Cache Lesson 1-Part 1

Cache
Lesson 1


Lesson One Assignment
Part 1. Choose one of the "20 Ways To Get Plot Ideas" and brainstorm for a new idea that could be developed into a story plot. I am not looking for an entire written story, or even a well developed plot, just your general story idea. Simply write a paragraph or two elaborating on the idea you came up with.

Dynamic Character: Fabin Falsehood


Fabin Falsehood. Has his family been a long line of liars? Is Fabin a natural born liar too? Or will he be the first to break this generational curse, maybe even change his name to Fabin the Truthful? How has this familiar family curse affected Fabin's life? What escapades lie ahead that will decide, once and for all, the path he chooses: good or evil?

Fabin fingered the cheap threads of his second-rate rugs on display in the open market on Flagstone Street. For years his family had sold these defective reproductions to naive newcomers, pocketing their ill-gotten profits with pride, but Fabin's heart sunk each time he watched them heave the heavy carpets to their shoulders. They left with a unwarranted gleam in their eyes as if they'd made the better bargain. He winced each time he dropped their coins into his strong box. Each clink seemed to mimic his name. Falsehood. Falsehood.

What will Fabin do? Will he overcome his greed for profit? Will the guilt turn him from deception to the light of truth? Even if he does change will his name forever haunt him?


Part 2. Write down which method you used. Think about the method and tell us how effective you found it. Is the choice a process you use naturally?

I chose #7 Character First.

Being a Tolkien fan, I love the names he chose for his dynamic characters: Bilbo Baggins, Frodo, Gandolf, and I think this is a great way for me to begin a fantasy tale. Just creating a name sparks all kinds of thoughts in my mind. A liar will certainly get into all sorts of trouble, so the dynamic character of Fabin Falsehood can lead into many great plots.

~*~*~*~

Lesson One Assignment 2
Goal: To focus on the small things that can happen, plot-wise, and to open up your mind to possibilities.
1. Fix your mind on one of your main characters in a story you are writing or have recently read.
OR Choose a character you know well from your own work, or a character you feel an emotional attachment to in a book you've read.
2. Have your character sit down to write a letter to someone s/he is intimate with, who happens to be not near by at the moment. (It can be an email, if that helps you work, but make it be an email that won't be read for at least 24 hours, as an immediate reading of the email would destroy the point of the exercise.)
3. Begin the letter, By the time you read this and make a detailed list of all the things that will have happened by the time the intended recipient of the letter actually reads it. (This does not have to be an extensive writing, just think about the character and the what-ifs that could occur!)13

*Key* DO NOT summarize your story's plot in the body of the letter. Whomever your character is writing to already knows their relationship, their history, etc.

Dear Uncle Sneakum,

By the time you read this I'll be starting a new life. Hopefully, my first steps down a better road. Down the path of truth, something you know nothing about.

I am as tired of our ways as an old mare is of plowing. My own father's name, God rest his soul, is like a giant gallstone grinding my soul to dust. Grubbing for wealth has filled me with self-loathing as it should you, uncle. No more.

When you arrive at the market today, you'll find a large smoldering mound of ashes: the remaining stock of rugs, or rags as they'd better be called. Let it forever remind you of who and what you are and of what I refuse to be.

Fabin the Truthful