Lesson 1

[Michael Montiel]

<div>Me: MICHAEL STEVEN MONTIEL’s Transformational Journey is to come through and be disciplined: instead of talking about writing ✍️, I must focus and write every day! I get too distracted about perfection and I give up easily. My journey is to honor my own dreams, my own self.
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</div>Internal Journey:My first character is Michelangelo Merisi de Caravaggio; a baroque era painter ; his journey is from hotheadedness and insecurity to become mature and understanding of the importance of his own art and sexuality. <div>My second character is for a science fiction piece that must struggle with his own naïveté and learn to stand up to authority. </div><div> </div><div>External Journey: my first character must learn to work within the boundaries of rules in Baroque era Rome; as for my sci-fi character : he must learn to “break” the rules, risk the consequences of losing everything for what he believes in. </div><div>
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3. What are the Old Ways and New Ways?:

Caravaggio’s old ways: He paints for money, he knows he’s good but his shortsightedness keeps his work from becoming sublime and revolutionary; NEW WAYS: he has to learn to make it work with the authority figures of his time to get to where he wants to go; although in real life this is a tragedy

My other characters old ways are(Robert Aguilar) : an innocent professor that believes what he’s told; his new ways : he questions everyone and everything; he gets backbone to stand up to the world and to make people listen to him !

4. Answer the question “What I learned doing this assignment is…?” and put it at the top of your work. What I learned from this assignment is that I don’t need to know exactly what my characters want or need, other than that they must be in one place psychologically, physically, emotionally and they must transform themselves into something opposite of who they are or even DIE trying.

5. Post your assignment in the forums.

Subject line: (Your name’s) Transformational Journey (place in first line)My transformational journey is to come through and be disciplined: instead of talking about writing ✍️, I must focus and write every day! I get too distracted about perfection and I give up easily. My journey is to honor my own dreams, my own self.

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• This reply was modified 1 year, 2 months ago by  Michael Montiel. Reason: Needed to finish assignment

[mark.napier2022@gmail.com napier]

SUBJECT LINE: Mark Napier’s Transformational Journey

What I learned doing this assignment? I am learning to basically develop a character that sells or appeals to an audience’s emotions and that they hopefully will connect to (be it good or bad). This lesson is basically the starting point from what I can see in getting into the weeds of constructing a character that best suits and fits the project we hope to develop and that best fits the role of the project being pursued.

2) Who is my hero and what is their character arc that represents transformation? The character I am looking at as the hero is someone who is a professional who stood by their values and was retaliated against and left homeless on the streets for 5 years. Rather than commit suicide and take the easy way out they look at their weaknesses of the situation at hand and turn them into opportunities for success to survive and buy time until the day the hero is able to use perseverance and fortitude to pull himself off the street. His internal transformation is dealing with the feeling of not just being discarded and forgotten, let alone bankrupt financially, but bankrupt physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually. In essence, he has become an abandonment of self….in esteem and worth as he joins the ranks of the “Walking Dead” (675,000 people) who too are left homeless following the Great Recession of 2009. The hero transforms and realizes he is able to overcome the purgatory that he was placed in to eventually re-establishing his self worth, honor and respect. The hero’s external transformation is that he goes from a professional down into homelessness and surviving on the streets as a strip dancer. After he pulls himself off the streets he continues to lick his wounds and after a period of additional 7 years has passed to regain self esteem he is the first to qualify to run for U.S. Congress using “In-Kind” contributions.

3) What are the hero’s old ways? As noted the hero’s abandonment of self, low self esteem, severe depression eventually leads to drug use by the beginning of the 4th year on the streets as an escape from the Hell he is in. The hero’s new ways of external transformation is to regain his self esteem, get off drugs by the end of the 4th year on the streets, becomes determine to get off the streets by the end of the 5th year and accepting himself as a survivor and realization that what he did that landed him on the streets in the first place was wrong and that he was going to eventually pursue an endeavor to represent the discarded and forgotten and seek change.

[Caitlin Stryker]

Caitlin Stryker’s transformational journey:

What I learned doing this assignment is the need to push through the self-editing voice that says I don’t know what I’m doing, trust the process and get ideas on the page.

ASSIGMENT #1

1. Who is your Hero and what is their Character Arc that represents a transformation?

Carla is my hero. She is a 30 year old mom to Sam (age 5) and wife of Mark (also 30s.) While mostly a stay-at-home mom, Carla picks up part-time work as a substitute teacher for Elementary School. She dreams of working in advertising but has never developed her portfolio. Carla is stuck.

Carla goes from depressed and disempowered to exuberant and powerful.

• Internal Journey:

• Low self-esteem to high self-esteem

• Complete utter lack of self-worth to a strong punk ass woman willing to take on the world (within reason.)

• External Journey:

• Under-employed to dream job

• Floundering marriage on the brink of divorce to thriving marriage (divorce is not off the table if her husband steps out of line.)

3. What are the Old Ways and New Ways?

Old Ways: waiting for a miracle/lottery ticket; never finishing what she starts; negative self talk; not wanting to stand out

New Ways: creating her own successes; always following through; positive self-talk; not willing to compromise herself for the sake of others comfort

4. Answer the question “What I learned doing this assignment is…?” and put it at the top of your work.

What I learned doing this assignment is the need to push through the self-editing voice that says I don’t know what I’m doing, trust the process and get ideas on the page.

[Trish]

Subject line: Emma’s Transformational Journey

I learned doing this assignment to pick just one idea for each aspect of the story and try it out. Working with AI, I have a lot of alternate ideas and it’s hard to pick the best one. I know I can change them later.

Emma Harper (30-40s) is a burned-out office worker on vacation. She ends as a self-empowered and strong woman who defeats her fear of being unloved, while defeating Richard Blackwell who terrorizes guests at his hotel.

Internal Journey: She goes from a victim of bad circumstances and poor life choices to a victor, who loves herself.

External Journey: She defeats (kills?) the hotel manager who terrorizes hotel guests (in his misguided attempt to save them).

Her old way was to blame everyone for bad things that happened to her and take it all as proof that she was unlovable. Her new way is to be responsible for how she deals with hardships and accept that they have nothing to do with her lovability. She would also let other people deal with stuff, but, at the hotel, she is the only one willing to take on the bad guy.

[Michael Montiel]

This sounds like a comedy? or were you aiming for drama ? or both?

[Trish]

It’s a psychological thriller. That’s probably a bad sign that it seems funny.

[Nader Khaghani]

My main character is Eddy who is in a dark place. Can he find the light in the dark? He has given up but can’t let go of his art his downfall and his salvation. You can guess the transformation from dark night of the soul to the bright light of the Self.