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Post day 2 Assignment Here
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3 Replies
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Dave’s Great Hooks!
How did this process work for me? I like this exercise. It forced me to concentrate and differentiate.
What I learned doing this assignment: At this stage, some of these ideas can still develop into different genres.
Assignment 1.
A. Intriguing Contained Setting:
The basement of a tornado-ravaged house.
B. Unique Device:
Flood water is rushing in.
C. Unique Monster/Villain:
Another tornado is coming.
D. Mystery:
Why are these 2 trapped strangers in a house where they don’t belong?
E. Impossible Goal:
Working together to get out in time.
F. Unique Layers:
The men have secrets that makes them enemies.
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A. Setting: Antique Shop.
B. Device: The shopkeeper has a priceless relic.
C. Monster: A riot in the streets.
D. Mystery: Would the shopkeeper take a life to save his own?
E. Goal: The old man saving his shop and himself.
F. Unique Layers: The shopkeeper’s childhood in a Nazi prison camp. The young looter’s life in the projects.
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A. Setting: The woods. A national park.
B. Device: A writer and a photographer on assignment from National Geographic are injured and lost.
C. Monster: Nature is against them.
D. Mystery: What are they really looking for in an off-limits section of the park? Could it be supernatural?
E. Goal: Get out alive.
F. Layers: One is at the end of his career while the other is on his first big assignment.
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A. Setting: Desert road.
B. Device: Someone dumped a man in a body bag in the middle of nowhere. Someone else is out to finish him off.
C. Monster: An unknown menace in a big truck.
D. Mystery: What is the man hiding?
E. Goal: The man must get to the next town where he hopes it is safe.
F. Layers: Is he a good guy or as bad as the others?
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A. Setting: An enchanted cottage.
B. Device: A magic spell has been cast on a little girl.
C. Monster: A cunning giant spider.
D. Mystery: Who’s side is the mischievous fairy on?
E. Goal: The little girl wants to find her grandfather.
F. Layers: Wounds and secrets are revealed by all.
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A. Setting: A small town coffeehouse.
B. Device: Two disparate strangers learn about each other and come out of their shells.
C. Monster: Their emotional baggage.
D. Mystery: Have their paths crossed before?
E. Goal: To keep their secrets.
F. Layers: Each has wounds they’re afraid to reveal.
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A. Setting: A ghost ship.
B. Device: A legendary treasure.
C. Monster: The ghost of the former first officer.
D. Mystery: Can a mermaid be trusted? Does the treasure even exist?
E. Goal: Husband and wife seek a precious jewel.
F. Layers: Can they trust each other? Do they value the prize more than their love?
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A. Setting: Mining colony on an asteroid.
B. Device: The asteroid has veered off course.
C. Monster: The rest of the crew perished in an accident. The two survivors can not survive the harsh conditions for long.
D. Mystery: Was the space collision really an accident?
E: Goal: Prevent the asteroid from colliding with Earth.
F. Layers: The 2 survivors, a hydroponic gardener/cook and an engineer, summon hidden skills.
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A. Setting: The catwalk around a water tower.
B. Device: A prize for the character who can withstand the tedium and the elements the longest.
C. Monster: A radio DJ who manipulates the contestants.
D. Mystery: Is there an insidious purpose to this spectacle?
E. Goal: Each of the three remaining contestants needs the prize money for a different reason.
F. Layers: Desperation. Hazards. Threats.
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A. Setting: Small town telephone office, 1950’s.
B. Device: The operator must solve a wide range of problems.
C. Monster: Blizzard.
D. Mystery: Where is the operator’s husband?
E. Goal: Help the town get through the night.
F: Layer: While serving others, we learn the operator’s character.
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2.
Ask the High Concept Question:
Having to do with small town life in the 1950’s, what haven’t we seen before? Social media.
3.
Brainstorming:
The operator is alone in the office, of course. Her replacement has called off. Her kids are home alone. Her husband is the town vet and he’s on his way to a distant farm to deliver a calf. But he hasn’t reached his destination because of the storm. The operator is deluged with the town’s troubles. And it’s New Year’s eve. Lots of flaming torches to juggle.
4.
Does this story have a hook? If I have to ask then it probably doesn’t. I’ll keep looking for the right elements.
5.
This is the story I want to write, but is it the one I can do best?
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Breyanna’s Great Hooks
A. The process worked well for me. I wrote all five concepts in contained locations with a few characters. I presented all five ideas to family and friends, and many of them liked two concepts. I have found that three of them will work best, and I picked the concept with the majority vote. I will try to circle back and develop the other two concepts at a later date.
B. I learned that exchanging a few component in a movie idea can generate totally different concept ideas.
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Halloween’s Great Hook
A. How did this process work for me? – great. I got a chance to explore alternatives to my original idea and discovered my secret for creating compelling hooks.
B. I learned that a hook is simply an ironic adjective.
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