Welcome to day 23 of PREPTOBER! This is a series of daily questions and prompts to help you prepare for this year’s upcoming NaNoWriMo!
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Today’s question is:
What void has been created in your character’s life after the devastating setback?
Feel free to share your answer in the comments! I would love to hear your response!
So far on the journey, your character has overcome many trials, made several choices, they have faced their worst trial yet, and now they are in The Void.
I remember being about 11 years old the first time I really felt this moment in The Lord of the Rings.
Having watched this movie dozens of times (can you tell?), I realized that after Gandalf dies, Frodo isn’t just sad, he feels guilty. It was his choice to take the Ring, it was his choice to go to Moria. He feels responsible for Gandalf’s death.
Now, left in the aftermath of Gandalf’s death, Frodo mourns him. This is the part of the story I like to call the Void.
It’s like all the momentum has swept away, the balloon of tension and action has deflated, and all the character is left with is their own grief.
Let’s look at this scene from The Hunger Games:
The Devastating Setback is Rue’s death at the 1:30-3:00 minute mark. This scene is really a moment. Whereas the Void is a series of moments that create the mourning period for the Main Character.
Once Rue dies, Katniss cries, she screams, she picks flowers. In the book, she has an internal dialogue running about how dangerous it is for her to stay in one spot, how she doesn’t give a f*ck if someone comes and finds her because she *must* do this for Rue. This is all a part of her healing process. Then she creates a shrine for Rue by placing the flowers around her body.
This is The Void. It’s time for your character to take a break, to look back at how far they’ve come and see if the journey is worth it. Usually, it is, because if they stop now then the devastating setback will have been in vain.
Katniss exits the Void when she looks into the camera and gives the sign of resistance. She knows the world is watching, and she makes a choice. And this choice is to keep on going despite what has happened to her, she chooses to continue on the journey into Act III. More on that tomorrow.
What void has been made in your character’s life after the devastating setback?
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