[Tracy Lawson]

Tracy loves character depth!

I will do whatever it takes to become a bestselling author and screenwriter with multiple screenplays produced.

What I learned:

I could increase the intrigue in the opening scene by having the doctor help Anna, but not be entirely sure if he trusts her story.

When Anna gives him a tin of medicinal tea for the ill soldiers, the doctor turns aside and smells it, and realizes she has given him something of true value. He was right to trust her.

In another scene, I revealed more about Rhoda, the maid, who comes to Anna’s rescue. The new clue makes it clear Rhoda has been victimized by the master, and now, she is the only one who can nurse the master’s son back to health. For once, she has the upper hand.

[Tracy Lawson]

Hi! I’m ready to swap scripts for feedback.

REVOLUTIONARY ANNA is a period drama based on a true story. 29-year-old Anna Stone makes a daring solo journey to Valley Forge with
supplies for her husband…and ends up saving the American Revolution!

tracy.s.lawson@gmail.com

[Tracy Lawson]

Tracy’s Query Letter Draft 5

Dear ____,

January 1778: Against all odds, 29-year-old Anna Stone makes a daring solo journey to Valley Forge with supplies for her husband…and ends up saving the American Revolution!

REVOLUTIONARY ANNA is based on a true story. In 1776, Anna has it all: a rewarding vocation as her community’s healer, a growing family, and a passionate relationship with her husband, Benjamin, who sees her as his equal. That is, until he enlists in the Continental Army without consulting her.

As the war drags on, news of disease and starvation at Valley Forge triggers Anna’s fears. Orphaned at age nine, she spent her youth as an indentured servant. If Benjamin dies, their children will be “orphans” under the law and Anna will lose them to the state.

Determined to save Benjamin and her children’s futures, even at the risk of her own life, Anna devises a plan to bring help. Her uncle, formerly her guardian, bankrolls her trip, but his devious plan has her unwittingly deliver funds to a smuggling ring that steals from the American army.

When a congressman recruits Anna to carry a message to General Washington that could change the course of the war, she gets a chance to make up for her uncle’s treachery. But just hours into her mission, an intimidating man blocks her path and demands the letter. Anna must outwit and outrun him the remaining 80 miles to Valley Forge. The revolution is at stake!

Anna and Benjamin Stone are my sixth-great-grandparents. This screenplay is based on my novel Answering Liberty’s Call: Anna Stone’s Daring Ride to Valley Forge, which was a #1 Best Seller in U.S. Historical Fiction on Amazon and won Honorable Mention in the Historical Fiction Company’s 2021 Book of the Year Contest.

Tracy Stone Lawson

(contact info here)

[Tracy Lawson]

Tracy’s Query Letter DRAFT 3

January 1778: Against all odds, 29-year-old Anna Stone makes a daring solo journey to Valley Forge with supplies for her husband…and ends up saving the American Revolution!

REVOLUTIONARY ANNA is based on a true story. In 1776, Anna has it all: a rewarding career as her community’s healer, great kids, and a passionate relationship with her progressive preacher husband, Benjamin, who sees her as his equal. That is, until he enlists in the Continental Army without consulting her.

As the war drags on, news of disease and starvation at Valley Forge trigger Anna’s fears. Orphaned at age nine, she spent her youth as an indentured servant. If Benjamin dies, their children will be “orphans” under the law and Anna will lose them to the state.

Determined to save Benjamin and her children’s future, even at the risk of her own life, Anna devises a plan to bring help. Her uncle, formerly her guardian, bankrolls her trip, but his devious plan has her unwittingly deliver funds to a smuggling ring that steals from the American army.

When a congressman recruits Anna to carry a message to General Washington—one that can change the course of the war—she sees her chance to make up for her uncle’s treachery. But just hours into her mission, an intimidating man blocks her path and demands the letter. Anna must outwit and outrun him the remaining 80 miles to Valley Forge. The revolution is at stake!

If you like the concept, I’d be happy to send you the script.

Anna and Benjamin Stone are my sixth-great-grandparents. This screenplay is based on my novel Answering Liberty’s Call: Anna Stone’s Daring Ride to Valley Forge. My screenplays have been finalists in the Inroads Screenwriting Fellowship and the Filmmatic TV Pilot Awards.

Tracy Lawson

Wanna swap? Hit me up at tracy.s.lawson@gmail.com

• This reply was modified 2 years, 6 months ago by  Tracy Lawson.

[Tracy Lawson]

Screenwriting U Pitchfest

Hi my name is Tracy Lawson. I’m an author, historian, and the sixth great-granddaughter of an unsung heroine of the American Revolution.

Today I have a period drama called Revolutionary Anna, adapted from my novel Answering Liberty’s Call: Anna Stone’s Daring Ride to Valley Forge. It’s based on the true story of a woman who sets out for Valley Forge to save her husband and ends up saving the American Revolution.

Budget Range: Low budget? $3-5 million?

Who do you like for the lead roles?

For Anna: Emma Coleman, Dakota Fanning, or Amybeth McNulty, who have had lead roles in period series. I also like Aimee Teegarden and Megan Boone.

For Benjamin: Bradley Cooper, Tom Mison, Eddie Redmayne, Tom Sturridge

Summary of acts: In Act 1, news of the terrible conditions at Valley Forge drives Anna to make a treacherous 200-mile journey with supplies for her husband and brothers. Her mother tries to talk her out of going, but her uncle offers to bankroll the trip, provided she deliver a letter to his business associate on the way.

In Act 2, Anna realizes her uncle tricked her into delivering funds to a smuggling ring that steals supplies from the army. Furious, Anna risks her life to try and stop the smugglers but fails. In York, PA, a congressman recruits her as a spy and asks her to carry a secret message directly to General Washington. Finally, she has a chance to make up for her earlier naivete!

In Act 3, Anna’s only had the message for a few hours when a man rides up, blocks her way, and demands she give it to him. Anna refuses, and the race is on for the remaining 80 miles to Valley Forge!

In Act 4, Anna uses skills she’s learned on the road to outsmart her pursuer. When she reaches Valley Forge just yards ahead of him, she is detained at the picket line. She is an unknown courier, so Washington’s aides consider the message she has risked her life to deliver unreliable. Anna convinces General Washington to read the message in time. With the information it contains, Washington can thwart a conspiracy that would have replaced him, derailed the Franco-American Alliance, and led to an American surrender.

The story ends with the Revolution on firm footing, and Anna reunited, if only temporarily, with her soldier husband.

[Tracy Lawson]

Tracy solved scene problems!

I will do whatever it takes to become a successful author and screenwriter with multiple screenplays produced.

In Act 2, I found a way to foreshadow Anna’s wound, as well as a way to elevate her reaction to the circumstances that trigger her wound.

I was able to trim a few scenes of unnecessary lines and exposition.

[Tracy Lawson]

The marketing campaign(s) I’d like to work with are Getting Recommendations and Marketing to Producers.

I’ll have time to continue to research leads while I revise my script in WIM.

[Tracy Lawson]

I’m having a tough time finding recent comparable films. My genre is historical drama, set during the American Revolution.

I’ve tried searching under History and Historical Drama, but I’ve only found four producers that have credits that make them seem like a decent match.

How do I go on from here?

[Tracy Lawson]

Tracy’s Query Letter DRAFT 2

January 1778: Against all odds, Anna Stone makes a daring solo journey to Valley Forge with supplies for her husband…and ends up saving the American Revolution!

REVOLUTIONARY ANNA is based on a true story: In 1776, Anna Stone has it all: a rewarding career as her community’s healer, great kids, and a passionate relationship with her progressive preacher husband, Benjamin, who sees her as his equal. That is, until he enlists in the Continental Army without consulting her.

As the war drags on, news of disease and starvation at Valley Forge trigger Anna’s fears. Orphaned at age nine, she spent her youth as an indentured servant. If Benjamin dies, their children will be “orphans” under the law and Anna will lose them to the state, her worst fear.

Determined to save Benjamin and her children’s future, even at the risk of her own life, Anna devises a plan to bring help. Her uncle, formerly her guardian, bankrolls her trip, but his devious plan has her unwittingly deliver funds to a smuggling ring that steals from the American army.

With time running out, a congressman recruits Anna to carry an urgent message to General Washington, one that can change the course of the war. But just hours into her mission, she is stopped by an intimidating man who blocks her path and demands the letter. Anna must outwit and outrun him the remaining 80 miles to Valley Forge; the revolution is at stake!

If you like the concept, I’d be happy to send you the script.

I am a direct descendant of the subjects of REVOLUTIONARY ANNA and author of the novel Answering Liberty’s Call: Anna Stone’s Daring Ride to Valley Forge, on which the screenplay is based. My screenplays have been finalists in the Inroads Screenwriting Fellowship and the Filmmatic TV Pilot Awards.

Tracy Lawson

Wanna swap? Hit me up at tracy.s.lawson@gmail.com

• This reply was modified 2 years, 6 months ago by  Tracy Lawson.
• This reply was modified 2 years, 6 months ago by  Tracy Lawson.

[Tracy Lawson]

Tracy’s Query Letter DRAFT 4

January 1778: Against all odds, Anna Stone makes a daring solo journey to Valley Forge with supplies for her husband…and ends up saving the American Revolution!

REVOLUTIONARY ANNA is based on a true story. In 1776, Anna Stone has it all: a rewarding vocation as her community’s healer, great kids, and a passionate relationship with her husband, Benjamin, who sees her as his equal. That is, until he enlists in the Continental Army without consulting her.

As the war drags on, news of disease and starvation at Valley Forge triggers Anna’s fears. Orphaned at age nine, she spent her youth as an indentured servant. If Benjamin dies, their children will be “orphans” under the law and Anna will lose them to the state.

Determined to save Benjamin and her children’s futures, even at the risk of her own life, Anna devises a plan to bring help. Her uncle, formerly her guardian, bankrolls her trip, but his devious plan has her unwittingly deliver funds to a smuggling ring that steals from the American army.

When a congressman recruits Anna to carry a message that could change the course of the war to General Washington, she gets a chance to make up for her uncle’s treachery. But just hours into her mission, an intimidating man blocks her path and demands the letter. Anna must outwit and outrun him the remaining 80 miles to Valley Forge. The revolution is at stake!

If you like the concept, I’d be happy to send you the script.

Anna and Benjamin Stone are my sixth-great-grandparents. This screenplay is based on my novel Answering Liberty’s Call: Anna Stone’s Daring Ride to Valley Forge, which was a #1 Best Seller in U.S. Historical Fiction on Amazon and won Honorable Mention in the Historical Fiction Company’s 2021 Book of the Year Contest.

Tracy Lawson

(contact info here)

Tracy’s Query Letter DRAFT 3

January 1778: Against all odds, Anna Stone makes a daring solo journey to Valley Forge with supplies for her husband…and ends up saving the American Revolution!

REVOLUTIONARY ANNA is based on a true story. In 1776, Anna Stone has it all: a rewarding career as her community’s healer, great kids, and a passionate relationship with her progressive preacher husband, Benjamin, who sees her as his equal. That is, until he enlists in the Continental Army without consulting her.

As the war drags on, news of disease and starvation at Valley Forge trigger Anna’s fears. Orphaned at age nine, she spent her youth as an indentured servant. If Benjamin dies, their children will be “orphans” under the law and Anna will lose them to the state.

Determined to save Benjamin and her children’s future, even at the risk of her own life, Anna devises a plan to bring help. Her uncle, formerly her guardian, bankrolls her trip, but his devious plan has her unwittingly deliver funds to a smuggling ring that steals from the American army.

When a congressman recruits Anna to carry a message to General Washington—one that can change the course of the war—she sees her chance to make up for her uncle’s treachery. But just hours into her mission, an intimidating man blocks her path and demands the letter. Anna must outwit and outrun him the remaining 80 miles to Valley Forge. The revolution is at stake!

If you like the concept, I’d be happy to send you the script.

Anna and Benjamin Stone are my sixth-great-grandparents. This screenplay is based on my novel Answering Liberty’s Call: Anna Stone’s Daring Ride to Valley Forge. My screenplays have been finalists in the Inroads Screenwriting Fellowship and the Filmmatic TV Pilot Awards.

Tracy Lawson

Wanna swap? Hit me up at tracy.s.lawson@gmail.com

Tracy’s Query Letter DRAFT 2

January 1778: Against all odds, Anna Stone makes a daring solo journey to Valley Forge with supplies for her husband…and ends up saving the American Revolution!

REVOLUTIONARY ANNA is based on a true story: In 1776, Anna Stone has it all: a rewarding career as her community’s healer, great kids, and a passionate relationship with her progressive preacher husband, Benjamin, who sees her as his equal. That is, until he enlists in the Continental Army without consulting her.

As the war drags on, news of disease and starvation at Valley Forge trigger Anna’s fears. Orphaned at age nine, she spent her youth as an indentured servant. If Benjamin dies, their children will be “orphans” under the law and Anna will lose them to the state, her worst fear.

Determined to save Benjamin and her children’s future, even at the risk of her own life, Anna devises a plan to bring help. Her uncle, formerly her guardian, bankrolls her trip, but his devious plan has her unwittingly deliver funds to a smuggling ring that steals from the American army.

With time running out, a congressman recruits Anna to carry an urgent message to General Washington, one that can change the course of the war. But just hours into her mission, she is stopped by an intimidating man who blocks her path and demands the letter. Anna must outwit and outrun him the remaining 80 miles to Valley Forge; the revolution is at stake!

If you like the concept, I’d be happy to send you the script.

I am a direct descendant of the subjects of REVOLUTIONARY ANNA and author of the novel Answering Liberty’s Call: Anna Stone’s Daring Ride to Valley Forge, on which the screenplay is based. My screenplays have been finalists in the Inroads Screenwriting Fellowship and the Filmmatic TV Pilot Awards.

Tracy Lawson

Tracy’s Query Letter Draft ONE

What I learned: Everything this class has made us think about–10 most interesting things, etc. has prepared us to disseminate that information into a query letter that delivers, powerfully and succinctly.

Looking forward to critiques! Please hit me up (email below) and let’s make our queries even better!

Anna Stone: “After what I’ve endured to bring this message, I’ll not stand for your sharp tongue, sir. I’m no soldier you can order about. Now let me pass.”

REVOLUTIONARY ANNA is based on a true story: Anna makes a daring solo journey to Valley Forge to save her man—and ends up saving the American Revolution!

In 1776, Anna has it all: a rewarding career as her community’s healer, great kids, and a passionate relationship with her progressive preacher husband, Benjamin, who sees her as his equal. That is, until he enlists in the Continental Army without consulting her.

As the war drags on, news of disease and starvation at Valley Forge trigger Anna’s fears. Orphaned at age nine, she spent her youth as an indentured servant. If Benjamin dies, their children will be “orphans” under the law and Anna will have no influence in their lives. It is better to sacrifice herself and try to save him.

Anna’s uncle, who was once her guardian, bankrolls her trip, but tricks her into delivering funds to a smuggling ring that steals supplies from the army.

Furious, Anna tries to undo the damage, and gets her chance to support the revolution when a congressman recruits her to carry an urgent message to General Washington. But just hours into her mission, an intimidating man blocks her path and demands the letter. Anna has only one choice—outwit and outrun her pursuer the remaining 80 miles to Valley Forge.

If you like the concept, I’d be happy to send you the script.

I am a direct descendant of the subjects of REVOLUTIONARY ANNA and author of the novel Answering Liberty’s Call: Anna Stone’s Daring Ride to Valley Forge, on which the screenplay is based. My screenplays have been finalists in the Inroads Screenwriting Fellowship and the Filmmatic TV Pilot Awards.

Tracy Lawson

(contact info here)

tracy.s.lawson@gmail.com

• This reply was modified 2 years, 6 months ago by  Tracy Lawson.
• This reply was modified 2 years, 6 months ago by  Tracy Lawson. Reason: consolidating all my drafts into one reply
• This reply was modified 2 years, 6 months ago by  Tracy Lawson.

[Tracy Lawson]

Tracy’s Phone Pitch

What I learned is it’s best to boil it down and let the person you’re pitching ask for more. That way no one wastes time, and you don’t bore the other person. My hook feels strong, and I look forward to doing feedback to continue to improve it.

Hi my name is Tracy Lawson. I’m an author, historian, and the sixth great-granddaughter of an unsung heroine of the American Revolution.

Today I have a period drama called Revolutionary Anna, adapted from my novel Answering Liberty’s Call: Anna Stone’s Daring Ride to Valley Forge. It’s based on the true story of a woman who sets out for Valley Forge to save her husband and ends up saving the American Revolution.

Budget Range: Low budget? $3-5 million?

Who do you like for the lead roles?

I prefer Jenna Coleman, Dakota Fanning, or Amybeth McNulty, who have had lead roles in period series. I also like Aimee Teegarden and Megan Boone.

Pie in the sky? Bradley Cooper. I adore Tom Mison, though. Eddie Redmayne and Tom Sturridge would also be good choices.

Summary of acts: In Act 1, news of the terrible conditions at Valley Forge drives Anna to make a treacherous 200-mile journey with supplies for her husband and brothers. Her mother tries to talk her out of going, but her uncle offers to bankroll the trip, provided she deliver a letter to his business associate on the way.

In Act 2, Anna realizes her uncle tricked her into delivering funds to a smuggling ring that steals supplies from the army. Furious, Anna risks her life to try and stop the smugglers but fails. In York, PA, a congressman recruits her as a spy and asks her to carry a secret message directly to General Washington. Finally, she has a chance to make up for her earlier naivete!

In Act 3, Anna’s only had the message for a few hours when a man rides up, blocks her way, and demands she give it to him. Anna refuses, and the race is on for the remaining 80 miles to Valley Forge!

In Act 4, Anna uses skills she’s learned on the road to outsmart her pursuer. When she reaches Valley Forge just yards ahead of him, she is detained at the picket line. She is an unknown courier, so Washington’s aides consider the message she has risked her life to deliver unreliable. Anna convinces General Washington to read the message in time. With the information it contains, Washington can thwart a conspiracy that would have replaced him, derailed the Franco-American Alliance, and led to an American surrender.

The story ends with the Revolution on firm footing, and Anna reunited, if only temporarily, with her soldier husband.

• This reply was modified 2 years, 6 months ago by  Tracy Lawson.

[Tracy Lawson]

Tracy’s Query Letter

What I learned doing this assignment: several elements in the query relate to the lead actress’s role. I am pretty happy with this first draft, although I look forward to revising and getting feedback!

“After what I’ve endured to bring this message, I’ll not stand for your sharp tongue, sir. I’m no soldier you can order about. Now let me pass.”

REVOLUTIONARY ANNA is based on a true story: Anna makes a daring solo journey to save her man—and ends up saving the American Revolution!

In 1776, Anna has it all: rewarding career as her community’s healer, great kids, and a passionate relationship with her progressive preacher husband, Benjamin, who sees her as his equal. That is, until he enlists in the Continental Army without consulting her.

News of disease and starvation at Valley Forge trigger Anna’s fears. Orphaned at age nine, she spent her youth as an indentured servant. If Benjamin dies, their children will be “orphans” under the law and Anna will have no influence in their lives. It is better to sacrifice herself to save him.

Anna’s uncle, who was once her guardian, bankrolls her trip, but tricks her into delivering funds to a smuggling ring that steals supplies from the army.

Furious, Anna tries to undo the damage, and gets her chance to support the revolution when a congressman recruits her to carry an urgent message to General Washington. But just hours into her mission, an intimidating man blocks her path and demands the letter. Anna has only one choice—outwit and outrun her pursuer the remaining 80 miles to Valley Forge.

If you like the concept, I’d be happy to send you the script.

I am a direct descendant of the subjects of REVOLUTIONARY ANNA and author of the novel Answering Liberty’s Call: Anna Stone’s Daring Ride to Valley Forge, on which the screenplay is based. My screenplays have been finalists in the Inroads Screenwriting Fellowship and the Filmmatic TV Pilot Awards.

Tracy Lawson (contact info here)

• This reply was modified 2 years, 6 months ago by  Tracy Lawson.
• This reply was modified 2 years, 6 months ago by  Tracy Lawson.
• This reply was modified 2 years, 6 months ago by  Tracy Lawson.

[Tracy Lawson]

Tracy’s Synopsis Hooks/First Draft

This was easier than I thought, after thinking through the most interesting things.

First Draft:

Based on a true story: Anna makes a daring solo journey to save her man—and ends up saving the American Revolution!

In 1776, Anna thinks she has it all: rewarding career as a healer, three great kids, and a passionate relationship with her progressive preacher husband, who sees her as his equal. That is, until he enlists in the Continental Army without consulting her first.

News of starvation and disease at Valley Forge trigger Anna’s long-buried fears. Orphaned at age nine, she spent her youth as an indentured servant. If her husband dies, their children will be “orphans” too, under the law. Anna knows firsthand she will have no influence in her children’s lives if Benjamin should perish. It is better to sacrifice herself to save him.

Anna’s uncle, who was once her guardian, offers to bankroll her trip, but tricks her into delivering funds to finance a smuggling ring that steals supplies from the army.

Furious, Anna tries to undo the damage. She gets her chance when a congressman asks her to carry an urgent message to General Washington that warns the commander in chief of a conspiracy to remove him from his position and derail the revolution. But just hours into her mission, an intimidating man blocks her path and demands she give him the message. Anna has only one choice—outwit and outrun her pursuer the remaining 80 miles to Valley Forge.

• This reply was modified 2 years, 6 months ago by  Tracy Lawson.

[Tracy Lawson]

Tracy Lawson solved character problems!

What I learned: after I addressed the structural problems, new ways to strengthen the characters became apparent.

In Act 1, I saw an opportunity both for foreshadowing Anna’s uncle’s treachery, and also revealing his own wounds and worries, to make him more human.

In Act 2, I made Anna react more viscerally when she is threatened in a tavern (woman traveling alone = not good) and rather than just throw a drink in the man’s face, she grabs the knife from her place setting and threatens him with it. Then, a bit horrified by her own reaction, she flees. Back on the road, a short flashback reveals a moment from Anna’s past when she could not defend herself.

[Tracy Lawson]

Tracy’s Structure Solutions

I absolutely love discovering and solving problems in my script.

I will do whatever it takes to become a successful author and screenwriter with multiple bestselling books and screenplays produced.

What I learned from doing the assignment is that some of the flashbacks I loved in the novel and thought would be indispensable in the screenplay fit better as a montage with Anna’s voice over.

In Act 1: There was a weak layer beneath the surface. Anna is a healer, yet we never see her in that role until the very end of the screenplay. I added a scene in which Anna is called to care for a woman who has contracted smallpox. She contends with a rival healer, whose treatments are rooted in superstition. She fulfills the sick woman’s request and inoculates her children, even though it’s against the law in Virginia.

Also in Act 1: Missed the outline. I didn’t include flashbacks in the original outline, but as I wrote the first draft, I felt the need to add some of Anna and Benjamin’s backstory, to cement their relationship and increase the viewer’s connection to Anna. After reading through the finished first draft, I opted to remove some of the flashback scenes and combine them into a montage, in which Anna stands in her vacant home, reflecting on the life she and Benjamin built together. She recalls her first friend group, meeting her future husband, and how their courtship and marriage satisfied her craving for both love and security. She loved her nerdy rebel—but she never expected him to become a warrior.

In Act 2: There was a weak layer beneath the surface here, too. The first day of Anna’s journey is harder than she expected. When she stops for the night, her hostess warns her that nothing is as it seems—Tories and spies are everywhere. I added a scene in which Mrs. Champe admonishes Anna for making the journey in the first place. Upon reflection, Anna decides to heed all Mrs. Champe’s advice except for one thing—she will not turn back.

Also in Act 2: Need Stronger Midpoint: Anna meets Congressman Harrison, who will soon charge her with carrying the message to General Washington. I decided it would increase the tension if the audience knew more about what was in the letter than Anna did, so I added a scene in which Harrison overhears the conspirators plotting against Washington, then hurries to bring the letter to Anna.

Act 3 and 4: Script didn’t match the pitch: I took three scenes from the end of Act 3 and the beginning of Act 4 and moved them to be a teaser at the beginning of the story. This matches the structure of the story in the novel, and drops the viewer into the action immediately, akin to the opening of Breaking Bad. Then, we see Anna’s life before the inciting incident that put her on her current path.

[Tracy Lawson]

Tracy’s High Concept/Elevator Pitch

Based on a true story: a woman on her way to Valley Forge with supplies for her husband and brothers is recruited as a spy—and now the fate of the American Revolution rests in her hands.

What I learned doing this assignment: it’s very hard to boil down your entire screenplay and get to the heart of what’s most important and what will inspire the listener to “see” the whole film.

[Tracy Lawson]

Tracy’s Ten Most Interesting Things

Logline: On a mission of mercy to Valley Forge, Anna is recruited as a spy—and now she holds the fate of the Revolution in her hands. Can she avoid capture and deliver the game-changing message to General Washington in time?

Unique Hero

She sets off to save her man and ends up saving the entire American Revolution.

Orphaned indentured servant; will do anything to spare her children from the same fate.

Betrayal:

Benjamin vows their marriage is an equal partnership. Then he enlists without telling her.

Her uncle bankrolls her trip—and tricks her into delivering funds to a smuggling ring.

Emotional Dilemma:

Sacrifice herself to save her husband.

Delays getting provisions to her sick brothers to save the Revolution.

Major Twists:

In the final mile of the 200-mile trip, Anna’s horse throws her. Disoriented in the dark, she remounts and rides the wrong way—right into the path of her pursuer.

Traveling alone broadens Anna’s experiences and challenges her beliefs and perceptions.

Reversals

Fears enemy soldiers—but Hessians rescue her from some robbers

Big surprises:

Anna and Benjamin defy her family’s wishes and elope—then Anna’s sister-in-law goes into labor at the wedding.

Anna, once a healer, becomes a saboteur–and meets Washington, Hamilton, and the Marquis de Lafayette.

[Tracy Lawson]

Tracy’s what do managers and producers need?

How would I present Revolutionary Anna to a producer?

A marketable product: Revolutionary Anna is a drama with elements of suspense set during the American Revolution. It is based on the true story of Anna Stone, a Virginia minister’s wife who helped thwart a conspiracy that threatened Washington’s command during the winter at Valley Forge.

A well-written product: The screenplay is adapted from my novel, Answering Liberty’s Call, which was an Editors’ Choice selection in the Historical Novel Society’s Summer 2021 review journal. It received honorable mention in the Historical Fiction Company’s international book awards in 2021 and has glowing reviews on Amazon. The book is solid foundation for a moving and dramatic screenplay.

Written for their market: Historical fiction; patriotic; a tale with family drama, suspense, and romance; based on a true story; unique in its genre; a desirable role for a female lead.

The story is female centric. We see Anna, secure in her 18^th century sphere as wife, mother, and healer, step into the man’s world of war and politics. Her actions drive the narrative. She is not a foil or a pawn.

Though Anna behaves and thinks like an 18^th century woman, she shares concerns we have today, like women and children’s rights and social issues, health care, and a corrupt government’s impact on society. Her character was crafted to reflect the real woman. She was progressive for her time but is not a 21^st-century social justice warrior.

What does a manager want:

Marketable products: Revolutionary Anna (potential for a follow-up starring Eliza Wilkinson, adapted from Patriot of the Low Country)

Will continue to write scripts that will sell: Home of the Free TV pilot and show bible. Would be interested in revising this project with a manager’s advice and guidance

Listen and collaborate well: happy to collaborate

Can focus on paid writing assignments: sure

Revolutionary Anna is an example of the kind of female characters I create. My screenplay comes from historical stories grounded in fact and presented as high-concept suspense dramas.

I am happy to collaborate with other writers and to take paid writing assignments.

[Tracy Lawson]

Tracy’s Marketable Components for REVOLUTIONARY ANNA

What I learned doing this assignment: I learned that many of the compelling elements of my screenplay are interrelated.

Logline: On a mission of mercy to Valley Forge, Anna is recruited as a spy—and now she holds the fate of the Revolution in her hands. Can she avoid capture and deliver a message to General Washington in time?

A. Unique. A
never-before-told story of a not-famous woman’s role in America’s fight
for independence.

B. Great Title:
Revolutionary Anna

C. True: Based
on a true story.

D. Timely: The 250th
anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence is in 2026.

E. It’s a first:
A Revolutionary War film with a female protagonist. She is not a pawn or a
foil. She is the lead.

F. Ultimate.

G. Wide audience
appeal. This is not a retelling of a story that once starred a man. It is
not a “girl power” story that devolves into man-hating. It is based on the
true story of a female American patriot. Anna is a self-educated 18^th
century woman who, while concerned with many of the same things as modern
viewers, is not incorrectly portrayed as a 21^st century
social-justice warrior.

H. Adapted from
a popular book. It is adapted from my book Answering Liberty’s Call.

I. Similarity to
a box-office success.

J. A great role
for a bankable actor. Anna is a competent wife, mother, and healer, secure
in her 18^th century domestic sphere. When the need arises, she
steps into a the man’s world of war and politics, where she travels alone, sometimes in men’s clothing,
learns spy craft on the job, and repeatedly outwits the man sent to steal
the message she carries. Anna’s grit, her determination to hold her family
together, her fierce love and devotion for her preacher-turned-soldier
husband, and her willingness to sacrifice for the cause of American
independence, make her a compelling role for a young actress.

• This reply was modified 2 years, 7 months ago by  Tracy Lawson.
• This reply was modified 2 years, 7 months ago by  Tracy Lawson.
• This reply was modified 2 years, 7 months ago by  Tracy Lawson.

[Tracy Lawson]

Tracy Lawson’s Project and Market

Title: Revolutionary Anna

This is a previously-untold story of a woman who risks her life to thwart a conspiracy against General Washington during the darkest hour of the American Revolution.

I will target actors’ production companies first, because I want to put this concept in front of actresses who will want to be Anna Stone.

What I learned today is there are different ways to reach out to people who have the power to get my movie made.

[Tracy Lawson]

Hi! I’m Tracy Lawson.

I’ve written ten books–four nonfiction and six novels, with another novel in progress.

I’ve written two scripts that have been produced, but they’ve both been local. One was for a dance outreach group about the Harlem Renaissance, and the other, a local ghost tour (yes, of course I brought in psychics for my research) that sold out both nights and generated a nice nest egg for the historical society.

I’ve taken three other Screenwriting U classes. I adapted books I’ve written for Bingeworthy TV and Writing Incredible Movies, and I hope to make solid connections to get my work in front of power players, because, like all of you, I have something to say and I want to share my stories with the largest possible audience.

My previous career was in dance and educational theater. I’m phasing out of that part of my life, but I’ve choreographed and helped stage 36 musicals for middle and high school students.

I started working at my daughter’s school when she was a sixth grader, and old enough to audition for her first musical. This is my last year. She’s grown and married, and a college professor. I’ve worked with hundreds of talented kids and seen many go on to careers in the performing arts. I’d really love to see one of my former students in a film I wrote someday.

Two years ago, we bought the second-oldest house in Wylie, Texas, and now I work part-time for the city’s Parks and Rec department, managing their Welcome Center and museum. It’s in a house just a few years newer than mine!

• This reply was modified 2 years, 7 months ago by  Tracy Lawson.

[Tracy Lawson]

Hi! I’m Tracy Lawson. I agree to the terms of this release form:

As a member of this group, I agree to the following:

1. That I will keep the processes, strategies, teleconferences, communications, lessons, and models of the class confidential, and that I will NOT share any of this program either privately, with a group, posting online, writing articles, through video or computer programming, or in any other way that would make those processes, teleconferences, communications, lessons, and models of the class available to anyone who is not a member of this class.

2. That each writer’s work here is copyrighted and that writer is the sole owner of that work. That includes this program which is copyrighted by Hal Croasmun. I acknowledge that submission of an idea to this group constitutes a claim of and the recognition of ownership of that idea.

I will keep the other writer’s ideas and writing confidential and will not share this information with anyone without the express written permission of the writer/owner. I will not market or even discuss this information with anyone outside this group.

3. I also understand that many stories and ideas are similar and/or have common themes and from time to time, two or more people can independently and simultaneously generate the same concept or movie idea.

4. If I have an idea that is the same as or very similar to another group member’s idea, I’ll immediately contact Hal and present proof that I had this idea prior to the beginning of the class. If Hal deems them to be the same idea or close enough to cause harm to either party, he’ll request both parties to present another concept for the class.

5. If you don’t present proof to Hal that you have the same idea as another person, you agree that all ideas presented to this group are the sole ownership of the person who presented them and you will not write or market another group member’s ideas.

6. Finally, I agree not to bring suit against anyone in this group for any reason, unless they use a substantial portion of my copyrighted work in a manner that is public and/or that prevents me from marketing my script by shopping it to production companies, agents, managers, actors, networks, studios or any other entertainment industry organizations or people.

This completes the Group Release Form for the class.

[Tracy Lawson]

Tracy has finished Act 4!

I will do whatever it takes to become a successful author and screenwriter with multiple successful movies produced.

I’m feeling good about my first draft and can’t wait to go through feedback swaps and subsequent drafts.

[Tracy Lawson]

Tracy Finished Act 4

I learned that I still had some room available, and I can try to add more details to enrich the characters and fill in some back story I though I’d have to abandon.

[Tracy Lawson]

Tracy’s Continuing Act 3

I will do whatever it takes to become a successful author and screenwriter with multiple successful films produced.

Work has been crazy busy for the past few weeks. My staff and I at the Welcome Center are opening our first public exhibit on the mourning fashions and rituals of the Victorian era, as well as organizing the city’s first-ever ghost tour. Guess who wrote the script! We sold out. Now we just have to deliver.

A few weeks ago our HVAC line in the attic got clogged, leaked, and our upstairs bathroom ceiling fell in, necessitating an unexpected renovation. Yay! I get new bathrooms!

Boy, am I glad I’m adapting a novel I wrote using Screenwriting U techniques. When I finally got back to the first draft, I was able to pound out dozens of pages on Saturday, and even more today.

I got all the way to the end of Act 4!

Anyway, that’s why I hadn’t posted in the forums for Module 5 yet.

[Tracy Lawson]

Ian Greenham and I exchanged feedback.

Farrin Rosenthal and I have agreed to exchange feedback.

[Tracy Lawson]

I’m ready for feedback! I tried to reach out using the directions in our assignment and can’t send anyone a message. Could someone please post how or contact me?

Revolutionary Anna is a period drama based on actual events. A woman bringing supplies to her husband at Valley Forge agrees to carry an urgent message from a congressman to General Washington. Now an assassin is hunting her, trying to get the message back.

Edit: I tried to follow the directions in the class assignment to connect with someone. I clicked on photos and names, and I can’t send any of you messages, not even Cheryl.

• This reply was modified 2 years, 9 months ago by  Tracy Lawson. Reason: I can't follow the directions given in the class assignment
• This reply was modified 2 years, 9 months ago by  Tracy Lawson.

[Tracy Lawson]

Tracy’s Fascinating Scene Outlines!

I love discovering interesting ways to write scenes through Interest Techniques!

I will do whatever it takes to become a successful author and screenwriter with multiple successful movies produced.

ACT 1:

SCENE 1: INT. UNCLE WILLIAM’S HOUSE – NIGHT

Beginning: Anna tries to remain cheerful at her family’s Twelfth Night party, but she wishes her soldier husband, Benjamin, was home from serving in the Continental Army.

(Misinterpretation) When an uninvited guest arrives, Anna sees a dark-haired man and thinks it is Benjamin.

(Twist) It is not Benjamin, but Thomas, Anna’s brother-in-law. She fears he’s come to tell her Benjamin is dead.

(Twist) Thomas deserted from the army and brought home the body of their other brother, Baylis, who died in camp.

Middle: (Superior Position) Anna’s Uncle William baits Thomas by criticizing the army and General Washington.

(Surprise) Anna supports the war. It is hard to hear of the terrible conditions at Valley Forge.

Ending: (Internal dilemma) Thomas’s visit makes Anna aware of dangers she could ignore before.

SCENE 2: EXT. VIRGINIA COUNTRYSIDE – DAY

Beginning: (Internal dilemma) Anna, worrying about Benjaminm, canvasses neighbors for supplies to send to the soldiers.

Essence: She cannot be with Benjamin so she tries to help any way she can.

Middle: (Internal Dilemma) She is a healer. She cannot help all the soldiers who are suffering, and may not even be able to help Benjamin

(Suspense) If Benjamin dies, she and the children will be at the mercy of the orphan’s court. The children will be taken from her.

Ending: (Uncomfortable moment) The warm clothes she collects may not be enough to sustain her husband and brothers.

SCENE 3: INT. TAVERN – DAY

Beginning: (Suspense) Anna stops in a tavern to warm up. A letter from Benjamin is waiting. He has no warm clothes, and her brothers are ill with smallpox.

Essence: Anna’s fears for Benjamin and her brothers are confirmed.

Middle: (Uncertainty) She cannot help him in time.

Subtext: If all four of them die, she will have no advocate.

Intrigue: Anna’s father died when she and her brothers were young. They suffered.

Ending: (Character changes radically) She decides her children will not suffer as she did. She must go to Valley Forge with the supplies.

SCENE 4: INT. THOMAS’S HOUSE –DAY

Beginning: Anna seeks advice about traveling to Valley Forge from her brother-in-law.

Essence: Anna has decided she must go to Valley Forge herself.

(Uncertainty) Betsy, Thomas’s wife, is horrified that Anna would consider such a thing.

Middle: (Uncomfortable Moment) Thomas tries to discourage her, but when she insists on going anyway, he reluctantly sketches her a map.

(Suspense) Will Anna sacrifice herself to save her husband?

Ending: (Internal dilemma) Anna and Benjamin could both die and leave their children alone in the world.

SCENE 5: INT. UNCLE WILLIAM’S HOUSE –DAY

Beginning: (Surprise/Misinterpretation) William does not try to talk her out of going. He offers to bankroll her trip if she will deliver a letter and a payment to a business associate of hers on the way.

Essence: Anna prepares to defy her uncle and go; instead, he offers support.

Anna’s cousin lends her clothes for the journey. Her daughter helps her pack food for the men. Anna’s mother makes one last attempt to talk Anna out of making the dangerous trip.

(Uncomfortable Moment) Anna’s mother tries to talk her out of going. What if she is assaulted on the way? Anna’s daughter innocently asks if she will remember Anna when she returns.

Subtext: Anna must do something a mother (in the 1770s) would not do—abandon her family at home.

Ending: (Suspense) Even with William’s financial support, will Anna reach Valley Forge in time?

ACT 2:

SCENE 6: EXT. VIRGINIA COUNTRYSIDE – DAY

Beginning: (Intrigue) Anna departs on a cold, rainy morning.

(Mystery) She is being followed. Are her mother’s dire predictions coming true already??

Essence: Anna’s mother sends Manso, one of their enslaved men, to follow her.

Middle: (Superior Position) Anna wants to be independent. Though Manso often accompanies her on errands, this time she must go alone.

Subtext: She doesn’t want anyone else endangered by her choices.

Ending: (External Dilemma) The rainy weather makes the roads treacherous and slows her down.

SCENE 7: INT. TAVERN – DAY

Beginning: (Uncomfortable Moment) Anna stops at a tavern to eat and warm up. A man propositions her, thinking she is a prostitute.

Essence: At home, Anna was known as a healer and respected wife. Now no one knows her.

Middle: (Uncertainty) As a woman, she cannot travel alone safely. She should have allowed Manso to escort her.

Subtext: On the surface, people will not see her for who she is.

Ending: (Character changes radically) Anna throws her cider in the man’s face and rushes out. She has stood up for herself.

SCENE 8: EXT. VIRGINIA COUNTRYSIDE – NIGHT

Beginning: (Surprise) At dusk, men working at a mill stop Anna and hold her at gunpoint.

(Uncomfortable Moment) They think she is a decoy for a band of robbers who steal flour.

(Uncertainty) They let Anna go and direct her to the home of a widow who takes in boarders.

Middle: Essence: Anna finds shelter for the night

(Uncomfortable Moment) She fell short, covering only half the miles she intended that day. Travel was harder than she expected. Should she return home?

Subtext: Her hostess warns her traitors and spies are everywhere.

Ending: (Uncertainty) Anna hopes her hostess’s dire predictions are exaggerated/She fears she might not even be safe among other patriots.

SCENE 9: INT. THOMPSON MANSION – DAY

Beginning: (Uncomfortable moment) Anna delivers her uncle’s letter to his business associate. The man’s servants make Anna, who is mud-spattered and tired, feel “less than.”

(Uncomfortable moment) Anna is invited to stay but declines.

Middle: (Major Twist) Anna overhears that her uncle’s money is financing a smuggling operation to arm British POWs.

(Betrayal) She did not know what the payment was for.

Subtext: (Internal Dilemma) Anna has abetted their operation, doing far more harm to the army than any good she might do.

Ending: (Character changes radically) Anna decides to alert the authorities about the smugglers.

(Suspense) If she fails, the smuggled goods will aid British soldiers that might fight against her husband.

SCENE 10: EXT. POTOMAC RIVER CROSSING – DAY

Beginning: (Suspense) Anna pursues the smugglers’ wagons to the Maryland border.

(Major Twist) In her haste to cross the river, her horse spooks and she falls in the icy water.

Middle: Intrigue (conflict): She nearly dies in the river, and the smugglers get away.

Subtext: She risks her life again

Ending: (Cliffhanger) Anna, helpless, is swept downriver.

The ferryman plunges in after her and helps her to shore.

SCENE 11: INT. FERRYMAN’S HOUSE –DAY

Beginning: (Uncomfortable moment) The ferryman’s wife tends to Anna, helps her dry out her clothes and warm up.

Essence: Anna must stop and take a moment. Regroup. Dry off.

(External dilemma) The smugglers are getting away!

Middle: (Internal dilemma) She must stay calm and focused, or she will endanger herself over and over.

Ending: (Uncomfortable moment) Refusing help from the ferryman’s wife, Anna hurries away, hair still wet, to catch the smugglers.

SCENE 12: EXT. THE CAROLINA ROAD NEAR FREDERICKSBURG, MD –DAY

Beginning: (Suspense) Bent on making up lost time, Anna gallops north in pursuit of the smugglers.

(Major Twist) She is waylaid by three highwaymen.

Middle: (Cliffhanger) What will they do to her? Assault? Murder? Was her mother right??

Subtext: She is making the same mistake—charging ahead without thinking.

Ending (Uncomfortable moment/Cliffhanger) She tries to bargain for her release, but fears she will be robbed, raped, and murdered. No one will ever know what became of her. She will fail her loved ones.

SCENE 13: EXT. WOODS IN MARYLAND –DAY

Beginning: (Surprise) Two Hessian soldiers attack and kill the highwaymen.

Essence: Has she been saved, or will the Hessians brutalize her?

Middle: (Uncertainty) The soldiers with the most terrifying reputation of all turn out to be her saviors. They are POWs under the watch of one of Washington’s spies.

Subtext: You can’t always believe what you hear.

Ending: (Uncertainty) Will she be safe with the enemy? Will she ever be safe on the road?

SCENE 14: INT. FARMHOUSE –NIGHT

Beginning: (Major twist) The spy, Ludwick, invites Anna to stay with his friends, a German immigrant family, for the night.

Essence: The Hessians are the enemy. She spends the night at the house of a former Hessian soldier.

Middle: (Surprise) They are friendly and kind.

Subtext: We are all Americans, ja?

Ending: (Intrigue) She has wasted so much time.

Ludwick offers to travel with her the next day and suggests she dress in Benjamin’s clothes so she can travel unnoticed.

SCENE 15: EXT. PENNSYLVANIA COUNTRYSIDE – DAY

Beginning: (Intrigue) Ludwick teaches her survival skills and spy craft as they travel.

Essence: A woman can survive alone if she has skills.

Middle: (Intrigue/Conflict) She must hide who she is to survive.

Subtext: She is learning the skills she will need.

Ending: They part ways on the road to York. Anna fears she is traveling too slowly.

(Internal dilemma) Have the smugglers gotten away?

SCENE 16: EXT. TAVERN, YORK PA –DAY

Beginning: (Uncomfortable moment) Anna listens to a speech by General Gates. She disagrees with him and dislikes his demeanor.

Middle: (Surprise) Harrison, a congressman, escorts her to Benjamin’s aunt and uncle’s house.

Essence: The war, and patriotism, look different to different people.

Subtext: Gates is not to be trusted.

Ending: (Intrigue) Will Gates take control of the army from Washington?

The aunt and uncle receive Anna with joy and invite Harrison to return for tea.

SCENE 17: INT. AUNT AND UNCLE’S HOUSE – NIGHT

Beginning: (Major twist) Harrison, late, barges in. He asks Anna to carry a secret message to Washington, warning him of a conspiracy.

(Mystery) Anna agrees not to read the message for her own safety.

Essence: Anna’s mission is getting more urgent—and more dangerous.

Middle: (Intrigue/Conflict) Anna wants to hurry to Benjamin. This extra responsibility weighs on her.

(Intrigue) Anna agrees to take the message because by refusing to, the entire army could suffer.

Subtext: She has been accused of being a spy many times on the trip. Now she will be one.

Suspense: Will Anna go undetected by the enemy?

ACT 3:

SCENE 18: EXT. YORK, PA –DAWN

Beginning: (Suspense) Anna sets off with the message.

Essence: She must keep her cool and get the message past the conspirators’ henchman.

(Intrigue/Conflict) The extra mission could delay her arrival at Valley Forge, and delay the supplies for her loved ones.

Subtext: Is she ready to be a spy?

Hope/Fear: She hopes no one will notice her. She fears carrying the message will get her in big trouble if she’s discovered.

Middle: (Suspense) As she rides slowly through the town, soldiers stop and search men on horseback.

Ending: (Cliffhanger) Anna sees another man, a civilian, watching her.

SCENE 19: EXT. MARKET TOWN – DAY

Beginning: (Surprise) The man on horseback gallops up and blocks Anna’s way.

Essence: He’s going to get the message back.

Conflict: Will Anna get caught?

Middle: (Character Changes Radically) When he demands she give him the message, she denies she has it, puts the whip to her horse, and runs for it.

(Suspense) Will he harm Anna to get the message?

Ending: (Superior Position) Anna rides through the crowd at a market, scatters livestock and people, and loses her pursuer. She hides and watches him until he gives up and goes into a tavern.

SCENE 20: EXT. FERRY CROSSING ON THE SUSQUEHANNAH – DAY

Beginning: Anna gallops toward Valley Forge—there are still about 70 miles to go!

(Major Twist) She reaches the ferry crossing ahead of her pursuer. There is a huge crowd waiting to cross, and just two ferry boats.

Essence: She is trapped—or is she?

Middle: (Intrigue/Conflict) The last time she tried a ferry crossing, the horse spooked, and Anna nearly drowned. This river is nearly a mile wide—with ice chunks in it.

Subtext: Her fear of the henchman exceeds her fear of the river.

Hope/fear: We hope Anna will get on one of the boats before the henchman finds her in the crowd. We fear the horse will be frightened again and endanger Anna.

Middle: (Intrigue/Deception) Anna bribes the ferryman to let her cross first.

Essence: Anna asserts herself, and the crowd reacts angrily.

Conflict: She jumped the line, and ends up on the ferry with the smugglers, who have been delayed by the bad weather and the crowds.

Ending: (Suspense) Will Anna fall in the river again? Will the smugglers recognize her?

SCENE 21: EXT. MILITARY CHECKPOINT – DAY

Beginning: (Superior Position) Anna gets ahead of the smugglers as they left the ferry and alerts soldiers at a checkpoint about them.

Essence: She is completing the first of her goals.

Middle: (Intrigue/Conflict) She stays longer than she hoped at the checkpoint, allowing the henchman to close the gap.

Subtext: She must make sacrifices that could keep her from saving her husband and brothers.

Ending: (Character changes radically) Anna opens the letter to Washington, intending to memorize it in case it is taken.

(Major Twist) The letter is in code!

(Mystery) Anna copies it into her notebook anyway.

SCENE 22: INT. STABLE AT TAVERN – NIGHT

Beginning: (Mislead) Anna arrives at a tavern, and before she seeks lodging, she finds an empty stall in the stable and changes into Benjamin’s clothes.

Essence: She changes into her disguise, fearing the henchman is closing in.

Middle: (Surprise) The henchman arrives at the stable—but in the dusk, he mistakes her for the stable boy!

Subtext: She is surviving—and that knowledge makes her brave enough to sabotage the henchman

(Intrigue) Anna plays along and takes the horse’s reins.

(Major Twist) The henchman goes inside the tavern. Anna cannot go inside without risking being recognized.

Ending: (Superior Position) Anna goes to the kitchen door, and lets the kitchen maid think she’s a battered wife who has run away from her husband.

(Superior Position) Anna spikes the man’s drink, so she can sleep inside, not in the barn. Will she get away unnoticed at first light?

SCENE 23: INT. STABLE AT TAVERN – MORNING

Beginning: (Superior Position) Anna removes a shoe on the henchman’s horse, to delay his start.

Essence: She has grown bolder with her success.

(Surprise) The henchman, hung over, enters the stable just as she removes the shoe.

(Surprise) Anna jabs the horse with a nail, causing it to buck and keep the henchman from coming into the stall.

The horse kicks him, and Anna rushes past, getting to her horse and riding away by the skin of her teeth.

Ending: (Cliffhanger) The henchman is humiliated—and running out of time. What will he do to Anna if he catches her?

SCENE 24: EXT. RIDGE ROAD – DUSK

Beginning: (Mystery) Anna, weary, nears Valley Forge. When she meets civilians burying dead soldiers, she stops at a field hospital on the road to make sure her family is not there.

Essence: She has gone back into wife/sister/healer mode

(External Dilemma) The henchman is still out there somewhere—and he’s running out of time to get the message before she reaches Valley Forge.

(Suspense) The decision to stop could derail her. The henchman catches up and searches the hospital for her. She hides under a sheet among some corpses.

Ending: (Uncomfortable moment) We hope the henchman isn’t brave enough to lift the sheets on the dead. We fear Anna will be discovered or catch some disease from the dead soldiers.

ACT 4:

SCENE 25: EXT. VALLEY FORGE ARMY CAMP PICKET LINE – NIGHT

Beginning: (Mislead) The doctor at the hospital sends Anna’s pursuer down the wrong road in pursuit of her. Anna hurries toward Valley Forge.

(Cliffhanger) In a patch of dark woods, Anna’s horse throws her and runs off. Anna is alone in the dark, her mission unfulfilled.

(Surprise) The horse returns. Back in the saddle, Anna hurries onward.

(Major Twist) As she emerges from the woods, Anna sees a tavern, and a man on horseback by the door. It is her pursuer. She got turned around and is traveling the wrong way!

Middle: (Suspense) Anna wheels around and races into the pitch black, her pursuer right behind. With her pursuer in sight, Anna rides up to the picket line and demands to see Washington. The soldiers laugh at her.

Essence: Even now, she is believed to be a spy—or a decoy for the enemy.

(Subtext/Conflict) Can she make the soldiers believe her—and go catch the pursuer?

Subtext: She has become a spy—but she is detained by the people she is trying to help.

Ending: (Cliffhanger) We hope the soldiers will believe her. We fear the henchman will convince the soldiers Anna is the liar.

SCENE 26: EXT. ARMY CAMP – NIGHT

Beginning: (Mystery) The henchman exchanges gunfire with the soldiers then rides off. The soldiers, not sure what to think, detain Anna and escort her to headquarters, but not because they believe her.

(Major Twist) They meet Benjamin, Anna’s husband, on the path.

Middle: (Surprise) Anna leaps into Benjamin’s arms.

Conflict: (not really conflict) Benjamin is astounded to see Anna, can’t believe she is there. She tells him some details of her journey.

Subtext: She is Benjamin’s equal in bravery and sacrifice.

Ending: Will Benjamin’s presence help Anna get to see Washington? If the the commander doesn’t believe her all her sacrifice will be in vain.

SCENE 27: INT. WASHINGTON’S HEADQURTERS – NIGHT

Beginning: (Uncertainty) Anna delivers the letter to the commander in chief.

Essence: She has done it. She has completed the mission.

Middle: (Uncertainty) Washington is polite but doesn’t indicate whether he will read the letter.

(Surprise) Washington offers Anna an escort home. Benjamin is assigned to the detail that will see Anna back to Virginia and then return to Valley Forge escorting Lady Washington.

Subtext: Anna must be content with what she can get—a reunion with Benjamin, and his company on her return trip.

(Uncomfortable moment) Anna asks Benjamin not to re-up for another term of enlistment and come home with her. She fears if he stays, her efforts to save him will ultimately fail.

Ending: Anna visits her brothers in the hospital, then goes with Benjamin to his quarters. The others soldiers vacate to give them some privacy.

(Mystery) After making love, they talk about the encounter with Washington. Anna shows Benjamin her copy of the coded message.

SCENE 28: EXT. ARMY CAMP –DAY

Beginning: Anna wakes at reveille. Benjamin leaves for roll call and his duties.

After she tidies the cabin, Anna explores Valley Forge.

Middle: (Surprise) Anna is summoned to headquarters.

(Superior Position) Gen. Hamilton tells her Washington has read the letter and its contents give details of the conspiracy.

(Superior Position) Anna sees members of the Board of War arrive at Valley Forge.

Essence: Anna knows they are there to gather evidence to remove Washington and appoint Gates.

(Intrigue/Conflict) She is dying to know what goes on behind closed doors.

Subtext: She is a spy!

Ending: (Cliffhanger) Anna knows Washington read the message. Will it be enough? Will the army mutiny if Washington does not prevail and Gates takes over?

SCENE 29: VALLEY FORGE CAMP – DAY

Beginning: Anna and Benjamin prepare to leave camp with the detail.

Middle: Her brothers are recovering. The camp is quiet. There is no evidence of trouble.

Ending: (Superior Position) Anna says she’ll tell Benjamin all about her travels on the way home.

SCENE 30: INT. TAVERN IN YORK, PA – NIGHT

Beginning: Anna and Benjamin meet with Harrison, who fills them in on more details of the conspiracy.

Essence: The conspiracy has been diffused.

Middle: (Intrigue) The serving maid is so busy their meal is delayed. There is a private party at Gates’s house next door. Anna offers to help wait table at the party.

(Intrigue/Conflict) Anna helps serve the second course. Gates is a sore loser. Still trying to take control and remove Washington’s best allies by sending Lafayette to invade Canada.

(Uncomfortable Moment) Lafayette refuses to disparage Washington. He will not invade Canada unless properly equipped. He raises a glass to Washington. Gates is neutralized. Anna is a witness to a moment that makes history.

(Superior Position) Anna returns to Benjamin and the congressman, excited and hopeful that Lafayette’s toast to Washington portends future success for the army.

[Tracy Lawson]

Tracy’s Intriguing Moments

I am great at discovering and creating intriguing moments!

I will do whatever it takes to become a successful author and screenwriter with multiple successful screenplays produced.

ACT 1:

Cover up: Anna’s brother-in-law visits at Christmas, home from the army.

Mystery: Why has he come home unexpectedly?

Scheme: He has deserted from the Continental Army and smuggled out the dead body of his younger brother, disguising him as an officer so his body will be sent home for burial instead of dumped in a mass grave.

Intrigue: Anna’s Uncle William disparages the army in front of Thomas, baiting him about how Washington has lost too many battles that fall.

Conspiracy: William, who was in favor of the war at first, is now financing a smuggling ring that is sending supplies to British POWs to aid a breakout.

Scheme: When Anna receives a letter from her husband that confirms the terrible conditions at Valley Forge, she collects supplies and plans to take them herself.

Mystery: Anna knows the danger she will face on the road, yet she insists on going herself. Why?

Covert Agenda: William offers to bankroll her trip—if she delivers a letter and a check to his business associate on the way.

ACT 2:

Intrigue: Anna sets off for Valley Forge alone. Every time she interacts with someone she is assumed to be a prostitute or a spy, as she is without male escort.

Mystery: Why does Anna believe she cannot trust this errand to anyone else, even though it means leaving her 3 small children at home with her relatives?

Intrigue: Anna finds lodgings for the night with a widow, whose son is in the army. She warns Anna spies and traitors are everywhere and that she is in grave danger by making the trip.

Covert Agenda: Anna’s father died when she was a child and Anna knows the hardships widows and orphans face in society and in the court system. She must preserve her family.

Scheme: When Anna deliver’s her uncle’s letter she overhears that the payment is meant to finance the smuggling operation.

Covert Agenda: Anna follows the wagons with the secret cache of guns and supplies, hoping to thwart the smugglers before they can reach the British POWs.

Scheme: Anna is intent on following the wagons. As she searches for them, she is set upon by two highwaymen and is rescued by an older man who says he is a local magistrate.

Conspiracy: The “magistrate” is part of the gang of highwaymen, and the ruse was to direct her off the main road so they can rob and rape her. She tries to bargain for her release by telling them of the secret cache of weapons on the road just ahead.

Superior position: Two Hessian soldiers lurk in the shadows nearby

Intrigue: Before Anna is harmed the soldiers kill the highwaymen and signal that she is to come with them. Has she fallen prey to the enemy with the most brutal reputation of all?

Hidden identity: An older man, Ludwick, who is with the Hessians, reveals he is a spy for General Washington. They overheard her bargaining with the highwaymen and have connections in the next town that can warn the POW camp commandants in the area to be on the lookout for the smugglers.

Hidden Identity: Ludwick suggests Anna dress in her husband’s clothes on the road to avoid unwanted attention. He rides with her for two days, and teaches her some spycraft and survival skills.

Intrigue: At York, Anna witnesses General Gates give a speech and overhears several men criticize General Washington. Are there really so many who would want Gates to replace Washington?

Conspiracy: A congressman approaches Anna with an urgent message that must reach Washington right away–about a conspiracy against him.

Cover up: Anna agrees to carry the message to Valley Forge as his secret courier.

ACT 3:

Covert Agenda: Anna sets off with the message and sees soldiers stopping other (male) riders and searching their belongings.

Cover up: When a man confronts Anna and demands the message back, she lies and says she doesn’t know what he’s talking about, puts the whip to her horse, and gallops away.

Intrigue: The man doesn’t even try to catch her. Why? She realizes he knows she is headed for Valley Forge and will simply track her until there is an opportune moment to take the message.

Scheme: At the next ferry crossing Anna bribes the ferryman to take her across ahead of her pursuer. She ends up on the same ferry as the smugglers, who have been delayed by the bad weather. The ice on the river is treacherous, so the ferry did not run.

Scheme: With at least two hours’ head start on her pursuer, Anna stops and tells the authorities about the smugglers.

Intrigue: The delay has allowed her pursuer to catch up—and they end up at the same tavern for the night.

Cover up: The conspirator doesn’t recognize Anna in the dim light. She is dressed in her husband’s clothes again. She bribes a kitchen maid to let her spike the man’s drink, and then spends the night hidden in the kitchen larder.

Scheme: The next morning, Anna hobbles the man’s horse by removing one of its shoes, and escapes just in time.

Intrigue: As she nears Valley Forge, she passes a field hospital. Are her husband or brothers ill inside? She stops, spends too much time there, and her pursuer catches up once again.

ACT 4:

Intrigue: When Anna reaches the Valley Forge picket line ahead of her pursuer, the soldiers there accuse her of being a spy and don’t believe she needs to see the general.

Superior position: When the pursuer shows himself, they exchange gunfire, but he escapes. The soldiers take Anna into custody, unsure if she’s part of some larger plot.

Superior position: As the soldiers escort her to headquarters, they pass her husband, Benjamin, on the path. Anna’s horse, and then Anna, recognizes him.

Intrigue: Washington meets with Anna and Benjamin and accepts the message but does not say he’ll read it. Was Anna’s mission in vain?

Superior position: The second day, the Board of War arrives, and Anna knows why they are there—to gather evidence to remove Washington and appoint Gates commander in chief.

Scheme: Alexander Hamilton summons Anna and tells her the message has been read and acted upon, and that it helped the commander prepare to meet his detractors. The plot has been neutralized.

[Tracy Lawson]

Tracy’s Emotional Moments

I will do whatever it takes to become a successful author and screenwriter with multiple successful movies produced.

I absolutely love causing my audience to feel emotional!

ACT 1:

Surprise turns to distress: Anna’s brother-in-law comes home from the army unexpectedly at Christmas. He tells Anna of the privations the army suffers at Valley Forge, and even worse, the youngest brother-in-law, Baylis, has died of smallpox while in camp.

Wound: Anna, whose father died when she was a girl, fears losing her own husband, Benjamin, to disease during the long winter.

Distress: Anna’s uncle disparages the army for losing so many battles.

Bonding: Anna encourages her cousins to help her canvass their neighbors for blankets and clothing to send to the soldiers.

Emotional Dilemma: Anna’s uncle says her efforts are no use. The supplies could be stolen or lost, and what she, a lone woman, can do, is not enough to make a difference.

Distress: Anna receives a letter from Benjamin. Her brothers are ill. Benjamin has no coat. She worries that the situation may be even worse than he has told her and decides she must take the supplies—and food—to them at Valley Forge herself.

Surprise: Rather than make fun of her efforts, her uncle offers to bankroll her journey if she will deliver a letter to a business associate on the way.

ACT 2:

Courage: Anna rides off with the supplies on her saddle horse, Nelly.

Distress: Everywhere she stops, she is assumed to be a prostitute, or at least a less-than-upstanding person, because she is without a male escort. As the wife of a minister and a valued healer in her community, she is not used to being treated with disrespect.

Bonding: She stops for the night at the home of a patriot woman whose son is also in the army. She warns Anna that there are traitors and spies everywhere, and she would be wise to hasten her journey and keep her politics to herself.

Betrayal/Moral Issue: Anna delivers the letter to her uncle’s associate, but learns the letter contains payment to finance a smuggling operation. Guns and clothing meant for the army are being diverted to British POWs to allow them to break out of an undisclosed prison camp and escape dressed as civilians. Anna has her own mission to fulfill, but she decides to try and thwart the smugglers’ plans.

Distress/Wounds: While in pursuit, Anna falls in the river at a ferry crossing and nearly drowns. If she does not take care, she will die on this quest and her children will be without a mother—and possibly lose their father in the war too.

Distress/Wound/Hidden Weakness: back on the road, Anna has lost sight of the smugglers, and while she rushes to catch up, three armed highwaymen catch her alone on the road. She tries to bargain for her release, but when it is clear they aren’t interested, she steels herself for whatever is to come. As a child, she witnessed the rape of an enslaved woman, and with that memory in the forefront of her mind, she is frozen by panic. Then she determines to do what she must to survive, even if it means submitting.

Surprise: Two Hessian soldiers emerge from the forest and kill the highwaymen. Their companion, the Baker General of the US Army, is a spy for General Washington. They escort her to safety in the next town.

Bonding: Ludwick, the spy, suggests Anna dress in her husband’s clothes while on the road, and as they travel together, he coaches her in how to avoid trouble and how to defend herself if necessary. When they part ways, Anna is a day’s ride from Benjamin’s aunt and uncle’s home in York, PA.

Moral Issue: At York, Anna witnesses a speech by General Gates. Though he is supposedly a war hero in the Continental Army, she has a visceral, negative reaction to him. A kind stranger, who turns out to be a congressman, shows her the way to her aunt and uncle’s house.

Love: Anna is welcomed with open arms by Benjamin’s relatives and learns how many good things his family in Virginia has written to these northern relatives. She can truly relax in their home and let her aunt fuss over her.

Emotional Dilemma: Harrison, the congressman, comes back to the house with an urgent request. He has a secret message that must reach Gen. Washington right away. Will she deliver it to Washington personally? There is a conspiracy afoot that could change the outcome of the war!

Courage: At every step of her journey, Anna has been assumed to be a prostitute or a spy. Now, when she must be prepared to lie and conceal to deliver the message safely, she realizes she has developed the skills she will need.

ACT 3:

Courage: Anna sets out at dawn with the message. She keeps her cool when soldiers and a mysterious stranger stop the decoy courier and rough him up as they search his things.

Distress: When the conspirators’ henchman confronts Anna and demands she give back the message, she claims she doesn’t know what he’s talking about—but she puts the whip to her horse and evades him.

Courage: Anna relies on her recent experiences and the advice of the spy. She bribes a ferryman to take her and leave the henchman, putting some distance between them. She crosses with the smugglers and figures out a way to bring them to justice. The time spent with the authorities who can arrest the smugglers allows the henchman to catch up to her. They end up at the same tavern for the night.

Success/Winning: Anna spikes the henchman’s wine with opium and, even though she’s safe, spends a restless night sleeping under a table in the kitchen larder. Just before dawn, she removes one of the shoes on the henchman’s horse to slow him down and heads for Valley Forge.

Distress: As she nears Valley Forge, Anna passes a field hospital and stops to make sure her brothers aren’t there. She stays long enough that the henchman has time to catch up. With the help of the doctor on staff, she eludes the henchman again and barely beats him to the picket line at Valley Forge.

ACT 4:

Excitement/Distress: Anna finds the soldiers on duty and demands to see Washington. They laugh at her and accuse her of being a spy. Then the henchman shows himself. They exchange gunfire, but the henchman escapes. The soldiers take Anna into custody, unsure if she’s part of some larger plot.

Surprise: As the soldiers take her to headquarters under armed escort, they pass Benjamin on the path. The horse, and then Anna, recognize him.

Success/Winning: They enjoy a happy reunion, and together they convince the soldiers she is telling the truth. They meet with General Washington.

Emotional Dilemma: Washington accepts the message. He is polite but does not read it. Has she failed? Washington invites her to stay the weekend and offers a detail to see her back to Virginia.

Bonding: Benjamin and Anna enjoy a passionate night together, and the following day she explores the army camp while Benjamin is occupied. Later, they visit the hospital together, where he gives a sermon and she tends her brothers, who are recovering.

Excitement: General Hamilton summons Anna to tell her the message was read and was useful. Members of the Board of War arrive at Valley Forge. Anna wants to listen in as they meet with generals, but Benjamin convinces her to come away. They laugh that she will be suspected of being a spy.

Love/Success/Winning: On the way back to Virginia, Benjamin and Anna meet with the congressman who asked her to carry the message. They learn more details of the conspiracy and the corruption in Congress and the Board of War.

Excitement: Anna witnesses Lafayette’s defiance of the Board of War’s wishes and his toast honoring Washington.

[Tracy Lawson]

Tracy’s New Outline Beats

I will do whatever it takes to become a successful author and screenwriter with multiple successful screenplays produced.

What I learned doing this assignment is you have to fill in the gaps with something that will cause each of the beats to occur. I am so glad I used Screenwriting U techniques when I wrote the novel, because now it’s easy to see the progression in the beats.

ACT
1:
Anna is home in Virginia with the
family; her husband Benjamin is away at the war. Anna decides to take
supplies to him at Valley Forge.

Anna PJ1: Anna misses Benjamin.

Benjamin PJ1: (Flashback) Benjamin decided to enlist without consulting Anna and convinces her to take the children to live at her uncle’s house while Benjamin is away, even though she is estranged from her family.

Hints: Anna is
estranged from her family, but she and her children must live with them
while Benjamin is away. She did not marry for money or social position,
but for liberty. Her husband lets her run her own life. They are equals.
She is an abolitionist and treats her uncle’s enslaved servants with
kindness.

Inciting
Incident:
Benjamin’s older brother Thomas, who deserts from the army, comes to tell Anna
their other brother, Baylis, is dead of smallpox. He brought the body home
and tells her of the privations there. Everyone is starving and many have
no warm clothes.

Anna
PJ2:
Anna faces the reality of losing family not just in battle, but to
disease.

William AJ1: William disparages the army for losing so many battles, baiting Thomas. Thomas replies that the Continentals still have plenty of fight left in them.

Deeper Layer: William is part of a smuggling ring that takes supplies meant for the army and uses them to outfit and arm British POWs.

Anna PJ3: Anna, worried about the soldiers, begins to collect clothing and blankets to send.

William AJ2: William tells Anna her efforts are no use. The supplies will be stolen or lost and at any rate won’t be enough to help. She should not waste her time.

Turning
Point 1:
Anna receives a letter from Benjamin. Her brothers are ill. He does not
have a coat. She cannot trust that supplies she sends will reach them in
time—if at all. Unless she brings them herself.

Anna
PJ4:
Anna decides to take the supplies to Valley Forge herself.

Hints: As a girl, Anna furthered
her own education, reading books on the sly. She learned healing and
midwifery from an enslaved woman. She was required to “fit in” at her
uncle’s gatherings of the planter class but felt more at home with the
poorer friends of her brother. She has always been strong enough to obtain
what she wanted.

William
AJ3:
William supports her decision, though Anna’s mother begs her not to go. He
offers to bankroll the trip if she will deliver a payment to his business
associate on the way.

Deeper
Layer:
To save her husband, Anna leaves her children with her relatives and puts
herself in peril. She may not survive the journey.

Genre
Convention:
Interpersonal high stakes: Anna must save her husband’s life so her
children won’t be at the mercy of the orphan’s court. It is better that
she sacrifices herself.

Major
Reveal:
If her husband and brothers die, her uncle will get control of Anna and
her children and will take the children from her and put them in
indentures or have them raised by other people who can afford it.

Genre
Convention:
Influences Surface Story Anna was orphaned as a child when her father
died, and the same uncle removed her and two of her brothers from the home
and put them in apprenticeships and indentures, making it impossible for
Anna’s mother to keep the family farm.

Act
2:
Anna rides out alone with the supplies, full of confidence. She is
surprised that she is presumed to be a prostitute or a spy by people she
meets, because she is a woman traveling alone.

Anna
PJ5:
When she delivers her uncle’s payment to his business associate, she
overhears the payment is to finance a smuggling operation to arm British
POWs.

William
AJ4:
William, as part of the smuggling operation, has done a dishonorable thing
to preserve his personal wealth. He has de facto put his four nephews and
his niece in greater danger.

Deeper
Layer:
When his older brother died, William could not support the two families on
his own. He was forced to send his niece and nephews to an indenture and
apprenticeships. Vows to earn enough that his family never has to suffer
like this again

Anna
PJ6:
Anna tries to catch and expose the smugglers, but while in pursuit, she
falls in the Potomac at the ferry crossing and nearly drowns.

Anna
PJ7:
Highwaymen catch her alone on the road. Before they harm her, she is
rescued by Hessian soldiers and an unassuming older man, a baker who is a
spy for the Continentals. He accompanies her on the road and teaches her
survival skills.

Deeper
Layer:
She is constantly accused of doing something dishonest while she’s traveling.
She is trying to undo the wrong done by her uncle, who was the dishonest
one.

Deeper
Layer:
She has heard Hessians are brutes, but they rescue her from other Americans
who are about to rob and assault her. She confronts and examines her
personal prejudices.

Turning
Point 2 / Midpoint: When she stops
for the night at York, her first night on her own again, a congressman
asks her to carry a secret message to Gen. Washington warning him of a
conspiracy.

Deeper
Layer:
Influences
Surface Story: She began her journey full of confidence but is shot down
by people’s assumptions over and over, until they are true. Then she must
learn to deflect and lie, and really be a spy.

Major
Reveal: When Anna is asked to carry the secret message to General
Washington, she has the skills she needs to be a spy.

Genre
Convention:
Does Anna have the wherewithal to thwart the conspiracy against General
Washington? The pressure is on her to keep the secret.

Act
3:
Anna leaves at dawn the next day.

Henchman
AJ1:
He searches other riders who could be carrying the message, and zeros in
on Anna. Confronts her, intimidating, and demands the message back.

Anna
PJ8:
Anna denies she has the message and refuses to let him search her. She
spurs her horse and evades the Henchman.

Anna PJ9: Anna relies on her recent experience and the skills taught her by the baker/spy. She hides; she bribes a ferryman to give her a head start and leave the henchman on the shore. While crossing the river, she realizes she’s sharing the ride with the smugglers.

Anna PJ10: Anna must delay her flight to notify the authorities of the smugglers.

Henchman AJ2: Henchman and Anna end up at the same tavern that evening.

Layering: Changes Reality: Anna travels disguised as a boy. She is now a courier, a saboteur, and adventurer.

Anna PJ11: She changed into her husband’s clothes, and in the dim light, he does not recognize her. She drugs his food and removes one of his horse’s shoes to slow him down and make her escape.

Turning
Point 3:
As she nears Valley Forge, worrying about both her missions, she passes a
field hospital and stops to make sure her brothers aren’t there. She stays
too long, and the Henchman catches up. She eludes him again, and barely
beats him to the picket line at Valley Forge.

Act
4 Climax:
When she demands to see General Washington, the soldiers on guard laugh at
her. When she persists, they accuse her of being a spy. The Henchman shows
himself and exchanges gunfire with the soldiers, but he escapes. They take
Anna into custody, unsure if she’s part of some larger plot.

The soldiers are walking her to headquarters under armed escort when they pass Benjamin on the path. She recognizes him, and together, they convince the soldiers she is telling the truth. They meet with Gen. Washington together. He accepts the message but does not read it. Has she failed?

Resolution: She has a long-awaited reunion with
Benjamin and her brothers, who are still sick but recovering. Gen.
Hamilton tells her the message was read and was useful. She is offered an
escort home, with Benjamin as part of the detail.

On the way, they meet the congressman again, and he fills in more details about the corruption in Congress. She witnesses Lafayette’s great display of loyalty to Washington.

[Tracy Lawson]

Tracy’s Beat Sheet Draft 1

I will do whatever it takes to become a successful author and screenwriter with multiple successful screenplays produced.

What I learned: It is better to organize your beat sheet in several passes, and in the first draft there will likely be some rough transitions that can be fixed later.

ACT
1:
Anna is home in Virginia with the
family; her husband Benjamin is away at the war. Anna decides to take
supplies to him at Valley Forge.

Anna PJ1: Anna misses Benjamin.

Benjamin PJ1: (Flashback) Benjamin decided to enlist without consulting Anna and convinces her to take the children to live at her uncle’s house while Benjamin is away, even though she is estranged from her family.

Inciting
Incident:
Benjamin’s older brother Thomas, who deserts from the army, comes to tell Anna
their other brother, Baylis, is dead of smallpox. He brought the body home
and tells her of the privations there. Everyone is starving and many have
no warm clothes.

Anna
PJ2:
Anna faces the reality of losing family not just in battle, but to
disease.

William AJ1: William disparages the army for losing so many battles, baiting Thomas. Thomas replies that the Continentals still have plenty of fight left in them.

Deeper Layer: William is part of a smuggling ring that takes supplies meant for the army and uses them to outfit and arm British POWs.

Anna PJ3: Anna, worried about the soldiers, begins to collect clothing and blankets to send.

William AJ2: William tells Anna her efforts are no use. The supplies will be stolen or lost and at any rate won’t be enough to help. She should not waste her time.

Turning
Point 1:
Anna receives a letter from Benjamin. Her brothers are ill. He does not
have a coat. She cannot trust that supplies she sends will reach them in
time—if at all. Unless she brings them herself.

Anna
PJ4:
Anna decides to take the supplies to Valley Forge herself.

William
AJ3:
William supports her decision, though Anna’s mother begs her not to go. He
offers to bankroll the trip if she will deliver a payment to his business
associate on the way.

Deeper
Layer:
To save her husband, Anna leaves her children with her relatives and puts
herself in peril. She may not survive the journey.

Genre
Convention:
Interpersonal high stakes: Anna must save her husband’s life so her
children won’t be at the mercy of the orphan’s court. It is better that
she sacrifice herself.

Major
Reveal:
If her husband and brothers die, her uncle will get control of Anna and
her children, and will take the children from her and put them in
indentures or have them raised by other people who can afford it.

Genre
Convention:
Influences Surface Story Anna was orphaned as a child when her father
died, and the same uncle removed her and two of her brothers from the home
and put them in apprenticeships and indentures, making it impossible for
Anna’s mother to keep the family farm.

Act
2:
Anna rides out alone with the supplies, full of confidence. She is presumed
to be a prostitute or a spy by people she meets, because she is a woman
traveling alone.

Anna
PJ5:
When she delivers her uncle’s payment to his business associate, she
overhears the payment is to finance a smuggling operation to arm British
POWs.

William
AJ4:
William, as part of the smuggling operation, has done a dishonorable thing
to preserve his personal wealth. He has de facto put his four nephews and
his niece in greater danger.

Anna
PJ6:
Anna tries to catch and expose the smugglers, but while in pursuit, she
falls in the Potomac at the ferry crossing and nearly drowns.

Anna
PJ7:
Highwaymen catch her alone on the road. Before they harm her, she is
rescued by Hessian soldiers and an unassuming baker who is a spy for the
Continentals. He accompanies her on the road and teaches her survival
skills.

Deeper
Layer:
She is constantly accused of doing something dishonest while she’s traveling.
She is trying to undo the wrong done by her uncle, who was the dishonest
one.

Turning
Point 2 / Midpoint: When she stops
for the night at York, her first night on her own again, a congressman
asks her to carry a secret message to Gen. Washington warning him of a
conspiracy.

Deeper
Layer:
When she accepts the message and the mission, she becomes a spy

Genre
Convention:
Does Anna have the wherewithal to thwart the conspiracy against General
Washington? The pressure is on her to keep the secret.

Act
3:
Anna leaves with the message at dawn the next day.

Henchman
AJ1:
He searches other riders who could be carrying the message, and zeros in
on Anna. Confronts her, intimidating, and demands the message back.

Anna
PJ8:
Anna denies she has the message and refuses to let him search her. She
spurs her horse and evades the Henchman.

Anna PJ9: Anna relies on her recent experience and the skills taught her by the baker/spy. She hides; she bribes a ferryman to give her a head start and leave him on the shore.

Henchman AJ2: Despite Anna’s efforts, she and the Henchman end up at the same tavern that evening.

Layering: Changes Reality: Anna travels disguised as a boy. She is now a courier, a saboteur, and adventurer.

Anna PJ10: She changed into her husband’s clothes, and in the dim light, he does not recognize her. She drugs his food and removes one of his horse’s shoes to slow him down and make her escape.

Turning
Point 3:
As she nears Valley Forge, worrying about both her missions, she passes a
field hospital and stops to make sure her brothers aren’t there. She stays
too long, and the Henchman catches up. She eludes him again, and barely
beats him to the picket line at Valley Forge.

Act
4 Climax:
When she demands to see General Washington, the soldiers on guard laugh at
her. When she persists, they accuse her of being a spy. The Henchman shows
himself and exchanges gunfire with the soldiers, but he escapes. They take
Anna into custody, unsure if she’s part of some larger plot.

The soldiers are walking her to headquarters under armed escort when they pass Benjamin on the path. She recognizes him, and together, they convince the soldiers she is telling the truth. They meet with Gen. Washington together. He accepts the message but does not read it. Has she failed?

Resolution: She has a long-awaited reunion with
Benjamin and her brothers, who are still sick but recovering. Gen.
Hamilton tells her the message was read and was useful. She is offered an
escort home, with Benjamin as part of the detail.

On the way, they meet the congressman again, and he fills in more details about the corruption in Congress. She witnesses Lafayette’s great display of loyalty to Washington.

[Tracy Lawson]

Tracy’s Deeper Layer!

I am absolutely capable of building in an engaging deeper layer!

I will do whatever it takes to become a successful author and screenwriter with multiple successful screenplays produced.

What I learned doing this assignment is that there can be more than one deeper layer for each character.

ANNA

Surface Layer:
Anna travels alone to bring supplies to her husband and brothers at Valley
Forge, so they don’t die of starvation or disease.
Deeper Layer: To keep them alive, she puts herself in
extreme peril, and leaves her children at home with relatives. No
guarantee she will return.
Major Reveal: If
her husband and brothers die, her uncle will get control of Anna and her
children, and will take the children from her and put them in indentures or
have them raised by other people who can afford it.
Influences
Surface Story Anna was orphaned as a child when her father died, and the
same uncle removed her and two of her brothers from the home and put them
in apprenticeships and indentures, making it impossible for Anna’s mother
to keep the family farm.
Hints: Anna is estranged
from her family, but she and her children must live with them while
Benjamin is away. She did not marry for money or social position, but for
liberty. Her husband lets her run her own life. They are equals. She is an
abolitionist and treats her uncle’s enslaved servants with kindness.
Changes Reality:
Discovering that Anna is willing to risk her own life so her children will
not suffer as she did when she was young. Struggling with Benjamin’s
decision to go to war and remove the stability she clings to. She must save
him and her brothers to save their children.

ANNA (2)

Surface
Layer: Anna is assumed to be either a prostitute or a spy when she travels
alone.
Deeper
Layer: As an indentured servant, she narrowly escaped the advances of her
master’s son. She has learned to keep a secret, and on the road, she
learns about spy craft and survival.
Major
Reveal: When Anna is asked to carry the secret message to General
Washington, she has the skills she needs to be a spy.
Influences
Surface Story: She began her journey full of confidence but is shot down
by people’s assumptions over and over, until they are true. Then she must
learn to deflect and lie, and really be a spy.
Hints: As
a girl, Anna furthered her own education, reading books on the sly. She
learned healing and midwifery from an enslaved woman. She was required to “fit
in” at her uncle’s gatherings of the planter class but felt more at home
with the poorer friends of her brother. She has always been strong enough
to obtain what she wanted.
Changes
Reality: Anna travels disguised as
a boy. She is now a courier, a saboteur, and adventurer.

UNCLE

Surface
Layer: Fought in early battles of the war, but now scoffs at Anna’s attempts
to aid the soldiers.
Deeper
Layer: He is worried about finances
and how he will maintain his wealth if the war comes to their part of
Virginia.
Major
Reveal: He is part of a smuggling
ring that steals goods from the Continental Army to equip British POWs.
Influences
Surface Story William acts as though he supports Anna’s journey but he
really just wants her to deliver a payment to his fellow smuggler.
Hints: He
complains about supporting two families. Scoffs at Anna’s patriotic
notions. Tells her there’s no point in collecting clothing and blankets because
likely they will be stolen or misdirected and never reach the soldiers they
are meant to help.
Changes
Reality: He’s not supporting the cause four of his nephews are fighting
for. He could hasten their death, which would make Anna and her children
his responsibility, and he would treat them the same as he did Anna and
her brothers.

BENJAMIN

Surface
Layer: Passionate about the fight for liberty—especially religious liberty
Deeper
Layer: He has been harassed while preaching by “faithful” Anglicans. He
preaches because he believes in what he says, not because he’s being well
paid like the priests.
Major
Reveal: His decision to fight and to remain in the army threatens the
liberty of Anna and their children. If he dies, she and the children will
have no rights.
Influences
Surface Story: Benjamin knows if they win the war against the British, it
will weaken the Church of England’s hold on Virginia. Then he and his
fellow Baptists can attain the religious liberty they crave. He says he does
this for his family (in part) yet his absence threatens their well-being
and their liberty
Hints: Benjamin
does not consider Anna’s opinion when he enlists. He does not ask her
before he arranges for her to live at her uncle’s. He assumes she will be
fine at home.
Changes
Reality: Discovering that Anna has imperiled herself on a 200-mile journey
to come to his aid, only to be abused, assaulted, and pursued by an
assassin. When she arrives at Valley Forge, she is treated as a spy. We shift
from seeing Benjamin as a patriot to realizing he required sacrifices from
his wife and family beyond what they were willing to give.

[Tracy Lawson]

MODULE 4 LESSON 1

Tracy’s Character Structure

I will do whatever it takes to become a successful author and screenwriter with multiple screenplays produced.

What I learned doing this assignment is the antagonist’s structure can begin well before the opening scene of the movie.

ANNA:

Beginning: Anna
is home in Virginia with the family; her husband Benjamin is away at the
war

Inciting
Incident: Her brother-in-law Thomas deserts from the army, and comes to
tell her his other brother, Baylis, is dead of smallpox. He brought the
body home. Anna faces losing family not just in battle, but to disease.

Turning Point 1:
While canvassing neighbors for supplies for the soldiers, Anna receives a
letter from Benjamin. Her brothers are ill. He does not have a coat. She
cannot trust that supplies she sends will reach them in time—if at all.
Unless she brings them herself.

Act 2: Anna rides
out alone, full of confidence. She quickly learns others are not as
trustworthy or patriotic as she. When she delivers her uncle’s payment to
his business associate, she overhears the payment is to finance a
smuggling operation to arm British POWs. She tries to catch and expose the
smugglers but highwaymen catch her alone on the road. Before they harm
her, she is rescued by Hessian soldiers and an unassuming baker who is a
spy for the Continentals. He accompanies her on the road and teaches her
survival skills

Turning Point 2
/ Midpoint: When she stops for the
night at York, her first night on her own again, a congressman asks her to
carry a secret message to Gen. Washington warning him of a conspiracy.

Act 3: Anna
takes the message at dawn the next day, focuses her efforts on delivering
the message safely. One of the conspirators’ henchmen pursues her, threatens
her. She eludes him over and over.
Turning Point 3:
As she nears Valley Forge, worrying about both her missions, she passes a
field hospital and stops to make sure her brothers aren’t there. She stays
too long and her pursuer catches up. She eludes him again, and barely
beats him to the picket line at Valley Forge.

Act 4 Climax:
When she demands to see General Washington, the soldiers on guard laugh at
her. When she persists, they accuse her of being a spy. Her pursuer shows
himself and exchanges gunfire with the soldiers. He escapes. They take
Anna into custody

and are walking her to headquarters under armed escort when they pass Benjamin on the path. She recognizes him, and together, they convince the soldiers she is telling the truth. They meet with Gen. Washington together. He accepts the message but does not read it. Has she failed?

Resolution: She has a long-awaited reunion with Benjamin
and her brothers, who are still sick but recovering. Gen. Hamilton tells
her the message was read, and was useful. She is offered an escort home,
with Benjamin as part of the detail.

On the way, they meet the congressman again, and he fills in more details about the corruption in Congress. She witnesses Lafayette’s great display of loyalty to Washington.

WILLIAM

Beginning:
Younger brother to George.

Inciting
Incident: George dies unexpectedly, leaving a widow and four children with
no means of support. William takes responsibility for them, plus his own
young bride.

Turning Point 1:
He cannot support the two families on his own. Is forced to send his niece
and nephews to an indenture and apprenticeships. Vows to earn enough that
his family never has to suffer like this again.

Act 2: He offers
to bankroll Anna’s trip, if she will deliver a payment to his business
associate.

Turning Point 2
/ Midpoint: The payment is to finance a smuggling ring. He has put Anna in
grave danger.

HENCHMAN/ASSASSIN

Act 3: He
accosts Anna on the road, demands the letter back. Is surprised when she
refuses. Lets her go—but follows, waiting to get her alone so he can use
whatever means necessary to get the letter.

Turning Point 3:
He attacks her on the morning of the second day, but she escapes.
Act 4 Climax: He
follows her to the field hospital and is just yards behind her when she reaches
the picket line at Valley Forge.
Resolution: The soldiers
engage him in gunfire. He retreats, unwilling to risk capture and admit
who has sent him.

[Tracy Lawson]

Tracy’s Character Profiles Part 2

I’m highly motivated to create engaging character profiles.

I will do whatever it takes to become a successful author and screenwriter with multiple successful screenplays produced.

Title: Revolutionary Anna
Concept: A woman bringing supplies to her husband at Valley Forge agrees to carry and urgent message for General Washington. Now an assassin is hunting her,
trying to get the message back.

Hero: Anna Stone goes from competent mother and healer in control of her domestic domain, to owning a place in the man’s world of war and politics.

Lead Character Name: ANNA ASBURY STONE

Protagonist

Role: Colonial wife who saves the American Revolution

1. What about this role would cause an actor to want to be known for it?

A female protagonist in an American Revolution film. This is nonexistent. A woman who defies social convention and the odds. She sets out to bring life-sustaining supplies to her loved ones at Valley Forge and ends up saving the entire American Revolution.

2. What makes this character one of the most interesting characters in your story?

Anna never gives up. She is the embodiment of grit and determination. She makes a transformational journey from wife who’s going to help her husband and brothers to courier/spy and saboteur who no longer cares about the boundaries

3. What are the most interesting actions the Lead could take in the script?

Determined to use her skill as a healer to keep her husband and brothers alive during the bitter winter at Valley Forge, Anna sets out on her journey against the advice of her family. In two parallel scenes, she falls in the freezing Potomac River at a ferry crossing and is nearly drowned. Later, when she is carrying a secret message for General Washington and pursued by a man who is trying to steal it, she uses an even more treacherous crossing at the Susquehanna River to get a head start on her pursuer.

4. How can you introduce this role in a way that could sell it to an actor?

Anna manages the responsibilities of wife, mother, healer with ease and confidence. She is an equal partner in her marriage to Benjamin Stone, an outlaw preacher and abolitionist, and believes in the cause of liberty as ardently as he does. When she must go to his aid, she evolves into a street-smart survivor and spy who a) embarks on a treacherous 200-mile solo horseback journey to Valley Forge, and b) upon arrival, when the soldiers don’t believe her story—stands up to and convinces them, and then goes toe-to-toe with Alexander Hamilton to gain an audience with General Washington and complete her mission.

5. What could be Anna’s emotional range?

Grew up as an orphan and indentured servant. Has found her place in a happy and passionate marriage with her soul mate.

Decides to make a dangerous solo journey to Valley Forge to keep him alive. Overly confident at the beginning of the journey, she soon realizes she’s out of her depth. Though fearful and sometimes confused, she learns to survive on the road. Willingly accepts the additional burden of carrying a secret message from a congressman to Gen. Washington, though it puts her life in even more jeopardy. Determined to succeed at all costs to preserve her family—and keep the Revolution alive.

6. What subtext can the actor play?

Concealing her intelligence. Concealing her identity. Navigating a man’s world. From healer to someone who uses violence to survive and achieve her own ends.

7. What’s the most interesting relationships this character has?

Anna has an equal partnership with her husband. We see their relationship from its beginning through flashbacks, up to their reunion at Valley Forge.

Anna’s maternal figure is her surrogate mother, Rhoda, the enslaved woman who raised and protected Anna during her years as an indentured servant. Rhoda taught Anna about herbal remedies and healing, and Anna taught Rhoda to read. Rhoda put herself on the line to protect Anna, but Anna fails to save Rhoda.

8. How will this character’s unique voice be presented?

Through the contrast between her reactions to life before and after she leaves for Valley Forge. Her introspection while traveling alone reveals events from her past that shaped her into the woman who would risk all.

9. What could make this character special and unique?

She is the bona fide MAIN CHARACTER. She is not just a cast member who is someone’s wife, or a tavern wench, or a pawn. She is a doer.

Her determination, and her adaptability as she learns spy craft and tactics that will keep her alive and ward off trouble while she’s on the road. Her “equal” status in her marriage is unusual for the time, yet she behaves and thinks like an eighteenth-century woman.

Antagonist: Uncle William goes from being a feared authority figure over Anna to a contemptible opportunist who takes part in a smuggling scheme that hurts the army, and
de facto hurts his nephews.

Lead Character Name: UNCLE WILLIAM ASBURY

Antagonist

Role: Anna’s disapproving uncle

1. What about this role would cause an actor to want to be known for it?

William’s attitude about the war—that if we win independence, we’ll wish ourselves back, stems from the fact that he’s got a lot to lose. He is self-made and has supported Anna’s widowed mother and Anna and her siblings intermittently since his older brother, George, died and left his young family with no means of support. He’s a snob and jealously guards his wealth—and it’s a huge turnabout when he supports Anna making the journey. He even gives her money she’ll need on the road—there’s just one catch. She must deliver a bill of sale to one of his business associates.

2. What makes this character one of the most interesting characters in your story?

William has worked hard to build his personal wealth, and he’s made some unscrupulous decisions along the way. Now, with the war dragging on, he worries about his finances enough that he resorts to some underhanded business deals.

3. What are the most interesting actions the Lead could take in the script?

When he is faced with supporting his dead brother’s family and paying off his brother’s debts, he signs Anna to a 7-ytear indenture with one of his business associates. He puts two of Anna’s brothers in apprenticeships, but keeps the youngest for himself, making Jeremiah his heir, sending him to university, and setting him up in a law practice. He breaks up Anna’s family in an unequitable way, with no qualms.

4. How can you introduce this role in a way that could sell it to an actor?

William is an enigma. We’re never sure exactly what his motives are. He disdains that his nephews have gone to fight in the war, yet two years prior, he enlisted in the Culpeper Minutemen and fought in one of the early battles of the war. To protect his wealth, he has turned to shady dealings that hurt the army, even though he has four nephews away fighting. He supports Anna’s journey, but only because he can use her to further his schemes.

5. What could be William’s emotional range?

Bluster, insulting, baiting, to disconsolate when he cannot convince his heir, Jeremiah, not to enlist. He can disapprove of Anna’s marriage, but then be unexpectedly kind by giving her a saddle horse as part of her dowry and giving her money and a list of contacts where she can find lodgings while she’s on the road—but when it comes down to it, he’s out for number one.

6. What subtext can the actor play?

He appears disapproving, opinionated, and unbending. Then he shows a soft spot, but it’s just a ruse. He doesn’t play nice unless he wants something. Manipulative.

7. What’s the most interesting relationships this character has?

He intimidates Anna, and since she lives under his roof, she’s afraid to antagonize him too much, but Benjamin’s brother Thomas and William go toe to toe and Thomas isn’t a bit afraid of him.

8. How will this character’s unique voice be presented?

He’s saying all the unpatriotic things. He challenges Anna’s starry-eyed notions about liberty and independence, and he primes her for what she’ll face on the road, when her own convictions about the war come under scrutiny.

9. What could make this character special and unique?

He’s the grumpy old guy you love to hate. For a while we believe he’s really got a good heart, but then he turns out to be a bad guy with no principles.

Triangle: Benjamin Stone

Lead Character Name: BENJAMIN STONE

Protagonist/Triangle

Role: Husband to Anna

1. What about this role would cause an actor to want to be known for it?

He’s an outlaw preacher who has been persecuted for his faith all his life, and now, with the coming of the Revolution, he sees an opportunity. Weakening the Crown’s hold in America will weaken the Church of England’s hold in Virginia. He has no hesitation about fighting for independence. He’s a forward-thinking abolitionist and wants a wife who is an equal partner.

2. What makes this character one of the most interesting characters in your story?

He truly believes liberty is for everyone—including his wife, his daughter, the enslaved, etc. He’s been raised like any farm boy of his time, but he also yearns to be an intellectual. He uses his knowledge to challenge the laws of the time. He’s devoted to his wife and family but cannot ignore the fight which could make his dream of worshipping without persecution a reality.

3. What are the most interesting actions the Lead could take in the script?

He encourages dissention and goes up against the establishment long before he enlists in the Continental Army.

4. How can you introduce this role in a way that could sell it to an actor?

At first he’s a fish out of water—in his family, his older brother is the alpha, and he’s an intellectual, even though he also has all the skills a farmer needs. When he meets Anna, he sees his future, with an intelligent, beautiful woman who is a match for him in every sense of the word. Marrying her in his chosen faith—outside the Anglican church—is an act of rebellion. He vows to defy her mother, the priest, and the Crown to marry her in his chosen faith—and he comes into his own, both in their passionate marriage and in his advancement of the cause of liberty. Whether he speaks from the pulpit or at the village tavern, he is persuasive, and people follow his lead.

5. What could be Benjamin’s emotional range?

When we meet Benjamin, he is shy around girls. When he meets Anna at church, he barely speaks to her, but he’s besotted and determined to win her. He has a calming presence, and the only one who really gets his goat is his older brother Thomas, who is a brash loudmouth. Benjamin has to be peacemaker when Thomas stirs up trouble. He is not as conflicted about leaving his family to fight in the war as Anna would like. He has the courage of his convictions. He has a sharp sense of humor and enjoys the verbal sparring he does with his wife.

6. What subtext can the actor play?

He is a preacher, yet he’s willing to fight and kill to get what he wants. He loves his family, but he is willing to leave them to enlist in the army, knowing perhaps he will never return.

7. What’s the most interesting relationships this character has?

Benjamin and his older brother Thomas are close in age. They have probably beaten each other up every day of their childhoods—but if someone else threatens one of them—the other would defend him to the death.

Benjamin is Anna’s rock. He has provided the stability she craved after being forced into an indenture in her childhood after the death of her father. He knows Anna has flourished in their relationship, but he still chooses to leave her to fight because independence from the Crown would secure not just their futures, but their descendants’ as well.

8. How will this character’s unique voice be presented?

Benjamin is present in flashbacks through most of the story. When Anna finds him at the end of her journey, can he live up to her idealized version of him?

9. What could make this character special and unique?

Benjamin was on fire for the things he cared about—religious freedom, independence, and Anna. His abolitionist views inform his actions, particularly in how he treats his wife. He will not subjugate anyone—especially not the woman he reveres above all others. This alone makes him a rare male character from that time period.

Role in the Story:

Anna: wife of a solder. She and their children live with her uncle while her husband is away at the war. When his life is in danger from the privations at Valley Forge, she goes on a solo horseback journey to bring him supplies. Saves him and the Revolution.

William: assumed responsibility for Anna and her family when her father died. Curmudgeonly, he surprises Anna by endorsing her trip and asks her to deliver a check to a business associate on the way. He gets her embroiled in the smuggling ring.

Benjamin: their marriage liberated Anna from her uncle’s house and control, but his decision to enlist without consulting Anna puts her right back where she was. Should Benjamin perish, she and her children will fall under her uncle’s control.

Age range and Description:

Anna: 29. Pretty and intelligent young woman who, when she disguises herself in her husband’s clothes, can be mistaken for a lad of thirteen.

Uncle: 65. Self-made country squire (tobacco plantation). Scheming businessman, growing paunchy around the middle. Full of bluster, though whether he is truly vexed or just trying to hide his good nature is anyone’s guess. Used to being the alpha, he tends to insult and belittle the men of Anna’s generation to assert his dominance.

Benjamin: 34. Tall, dark, lanky farmer and country preacher. His intellectual/spiritual convictions and goals take precedence over daily life. He exists inside his own head a lot. Not worried about material things. His passion for religious liberty lands Anna and their children back in her uncle’s home—a place she had been desperate to leave when they married ten years before.

Core Traits:

Anna: Healer

-determined

-brave

-insecure

-adaptable

Uncle: Businessman

-full of bluster

-controlling

-self-important

-dishonest

Benjamin: Preacher

-enthusiastic

-pious

-academic/nerd

-committed

Motivation; Want/Need:

Anna: Wants to bring supplies to her husband and brothers

Needs to deliver the secret message to Washington without being waylaid or killed

Uncle: Wants to hang onto his wealth

Needs to support Anna’s trip to assuage his guilt over working with smugglers

Benjamin: Wants religious and personal liberty

Needs his wife’s support

Wound:

Anna: her father’s death > poverty > having to be an indentured servant. The fear that Benjamin and her brothers will all die and leave her without a male advocate puts her and her children back under her uncle’s control.

Uncle: loss of his brother. No one comprehends how hard it was to work his way up and support two families. He regrets he had to put Anna in an indenture and her brothers in apprenticeships. Now he fears the war will sap his hard-earned money.

Benjamin: being persecuted for his religious beliefs. He is an enthusiastic soldier who has encouraged many others to enlist, so he can have the religious liberty he craves.

Likability, Relatability, Empathy:

ANNA:

<div>
Likability:
devoted wife & mother; problem solver; advocate for the sick; progressive
for her time; abolitionist</div><div>

Relatability:
steps in to make things right, cleans up mess to save her man; defies the
law to inoculate her patients against smallpox

Empathy:
puts herself in jeopardy to prevent her children from suffering

</div>

UNCLE WILLIAM:

<div>
Likability:
assumed responsibility for supporting his dead brother’s widow and young
children
Relatability:
workaholic; gets involved in a get-rich-quick scheme
</div><div>

Empathy:
chooses to protect his private wealth over supporting the political
conflict. He must make tough choices that don’t benefit everyone.

</div>

BENJAMIN:

<div>
Likability:
kind and caring preacher; loving husband and father; supports education
for all
Relatability:
caught between wanting two things: home and family, and going after the
larger goal of religious liberty
</div><div>

Empathy: believes
in a cause and supports it even when it means his family has to sacrifice.

NEW COMPONENTS FOR THIS LESSON:

Subtext:

ANNA: She doesn’t want her children to become orphans, but she puts herself in extreme danger

UNCLE: He plots to have Anna further his scheme to smuggle weapons to British POWs.
Secret: He tells her to deliver the payment, but not what it is for

Withholding: Got Anna out of his house twice–when he put her in an indenture, and when she married. Now she’s back again. Maybe he really doesn’t want her there.

BENJAMIN: Afraid to say he’s chosen the army over his family

Hiding Something: He’s encouraging men of his congregation to go fight and maybe die, because he wants religious liberty so badly

Intrigue:

ANNA:

Hidden Agenda: plans to go to Valley Forge against her family’s wishes

Secret Identity: She is repeatedly accused of being a spy; becomes one

Deception: must get the secret letter to Gen. Washington without revealing the mission

Deception: she changes clothes, sabotages her pursuer to get away from him

Unspoken wound: the loss of her father and growing up in hardship as an orphan

UNCLE:

Conspiracy: part of a ring of smugglers

Secrets: pretends he’s helping Anna when he is sending her into danger

Hidden Agenda: keeps up appearances. Has Anna borrow nicer clothes to wear so she won’t embarrass him.

Unspoken wound: loss of his brother, resents the additional responsibility

BENJAMIN:

Hidden agenda; obtain religious liberty at all costs

Deception: says Anna is his equal partner in the marriage, but makes decisions without consulting her when it benefits him

Unspoken wound: religious persecution, antagonized by his older brother; must prove himself

Flaw:

ANNA:

Over-confidence

UNCLE:

Cowardice; afraid of losing his wealth and social position

BENJAMIN:

Blinded by his goal of religious liberty

Values:

ANNA:

Family

Duty

Honesty

Love

UNCLE:

Duty

Family

BENJAMIN:
Religion

Honor

Duty

Love/family

Internal Dilemma:

ANNA: Being independent vs. holding her family together

UNCLE: Being upstanding and honest v. preserving his wealth

BENJAMIN: Religious liberty v. the needs of his family

[Tracy Lawson]

Tracy’s Supporting Characters

I’m really great at creating purpose-driven supporting characters.

I will do whatever it takes to become a successful author and screenwriter with multiple successful movies produced.

What I learned from doing this assignment is that supporting characters must serve a purpose or they should not be included in the script.

2. Tell us your supporting and background characters.

Supporting
Characters: Rhoda, Christopher Ludwick, Congressman Benjamin Harrison,
Thomas Stone, Betsy Stone
Background
Characters: Anna’s mother, Anna’s brothers, other servants, Anna’s
children, Hessian soldiers, people she meets along the road, Continental
soldiers at Valley Forge

Supporting Characters:

Name: Rhoda

Role: Friend/Protector

Main Purpose: She becomes Anna’s surrogate mother when she is placed in an indenture

Value: She teaches Anna what she knows of herbal remedies and healing, which sets Anna on a course for her adult life. Also, Rhoda protects her from an attempted assault by their master’s son, at great risk to herself.

Name: Christopher Ludwick

Role: Protector/Teacher. He is a spy for the Continental army.

Main Purpose: He rescues Anna from some highwaymen and accompanies her on part of her journey.

Value: He teaches her skills and some spy craft that enable her to survive and thwart her pursuer.

Name: Congressman Benjamin Harrison

Role: Specific role to accomplish a story purpose.

Main Purpose: Asks her to carry the secret message to General Washington, which sets her on the course for the dangerous part of her journey

Value: His request increases the tension and the danger Anna faces.

Name: Thomas Stone

Role: Brother-in-law

Main Purpose: Sounding board for Anna when she contemplates going to Valley Forge.

Value: Thomas has always been a conniving practical joker, and butted heads with Anna’s husband, who is his younger brother. But the way he thinks is valuable to Anna, and he sincerely likes her even though he often makes jokes at Benjamin’s expense.

Name: Betsy Stone

Role: Sister-in-law

Main Purpose: friend who cares

Value: Betsy is bold and outspoken; by associating with her, Anna has become less shy over the years. Knowing she has a steadfast advocate and a guardian for her children should she perish on the road gives Anna courage to go to Benjamin’s aid.

[Tracy Lawson]

Tracy’s Character Profiles Part 1

I’m highly motivated to create engaging character profiles.

I will do whatever it takes to become a successful author and screenwriter with multiple successful screenplays produced.

2. With each of your lead characters, first tell us the following:

Title: Revolutionary
Anna
Concept: A
woman bringing supplies to her husband at Valley Forge agrees to carry and
urgent message for General Washington. Now an assassin is hunting her,
trying to get the message back.

Hero: Anna Stone goes from competent mother and healer in control of her domestic domain,
to owning a place in the man’s world of war and politics.

Lead Character Name: ANNA ASBURY STONE

Protagonist

Role: Colonial wife who saves the American Revolution

1. What about this role would cause an actor to want to be known for it?

A female protagonist in an American Revolution film. This is nonexistent. A woman who defies social convention and the odds. She sets out to bring life-sustaining supplies to her loved ones at Valley Forge and ends up saving the entire American Revolution.

2. What makes this character one of the most interesting characters in your story?

Anna never gives up. She is the embodiment of grit and determination. She makes a transformational journey from wife who’s going to help her husband and brothers to courier/spy and saboteur who no longer cares about the boundaries

3. What are the most interesting actions the Lead could take in the script?

Determined to use her skill as a healer to keep her husband and brothers alive during the bitter winter at Valley Forge, Anna sets out on her journey against the advice of her family. In two parallel scenes, she falls in the freezing Potomac River at a ferry crossing and is nearly drowned. Later, when she is carrying a secret message for General Washington and pursued by a man who is trying to steal it, she uses an even more treacherous crossing at the Susquehanna River to get a head start on her pursuer.

4. How can you introduce this role in a way that could sell it to an actor?

Anna manages the responsibilities of wife, mother, healer with ease and confidence. She is an equal partner in her marriage to Benjamin Stone, an outlaw preacher and abolitionist, and believes in the cause of liberty as ardently as he does. When she must go to his aid, she evolves into a street-smart survivor and spy who a) embarks on a treacherous 200-mile solo horseback journey to Valley Forge, and b) upon arrival, when the soldiers don’t believe her story—stands up to and convinces them, and then goes toe-to-toe with Alexander Hamilton to gain an audience with General Washington and complete her mission.

5. What could be Anna’s emotional range?

Grew up as an orphan and indentured servant. Has found her place in a happy and passionate marriage with her soul mate.

Decides to make a dangerous solo journey to Valley Forge to keep him alive. Overly confident at the beginning of the journey, she soon realizes she’s out of her depth. Though fearful and sometimes confused, she learns to survive on the road. Willingly accepts the additional burden of carrying a secret message from a congressman to Gen. Washington, though it puts her life in even more jeopardy. Determined to succeed at all costs to preserve her family—and keep the Revolution alive.

6. What subtext can the actor play?

Concealing her intelligence. Concealing her identity. Navigating a man’s world. From healer to someone who uses violence to survive and achieve her own ends.

7. What’s the most interesting relationships this character has?

Anna has an equal partnership with her husband. We see their relationship from its beginning through flashbacks, up to their reunion at Valley Forge.

Anna’s maternal figure is her surrogate mother, Rhoda, the enslaved woman who raised and protected Anna during her years as an indentured servant. Rhoda taught Anna about herbal remedies and healing, and Anna taught Rhoda to read. Rhoda put herself on the line to protect Anna, but Anna fails to save Rhoda.

8. How will this character’s unique voice be presented?

Through the contrast between her reactions to life before and after she leaves for Valley Forge. Her introspection while traveling alone reveals events from her past that shaped her into the woman who would risk all.

9. What could make this character special and unique?

She is the bona fide MAIN CHARACTER. She is not just a cast member who is someone’s wife, or a tavern wench, or a pawn. She is a doer.

Her determination, and her adaptability as she learns spy craft and tactics that will keep her alive and ward off trouble while she’s on the road. Her “equal” status in her marriage is unusual for the time, yet she behaves and thinks like an eighteenth-century woman.

Antagonist: Uncle William goes from being a feared authority figure over Anna to a contemptible opportunist who takes part in a smuggling scheme that hurts the army, and
de facto hurts his nephews.

Lead Character Name: UNCLE WILLIAM ASBURY

Antagonist

Role: Anna’s disapproving uncle

1. What about this role would cause an actor to want to be known for it?

William’s attitude about the war—that if we win independence, we’ll wish ourselves back, stems from the fact that he’s got a lot to lose. He is self-made and has supported Anna’s widowed mother and Anna and her siblings intermittently since his older brother, George, died and left his young family with no means of support. He’s a snob and jealously guards his wealth—and it’s a huge turnabout when he supports Anna making the journey. He even gives her money she’ll need on the road—there’s just one catch. She must deliver a bill of sale to one of his business associates.

2. What makes this character one of the most interesting characters in your story?

William has worked hard to build his personal wealth, and he’s made some unscrupulous decisions along the way. Now, with the war dragging on, he worries about his finances enough that he resorts to some underhanded business deals.

3. What are the most interesting actions the Lead could take in the script?

When he is faced with supporting his dead brother’s family and paying off his brother’s debts, he signs Anna to a 7-ytear indenture with one of his business associates. He puts two of Anna’s brothers in apprenticeships, but keeps the youngest for himself, making Jeremiah his heir, sending him to university, and setting him up in a law practice. He breaks up Anna’s family in an unequitable way, with no qualms.

4. How can you introduce this role in a way that could sell it to an actor?

William is an enigma. We’re never sure exactly what his motives are. He disdains that his nephews have gone to fight in the war, yet two years prior, he enlisted in the Culpeper Minutemen and fought in one of the early battles of the war. To protect his wealth, he has turned to shady dealings that hurt the army, even though he has four nephews away fighting. He supports Anna’s journey, but only because he can use her to further his schemes.

5. What could be William’s emotional range?

Bluster, insulting, baiting, to disconsolate when he cannot convince his heir, Jeremiah, not to enlist. He can disapprove of Anna’s marriage, but then be unexpectedly kind by giving her a saddle horse as part of her dowry and giving her money and a list of contacts where she can find lodgings while she’s on the road—but when it comes down to it, he’s out for number one.

6. What subtext can the actor play?

He appears disapproving, opinionated, and unbending. Then he shows a soft spot, but it’s just a ruse. He doesn’t play nice unless he wants something. Manipulative.

7. What’s the most interesting relationships this character has?

He intimidates Anna, and since she lives under his roof, she’s afraid to antagonize him too much, but Benjamin’s brother Thomas and William go toe to toe and Thomas isn’t a bit afraid of him.

8. How will this character’s unique voice be presented?

He’s saying all the unpatriotic things. He challenges Anna’s starry-eyed notions about liberty and independence, and he primes her for what she’ll face on the road, when her own convictions about the war come under scrutiny.

9. What could make this character special and unique?

He’s the grumpy old guy you love to hate. For a while we believe he’s really got a good heart, but then he turns out to be a bad guy with no principles.

Triangle: Benjamin Stone

Lead Character Name: BENJAMIN STONE

Protagonist/Triangle

Role: Husband to Anna

1. What about this role would cause an actor to want to be known for it?

He’s an outlaw preacher who has been persecuted for his faith all his life, and now, with the coming of the Revolution, he sees an opportunity. Weakening the Crown’s hold in America will weaken the Church of England’s hold in Virginia. He has no hesitation about fighting for independence. He’s a forward-thinking abolitionist and wants a wife who is an equal partner.

2. What makes this character one of the most interesting characters in your story?

He truly believes liberty is for everyone—including his wife, his daughter, the enslaved, etc. He’s been raised like any farm boy of his time, but he also yearns to be an intellectual. He uses his knowledge to challenge the laws of the time. He’s devoted to his wife and family but cannot ignore the fight which could make his dream of worshipping without persecution a reality.

3. What are the most interesting actions the Lead could take in the script?

He encourages dissention and goes up against the establishment long before he enlists in the Continental Army.

4. How can you introduce this role in a way that could sell it to an actor?

At first he’s a fish out of water—in his family, his older brother is the alpha, and he’s an intellectual, even though he also has all the skills a farmer needs. When he meets Anna, he sees his future, with an intelligent, beautiful woman who is a match for him in every sense of the word. Marrying her in his chosen faith—outside the Anglican church—is an act of rebellion. He vows to defy her mother, the priest, and the Crown to marry her in his chosen faith—and he comes into his own, both in their passionate marriage and in his advancement of the cause of liberty. Whether he speaks from the pulpit or at the village tavern, he is persuasive, and people follow his lead.

5. What could be Benjamin’s emotional range?

When we meet Benjamin, he is shy around girls. When he meets Anna at church, he barely speaks to her, but he’s besotted and determined to win her. He has a calming presence, and the only one who really gets his goat is his older brother Thomas, who is a brash loudmouth. Benjamin has to be peacemaker when Thomas stirs up trouble. He is not as conflicted about leaving his family to fight in the war as Anna would like. He has the courage of his convictions. He has a sharp sense of humor and enjoys the verbal sparring he does with his wife.

6. What subtext can the actor play?

He is a preacher, yet he’s willing to fight and kill to get what he wants. He loves his family, but he is willing to leave them to enlist in the army, knowing perhaps he will never return.

7. What’s the most interesting relationships this character has?

Benjamin and his older brother Thomas are close in age. They have probably beaten each other up every day of their childhoods—but if someone else threatens one of them—the other would defend him to the death.

Benjamin is Anna’s rock. He has provided the stability she craved after being forced into an indenture in her childhood after the death of her father. He knows Anna has flourished in their relationship, but he still chooses to leave her to fight because independence from the Crown would secure not just their futures, but their descendants’ as well.

8. How will this character’s unique voice be presented?

Benjamin is present in flashbacks through most of the story. When Anna finds him at the end of her journey, can he live up to her idealized version of him?

9. What could make this character special and unique?

Benjamin was on fire for the things he cared about—religious freedom, independence, and Anna. His abolitionist views inform his actions, particularly in how he treats his wife. He will not subjugate anyone—especially not the woman he reveres above all others. This alone makes him a rare male character from that time period.

Role in the Story:

Anna: wife of a solder. She and their children live with her uncle while her husband is away at the war. When his life is in danger from the privations at Valley Forge, she goes on a solo horseback journey to bring him supplies. Saves him and the Revolution.

William: assumed responsibility for Anna and her family when her father died. Curmudgeonly, he surprises Anna by endorsing her trip and asks her to deliver a check to a business associate on the way. He gets her embroiled in the smuggling ring.

Benjamin: their marriage liberated Anna from her uncle’s house and control, but his decision to enlist without consulting Anna puts her right back where she was. Should Benjamin perish, she and her children will fall under her uncle’s control.

Age range and Description:

Anna: 29. Pretty and intelligent young woman who, when she disguises herself in her husband’s clothes, can be mistaken for a lad of thirteen.

Uncle: 65. Self-made country squire (tobacco plantation). Scheming businessman, growing paunchy around the middle. Full of bluster, though whether he is truly vexed or just trying to hide his good nature is anyone’s guess. Used to being the alpha, he tends to insult and belittle the men of Anna’s generation to assert his dominance.

Benjamin: 34. Tall, dark, lanky farmer and country preacher. His intellectual/spiritual convictions and goals take precedence over daily life. He exists inside his own head a lot. Not worried about material things. His passion for religious liberty lands Anna and their children back in her uncle’s home—a place she had been desperate to leave when they married ten years before.

Core Traits:

Anna: Healer

-determined

-brave

-insecure

-adaptable

Uncle: Businessman

-full of bluster

-controlling

-self-important

-dishonest

Benjamin: Preacher

-enthusiastic

-pious

-academic/nerd

-committed

Motivation; Want/Need:

Anna: Wants to bring supplies to her husband and brothers

Needs to deliver the secret message to Washington without being waylaid or killed

Uncle: Wants to hang onto his wealth

Needs to support Anna’s trip to assuage his guilt over working with smugglers

Benjamin: Wants religious and personal liberty

Needs his wife’s support

Wound:

Anna: her father’s death > poverty > having to be an indentured servant. The fear that Benjamin and her brothers will all die and leave her without a male advocate puts her and her children back under her uncle’s control.

Uncle: loss of his brother. No one comprehends how hard it was to work his way up and support two families. He regrets he had to put Anna in an indenture and her brothers in apprenticeships. Now he fears the war will sap his hard-earned money.

Benjamin: being persecuted for his religious beliefs. He is an enthusiastic soldier who has encouraged many others to enlist, so he can have the religious liberty he craves.

Likability, Relatability, Empathy:

ANNA:

<div>
Likability:
devoted wife & mother; problem solver; advocate for the sick; progressive
for her time; abolitionist</div><div>

Relatability:
steps in to make things right, cleans up mess to save her man; defies the
law to inoculate her patients against smallpox

Empathy:
puts herself in jeopardy to prevent her children from suffering

</div>

UNCLE WILLIAM:

<div>
Likability:
assumed responsibility for supporting his dead brother’s widow and young
children
Relatability:
workaholic; gets involved in a get-rich-quick scheme
</div><div>

Empathy:
chooses to protect his private wealth over supporting the political
conflict. He must make tough choices that don’t benefit everyone.

</div>

BENJAMIN:

<div>
Likability:
kind and caring preacher; loving husband and father; supports education
for all
Relatability:
caught between wanting two things: home and family, and going after the
larger goal of religious liberty
</div><div>

Empathy: believes
in a cause and supports it even when it means his family has to sacrifice.

</div>

[Tracy Lawson]

Tracy’s Actor Attractors for Poldark

I have so much fun discovering what will cause actors to sign onto my movies!

I will do whatever it takes to become a successful author and screenwriter with multiple successful movies produced.

What I learned from doing this assignment is there are NO movies set during the American Revolution that have female lead characters.

Character: Ross Poldark (Poldark, PBS Masterpiece)

1. Tragic character who comes home from war to find his father dead, his estate in ruins, and the woman he thought was his fiancée about to marry his cousin.

2. Instead of fighting for the girl, he congratulates the couple and sets about rebuilding his life, his estate, and his copper mine.

3. He rescues an urchin girl and refuses help from his family.

4. He is introduced in an action scene—an ambush—where he goes from supposed rogue to hero, and the sole survivor.

5. Anger, hurt, depression, resolve, honor, humor, rising above

6. Irony, makes fun of his own situation, not above the law though he has been a soldier

7. His unrequited love for his lost fiancée Elizabeth, his taming of Demelza, his constant bucking of authority, his good relations with his tenants on his estate. He is philosophical and responsible to a fault, yet he can react in anger and make his situation worse.

8. Wry sense of humor balanced with dark, brooding temper.

9. He is a gent, but he doesn’t disparage the poor. He can cross over and be one of them, work alongside them.

10. Having survived an awful ambush, and sporting a disfiguring scar on his face, Ross returns home from the war on the stagecoach. He appears to be asleep. We know it’s him because he’s wearing on his pinky the ring Elizabeth gave him when they parted. The other passengers gossip about him, his father’s death, his ruined fortunes, even his father’s status as the less-favored younger son–a wastrel. When Ross snaps awake and asks if his father is dead, he is calling out the society people who only appear to be “concerned.” He goes to his uncle’s house, as he must “seek welcome there.” The welcome is awful—they are glad to see him, but he is surprised to find Elizabeth among those at the dinner table. He acts as though they are still attached, but then finds out his cousin Francis is about to be married. To whom? Why, Elizabeth. He doesn’t react, just congratulates the couple, asks his uncle to borrow a horse, and rides home, to a desolate and empty farm.

[Tracy Lawson]

Tracy’s Genre Conventions

State: I’m completely confident building genre conventions into my structure.

I will do whatever it takes to become a successful author and screenwriter with several successful movies produced.

What I learned from this assignment is that adding genre conventions makes the story that more intense and interesting, and more marketable because if contains the elements a producer will expect.

<div>
Title: Revolutionary
Anna
Concept: A woman
bringing supplies to her husband at Valley Forge agrees to carry and
urgent message for General Washington. Now an assassin is hunting her,
trying to get the message back.
Genre: Drama/thriller

Purpose: To
explore stories with emotional and interpersonal high stakes for the
characters
Demand for
Action: Always need to care about characters; their internal journey
drives the narrative
High Stakes come
from within: Anna’s desire to save her husband’s life so her children won’t
be at the mercy of the orphan’s court. Anna’s desire to get the message to
Washington to save the Revolution.
Emotionally
resonates: Anna’s emotions as she experiences danger and hardships on the
road

Hero: Anna Stone
goes from competent mother and healer in control of her domestic domain,
to owning a place in the man’s world of war and politics
Antagonist: Uncle
William goes from being a feared authority figure over Anna to a contemptible
opportunist to takes part in a smuggling scheme that hurts the army, and
de facto hurts his nephews.</div><div>

</div>

Act 1:
Anna spends the Christmas holidays with her uncle’s family, missing her husband, Benjamin,
who is away with the army in the same unit as Anna’s three brothers.
When Her brother-in-law Thomas comes to visit, at first Anna thinks it is her husband, and is surprised and worried about why he has come when he’s supposed to be in Pennsylvania. Is he bringing word of Benjamin’s death? Knowing her mother, uncle, and aunt won’t be all that sympathetic if Benjamin is dead, she speaks to Thomas in private.

He has deserted from the army to bring home the body of the youngest brother-in-law Baylis, who died of smallpox.

Within days, Anna receives a letter from Benjamin which says two of Anna’s brothers are ill, and they all lack sufficient food and clothing in winter camp at Valley Forge. In his past letters, Benjamin downplayed the hardships, but she suspects that even now, he is not telling her the whole truth, and worries what else may be wrong.

Act 2:

Now acutely aware of the supply crisis at Valley Forge, Anna canvasses for blankets and clothes for the soldiers, but fears any aid she sends will not reach her husband in time, if at all.
She decides she must travel to Valley Forge and deliver the supplies herself and defies the incredulous reactions of her family. Uncle surprises her. Instead of joining in the dissent, he supports her mission, giving her money and asking that she stop on the way and deliver a payment to his business associate.

She refuses the escort of Manso, one of her uncle’s enslaved men. On the road,
she is presumed to be a doxy, and accused of being a spy.

Invited to stay the night at the business associate’s home, Anna learns her uncle’s money finances smuggling weapons to British officer POWs to aid a breakout.

Furious, she follows the smugglers, determined to foil their plot. In her haste, she falls in the river at a ferry crossing. Back on the road, she is so intent on catching up to the smugglers’ wagons that she fails to notice highwaymen lurking. She is nearly robbed and assaulted when Hessian POWs and their handler, an American spy, rescue her.

Her new traveling companion teaches her about survival on the road and a little spy craft besides. After they part ways, A congressman at York reveals to Anna there is a conspiracy against General Washington which could cause the United States to lose the war.

Act 3:

Anna agrees to carry the message to Valley Forge and deliver it to the general herself
Though the congressman assures Anna no one would suspect a woman of carrying anything
important, the next day, a man stops her on the road and claims the congressman
changed his mind and wants the letter back. When she refuses, he pursues her.
Anna pulls out all the stops and uses her new knowledge to evade the man. She hides, and though she knows her horse fears ferry crossings, she bribes a ferryman at an extremely treacherous river crossing to take her across to give her a head start. Even so, they end up staying at the same tavern that night, and she hides in the kitchen and drugs his drink to keep him from discovering her.

On the last leg of her trip, she stops at a field hospital, fearing her brothers are
ill inside. The assassin catches up to her, and as she races the last few
miles in the dark, she is thrown from her mount, and loses precious time.
When she finally gets back on the road, she is turned about and traveling
the wrong way in the darkness. She rides right into the clutches of her pursuer.

Act 4:

They race the final leg of the journey to Valley Forge. When she arrives at the picket
line the soldiers demand she state her business, and they don’t believe
anyone is pursuing her. They accuse her of being a spy.
As the soldiers escort her into camp under guard, her husband happens by. Heedless of the soldiers and their muskets, she leaps off her horse and into his arms. Finally she is safe! She wants to tell him everything about her journey at once. He can’t believe she is there.

With him by her side, she explains what happened, the soldiers are more inclined to believe her, and they proceed together to see Washington. He accepts the letter but lays it
aside, unread. He is polite but reserved and gives no indication that he believes Anna’s story.

During Anna’s stay in camp, she nurses her brothers, delivers the supplies, and learns
Washington did read her letter and used the intelligence to prepare for a visit from the Board of War, and thwart the plans of his enemies.

While On the way home, Anna and Benjamin meet with the congressman and share a meal. He explains more of the intrigue that led to Anna carrying the message. She soothes her husband’s anger at the congressman for putting her in so much danger.
When the waitress mentions the private banquet going on next door, Anna leaves the table, offers to help serve at the banquet where she witnesses the Marquis de Lafayette express his loyalty to Washington and crush the final plans of Horatio Gates to usurp Washington’s position.

[Tracy Lawson]

Tracy’s Likability/Relatability/Empathy

I have fun making my characters likable, relatable, and empathetic!

I will do whatever it takes to be a successful author and screenwriter with multiple successful screenplays produced.

What I learned from doing this assignment is seeing the antagonist as human—though they still make some bad choices—creates a character audiences can relate to even if they don’t like them.

ANNA:

Likability: devoted
wife & mother; problem solver; advocate for the sick; progressive for
her time; abolitionist
Relatability: steps
in to make things right, cleans up mess to save her man; defies the law to
inoculate her patients against smallpox
Empathy: puts
herself in jeopardy to prevent her children from suffering

UNCLE WILLIAM:

Likability: assumed
responsibility for supporting his dead brother’s widow and young children
Relatability: workaholic;
gets involved in a get-rich-quick scheme
Empathy: chooses
to protect his private wealth over supporting the political conflict. He must
make tough choices that don’t benefit everyone.

[Tracy Lawson]

Tracy’s Character Intrigue

State: I just love discovering the intrigue of my characters!

I will do whatever it takes to become a successful author and screenwriter with several successful movies produced.

While doing this assignment I learned I have a LOT of intriguing subtext for these two good characters.

2. For each of your main characters, use this list to brainstorm one or more Intrigue items that might apply. You don’t need all of them; just one or two.

<div>
Character
Name: Anna Stone
Role: Wife,
mother, healer
Hidden agendas:
good health care for the people in her community
Competition: tries
to outdo the other local healer, an older woman with outdated methods
Conspiracies: breaks
the law to inoculate people against smallpox.
Secrets: Carrying
a secret message for General Washington
Deception: Dresses
as a boy to avoid trouble on the road. Lies and repeatedly evades the conspirator’s
henchman who is trying to steal the letter.
Unspoken Wound: orphaned
as a child, made an indentured servant. Craves stability and security for
herself and her children, yet embarks on a foolishly dangerous journey to
make sure her husband and brothers survive the winter at Valley Forge
Secret Identity:
Courier/saboteur who will foil the plot to oust General Washington
</div><div>

</div>

Anna is not afraid of being poor—she’s afraid of losing control of her situation. When her father died, she was placed in an indenture to pay down her father’s debts. When her term ended, she could have married into the planter class, but instead chose to marry for love. She trusts Benjamin implicitly. He promised an equal partnership, and that she could continue in her vocation as a healer.

A minister’s wife should be a pillar of the community, but as Baptists, they are dissidents, and the Anglican upper classes think their beliefs are meant to mislead. As a healer, Anna’s patients need to trust her—but she works outside the law, illegally inoculating people against smallpox. She butts heads with the other healer in the community, an older woman with outdated methods.

When Benjamin and her brothers enlist, Anna is forced to live in her uncle’s house with her children. Her uncle was responsible for placing her in the indenture, and she does not trust him. She worries if something happens to Benjamin and all three of her brothers, she and her children will be under her uncle’s control. This causes her to take enormous risks to make sure the men survive the winter at Valley Forge.

Once on the road, Anna realizes just how sheltered her life has been. She experiences unwanted advances from men (all women are merely property after all). People don’t believe her reasons for being on the road and she’s accused of being a spy more than once. She decides to dress in her husband’s clothes so she can travel without being hassled.

Though she’s tried to fly under the radar, in York she’s asked to carry a message to General Washington. She willingly assumes the risk, because if Washington is overthrown and the army slips into a state of confusion—or mutinies—Benjamin could be killed. Maybe the British will attack while the Americans are vulnerable. The conspiracy involves people from the Continental Army, Congress, the Board of War, and a group of Philadelphia businessmen who have grown close to the British General Howe. She is in more danger now than at any point in her journey.

When the conspirators’ henchman tries to get her to surrender the letter, she refuses and hurries away. For the next two days she must hide, evade, outwit, and sabotage him to keep him from stealing the message before she can reach Valley Forge. She becomes a de facto spy.

Then when she finally reaches Valley Forge just ahead of her pursuer, the men on picket duty accuse her of being a spy or a saboteur and don’t believe her. They laugh when she says she must see General Washington.

Character
Name: Benjamin Stone
Role: Anna’s
husband. Minister, farmer, soldier.
Hidden agendas: inspires
confidence in the men of his congregation and influences them to enlist
and fight the British.
Competition: the
local Anglican priests who are the sanctioned clergy
Conspiracies:
preaches without a license
Secrets:
Deception:
Unspoken Wound: his
younger brother enlisted and then died of smallpox.
Secret Identity:

Benjamin is a bookish, quiet country preacher—but he’s also a frontier farmer with all the skills necessary to take care of himself. He woos Anna with promises of an equal partnership—she can continue to tend the sick. Their children will all be educated and encourage to study whatever they wish.

Benjamin is obsessed with obtaining religious liberty. He’s persecuted by the rich Anglican ministers and their congregants, who vandalize his simple church and sometimes burst in during services and start fights. He comes across as so good and thoughtful that people follow him—and he capitalizes on their devotion by convincing them to fight the British.

He suffers when his youngest brother, who enlisted because he looked up to Benjamin, died of smallpox in camp.

Though he loves Anna and their children and promised their marriage would be an equal partnership, he enlists without telling her. He unilaterally decides Anna and the children will go live with Anna’s uncle, even though she is estranged from her family. His obsession takes precedence over his commitment to his family.

[Tracy Lawson]

Tracy’s Actor Attractors

I just love creating Actor Attractors for my characters!

I will do whatever it takes to become a successful author and screenwriter with multiple successful movies produced.

What I learned from doing this assignment is I have a pretty good handle on what makes Anna and Benjamin Actor Attractors. I’m not as sure about Uncle William, but there is time for this to evolve.

Lead Character Name: ANNA ASBURY STONE

Protagonist

Role: Colonial wife who saves the American Revolution

1. What about this role would cause an actor to want to be known for it?

A female protagonist in an American Revolution film. This is nonexistent. A woman who defies social convention and the odds. She sets out to bring life-sustaining supplies to her loved ones at Valley Forge and ends up saving the entire American Revolution.

2. What makes this character one of the most interesting characters in your story?

Anna never gives up. She is the embodiment of grit and determination. She makes a transformational journey from wife who’s going to help her husband and brothers to courier/spy and saboteur who no longer cares about the boundaries

3. What are the most interesting actions the Lead could take in the script?

Determined to use her skill as a healer to keep her husband and brothers alive during the bitter winter at Valley Forge, Anna sets out on her journey against the advice of her family. In two parallel scenes, she falls in the freezing Potomac River at a ferry crossing and is nearly drowned. Later, when she is carrying a secret message for General Washington and pursued by a man who is trying to steal it, she uses an even more treacherous crossing at the Susquehanna River to get a head start on her pursuer.

4. How can you introduce this role in a way that could sell it to an actor?

Anna manages the responsibilities of wife, mother, healer with ease and confidence. She is an equal partner in her marriage to Benjamin Stone, an outlaw preacher and abolitionist, and believes in the cause of liberty as ardently as he does. When she must go to his aid, she evolves into a street smart survivor and spy who a) embarks on a treacherous 200-mile solo horseback journey to Valley Forge, and b) upon arrival, when the soldiers don’t believe her story—stands up to and convinces them, and then goes toe-to-toe with Alexander Hamilton to gain an audience with General Washington and complete her mission.

5. What could be Anna’s emotional range?

Grew up as an orphan and indentured servant. Has found her place in a happy and passionate marriage with her soul mate.

Decides to make a dangerous solo journey to Valley Forge to keep him alive. Overly confident at the beginning of the journey, she soon realizes she’s out of her depth. Though fearful and sometimes confused, she learns to survive on the road. Willingly accepts the additional burden of carrying a secret message from a congressman to Gen. Washington, though it puts her life in even more jeopardy. Determined to succeed at all costs to preserve her family—and keep the Revolution alive.

6. What subtext can the actor play?

Concealing her intelligence. Concealing her identity. Navigating a man’s world. From healer to someone who uses violence to survive and achieve her own ends.

7. What’s the most interesting relationships this character has?

Anna has an equal partnership with her husband. We see their relationship from its beginning through flashbacks, up to their reunion at Valley Forge.

Anna’s maternal figure is her surrogate mother, Rhoda, the enslaved woman who raised and protected Anna during her years as an indentured servant. Rhoda taught Anna about herbal remedies and healing, and Anna taught Rhoda to read. Rhoda put herself on the line to protect Anna, but Anna fails to save Rhoda.

8. How will this character’s unique voice be presented?

Through the contrast between her reactions to life before and after she leaves for Valley Forge. Her introspection while traveling alone reveals events from her past that shaped her into the woman who would risk all.

9. What could make this character special and unique?

She is the bona fide MAIN CHARACTER. She is not just a cast member who is someone’s wife, or a tavern wench, or a pawn. She is a doer.

Her determination, and her adaptability as she learns spy craft and tactics that will keep her alive and ward off trouble while she’s on the road. Her “equal” status in her marriage is unusual for the time, yet she behaves and thinks like an 18^th century woman.

Lead Character Name: UNCLE WILLIAM ASBURY

Antagonist

Role: Anna’s disapproving uncle

1. What about this role would cause an actor to want to be known for it?

William’s attitude about the war—that if we win independence, we’ll wish ourselves back, stems from the fact that he’s got a lot to lose. He is self-made and has supported Anna’s widowed mother and Anna and her siblings intermittently since his older brother, George, died and left his young family with no means of support. He’s a snob and jealously guards his wealth—and it’s a huge turnabout when he supports Anna making the journey. He even gives her money she’ll need on the road—there’s just one catch. She must deliver a bill of sale to one of his business associates.

2. What makes this character one of the most interesting characters in your story?

William has worked hard to build his personal wealth, and he’s made some unscrupulous decisions along the way. Now, with the war dragging on, he worries about his finances enough that he resorts to some underhanded business deals.

3. What are the most interesting actions the Lead could take in the script?

When he is faced with supporting his dead brother’s family and paying off his brother’s debts, he signs Anna to a 7-ytear indenture with one of his business associates. He puts two of Anna’s brothers in apprenticeships, but keeps the youngest for himself, making Jeremiah his heir, sending him to university, and setting him up in a law practice. He breaks up Anna’s family in an unequitable way, with no qualms.

4. How can you introduce this role in a way that could sell it to an actor?

William is an enigma. We’re never sure exactly what his motives are. He disdains that his nephews have gone to fight in the war, yet two years prior, he enlisted in the Culpeper Minutemen and fought in one of the early battles of the war. To protect his wealth, he has turned to shady dealings that hurt the army, even though he has four nephews away fighting. He supports Anna’s journey, but only because he can use her to further his schemes.

5. What could be William’s emotional range?

Bluster, insulting, baiting, to disconsolate when he cannot convince his heir, Jeremiah, not to enlist. He can disapprove of Anna’s marriage, but then be unexpectedly kind by giving her a saddle horse as part of her dowry and giving her money and a list of contacts where she can find lodgings while she’s on the road—but when it comes down to it, he’s out for number one.

6. What subtext can the actor play?

He appears disapproving, opinionated, and unbending. Then he shows a soft spot, but it’s just a ruse. He doesn’t play nice unless he wants something. Manipulative.

7. What’s the most interesting relationships this character has?

He intimidates Anna, and since she lives under his roof, she’s afraid to antagonize him too much, but Benjamin’s brother Thomas and William go toe to toe and Thomas isn’t a bit afraid of him.

8. How will this character’s unique voice be presented?

He’s saying all the unpatriotic things. He challenges Anna’s starry-eyed notions about liberty and independence, and he primes her for what she’ll face on the road, when her own convictions about the war come under scrutiny.

9. What could make this character special and unique?

He’s the grumpy old guy you love to hate. For a while we believe he’s really got a good heart, but then he turns out to be a bad guy with no principles.

Lead Character Name: BENJAMIN STONE

Protagonist

Role: Husband to Anna

1. What about this role would cause an actor to want to be known for it?

He’s an outlaw preacher who has been persecuted for his faith all his life, and now, with the coming of the Revolution, he sees an opportunity. Weakening the Crown’s hold in America will weaken the Church of England’s hold on Virginia. He has no hesitation about fighting for independence. He’s a forward-thinking abolitionist and wants a wife who is an equal partner.

2. What makes this character one of the most interesting characters in your story?

He truly believes liberty is for everyone—including his wife, his daughter, the enslaved, etc. He’s been raised like any farm boy of his time, but he also yearns to be an intellectual. He uses his knowledge to challenge the laws of the time. He’s devoted to his wife and family but cannot ignore the fight which could make his dream of worshipping without persecution a reality.

3. What are the most interesting actions the Lead could take in the script?

He encourages dissention and goes up against the establishment long before he enlists in the Continental Army.

4. How can you introduce this role in a way that could sell it to an actor?

At first he’s a fish out of water—in his family, his older brother is the alpha, and he’s an intellectual, even though he also has all the skills a farmer needs. When he meets Anna, he sees his future, with an intelligent, beautiful woman who is a match for him in every sense of the word. Marrying her in his chosen faith—outside the Anglican church—is an act of rebellion. He vows to defy her mother, the priest, and the Crown to marry her in his chosen faith—and he comes into his own, both in their passionate marriage and in his advancement of the cause of liberty. Whether he speaks from the pulpit or at the village tavern, he is persuasive, and people follow his lead.

5. What could be Benjamin’s emotional range?

When we meet Benjamin, he is shy around girls. When he meets Anna at church, he barely speaks to her, but he’s besotted and determined to win her. He has a calming presence, and the only one who really gets his goat is his older brother Thomas, who is a brash loudmouth. Benjamin has to be peacemaker when Thomas stirs up trouble. He is not as conflicted about leaving his family to fight in the war as Anna would like. He has the courage of his convictions. He has a sharp sense of humor and enjoys the verbal sparring he does with his wife.

6. What subtext can the actor play?

He is a preacher, yet he’s willing to fight and kill to get what he wants. He loves his family, but he is willing to leave them to enlist in the army, knowing perhaps he will never return.

7. What’s the most interesting relationships this character has?

Benjamin and his older brother Thomas are close in age. They have probably beaten each other up every day of their childhoods—but if someone else threatens one of them—the other would defend him to the death.

Benjamin is Anna’s rock. He has provided the stability she craved after being forced into an indenture in her childhood after the death of her father. He knows Anna has flourished in their relationship, but he still chooses to leave her to fight because independence from the Crown would secure not just their futures, but their descendants’ as well.

8. How will this character’s unique voice be presented?

Benjamin is present in flashbacks through most of the story. When Anna finds him at the end of her journey, can he live up to her idealized version of him?

9. What could make this character special and unique?

Benjamin was on fire for the things he cared about—religious freedom, independence, and Anna. His abolitionist views inform his actions, particularly in how he treats his wife. He will not subjugate anyone—especially not the woman he reveres above all others.

[Tracy Lawson]

Tracy’s Subtext Characters

I love discovering the subtext of my characters!

I will do whatever it takes to become a successful author and screenwriter with multiple successful movies produced.

What I learned from doing this assignment that a person’s actions or convictions should spark subtext, whether it’s positive or negative.

3. For your two leads, brainstorm these answers:

Character Name:
Anna Asbury Stone
Subtext
Identity: Security Wound—losing a loved one
Subtext Trait:
Secretive
Subtext Logline:
Anna has a security wound about being left without a protector/loved one
and covers it both by marrying a steady, reliable man and developing skill
as a healer. When she is under stress, she takes matters into her own hands
and illegally inoculates patients against smallpox, or by embarks on a
journey to “save” her soldier brothers and husband.
Possible Areas
of Subtext: The advocate/the spy

Character Name:
Anna Asbury Stone (part 2)
Subtext identity:
Secret
Subtext trait:
Hiding Something
Subtext logline:
Anna was orphaned as a child and forced to become an indentured servant. As
an adult she put her past behind her and sought security for herself and
her children above all, but when her husband’s life is in jeopardy, she
puts her own safety on the line to travel 200 miles alone to Valley Forge
to make certain he survives to come home to her and their children.
Possible area of
subtext: Victim

Character Name:
Benjamin Stone
Subtext
Identity: Withholding
Subtext trait:
Hiding something/Afraid to Say
Subtext logline:
Benjamin is a peacemaker, a minister, a steady, reliable man of God who
withholds his intention to fight to the death to realize his dream of
religious liberty. When he is under stress, he fights physically instead
of with words, and does not hesitate to enlist to fight the British.
Possible area of
subtext: Lawyer/Advocate

• This reply was modified 2 years, 10 months ago by  Tracy Lawson.

[Tracy Lawson]

Tracy’s Actor Attractors for Poldark

I have so much fun discovering what will cause actors to sign onto my movies!

I will do whatever it takes to become a successful author and screenwriter with multiple successful movies produced.

What I learned from doing this assignment is there are NO movies set during the American Revolution that have female lead characters.

Character: Ross Poldark (Poldark, PBS Masterpiece)

1. Tragic character who comes home from war to find his father dead, his estate in ruins, and the woman he thought was his fiancée about to marry his cousin.

2. Instead of fighting for the girl, he congratulates the couple and sets about rebuilding his life, his estate, and his copper mine.

3. He rescues an urchin girl and refuses help from his family.

4. He is introduced in an action scene—an ambush—where he goes from supposed rogue to hero, and the sole survivor.

5. Anger, hurt, depression, resolve, honor, humor, rising above

6. Irony, makes fun of his own situation, not above the law though he has been a soldier

7. His unrequited love for his lost fiancée Elizabeth, his taming of Demelza, his constant bucking of authority, his good relations with his tenants on his estate. He is philosophical and responsible to a fault, yet he can react in anger and make his situation worse.

8. Wry sense of humor balanced with dark, brooding temper.

9. He is a gent, but he doesn’t disparage the poor. He can cross over and be one of them, work alongside them.

10. Having survived an awful ambush, and sporting a disfiguring scar on his face, Ross returns home from the war on the stagecoach. He appears to be asleep. We know it’s him because he’s wearing on his pinky the ring Elizabeth gave him when they parted. The other passengers gossip about him, his father’s death, his ruined fortunes, even his father’s status as the less-favored younger son–a wastrel. When Ross snaps awake and asks if his father is dead, he is calling out the society people who only appear to be “concerned.” He goes to his uncle’s house, as he must “seek welcome there.” The welcome is awful—they are glad to see him, but he is surprised to find Elizabeth among those at the dinner table. He acts as though they are still attached, but then finds out his cousin Francis is about to be married. To whom? Why, Elizabeth. He doesn’t react, just congratulates the couple, asks his uncle to borrow a horse, and rides home, to a desolate and empty farm.

[Tracy Lawson]

I will do whatever it takes to become a successful novelist and screenwriter with multiple successful movies produced.

I feel completely confident creating the structure of my story.

Concept: A woman bringing supplies to her husband at Valley Forge agrees to carry an urgent message for General Washington. Now an assassin is hunting her, trying to get the message back.

Main Conflict: Anna sets off for Valley Forge with confidence, but spends the early part of her journey making mistake after mistake—and she learns from them. When she is pursued by the assassin who tries to steal the message for General Washington, she relies on her recent experience and the survival skills she has developed.

Old Ways:

<div>
Usually accepted
the dominance of her elders</div><div>

Dressed as a
woman

Orphaned as a
child, indentured servant as a teen

Did not fit in
with planter class

Married for love
rather than for material comfort

Hears about the
war secondhand, from newspapers and returning soldiers

</div>

New Ways:

<div>
Defies
convention and her elders’ disapproval
</div><div>

Will do anything
to keep her children from being orphaned the way she was

Puts herself in
harm’s way

Travels 200
miles alone on horseback, to a place she has never been

Dresses as a man

Takes on the
responsibility of carrying an urgent message to General Washington

Witnesses and influences
history in the making

</div>
<div>

Act 1:
Anna spends the
Christmas holidays with her uncle’s family, missing her husband, Benjamin,
who is away with the army in the same unit as Anna’s three brothers.
Her brother-in-law
Thomas comes to visit. He has deserted from the army to bring home the
body of the youngest brother-in-law Baylis, who died of smallpox.
Anna receives a
letter from Benjamin which says two of Anna’s brothers are ill, and they
all lack sufficient food and clothing in winter camp at Valley Forge.

</div>

Act 2:

Anna canvasses for
blankets and clothes for the soldiers, but fears any aid she sends will
not reach her husband in time, if at all.
She decides she
must travel to Valley Forge and deliver the supplies herself, and defies the incredulous reactions of her family. On the road,
she is presumed to be a doxy, and accused of being a spy.
A congressman at
York reveals to Anna there is a conspiracy against General Washington
which could cause the United States to lose the war.

Act 3:

Anna agrees to
carry the message to Valley Forge and deliver it to the general herself
Though the
congressman assured Anna no one would suspect a woman of carrying anything
important, the next day, a man stops her on the road and claims the congressman
changed his mind and wants the letter back. When she refuses, he pursues
her.
Anna pulls out
all the stops to evade the man. She hides, she bribes a ferryman to take
her across a river ahead of others to give her a head start. On the last
leg of her trip, she stops at a field hospital, fearing her brothers are
ill inside. The assassin catches up to her, and as she races the last few
miles in the dark, she is thrown from her mount, and loses precious time.
When she finally gets back on the road, she is turned about and traveling
the wrong way. She rides right into the clutches of her pursuer.

Act 4:

They race the
final leg of the journey to Valley Forge. When she arrives at the picket
line the soldiers demand she state her business, and they don’t believe
anyone is pursuing her. They accuse her of being a spy.
As the soldiers
escort her into camp to the commander in chief’s headquarters under guard,
her husband happens by. With him by her side, she explains what happened,
they proceed together to see Washington. He accepts the letter but lays it
aside, unread. He is polite but reserved and gives no indication that he
believes Anna’s story.
During Anna’s
stay in camp, she nurses her brothers, delivers the supplies, and learns
Washington did read her letter and used the intelligence to prepare for a
visit from the Board of War, and thwart the plans of his enemies.
On the way home,
Anna witnesses the Marquis de Lafayette express his loyalty to Washington
and crush the final plans of Horatio Gates to usurp Washington’s position.

[Tracy Lawson]

I will do whatever it takes to become a successful author and screenwriter with multiple successful movies produced.

I absolutely love creating the story beneath the surface!

What I learned doing this assignment is that there are multiple ways to incorporate subtext and depth into the screenplay.

Scheme and Investigation: What is the conspiracy against General Washington?

Layering: Why is she making such a dangerous, foolish journey?

-She grows up an orphan and knows how hard life will be for her and her children if her husband and brothers all die.

-She is a healer, and can’t bear the thought of not tending to her brothers who are ill with smallpox.

Layering: She is constantly accused of being dishonest or a spy while she is traveling

-When she accepts the mission and becomes a courier, she becomes a spy

Competitive Agendas:

On the surface: Her uncle supports her making the journey

Under surface: He is using her to pay smugglers who have stolen supplies from the army

Someone Hides Who They Are: Anna is a pious minister’s wife. Once she accepts the message and agrees to carry it to Valley Forge, she lies, uses disguises, and sabotages her pursuer’s attempts to get the message from her.

[Tracy Lawson]

Tracy’s Transformational Journey

I will do whatever it takes to become a successful author and screenwriter with multiple screenplays produced.

What I learned from doing this assignment is even if the protagonist believes they are “just fine” at the beginning of the story, there can still be a heck of a transformation ahead of them.

ANNA ASBURY STONE

Arc Beginning: Wife, mother of small children, healer—thinks she is “liberated” for the 1770s

Arc Ending: Saboteur who foils a conspiracy and saves the American Revolution

Internal Journey: From being confident about her skill managing home and family, to learning to outwit soldiers, politicians, and spies

External Journey: From competent mother and healer in control of her domestic domain, to owning a place in the man’s world of war and politics

Old Ways:

-Usually accepted
the dominance of her elders

-Dressed as a
woman

-Orphaned* as a
child, indentured servant as a teen

-Did not fit in
with her relatives who were part of planter class

-Married for love
rather than for material comfort

-Hears about the
war secondhand, from newspapers and returning soldiers

New Ways:

-Defies
convention and her elders’ disapproval

-Vows to do anything
to keep her children from being orphaned the way she was

-Puts herself in
harm’s way

-Travels 200
miles alone on horseback, to a place she has never been

-Dresses in disguise in her husband’s clothes

-Takes on the
responsibility of carrying an urgent message to General Washington

-Interacts with some of the most important and influential figures of the day

-Witnesses and influences
history in the making

*Orphaned at this time in history meant one’s father was deceased. The mother could be alive, but since she had no agency to work, etc. on her own, she was not considered part of the equation. Children whose fathers had not left inheritances that would support them until they were grown became wards of the orphan’s court and were assigned guardians, or placed in apprenticeships or indentures, often to the exclusion of the mother’s wishes.

• This reply was modified 2 years, 11 months ago by  Tracy Lawson.

[Tracy Lawson]

Tracy’s Title, Concept, and Character Structure

I will do whatever it takes to become a successful author and screenwriter with several successful books published and movies produced.

I am really good at creating an outline that turns into an amazing story!

Title: Revolutionary Anna

Concept: A woman bringing supplies to her husband at Valley Forge agrees to carry an urgent message for General Washington. Now an assassin is hunting her, trying to get the message back.

I’ve chosen the Protagonist v. Antagonist structure.

What I learned doing this assignment is that a powerful title doesn’t have to say everything about the story.

[Tracy Lawson]

Tracy’s Intentional Lead Characters

I will do whatever it takes to become a successful author and screenwriter with multiple successful movies produced.

I am completely committed to having my lead characters deliver powerfully on my concept.

Anna is a colonial wife, mother, and healer who embarks on a solo horseback journey from Virginia to Valley Forge with food and supplies that she hopes will save her husband’s life, and en route, becomes a courier bringing a message to General Washington.

Stratford is a petty criminal hired to stop Anna from reaching Valley Forge with Harrison’s message.

Congressman Harrison is an ally of General Washington’s who gives Anna a secret message to deliver which warns Washington of a conspiracy against him.

What I learned from doing this assignment is the protagonist, antagonist, and triangle character form a framework for the story in a simplistic form.

[Tracy Lawson]

Tracy’s Title, Concept, and Character Structure

I will do whatever it takes to become a successful author and screenwriter with several successful books published and movies produced.

I am really good at creating an outline that turns into an amazing story!

Title: Revolutionary Anna

Concept: A woman bringing supplies to her husband at Valley Forge agrees to carry an urgent message for General Washington. Now an assassin is hunting her, trying to get the message back.

I’ve chosen the Protagonist v. Antagonist structure.

What I learned doing this assignment is that a powerful title doesn’t have to say everything about the story.

• This reply was modified 2 years, 11 months ago by  Tracy Lawson.

[Tracy Lawson]

Hi, I’m Tracy Lawson.

I’ve written a pilot as part of the Bingeworthy TV class, which received Consider in coverage and advanced to the semi finals and finals in several film festival competitions.

I’m also the author of nine books–six novels and three nonfiction, with a nonfiction travel/history book in production and a historical novel in its first draft.

I hope to develop a top-quality script based on my most recent release, a historical novel that is based on actual events in the life of my sixth-great-grandmother during the American Revolution, find representation, and bring the story to life on a screen–big or small!

I spent the bulk of my working years in educational theater and dance. I taught primarily tap dancing, but have also choreographed 32 musicals for middle- and high school students. I live in the second-oldest house in my town, which has its resident ghost(s). I just took a part-time job at another historic home which functions as the town’s welcome center, and my new office is–you guessed it–in the “haunted” room!

• This reply was modified 3 years ago by  Tracy Lawson.

[Tracy Lawson]

I, Tracy Lawson, agree to the terms of this release form.

s a member of Writing Incredible Movies, I agree to the following:

1. That I will keep the processes, strategies, teleconferences, communications, lessons, and models of the class confidential, and that I will NOT share any of this program either privately, with a group, posting online, writing articles, through video or computer programming, through social media, or in any other way that would make those processes, teleconferences, videos, communications, lessons, and models of the class available to anyone who is not a member of this class.

2. That each writer’s work here is copyrighted and that writer is the sole owner of that work. That includes this program which is copyrighted by Hal Croasmun. I acknowledge that submission of an idea to this group constitutes a claim of and the recognition of ownership of that idea.

I will keep the other writer’s ideas and writing confidential and will not share this information with anyone without the express written permission of the writer/owner. I will not market or even discuss this information with anyone outside this group.

3. I also understand that many stories and ideas are similar and/or have common themes and from time to time, two or more people can independently and simultaneously generate the same concept or movie idea.

4. If I have an idea that is the same as or very similar to another group member’s idea, I’ll immediately contact Hal and present proof that I had this idea prior to the beginning of the class. If Hal deems them to be the same idea or close enough to cause harm to either party, he’ll request both parties to present another concept for the class.

5. If you don’t present proof to Hal that you have the same idea as another person, you agree that all ideas presented to this group are the sole ownership of the person who presented them and you will not write or market another group member’s ideas.

6. Finally, I agree not to bring suit against anyone in this group for any reason, unless they use a substantial portion of my copyrighted work in a manner that is public and/or that prevents me from marketing my script by shopping it to production companies, agents, managers, actors, networks, studios or any other entertainment industry organizations or people.

[Tracy Lawson]

Hi Bob!

Sent you my script via email. Look forward to reading yours!

Tracy

[Tracy Lawson]

Hi Linda,

I have a period drama, and would like to exchange with you when you’re ready for another round!

Tracy

tracy.s.lawson@gmail.com

[Tracy Lawson]

Hi Joe!

I have a historical drama. I’ll be happy to exchange with you. My email is tracy.s.lawson@gmail.com

[Tracy Lawson]

Hi Jeffrey!

I have a period drama entitled Revolutionary Anna.

If you’d like to exchange, my email is tracy.s.lawson@gmail.com

Tracy

[Tracy Lawson]

Hi Farrin!

Want to exchange again?

Tracy

[Tracy Lawson]

Hi Joseph,

I’ll exchange with you when you’re ready.

Tracy

tracy.s.lawson@gmail.com

[Tracy Lawson]

Hi Eclipse,

Yes, I would! My email is tracy.s.lawson@gmail.com

[Tracy Lawson]

Hi Rod!

I sent feedback to your email yesterday. Let me know if you didn’t receive it.

Tracy