Day 22
Word count:42,128 words
Word count goal: 44,000 words
Mapping the Hero’s Journey: Resurrection
Save The Cat: Act III (A and B story combine and reveal solution)

#vss very short story

Patrick felt eyes on him, following him, as he connected his senses to the forest. He had listened to the wind through the branches, smelled the needles and loam, felt the rough texture of the bark and craned his neck to take in the trees’ majesty. It wasn’t shown on the educational sign, but there was one more sense to explore. He looked around to make sure no one was watching and stuck his tongue to the tree. The forest was watching.

Plotting with Tarot

A Celtic Cross reading for Act III

This was a very productive reading for me; not because of the cards I pulled, but because, during the shuffle I thought about the scenes left to write and what was coming up in Act III. I wrote out a list of what needed to happen before the climax of my story and everything clicked. I think preparing for this reading produced my “eureka moment” for this draft.

Following the guide in Jumpstart Your Novel by Mark Teppo this reads as:

1. The Heart of the Matter (protagonist):Seven of Wands reversed
2. The Opposing Force: Six of Swords reversed
3. The Root Cause: Ten of Wands reversed
4. The Past: Queen of Wands
5. The Alternate Future (vision): Wheel of Fortune
6. The Immediate Future: Ten of Swords reversed
7. The Mirror: The Hermit reversed
8. The Eye: The Fool
9. The Guide: Two of Cups reversed
10. The Outcome: Two of Wands

My interpretation: Entering Act III, my MC feels he has lost everything. He has been betrayed by family and friends. Through theft and manipulation, he could lose his property, his security and his home. He feels like the world is against him, but he has to resist it. The root cause of his problems is he holds on too tightly to his burdens because he wants control over his environment, but soon he will be unburdened. He uses his basic instincts to face his problems because they have served him well in the past. His goal is to live peacefully when his fortunes change and all this has passed. A painful ending must occur in his near future for his growth and regeneration. I’m afraid somebody has to die. For the first time in his life, other people see him as the fool. He has to face the truth about his relationships-they are not and have not been the perfectly balanced, mutually rewarding relationships he thought they were-to take his new ideas and turn them into a successful plan for the future.

Just yesterday I was contemplating The Hermit card. I found it interesting that it hadn’t come up this month though I am living, essentially, in hermithood. But these readings are about my characters, not about me, usually. Card 7 in this reading is about me. It’s about my intent in writing this story. More than that, it’s about the story’s purpose; its theme. And there is The Hermit, only he’s upside down. So what is he telling me? Here’s what it says over at TeachmeTarot.com

When The Hermit Reverses, it is time to come down from the mountain, time to come in from the cold. You have learnt all you need to at present by going within and it is now time to return to the land of the living and apply your new-found knowledge and wisdom and put it to the test.

Does that apply to me, or to the theme of my story, or both? Something to ponder.

Ask Your Character

• On what occasions do you lie?
• Which words or phrases do you most overuse?
• If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be?

Word Of The Day

halcyon: adj. calm, tranquil, peaceful, happy  n. a mythical bird related to the kingfisher

8 Action Verbs:

arbitrated          commented          delegated          experienced

Interrogated           operated          researched          targeted

Poem prompt

From PAD Chapbook Challenge Day 20:

For today’s prompt, write a “what I learned” poem. Funny thing about being human is that we’re constantly learning, whether the lessons are being taught in school, on the streets, or even in grocery store checkout lanes. This poem should focus on something learned, regardless of the arena.

What I learned

value glows from within
shines through every nervous grin
returning to the arms of kin
taking each hit on the chin
every error a guilt to pin
marring everyone with original sin
the judging voices a lesser din
their reasoning becoming thin
after release, every day is a win

Awesome Sentence Challenge

from Purdue OWL

Transitional Devices: Transitional devices are words or phrases that help carry a thought from one sentence to another, from one idea to another, or from one paragraph to another. There are several types of transitional devices:

To Add: and, again, and then, besides, equally important, finally, further, furthermore, nor, too, next, lastly, what’s more, moreover, in addition, first (second, etc.)

To Compare: whereas, but, yet, on the other hand, however, nevertheless, on the contrary, by comparison, where, compared to, up against, balanced against, vis a vis, but, although, conversely, meanwhile, after all, in contrast, although this may be true

To Prove: because, for, since, for the same reason, obviously, evidently, furthermore, moreover, besides, indeed, in fact, in addition, in any case, that is

To Show Exception: yet, still, however, nevertheless, in spite of, despite, of course, once in a while, sometimes

To Show Time: immediately, thereafter, soon, after a few hours, finally, then, later, previously, formerly, first (second, etc.), next, and then

To Repeat: in brief, as I have said, as I have noted, as has been noted

To Emphasize: definitely, extremely, obviously, in fact, indeed, in any case, absolutely, positively, naturally, surprisingly, always, forever, perennially, eternally, never, emphatically, unquestionably, without a doubt, certainly, undeniably, without reservation

To Show Sequence: first, second, third, and so forth. A, B, C, and so forth. next, then, following this, at this time, now, at this point, after, afterward, subsequently, finally, consequently, previously, before this, simultaneously, concurrently, thus, therefore, hence, next, and then, soon

To Give An Example: for example, for instance, in this case, in another case, on this occasion, in this situation, take the case of, to demonstrate, to illustrate, as an illustration, to illustrate

To Summarize or Conclude: in brief, on the whole, summing up, to conclude, in conclusion, as I have shown, as I have said, hence, therefore, accordingly, thus, as a result, consequently

While writing today, use some of these transitional devices to connect and expand ideas.

Today’s Simple Task

Show that the ordinary world is no longer ordinary.

Warm-up Exercise

Set your timer for 10 minutes. Describe the oddest coincidence you’ve ever encountered.

Recommended Word Crawl

It’s Your Lucky Day Crawl

Happy Reading and Writing!