Chapter Five

This chapter was the hardest for me, but that's not the only reason for the delay of this post. My waited-for editing job came and has gone; she had a deadline of 'by Valentine's Day' so I devoted all my time to that project. The timing was tighter than I like, so I hope I didn't miss anything. I'll go through a section, and then I'll go back and read through it again with the changes in place.

But enough about that job.

Chapter Five was all about 'The Board'. The board, in movie making is the bulletin board where all the scenes are mapped out. This is the ultimate outline for movies. Hard for me because I don't generally outline my work. Harder still because of all the things I wanted to have in and plan around all the things I needed to leave out. Ooohhh what a pain.

But I did it.

Every script is broken into four parts: Act One, the first have of Act Two / mid point / the second half of Act Two, and Act Three. According to Blake Snider, you have ten slots per section to fill up, and no more, and you absolutely must fill up at least nine of them - the tenth is there for just in case.

As it turns out, Act One is pretty much Chapter One of the book.

The first half of Act Two gets me to page 23 - slow going but expected. Things got rearranged a little from this point on. Every vital incident had to happen before reaching the home castle, whereas in the book he was able to winter there and we get to meet the queen and see how delusional she is. I still might be able to work her in somewhere; we'll have to see.

Anyway

The second half of Act Two gets us to the border, but before we can get that far, three different armies must be assembled into one. At the end of Act Two I inserted an attack that came after the winter layover, but we can't fill up a movie with a winter full of pacing and waiting for the snow to melt.

With Act Three we need to see just how destitute the home country is, so after Harris recovers from nearly being killed, they find a refugee family trying to scrape a living without it all being stolen by the collectors. This jumps us to page 158 in the book. And then we need to jump to page 319 for the rest of it.

Meeting all the lords who used to manage the districts that made up his country have all been left out. I hope I can still assemble them in a believable manner; they need to be there for Harris to be properly crowned.

It's not going to be easy. I seems each part can have only a couple pages devoted to it, give or take one or two here and there. Wish me luck.

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The Board
The Crown of Steel

+/- = emotional up/down or -/+ down/up >< = conflict
ACT ONE [p. 1-25] 1. Harris on the roof +/- curiosity frustrated  >< empty but lush landscape 2. Fredric, the librarian +/- hoping to find out what a king does/ unable to locate any >< during a game of chess, Harris asks what a king does. Fredric gives him a lecture on family bloodline 3. Balion, the arms master +/- love of the music of the sword/Balion interrupts with his version of a lesson >< Balion trying to play tricks to ‘teach’ him to expect the unexpected 4. Duff, the stable master +/- Harris disliked the man, but had to deal with him if he wanted to go riding >< Duff seldom allowed Harris to ride the first horse he picked 5. conversation with father +/- curiosity vs. fear >< father believes things are fine – Harris can’t see how 6. watches his father be king +/- father tells of betrothal offer – Harris is appalled >< questions father about papers signed without reading 7. Jonathan arrives +/- meeting someone new/learning he’s being sent away >< won’t allow himself to protest 8. Harris and Jonathan compare worlds +/- Harris getting excited/Jonathan determined to whip things into shape >< quickly become best friends 9. Harris and Jonathan go to the stables +/- beginning to suspect he is nothing but a figurehead >< Harris is told what he will be taking 10. +/- ><	ACT TWOa [p. 25-55] 1. Harris heads south +/- dreading to go/ determined to conduct himself with pride >< seeing his father standing at the door – realizing he’d never seen his father outside before 2. after river crossing +/- wonder at seeing the farmsteads and herds >< wonders about goat’s milk and wool – learns where it comes from – Jasper getting low on patience – Harris asking questions like a curious child 3a. Harris meets his new family +/- hard to get used to many brothers and sisters >< Kandice sticks her tongue out at him – doesn’t like him at first 3b. Harris meets with the king who outlines his expectations +/- eager to start – appalled at the requirements >< wants to go home – no not really 4a. heads out again +/- happy lessons will be put off – only they aren’t >< not at all used to be in the saddle day after day 4b. Jonathan is bored +/- was determined to learn more about the country/ can’t even find a map >< sends a messenger home with news and request – the man gets waylaid 5. training for the military +/- eager to set aside lessons/not so lucky >< arms master starts to teach him military management and strategy 6. working his way up the ranks +/- new rank/more responsibility >< corporal in charge of 4 men 7. patrol – meets ‘the enemy’ +/- his men very serious about the exchange/the enemy laughing as if it’s all a game >< only some wounded – Harris watches enemy vanish as if into the dust of their trail 8. camp ravaged +/- tired from the patrol and fight – eager to get back/finds home camp has been breached and ravaged. >< brought to Sorsha’s cabin for questioning 9. nightmare +/- happy to be going home, seeing father again/sees giant cage closing in on him. >< tells Sorsha the dream - pack up to go back – changing of the guard 10. +/- ><	ACT TWOb [p. 55-85] 1a. battle +/- Harris, still dusty from patrol, sees a very sorry train of wagons and mounted. >< tries to bolster morale riding up and down the line. Spells a wagon driver with a concussion from afternoon sun 1b. battle +/- surprise / tries to defend >< Attack comes and overruns the train. Harris’s wagon is overturned. 2a. Magg +/- at death’s door / Magg heals him and then gets him onto his horse and away >< Magg must get Harris away but realizes her little donkey isn’t nearly enough. 3a. Sorsha - battlefield +/- enemy killed / bitter victory >< calls for report – can’t move – Harris unaccounted for 2b. Magg +/- arrives home / Sholeh there to help >< drag Harris inside – heal more – begin to recover 3b. Sorsha - home +/- worried about Harris / reports say her post the only one attacked >< goes to royal medium to find him 4a. Jonathan +/- meets the queen for the first time >< the queen sends him home – supposed to be to his death 5. Harris +/- needs to learn more but can’t leave everyone hanging >< sends his horse home with a message 4b. Jonathan +/- makes it home with another message from the queen >< the message wasn’t for Harris at all 6a. Harris +/- into the desert / no way of knowing if he’ll ever find anyone >< meets Juan – they fight. Treacherous blindside shot puts Harris under Juan’s protective wing. 6b. Harris +/- meets with clan leader, Duncan >< witnesses the punishment dealt out for treachery. 6c. Harris +/- Convinces the nomads to tell him who his enemy is. Their honor commits them to his cause. >< messenger is sent home to arrange supply lines – first learns of shapeshifters. 7. Evan +/- finds the castle. Finds Kandice >< Evan is shot out of the sky 8a. King Carroll +/- reads the message Evan brought >< questions him extensively 8b. King Carroll +/- discussion with Kandice >< Kandice heads off in search of another fairytale. Brings back the truthsayers. King calls for an assembly of military forces. 9. Harris +/- arrives home >< meets his first truthsayer bodyguard. Safi??? Kanon??? 10. Harris +/- at the head of his unusual army >< at the border, an insane group attack, trying to hit Harris personally. Almost succeed.	ACT THREE [p. 85-110] 1. Harris in a coma +/- choice – live/die >< vision – Kandice dancing around the Maypole = unite the people. 2. Harris wakes - blind +/- learns of Kain’s capture/ learns of death of his bodyguard >< funeral – new bodyguard – Saarloq 3. paces camp – vision blurry +/- wants to start marching again - has to defeat Kain’s monopoly >< time is short – winter is closing in 4. Servern and Claire +/- learns things >< battle with collection team 5. divide and conquer +/- sends messengers to districts asking for reinforcements/can’t wait >< Jonathan leads Harris to the back door. 6a. taking Castle Penn +/- finding hostages inside in the rooms >< finding opposition as well 6b. taking Castle Penn +/- finding hostages outside in the tents >< finding opposition as well – sending wolves ahunting 7. verbal battle with Kain +/- learns that no enemy can touch him with harmful intent. >< must get close enough to touch. Saarloq won’t let him touch yet. 8. wedding and coronation +/- says it all >< lords swear fealty 9. turns Kain over to his lords +/- Harris’s touch removes block >< lords pull the struggling man out to his fate 10. final image +/- the town is abuzz with business >< sees off wedding guests

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Chapter Two

Chapter two of Save the Cat! by Blake Snyder is about genre, and if you've ever looked up genre in Wikipedia in an effort to decide what category your latest work in progress falls into, you know that we book writers have what seems like a million to choose from and someone is always coming up with what they think is a new mix or a new evolution of the same thing. According to Blake Snyder, it all can be narrowed down to ten bulk categories. It all goes toward the effort of attracting the attention of an agent or producer in the shortest amount of time - i.e. at a glance.

I'll list and briefly explain the ten genres, and then I'll let you know what I picked. As I can see it so far, this all just might help the rewrite of the book. There's nothing like having a guide on what to focus on as you write your book.

• Monster in the House - is exactly what it says. Someone or something is a monster in a confined area and it simply must be defeated.
• Golden Fleece - is the hero taking to the road in search of whatever and finds himself instead.
• Out of the Bottle - the bottle being something akin to a genie's bottle leading toward the granting of some sort of normally out-of-reach wish.
• Dude with a Problem - is like it says. An ordinary dude who is suddenly face with an extraordinary problem.
• Rite of Passage - is when life throws your average dude a brick, but that's life, now deal with it. How that is accomplished is the story.
• Buddy Love - is two people who hate each other at first but end up loving each other in some way. Yeah, this is every love story in the works, but it's more than that.
• Whydunit - This is more than just your average mystery. It's why. Why did they do what they did? But it's also the agony of putting all the pieces together.
• The Fool Triumphant - is the underdog triumphing against the egotistical big guy.
• Institutionalized - is very group-oriented type story.
• Superhero - is far more than the comic book-type story that might first come to mind. It is also about the very rich or very smart needing to deal with the average people he needs to deal with.

 For my book, I chose Rite of Passage because my hopefully average teenage boy had to figure out what it meant to be a king, and as it turned out, that goal ended up being far more than he could have ever guessed at the beginning. I also think Monster in the House is involved. Harris's entire problem is because of an unseen monster (Kain). I also think Golden Fleece is mixed in. Though not something he initiated himself, Harris takes quite a journey, physically, as well as within himself, in order to become the king it was his blood-right to become.

At some point, I might narrow that down, but it is what it is so far. I'm learning.

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Writing a Movie Script

The mail came today - Yay!!! That meant the book I ordered has finally arrived. Here where I live, mail arriving at the post office and mail actually reaching me are many times two very drastically different things. Things I order or things sent to me reach the post office in good time, but even though the post office is only around 25 miles up river from me, there are times when I don't get my mail for the entire winter. There are a couple great guys here on the river who go up there frequently, and they have taken up the task of bringing me my mail. However, that doesn't mean I get my mail much faster, only that I will get mail at some point during the winter. This morning was that time.

You might remember from some of my Facebook postings, a while ago I ordered a book on Script writing. I am not getting any younger, and though at one time, my greatest ambition was to get all the books I'd written published before I kicked the bucket (which is still the case), now I would also like to see at least one of them as a movie. I'm not getting any younger.

Now I know getting my book in front of some director by accident is like a billion to one chances, so I thought I might try my hand at writing up a script. I'd like to do my trilogy, I happen to think it is my best book, but it might be to big a project for a first shot. Maybe I'll do my first book; I'm going to republish it anyway, and to do that it will get a rewrite. Sounds like a package deal to me - maybe.

Anyway, I did a little research and came across a book called Save the Cat! by Blake Snyder. Upon a simple flip-through, it wasn't what I wanted, however, judging by that flip-though, it is likely what I need. What I wanted was something to tell me the mechanics of how to write a script. You know, something to tell me the formatting issues - font size, margins, indents, etc. Seriously, I know nothing about what a script should look like - I've never seen one. So, a little more research is in order for me. I'll get to it one of these days. First, I have a book to read. This book - Save the Cat! - looks to be filled to the brim with all the little tricks of the trade I'll be needing to make my script the best it can be, even for a first shot.

Another thing that will put this project off is that I've been promised an editing job to start most any day now. As I wait for that, I'm working on the rewrite of my next book, The Trials of the Youngest Princess. I'll be looking for critical readers for it when I'm done, so if you think you'll be interested, send me a note. I look forward to hearing from someone. A fresh pair of eyes is priceless, you know.

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