Day 2

[John Vanderberg]

What future is Sarah Connor living into?
She (really her son) is the future, the key to survival. She goes from a waitress with no meaning to having the most important job of anyone: survive from a tireless robot assassin, as a single woman, to now have the “goal” of meeting and marrying the right man, have a son, lose your husband, then raise the child to be a fighter and leader during a war. A complete and drastic transformation.

What future is Kyle Reese living into?
Essentially, a volunteer who has time-traveled to protect the future and undeniably sacrifice himself for Sarah, John, and mankind.

What is Sarah’s transformation?
The realization that not only her survival, but every decision she makes from here on out will determine the outcome of the world and mankind. She takes this all in, debates her ability, and ultimately accepts it. It’s her stepping into the upside-down world.

What drama was the scene built around?
The threat of being hunted and killed. The scary and bleak description of the future. That everything is on the line and that everyone is counting on her to have John and raise him to fight and be a leader. The fact that her protector is already injured and she’s queasy over bandaging him up, and ill-suited for the task, much less what lies ahead.

What traits showed up?
An unrealized toughness
Unselfishness
Leadership
Loyalty
Respect
Responsibility

Daily focus:
Insights/Breakthroughs:
Thinking about the end while writing the story. Admittedly, I barely know the end of my story, even when plotting my outline. Now, with the END in mind, to go back and look for ways to improve key points with a clearer “future,” will improve everything along the way.
2) other writers – none yet.
3) rewrite a scene or character based on insights
My story is a “genie in the bottle” (wish) story where characters swap fates. There’s also a guardian angel aspect. Having a more clearly defined ending will help me rewrite scenes with these evolutions in mind. I can better focus on the transformations that happen, the twists, the irony, the similarities and ultimately the pay-offs. One piece of feedback I received was to make the wish lead to more of a complete “switcheroo” and make the results of the wish more clearly defined. With the insights of writing better by keeping the future in mind, I can better craft the scenes and tension that lead there, rather than write “in the moment” “about the moment.”