Journals

Working on my thesis script so far this semester has been far more than I expected it to be. The challenges were many; the new discoveries were also many. One of the biggest challenges that I faced was to stay consistent with my protagonist dramatic needs. Throughout the term, my protagonist was changed to my antagonist towards the end of my script. After constructing my ACT I, towards the end, I realize that my story was shifting more towards the opponent side of my primary character. Therefore, I was coerced to work backward from the end of the story to the beginning to maintain consistency with my character’s dramatic needs.
My original story was about an innocent, successful mother named Jasmine. She had an only child that was conceived through a rigorous process of fertility treatment. Consequently, she conceived her first child at 40 years old. She then lost her husband; her son was the only thing she had as a remembrance of her husbands image. Unfortunately, her son was fatally shot and killed by a thug named Mark, who is uneducated and lives a frivolous lifestyle as a thug.
After several revisions and comments from you and my classmates, my story is now about Mark, who lives his life frivolously by committing crimes to sustain his sick grandmother. He ended up shooting a student, who happened to be a city mayors son on school ground and subsequently jail for his action. The mayor is now seeking revenge for her sons unjustifiable death. She released Mark, the culprit out of Jail using deceptions to have access to him and his future kids. Her plan is to make him feel the same pain that she felt when she lost her son. However, Mark repented for his actions, and he is now a new person who wants to do what is right for the society. Also, he would like to show his appreciations to Jasmine for taking him out of jail and providing for him. Unfortunately and unbeknownst to him, he his is living with his worst nightmare.
The little cartoon video you provided from Michael, the screenwriter of Pixar, who wrote Toy Story 3 helped me in reconstructing my story. He said to have my character doing the thing they love most and the world they live. For my story, the thing that Mark loves to do most is robbery. That is the life he knows without any conscience; he lives in a world of perpetrators. However, his mother is currently jailed for drugs, and his father passed away in the life of crimes. Then, the characters flaw. In Marks case, he is heavily influenced by his environments and friends that are also thugs. Then, the dark storm clouds arise. In Marks case, he consequently jailed for what he loves to do that is also illegal. Then, the KABOOM moment for him is having his child, and he is now beginning to feel the love for a child and the idea of ever losing him. Having a child completely shifted his whole idea about life, he is now more appreciative towards life and more willing to compromise. However, that is when Jasmine, the person that he is currently residing with and also the person that released him from jail is ready to take her revenge. She begins to mistreat his son and to work towards executing her original plans she made 27 years ago to kill Marks son.
It was one of my greatest experiences. My second and third ACT plan is to elicit more tension between the protagonist and my antagonist. My Hending in mind is for Jasmine to get her wish by killing Marks son. Similarly, Mark should go back to his old ways and resolve his issues the way he used to deal with them in the past. However, I know towards the end of the next semester, I probably need to rewrite the entire story again. Therefore, I will not hold my breath.