THE SIMPSONS NEWS

Well, we got Friday of last week off and the rest of the week.  I managed to finish what I needed to revise before I went home. I’m proud of that since I managed to finish in spite of the four day week. I have yet to see what the rest of the board fixes look like for the rest of the show.  Since my old board revision partner left on to do better things out of his own free will, my new partner isn’t quite up to speed yet. It seems I MIGHT have to revise the whole show, which is something I’ve never done, nor do I think it can be done unless the rest of the show has very few revisions.  There’s a reason that there’s two of us.  I hope he gets up to speed soon.

MY WEEK

Merry Christmas to me. I spent Christmas alone in bed, sick with a horrible cold that made it almost impossible for me to get up and do anything. My wife and kids went off to Christmas gatherings while I lay in bed watching Battlestar Gallactica on Netflix, playing Gameboy DS games, sleeping and reading comics.  Which normally would have been my idea of a party, but except IT WAS CHRISTMAS and I just ended up feeling lonely. The next two days where any better, but at some point during the third day, the “off switch” was pressed and I suddenly felt better.

It’s one thing to be sick in bed. It’s another when you know that BECAUSE you’re sick in bed, your spouse (whom you got the cold from and who is recovering herself from the cold) is having to take care of all three kids by herself PLUS you. I felt like such a heel for getting as sick as I got.  At least on day four I got her, her Christmas present.

“On the fourth day of Christmas my true love gave to me, a replacement for the wedding ring I lost”.

My wife now looks married to me again.

WRITING

(For those of you coming in late to these posts, if you want to read what my project is about, CLICK HERE to learn about the general world the story takes place in, and CLICK HERE if you want to know the story itself.)

Below is an excerpt of what I wrote the last two weeks, as set up for what I’m writing about THIS week, in case you’re interested in following along with more depth:

Right now, the theory of story that I like to use to flesh out my plot is the DRAMATICA theory.  Unfortunately the DRAMATICA theory is so complicated and convoluted, that I can’t really sum it up in a nut shell. If you want to get an idea of what DRAMATICA is all about, click the link below:

What is DRAMATICA?

In order for you to be able to understand it fully, you would need to download and read the FREE book on pdf. Click the link below:

Free DRAMATICA pdf book

or listen to the FREE audio book podcasts by clicking the link below:

Free DRAMATICA audio book

or read the FREE text of the book directly from  their site by clicking the link below:

The DRAMATICA book readable on the net for free.

As I did the last two weeks, I’ll put up the DRAMATICA Table of Story Elements in order for you to understand what I’m talking about and so you can follow along.   For a clearer pdf version of the chart (download chart now):

Alright, so last week I  broke down the MAIN Character story throughline and the IMPACT Character story throughline. There is now only one throughline left, MAIN vs. IMPACT Story throughline. This throughline’s point of view is meant to be as if you were sitting in the sidelines watching what’s going on. This is how it’s been broken down.  I think it’s far more meaningful:

MAIN vs. IMPACT Story throughline:

• Act 1 – Past
• Act 2 – How things are Changing
• Act 3 – Future
• Act 4 – Present

 ACT 1

Signpost #1

Type 1. The Past

(The Past Definition: The Past is not unchanging.  Often we learn new things that change our understanding of what past events truly meant and create new appreciations of how things really fit together.  A Story that focuses on The Past, may be much more than a documentation of what happened.  Frequently, it is a reevaluation of the meaning of what has occurred that can lead to changing one’s understanding of what is happening in the present or will eventually happen in the future)

• The Main Character and the Lead Sorcerer share a collective conflicting  past. Many of Sorcerers the Lead Sorcerer knew, have been beaten by the Main Character.  The main Character knows who the Lead Sorcerer is (or at least his type) based on his passed dealings with other Sorcerers. While the Lead Sorcerers knows the main by the reputation of those who have fought him in the past.  This instills tension between the two parties. Especially since there is an incomplete understanding of what REALLY happened in the past that the Main Character attempts to clarify without success.

Journey #1

Type 1. The Past ======> Type 2. How things are Changing

• Their collective negative past immediately lead to distrust, hatred and aggression. Especially since their past is so misunderstood,  which leads the Lead Sorcerer into attacking the Main Character.

ACT 2

Signpost #2

Type 2. How things are Changing

(How things are Changing Definition: How Things are Changing concerns itself with change: what direction and how fast?  It is not so important where things were, are, or will be, but rather how the struggle between inertia and change seesaws over the course of the story.)

• The Main Character tries desperately to convince the Lead Sorcerer to listen and  understand that things aren’t as they seem. The Lead Sorcerer insists that just because he isn’t completely evil yet, it doesn’t mean that it will stay that way.  Things are always changing.

Journey #2

Type 2. How things are Changing ======> Type 3. Future

• The Main Character understands that things change but it doesn’t automatically mean that the future the prophesy holds, is the true one. The Main Character says that the future is also changing.

ACT 3

Signpost #3

Type 3. Future

(Future Definition: A story focusing on The Future concerns itself with what will be.  This does not require the story to be “set” in the Future – only that the Future state of external and/or internal issues is the subject that is addressed by the story.  A character centered on The Future may be trying to discover what will be, or may be trying to achieve a particular state of affairs down the line.  In both the Story and Character sense, the end is more important than the present, although it still may not justify the means. )

• The Lead Sorcerer insists that the Main Character will enslave the world whether the Main Character says he will or not.  The future is set, according to the prophesy.  The main character insists it’s wrong, it’s false, it can’t happen.

Journey #3

Type 3. Future ======> Type 4. Present

• In order to prove to the Lead Sorcerer that he’s not what the prophesy of his future says he is, he forces the Lead Sorcerer to notice how he acts here and now, by NOT treating him the same way the Lead Sorcerer treated, him.  He doesn’t kill or hurt him once he’s down and powerless.

CONCLUSION

Signpost #4

Type 4. Present

(Present Definition: “The Present” does not refer to the way things are going, but to the way things are.  It is a here and now judgment of the arrangement of a situation and the circumstances surrounding it.  A story that focuses on the Present is not concerned with how events led to the current situation nor where the current situation will lead, but defines the scenario that exists at the moment.)

• Because of the way the Main Character treated the Lead Sorcerer, for now, the two characters end up, not as friends but not exactly enemies.  There’s a type of mutual respect for each other that exist for the moment, that wasn’t there before.

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