amends
An early dinner the reward
For all the goodness points he scored

I Don’t Like To Feel Weak

Whenever I am feeling weak
when my voice is but a squeak
my future options all look bleak
all options stink with death-rots reek
aches and creeks of the aged antique
out on display like a sideshow freak
when I’d rather hide with the timid and meek
Emotions like serpents wriggle and sneak
and tears stain my cheek in a black mascara streak

That’s when I search out a critique
Research ways to improve technique
And pinpoint my voice that makes me unique
Every possibility of a secret peek
Into the betterment I seek
Creating strength through my own mystique
To plug every hole through might to leak
Pecked and pecked by doubts stiff beak

Awesome Sentence Challenge

Connotations: I love this quote from Barbara Baig in Spellbinding Sentences: A Writer’s Guide to Achieving Excellence and Captivating Readers

If you imagine that putting a word into the mind of your reader is like casting a stone in a pond, then the denotation is the splash the stone makes as it hits the water, while the connotations of the word are like the ripples that follow the splash.

We did the first connotations exercise on Day 6, but exploiting the connotations of words to create ripples of meaning in the mind takes practice and skill, so lets do another one. Read your favorite author paying attention to words chosen for positive and negative connotations. Collect these words in a notebook and practice using them in your own writing.

Today’s Simple Task

MC micro-focused on today: What can s/he do in this moment? It’s time for a new and better plan.

Warm-up Exercise

Set your timer for 5 minutes. Brainstorm all of your MC’s traits. Sort them into strengths and weaknesses.

Choose the trait you see as the main weakness. Set your timer for 5 minutes again and Cluster or Mind Map around that word.

Set your timer for another 5 minutes. Write a scene where this weakness becomes a strength.

Recommended Word Crawl

Today is a good day to read as well as write, so let’s try the Reading Crawl

Sunday Summary

How is your novel coming along? This last week we passed the midpoint and now we are marching toward our hero’s darkest point and the climax of our story. This week, for those of us who will be celebrating Thanksgiving, could bring some extra challenges to finding writing time. If family obligations feel overwhelming, try to spread out the extra words throughout the week. An extra 500 words today could make all the difference come Thursday.

Happy Reading and Writing!