Day 17 ‘Q’
I was stuck in a quagmire of questions. The letter ’Q’ requests from me, Quem Quaeritis (Latin, for “Whom do you seek?”) And a quire. (Medieval manuscript)
I will focus on the quest plot: a goal or a searching for something. The quest will have a group of main characters ‘questing’. Questioning the ‘who’ and ‘why’.
The main character is incomplete in the real world and doesn’t quite fit in.
That ‘It’ is being searched for and must be extremely important.
Overwhelming obstacles will stand in the way of the main character from getting his/her hands on ‘It’.
The main character changes into a better person by the end or may end in tragedy.
ACT 1: introduce the lead characters and their inner lacking. A lacking that can be corrected by this quest. There must be a lacking in the character.
Example: Lion is a coward (Wizard of Oz) by the end of the story he finds his courage.
ACT 2: Characters suffers setbacks, struggles, conflict- but- the characters struggle on. Dangerous Journeys with physical and internal struggles
ACT 3: The ‘IT” was found. Now, show how everyone has changed.
Here are examples of a Quest plotline:
Beowulf by an anonymous Anglo-Saxon poet
Jason & the Argonauts from Greek mythology
Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll
Raiders of the Lost Ark by George Lucas and Philip Kaufman.
Lord of the Rings by J. R. R. Tolkien
Ready Player One by Ernest Cline ( I am currently reading book)
Harry Potter By J.K. Rowling
The Gunslinger By Stephen King
Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman
A Wizard of Earthsea By Ursula K. Le Guin
“Remember: Plot is no more than footprints left in the snow after your characters have run by on their way to incredible destinations. Plot is observed after the fact rather than before. It cannot precede action. It is the chart that remains when an action is through. That is all Plot ever should be. It is human desire let run, running, and reaching a goal. It cannot be mechanical. It can only be dynamic.” ― Ray Bradbury-the Zen Writer …
