Josiah DeGraaf

Okay! I think I finally got some stuff organized here. 😀

1. Harold enters a treacherous swamp to save Denholm, who does not seem to grasp the gravity of the situation.
Mkay, so I finally got Harold’s EIL somewhat figured out.
E.I.L.: that the world is worth being a part of because man, deep down, is basically good. (Note: Harold is a c…[Read more]

@Aratrea Monday, Feb. 27th at 7-8 pm EST is the only one that’ll work for me. This sounds super exciting and I’d love to do it, but if I’m out-voted don’t worry about leaving me out of the rotation. 😉

@Aratrea Will this work like the last Q&A, where we submit questions beforehand? Just wondering. 😀

@aratrea Ah, okay. My sister pointed out the left-field thing as well. I’m spending some brain juice on it. I’ve got a rough catalyst for Mash #2, but I’m going over that one also and trying to make it more…catalystic.

@aratrea Wow, this sounds cool. Either the 24th or the 25th will probably work for me, but I’m pretty sure the 27th won’t, unless I’m blessed with a miracle. 😀

@aratrea Wow, this sounds cool. Either the 24th or the 25th will probably work for me, but the 27th I’m pretty sure won’t, unless I’m blessed with a miracle. 😀

@aratrea That sounds great! Did you February 24th, 25th, or 27th? If so, Friday the 24th would work best for me 🙂

(And here I am altering my character arcs and plot again 😛 I can’t wait to try this with a novel I haven’t already written)

Protagonist (Kara) has the internal goal to find a hope that never dies. Her external goal is to find a place where she feels safe. These are tied together as she is constantly hoping for a safe place, so her internal goa…[Read more]

@Aratrea I have a question… you said not to use ‘main thematic scenes’ for the homework. How broadly are you defining that? Cuz I just combed through my story looking for a thematically ‘un-main’ scene and I can’t really find one. I mean, there are some more important than others, but they all have the theme in them some way or other, even if…[Read more]

@aratrea I’m going to have to follow the trend here, because like everyone else, my answer is the same as the last one: Pain. In the same way that it has deepened me and pushed me closer to God, I feel like I use it a LOT to deepen my characters and help them grow.

@aratrea Exactly. Sorry, I should have made that more clear.

@aratrea Ah, right. Sorry.

His experiment in living is that man’s value consists in his name, and his name consists of his actions. Everything he does, he does with his name into mind. In his mind, if he fails, then he loses his name, and if he loses his name, he loses his worth.

The focusing question is: Of what does a man’s worth consist? T…[Read more]

This is a positive arc for a character in a fantasy novel of mine.

Characteristic moment: Shows protagonist discriminated against because he doesn’t have a family name. He is struggling to gain a name through his own actions.

Mash 1: Being told he has a name. He feels he didn’t earn it and doesn’t deserve it. He hasn’t proved his worth and m…[Read more]

Characteristic Moment: Protagonist finds herself in a position where the greater safety of a number of people is dependent upon her undertaking a perilous mission, but she doesn’t see the point in sacrificing herself for them because she sees most of humanity as selfish, cruel, or just plain unintelligent.

Mash #1: Her good friend tells her that…[Read more]

@aratrea I can see #1 was a bit unclear. I put too much of the characters justification into it because he’s very good at deceiving himself. I’ll try rephrasing it more accurately.

Always put you own advantage first, be willing to work with anyone you can get something useful in return. Don’t commit strongly to one path and always keep your eye…[Read more]

@aratrea Can I post a character arc for each lesson, or should I just stick to the character I’ve been working on so far?

@aratrea My answer is similar to my last one as well. One thing I have noticed in my own life is that it takes repetition. It takes a series of events to change; there isn’t generally one event and then I accept whatever the change might be wholeheartedly. The same is true with characters. There will be events that make them doubt, and then each…[Read more]

So we’re going onto the next lesson with just my themes figured out.

@Daeus @Aratrea I made another attempt at figuring out the theme for Girl of the Rumours. There’s certainly another theme coming in at the end, atonement I think, but it’s hard to unwind the answers from one another.

Theme: I’m starting to think it might be righteousness (or…[Read more]

@Aratrea I’m afraid I’m lacking in knowledge here 😛 I can’t recall a story I’ve read (or movie I’ve watched) that has a really good negative character arc. In my opinion, the Hunger Games has a disillusionment arc, but besides that, I have no idea. Do you have any suggestions for books that demonstrate good negative arcs?

@daeus Yes, something like that. The second half of the disillusionment arc is really the first part of her positive arc (because who would ever decide to start simple when branching from a single book to a trilogy *glares at self*). And yes, her trying to save everyone is an outward manifestation of what she is working through inwardly.

@Aratrea…[Read more]