Thirteen More Scenes Go Off Their Diet

Day 442

Yes. I coulda did this Saturday or Sunday. I didn’t.

1. [snip]
2. Malachi gathering help to battle dragon – Pretending I didn’t have a slightly better version of this below, I’ll say that I don’t know what I had in mind here at all. I do think that taking a dragon down requires help in the form of enginuity and strength. In stories it’s one guy that does the deed, but those stories are always in other stories and always in the past. I’m familiar with very little first-hand dragon slaying.
3. Finding out if dragon is metaphor or literal-ish – When I concocted the logline I wrote dragon so that it would sound menacing and immenant. In my original thinking I just had another mage. Also, this isn’t really a scene. But maybe the dragon is able to transform into a human. Being able to would facilitate a number of plot elements that involved disguise or just plain getting around town.
4. Daughter having complications – Nothing special hear I suppose. Once I work out the nature and source of her conditional I’ll need to worsen it to increase the tension and the pace. I’ll have to wait to determine if the complication will be merely a heavy beat of the clock reminding us she’s still out there needing help or if it will be some outside influence jamming the dial closer tot he bell. The first option might do well as an environmental element inserted frequently along the way where the later could be a real plot point.
5. Dragon directly threatening daughter – Taled about this earlier int he sense that the dragon may be the source of her condition. If not, I’d like to demonstrate the dragon actively attacking Malachi’s reason to hunting it down i the first place. The dragon is going to be doing all it can to win as well. It will even be doing it from a place of preparation not from a place of desperation like Malachi.
6. Mentor divulging secret to unraveling magic – this probaby needs to be done twice. Once in the safety of the mage confines—where disguised dragon might overhear parts—and a second time to the dragon under duress. The first sets the stage for the whole thing the later really drives the screws home with Malachi’s agenda. The unraveling will need to be something substantial. Something the dragon could learn about and then have to setup. Unraveling can’t be just pulling a trigger unless Malachi is able to reverse it. Or unless Malachi isn’t looking to stop the dragon but to thwart him via reversal.
7. Escaped Malachi hounded by police – Malachi simply cannot get out of prison without police hunting him down afterward. This may be the hardest part of what I have to do. Not making their involvement to flat or too round.
8. Malachi committing crime – Flashback or dialogue but probably not real time. I’m thinking I’d rather not have this be a dubious sort of crime where the reader sees that Malachi was truly serving justice. TO keep Malachi gritty I think this needs to be a straightup crime type crime. But not too crimey.
9. Malachi being sentenced – Meh. Drop this.
10. Malachi chatting with lawyer – You can see I was getting repetative and desperate at this point in my list. This could certainly come to play in the normal course of events but it may be fine as part of a propelling dialogue as well. “I talked to my lawyer and he said…”
11. Mentor teaching Malachi – These guys need to have some interaction prior to the big events of the story transpiring. And potentially prior to his mentor’s degrading condition. I’ll need to learn up on Alzheimer’s and maybe use some magic to make him lucid as needed. Maybe not teaching but talking about his illness prior to Malachi being imprisoned. “When you get out, I’ll be gone…” Maybe the Mentor prepares for this somehow.
12. Dragon attacking police chasing Malachi – This was in the movie scene thinking. Using it still works for a book of course, but I like the idea of our scrappy hero trapped between trying to hunt the dragon while bhimself being hunted by the police. Since the dragon wont care who gets killed all that much it will attack both with impunity.
13. Malachi convincing police to help him battle dragon – Which naturally makes it easier for Malachi to enlist the aide of the police in hunting down the dragon. Let’s work together to kill the dragon then we can work out our issues with my escape. Plus this feels scrappy.
14. Dragon beginning the process to unravel magic – I can’t decide if unraveling magic should be facile or laborious. If it’s laborious then it could become part of the plotting of the dragon. If its facile then it could contribute well to the tension of the last part of the story.
15. Malachi discovering that unraveling magic will do more that threaten just his daughters life – FATTEN
16. Discovering why/how magic supports his daughters continued life – FATTEN
17. Dragon capturing mentor – FATTEN
18. Mentor in captivity – FATTEN
19. Malachi communicating with mentor somehow – FATTEN
20. Prisonyard brawl to characterize Malachi – FATTEN

Time ran out before I addressed the last five.  I’ll look for time before the end of the day.  I want to be done with this exercise before tomorrow.