Activity

This is a really cool one! Wow! I have pictures in my head right now! So, what are some ideas?

A few starting questions:

Should our ordinary thing be a literal thing (flower, toy, etc.) or something more abstract (family dinner,  laughter, holding hands, etc.)?

What kind of drama should we use (war, emotional turmoil, etc.)?

What part should the ordinary thing play in the story (Should it be the thing that gives the MC strength to continue? A reminder of how much life has changed? Something that completely course-corrects the MC?)?

A few ideas (to get our thoughts moving):

A war is out. There is destruction and ruin everywhere. The citizens are trying very hard to protect something, and the warriors (with MC as the leader) are trying to take it from them because they assume it’s a weapon/escape route/etc. When MC finally overcomes the citizens, he finds that all they’ve been protecting is a young tree, one of the last living plants in the village. MC realizes how important the plant is to them and is touched by their fight to hold on to hope. He convinces his warriors that they don’t need anything more from this village, and they move one.

A child is dying. Her condition has deteriorated rapidly, and the rich parents are panicked. They spend large sums of money trying to keep the child alive. As they are searching for anything they can do, a parent/sibling comes across a picture the child drew. When the child dies, the parents hang the scribbly drawing among their most expensive paintings, knowing that it is the true treasure.

The MC is on a life-altering adventure which leads him to a small town (maybe his own) while on the run from the enemy. He has to play a care-free villager and gets invited to stay with a family. He has dinner with them, and realizes just how foreign family dinner has become since his adventure.

As other notes:

I really think we need to be cautious of showing vs. telling. If we lean too far towards telling, we could completely destroy the beauty of the scene. We need the effects on the MC to be apparent by what happens next, and almost non-existent in the internal monologue.

It would be interesting if it was a villain who say this simple beauty. I could see him being so impacted he makes one nice decision (it would be unrealistic for him to change course entirely, but sparing a village, a family, or gifting a child he meets could be something small).

What are your thoughts? I love this prompt, and can’t wait to see what happens!