CONTEST: A Maltese Falcon?
Jul. 21st, 2009 11:08 am![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
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writercisesOriginal posting 15 July 2009
Just some quick thoughts about our contest challenge.
So our hero -- the protagonist -- is going to go on a quest for something. While we might start the story a bit later, we might want to start thinking about the story in terms of the initiating event or the inciting event. What got the protagonist started? Did a letter arrive describing the something? What about a treasure map, perhaps found in the odds and ends left in great grandpa's trunk? Or maybe the protagonist is in a junk shop -- excuse me, a recycle store -- and recognizes that the strange old hanging actually is a map? Or that the slip of paper in the book is directions? Or... does someone pay the protagonist to go and get the something for them? What about...
What is the protagonist going to get? What is the goal of the quest? Literal or figurative? Unique or one of several? Animal, mineral, vegetable?
How did they find out about it?
Are they going to get it for themselves, for someone else? What's motivating them to go?
What do they know about it? Even worse, what don't they know about it?
Do other people know about it? Do they care? Is the opposition going to try to get the something before or away from the protagonist? Or is the opposition simply blocking the protagonist, perhaps because they don't like him or her? What is the opposition's stake in this? Do they want the something, do they want to simply preserve the status quo, or is there something about the protagonist that makes them want to keep him or her from completing their quest?
What fun, and I haven't even gotten past the something that we're going to go searching for!
How about some possible things?
Just some quick thoughts about our contest challenge.
So our hero -- the protagonist -- is going to go on a quest for something. While we might start the story a bit later, we might want to start thinking about the story in terms of the initiating event or the inciting event. What got the protagonist started? Did a letter arrive describing the something? What about a treasure map, perhaps found in the odds and ends left in great grandpa's trunk? Or maybe the protagonist is in a junk shop -- excuse me, a recycle store -- and recognizes that the strange old hanging actually is a map? Or that the slip of paper in the book is directions? Or... does someone pay the protagonist to go and get the something for them? What about...
What is the protagonist going to get? What is the goal of the quest? Literal or figurative? Unique or one of several? Animal, mineral, vegetable?
How did they find out about it?
Are they going to get it for themselves, for someone else? What's motivating them to go?
What do they know about it? Even worse, what don't they know about it?
Do other people know about it? Do they care? Is the opposition going to try to get the something before or away from the protagonist? Or is the opposition simply blocking the protagonist, perhaps because they don't like him or her? What is the opposition's stake in this? Do they want the something, do they want to simply preserve the status quo, or is there something about the protagonist that makes them want to keep him or her from completing their quest?
What fun, and I haven't even gotten past the something that we're going to go searching for!
How about some possible things?
- A piece of art (painting, sculpture, pottery -- your choice)
- Portable wealth (bearer bonds, piles of money, jewels, gold -- guess who gets to decide)
- Important information (birth certificate, marriage license, the will -- what else?)
- The key to unlock... (password, key, the secret name, etc.) [the fun part here is get the real one!]
- A hostage (person, animal, whatever -- which can add a ticking clock to reach them before...)
- Christian V of Denmark (more here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christian_V_of_Denmark -- I have no idea why we are trying to reach the King of Denmark and Norway, but I thought I would give the random article at Wikipedia a chance.)
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