At first this was shaping up to be a Character story, tracking A’s development and secret and life changes. However, in writing this scenario, it becomes clear that the story here is really about C. Since we dropped A’s special ability or whatever, and thus his reason for unrest, it’s not about A any more.
In other words, I went from not really knowing how C fits in the picture, to having way too much info on C and not enough on A.
Going further down this rabbit hole…
Okay, now that I have gutted my previous outline, and made my already-written 234 words useless, time to go to bed!
Removed these
4-9 psychic powers, or a gift, (martial arts? mysticism? mutation?)
OR perhaps a magic item that slowly takes over the user
Hinted at in 1, exposed in 4, shared secret in 9
(Not so sure about this one, what if it’s not supernatural, just a secret)
4 When one person A discovers his/her gift (or finds the magic item)
9 When someone else B discovers the gift or item of A
Swap 5 and 6
Some things I want in my story
1-12 An unlikely hero A, placed in a difficult situation and acting well
Starts off unsure of his place in the world, ends up with a changed role
2-12 a game, or a conspiracy, with high stakes, possibly illegal or secret
Or it could just be that they have a dangerous/competitive/exciting job
(A cop? that has competition and danger.)
Or an activity that gets them kicked out of school
(Maybe “danger” in this context is just fear of discovery)
3-12 love, perhaps between apparent rivals, a and b
Starts as rivalry, develops in to love, kept secret, finally revealed
3-11 Someone who falls from grace, or betrays himself, but hides his flaw: C
(Friend or sibling of B)
Hinted in 3, revealed in 5, resolved by a noble death in 11
Rough order of events, subject to change.
1 First introduction of hero A, with a hint of unrest
2 When the audience discovers the game or conspiracy or competition
3 First introduction of the rival B (and possibly C)
4
5 When one person C starts down the wrong path
6 When two rivals discover they are in love (A and B)
7 When there is an argument between B and C
8 When two lovers are forced to compete (A and B)
9
10 Fight between the hero and the betrayer (A and C)
11 Death of C, in a way allowing C to redeem himself
12 When one person (A) has to choose between the right deed and his career or station
The School Scenario
Characters
A A student, and athelete, our hero
B A student, and also a “rival” of A, later becoming A’s lover
C A student, and athelete, who abuses drugs to be competitive,
but later comes clean and redeems himself. Probably B’s brother
D A student/athelete also abusing drugs
Rough order of events in this scenario
1 First introduction of hero A, with a hint of unrest
2 When the audience discovers the game or conspiracy or competition
In this story “competition” is between atheletes on a team
3 First introduction of the rival B (and possibly C)
In this story C and A are really rivals, and B is a “rival” of A only because of her brother
4 (A has a secret? not sure about this one)
5 When one person C starts down the wrong path
Wrong path in this story is drug abuse
6 When two rivals discover they are in love (A and B)
At first this is hidden from C and others, not sure why, probably because C doesn’t like A
7 When there is an argument between B and C
Maybe because B discovers C is using drugs, or because C finds out about A&B being in love
8 (When two lovers are forced to compete (A and B))
(Whoa, haven’t figured this one out, probably going to ditch it)
9 (Something else about A’s secret)
10 Fight between the hero and the betrayer (A and C)
Maybe an argument about drug habit, or threat to reveal C
11 Death of C, in a way allowing C to redeem himself
This is where D overdoses and almost dies and C has to take him to the hospital, exposing his secret and risking expulsion, etc. C loses everything that was important to him before this
12 When one person (A) has to choose between the right deed and his career or station
Not sure about this one now, perhaps A is the only one left to win the game with C and D gone, but this still doesn’t solve A’s unrest.
Evaluation
At first this was shaping up to be a Character story, tracking A’s development and secret and life changes. However, in writing this scenario, it becomes clear that the story here is really about C. Since we dropped A’s special ability or whatever, and thus his reason for unrest, it’s not about A any more.
In other words, I went from not really knowing how C fits in the picture, to having way too much info on C and not enough on A.
Going further down this rabbit hole…
Some things I want in my story
* Someone who falls from grace, or betrays himself, but hides his flaw: C
He redeems himself in the end but still loses many things that were important to him
* Competition (between atheletes)
* a crime, a conspiracy, illegal or secret (in this case, drug abuse)
Or an activity that gets them kicked out of school
(Maybe “danger” in this context is just fear of discovery)
* love, probably between B and C
Rough order of events in this scenario, rewrite
1 First introduction of anti-hero C, with unrest and angst
2 The audience discovers the game or conspiracy or competition
It becomes clear that the competition is athletic and the conspiracy is drugs
3 First introduction of the “rival” B
Perhaps B is D’s brother, and D likes C, but B doesn’t like C at first.
5 When one person C starts down the wrong path
Wrong path in this story is drug abuse
6 When two rivals discover they are in love (C and B)
At first this is hidden from D and others, not sure why, probably because D would be protective of B
7 When there is an argument between B and D
Maybe because B discovers D is using drugs, or because D finds out about B&C being in love
11 C falls from grace, but also redeems himself This is where D overdoses and almost dies and C has to take him to the hospital, exposing his secret and risking expulsion, etc. C loses everything that was important to him before this