Contributing author: Team Efi Loo
In Act One, we learned of a little girl who dreamed big dreams, but by the time she had grown up only a smidgen of them remained thanks to Father Time and his archenemy, Tragedy.
As our scene unfolds in Act Two, we’ll discover how the little girl with big dreams turned her tragedy into triumph. But just like any Act Two of a story, triumph can never happen without a struggle.
Any writing course or screenwriting course will teach that the protagonist must have two things: a goal and a flaw. And in order for them to achieve their goal they, first, must overcome their flaw.
No matter if you’re writing a novel, a short story or a screenplay they all have one thing in common: there must come a moment in the story that sets the protagonist out on their quest. In literature it’s called a “trigger” and in screenwriting it’s called an “inciting incident” and it always comes at the end of Act One.
In the story of real life, this moment of time that sets life on a different course can sometimes feel like the end of the world to the person experiencing it. Often times, this is when Tragedy, and her thirst for killing dreams, prevails.
So, after spending years floundering around in the world of lost time and forgotten dreams, the end of Act One for our little girl with big dreams finally arrived, and her trigger’s name was, Death.
Death is Tragedy’s alter ego. Where Tragedy fails in her obsession for destruction, Death will take the reins and win by having the final word. Since the dawn of sin, Death has held the torch as being life’s worst antagonist. He never sleeps, he never changes and he certainly can’t be stopped. When he steps onto the stage of life, there is no going back to change things. But, like Tragedy, he too fails to understand the inherent nature humans are born with, the ability to overcome.
With Act One for our little girl with big dreams ending with the death of her mother and grandmother in a twenty-four hour period, Act Two would prove to be a pivotal point in her life. After all, what is the best part of Act Two? That’s right, the epiphany.
Having spent days and months struggling to overcome the pain that Death left in his wake, the little girl with big dreams once again suffered the wrath of Death with the passing of her baby brother. That’s when she realized there was no going back and changing things, there was only moving forward and taking back what Father Time and Tragedy had stolen, her big dreams. And when dreams are at stake, nothing can stand in the way.
Next time, at Efi Loo Publishing, find out how the little girl with big dreams turned those dreams into reality in; Act Three: The Plan.
Dream Big,
Team Efi Loo
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