Day 17
Word count: 33,508 words
Word count goal: 34,000 words
Mapping the Hero’s Journey: Reward: Seizing The Sword
Save The Cat: All Is Lost (old way of thinking dies/ false defeat)

#vss very short story

After Ben climbed the mountain and basked in the glory of The Nipple Eye, he was positive he had received the power of flight. He ended up with very scraped knees and a bruised ego.

Plotting with Tarot

The hero’s reaction to his reward shows what he still has to learn.

Reward card: The Emperor- power and leadership, things are stable, solid and secure for himself and others

How your MC gets the reward: The World upside-down- patience and perseverance, ask for help

What the reward is: Three of Cups- An abundance of feeling toward three important people, one even more than the other two. -interpreted from The Tarot Handbook: Practical Applications of Ancient Visual Symbols by Angeles Arrien

My interpretation: This reading brought new insight. The reward card is correct that security for himself and others is the reward my character craves, but I may need to give some thought as to what kind of power and leadership he may see as a reward. The idea of asking for help has come up before in these readings and I’m not yet sure how he will use his allies to achieve his reward. The third card shows his reward as a rekindling of emotion toward his family which has been my plan for his character arc, but this seems early for this part of my story. I wonder if the reward of power and leadership is in conflict with the later reward of an abundance of feeling. I look forward to seeing how this plays out.

Ask Your Character

• Have you ever received an award?
• Do you feel you deserved it?
• Have you ever been awarded for something you didn’t do? How did it make you feel? How did you respond?

Word Of The Day

palimpsest: noun- a parchment or the like from which writing has been partially or completely erased to make room for another text.

8 Action Verbs:

appeared              closed                dealt                 excelled

influenced          motivated          repaired          studied

Poem prompt

Today’s prompt is from the November PAD challenge Day 3:

For today’s prompt, write a triangle poem. As a shape, the triangle is interesting with its three sides and three corners (that add up to 180 degrees). As an instrument, the triangle is every bit as cool as a cowbell or tambourine. But there are also love triangles, triangulated coordinates, and other triangle stuff. It’s time to triangulate poetry.

I like this prompt because the triangle is an important symbol for some of my antagonists.

The
triangle
A polygon
of three edges
and three vertices
The Delta brings change
through mountain or range
perfection, unity and importance
union of Heaven and Earth and Man
the bond of the brotherhood’s secret reach
into which spirits are compelled to materialize
the stongest unit held and protected by salamanders
pointing earthward, it represents the water of alchemists
toward the sky, the rising energy of fire holds the eye of God

Awesome Sentence Challenge

At play in the dictionary: Take some time to peruse your dictionary. Collect a page of new words, words that perhaps have a surprising definition you haven’t encountered before, or feel good on your tongue. Write a sentence with each new word.

Today’s Simple Task

Answer a story question in a surprising way.

Warm-up Exercise

Set your timer to 15 minutes. Write as your own personal nemesis. Explore their feelings and motives as if they are your own.

Recommended Word Crawl

Adventure Through the Genres Word Crawl

Happy Reading and Writing!