In this blog post I will cover the basic story overview and how I have decided to structure the key plot points. This is the second blog post to read in this production dossier.
Story Overview
A mysterious disease has suddenly taken over the land, harming mothers and young children. The disease makes it impossible to deliver children and has also killed mothers in childbirth. A young witch living deep in the forest has figured out the cure and delivered a healthy baby (Ren). She perfects the cure and raises her child, keeping it secret for 16 years. When she attempts to trial the cure in a small village, they shun her and news soon spills of a mysterious witch with a fabled cure. Unbeknownst to anyone, the mother and miracle child are now in terrible danger. When Ren is 17, she finds her mother murdered in her cottage. She is angry and devotes her life to recreating the cure and avenging her mother. She enrolls in an assassin training camp and trains for 2 years until she is ready to leave. From here she travels collecting herbs until she meets the handsome Adisa who is willing to help her figure out where the disease came from and the cure. Ren is suspicious of royalty and suggests that they should question the king, but Adisa is skeptical and will not do it. Adisa reveals that he worked for the king and played a part in Rens mothers death, after the murder he left the kingdom refusing to partake in anymore of the Kings dirty work. Ren is furious, and they part ways. Ren plots the death of the king now certain he is involved in this disease conspiracy. Whilst Ren is focused solely on revenge, Adisa becomes an ‘unwilling hero’ and attempts to recreate the cure. When Ren attempts to assassinate the king, she learns the backstory of the disease and why it was created. Ren being so shocked by the horrors of this conspiracy is maimed and imprisoned. Meanwhile, Adisa returns to his village and trials the cure on his trusting family, when the cure works, he returns to the kingdom to spread word of a healthy pregnancy. Ren is broken out of prison by Adisa. Outrage ensues on the king, and he is dethroned.
Story Timeline
Creating the timeline helped me to figure out how many years the story will play over, and what the key elements from each year will be. It also helped me to figure out the ages of characters and how they would develop over the duration of the story.
Key Plot Points and Structure
- The disease strikes (Exposition)
- Ren’s mother is mudered (Inciting incident)
- Ren starts assassin camp and trains (Rising action– until climax)
- Ren meets Adisa
- Ren finds out about Adisas past and feels betrayed, they part ways
- Adisa still tries to develop the cure
- Adisa trials cure with family
- Ren attempts to assassinate king, finds out the conspiracy! (Climax)
- Adisas sister has a healthy pregnancy (Climax)
- Ren is saved by Adisa, and helps spread the word, people no longer trust the king, people are liberated (Falling action)
I was inspired by the classic structure of ‘Freytag’s Pyramid’ (Freytag, 1863) which helped me to organise my story and plan how it will develop. Freytag suggested that every story consists of five main points, the exposition, rising action, climax, falling action and finally the resolution. As my story is a fantasy/adventure, I know that one of the most important parts of executing this complex story will be to have a simple structure that makes it easy for the reader to follow and relate to.
Story title ideas
- Astana
- Motherless
I like both of these titles. The first one represents simply the name of the world that this story is based and is intriguing whereas the title motherless reflects a little more of the story into Ren’s vengeance.
References:
Freytag, G. (1863) Freytag’s Technique of the Drama: An Exposition of Dramatic Composition and Art. (Publisher: Unknown)