Glass Shard Inferno Rough Outline Notes

Glass Shard Inferno Character Sketch, Brainstorming Ideas Chapters 1&2 Ideas


Title: Glass Shard Inferno

Summary on Contents: Character Workup-notes; Outline of story in entirety (extremely rough) repeated editing and redrafting for the next steps…
I plan to rework a lot of the details given in Chapter1 & 2 to speed things up a bit like introduce the "antagonist" in Chapter 1 with an immediate conflict with the bargain offered. The stakes will be higher and the bargain will differ in degree of temptation and consequence. By the end of Chapter 1, the protagonist will be enduring an inner conflict with no option for resolve. Then, she runs away into hiding only leaving a cryptic note for her love, the "antagonist" who is only evil by chance, or so we believe in the beginning.

I also plan to rework the point of view so that there is an omniscient narrator telling the story and everyone else is in third person. There will be a lot of italicized inner thoughts of the characters. I need symbols and motifs still. I need to think of some subplots to incorporate and where...a lot needs to be done. I'D LIKE TO HAVE FEEDBACK ON THE CONTENT OF THE SUBJECT MATTER AND IF IT NEEDS TO BE INTENSIFIED AND WHERE? THANK YOU!

Thursday, April 16, 2015 2 am

​CHARACTER WORKUP FOR CHAPTERS 1&2 (partially, as of today)


Description of Protagonist in Detail (Much of this is not necessarily to be included in the actual novel; it is an exercise to gain a better understanding of my character and what I am working with)


Purpose & Instructions Followed By Outline Designer: To flush-out a main character (you pick but we will assume it’s your lead/protagonist) we encourage you to answer all ofi the following questions. This isn’t a race so try to answer a few each night. Don’t worry about editing or putting much detail into each. Let it flow. Don’t be afraid of adding unusual traits or background to your character. Be creative and revisit our random generators to help explore your concept.

What year is your character born? Born in Manhattan, NY city; well-to-do family financially, at least in the early years until disaster bankrupted her father and many years of hardship were endured for that and many other reasons.

What will your character likely die from (heart disease, car crash from fast driving, shot for cheating, Parkinson’s from serving in Vietnam, cancer from smoking, old age, etc.)? heart failure, suicide, murder (to be determined)

What did your character do on his/her 16th birthday? had a very socialite-perfect prim, proper sweet 16 party designed and organized by her mother who was so hung up on such matters

What did your character do on his/her 21st birthday? By this age, she was independent, working to make her own way, not having a lot to do with her family, but on her 21st birthday, her dad made special effort to take her to a nice restaurant and treat her to drinks, whatever she wanted.

What year did he/she graduate high school? 1983

Is he/she married (what year) or in a relationship? married 1989; divorced 10 months later; she married a man she was not in love with but did not say no to his proposal because she didn't want to make him feel bad and did not know what to do so she tried to convince herself it was for the best. It was one of the major mistakes of her life.

When did he/she have a first love? at age 16, love at first sight, to John, who she reunited with after 13 years and he will be presented as the "antagonist" who does actually love her but is under a demonic possession of sorts

What was his/her first job? She helped her grandfather at his law office performing secretarial duties at the early age of 13. He adored her and was largely the most of a real father figure of which she ever knew. He liked to provide her with constant new knowledge and experiences.

Describe his/her most memorable childhood memory? the constant ongoing yelling and screaming at she and her siblings over the tiniest things

Does he/she have a best friend(s)? She had a freckled red-haired friend who she shared an imaginary world with at recess. They played detectives and kept journals on suspects at large.

Describe his/her best friend from childhood. She was, like I said, freckled and red-haired; of a lower social bracket and therefore frowned upon by Althea's mother as a friend she should "waste her time with."

Does he/she have an opponent or enemy? Or do those close to he/she have an opponent or enemy? Almost everyone made fun of her for being a nerd; she was teacher's pet and made the best grades. Her brother was always very outgoing, with lots of friends, a class clown, and always being sent to the principles office. She doesn't have much memory of her younger sister, who she never much cared for anyway.

What are his/her top three physical features? Althea always had sleek shiny brunette hair that she wore long with a hint of natural curl that made it look styled even after playing all day or being busy working for hours when she got older; she had an olive complexion that was deeply envied by most women, not swarthy, but a naturally glowing appearance of a yearlong tan; her eyes were so blue, they appeared grey and had kindness that smiled at whomever she looked and always with direct eye contact.

What is a quirk or mannerism of your character? she developed in early adulthood this form of tradeoff akinesia due to antipsychotics she took and pill-rolled, kneading her fingers one off another constantly in repetitive movements. It always caught others eye and became worse when she felt more anxious or uncomfortable in a setting. She had a slouch to her stature where her shoulders curled forward just enough to be noticeable which enhanced her low-selfesteem as a trait noticeable by others. She also would cry easily and erupt into laughter that would not stop until she cried at the most unusual times. Sometimes when terrible things happened, she would begin to laugh uncontrollably, quite the opposite reaction anyone would expect, and embarrassing and even shocking to many.

What does your character consider his/her strength/weakness (list at least 3 of each)? strength early in life until the age of 30 something: high intelligence that was noticeable from the moment one began talking to her; she overdosed so many times and did irrevocable damage to her brain and the amount of psychiatric medication led to her being slower and less indelible sounding to others. The glazed, drugged appearance and shaky hands, tremors from mood stabilizers, gave her a weaker looking demeanor, less powerful and confident looking than in her younger years, not so impressive upon meeting her.
Still, however, her high level of creativity always shone through to those who appreciated that kind of trait.

What do others consider his/her strength/weakness (list at least 3 of each)?
??Need to get back to

What does he/she fear (list at least 3)? 1)large crowds of people for years, later becoming so great that she feared being around people at all and isolated herself at home all the time becoming a recluse basically 2)fear of being burned alive 3)fear of being left alone with no one to love her or to give love to in return

What are his/her goals or desires (list at least 5)? 1)write for a living through the internet with no personal interactions 2) having a magical lifelong love so great that they'll die at the exact same moment as they hold each other and then meet again in death, whatever happens then, they will still be unable to be separated whether it is an existence in something unknown to mankind or some kind of parallel universe or another reincarnated lifetime where there souls meet again because they are bound to each other in heart and spirit. This is her reality, her self-made delusion of world that she believes with all her heart is real and years and years ago, he did actually express a similar type belief, though I don't think he makes it out to be quite as grand as she.

What is his/her greatest achievements in life (list at least 3)? 1)leaving home on her own terms at the age of 17, once she could legally be independent, escaping the war within her household that was daily fights and abuse 2) graduating from her undergraduate studies 3)reuniting with the love of her life, dropping everything in the middle of the night one night at a moment's notice losing all her lifelong belonging, pictures, memories, everything, giving it all up to run away with him.

What is his/her greatest loss in life so far? the death of her best friend, her younger, but not too much younger brother, Kip, who was of like mind and they spent all their time together and had their own world developed.

Does he/she have a life philosophy? Man is inherently evil. He chooses to do the right thing for the sake of good usually due to a kind of ignorance which keeps him from understanding the ways of the world around him, protecting him but yet he is in the dark about so much, especially man's true motives and intentions. People usually want something for themselves. The closest to good you see for the sake of good in most is if it benefits many in the process including that individual.

What does it take to get him/her upset? She is easily agitated and easily becomes irritable, especially when depressed.

Does he/she have a secret (if not make up one)? She is pretty sure that if no law would penalize her and she had a gun, there are several people she could murder easily with no guilt about it. In fact, there is a certain satisfaction she believes she'd find in doing it; that is ridding the world of these people who are not worthy of living on this earth and deriving any pleasures because they are so contemptuous.

If he/she can only complete one goal/desire in life what is it? What drives him/her above all else? love drives her above all else: to love and be loved-her desire is to love her soulmate and be loved by him and actually feel it in his actions daily and in his treatment towards her, in his affections and behaviors towards her like he did when they were first in love. He no longer does such things as play with her hair or stare at her for no reason or say what a genius she is. He does not seem to enjoy her company quite the same anymore and she wants that back more than anything.

What do you consider your greatest achievement? Despite extremes of sleeping too much and staying up for days due to bipolar disorder, I hung in there and finished my Bachelor's degree, though it is a liberal arts degree and one must have a doctorate for it to really mean anything. So, though I am proud of completing something in life, I don't feel I reap any true benefits in progressing in my life for it.

What is your idea of perfect happiness? Being loved and treated like you are loved and feeling understood, listened to, believed in, encouraged, complimented, doted on.

What is the worst thing you have done? I got arrested after a spiel with shoplifting that finally led to being caught and going to jail. It was an expensive mistake,

What is the worst thing you considered doing? Killing someone
What do you REALLY want right now in life? happiness. true happiness and to feel loved

What is your favorite occupation? I have always dreamed of being a chemist. I think I would be best in a research field.

What is your most treasured possession? Baby Boo Boo, a white stuffed monkey that is really tiny and cute; a sibling I lost to cancer early in life gave it to me before he died. It was very special to him.

What or who is the greatest love of your life? John

What is your favorite spiritual or physical journey? Yoga, but depression has led me down an isolated, reclusive, chronic ongoing stay-in-bed-state.

What is your most marked characteristic? I'm weird and extraordinary creatively

When and where were you the happiest? When I first met John and we were in love from the first making of eye contact. We were so happy together at 16.

What is it that you most dislike? the evil nature of man; I'm slightly misanthropic

What is your greatest fear? burning alive

What is something others could use you for? catering to their needs, wants, desires at whatever cost to myself, especially physically. I'm extremely vulnerable and easy to take advantage of, so as Thomas Hobbes stated, man is inherently evil at the core, so I get walked all over by almost everyone I get close to.

What is something you could use others to obtain? stability

Which living person do you most despise? John's first wife, who he left for me, but remains in contact with

What is your greatest regret? Getting married when I did for the first time. I am now divorced and am in a long-term relationship with my first love again after being apart for 13 years.

Which talent would you most like to have? I wish I were witty and quick-minded

Where would you like to live? Venice, Italy

What do you regard as the lowest depth of misery? I'm not sure if it's going through the loss of a close family member to a slow painful death which has occurred thrice in my life or if it's the long days of experiencing the emotional and physical pain from severe depression. That is a true singularity-like the ice age has come and you could die from the anguish of worry and regret and fear and existential feelings of your own personal worthlessness in the face of all space and time

What is the single most quality you most like in a partner? doting, affection, attention, and the little things that are done that say 'I love you' louder than words.

What is the trait you most deplore in yourself? My extremes of emotions and the weight of being more emotional than rational

Are you lying to yourself about something or someone? I am; I'm afraid to explain but it's an internal fatal flaw that I hate myself for allowing it to take over me. It's that I love too deeply and get hurt wearing my heart upon my sleeve.

What is the trait you most deplore in others? I'm uncertain as to whether It's even okay to despise and get furious at others' ignorance because they can't help it but I can't evade the fact that it affects me strongly in a negative way. Stupidity is angering in a different way. It annoying and irritating more than explosively infuriating. Seems like it should be the other way around. I guess this why I am told I'm a bad person by those I love more than anything.

What do you most value in your friends?My only friend and best friend is John but he doesn't enjoy me much anymore. He's constantly commenting on how what I'm doing is wrong, how I could be better, how I should do this and that, etc. He finds so many flaws in me and really pours it on thick.

Who is your favorite hero of fiction? Hamlet

Whose are your heroes in real life? my brother

Which living person do you most admire? I don't think I really admire too much anymore about anyone or anything. Like I said, misanthropic tendencies lead to a strong bitter taste in the mouth for mankind.

Which deceased person do you most want to talk to? my brother

What do you consider the most overrated virtue? waiting until your married to have sex

On what occasions do you lie? When I fear

Which words or phrases do you most overuse?kind of, always, never
If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be? my past mistakes in life: leaving John the first time, not visiting my grandmother before she died of cancer, my first abortion, getting married to someone I didn't love because I didn't know how to let him down and I didn't want to hurt him

How would you like to die? quick massive heart attack

If you were to die and come back as a person or thing, what do you think it would be? an omniscient, telekinetic shard of crystalline glass

What is your motto or what do you want your tombstone to say?I found the meaning of life. Love: It's worth dying for...
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MORE ON CHARACTER DETAIL

Identify and describe one (or better two) of the following traits/situations for your main character:

*A sympathetic physical/psychological condition* Mental Illness, specifically bipolar disorder, anxiety disorder, and PTSD

*In impending physical/emotional danger* I am breaking up mentally and physically going downhill with the instability in my life with John, not knowing what he'll do that hurts more than I can bear next. But it's always my fault.

*Faces looming physical/psychological adversity* I'm not appreciated and treated lovingly by the only person I've ever loved and ever will love. I believe it will kill me if he doesn't start appreciated me, listening to what I have to say, show interest in my thoughts, compliment me more often, display true actions that show his love; stop talking to me so cruelly and putting me down and criticizing everything I do and blaming me for all the problems of life for him...yes, it's quite an issue for Althea Agnosis and she has already tried to take her life several times, unsuccessfully, but with too many close calls. She has been in a state of depression recently for a duration of time that has put her in a mental hospital for another suicide attempt. At least, at the end of Chapter One, this is happening so far.

*Faces an inner struggle* I let love take over everything, my heart, mind, and soul(whatever that really is, except a piece of the folklore that people believe in so strongly in and yell on street corners about to you) I let it rule my life to the point that I know I will die if I can't receive it from John now.

*Often considered under appreciated or bet against* This is the trauma and story of my entire life at the age of 40 or 50 right now. Althea doesn't know how old she is going to be yet. I'm trying to decide which would be a richer character.

*Always willing to help others at any cost* To my detriment, though I sometimes decide on selfish taking care of myself first and then I catch hell for enjoying myself.

*Dreadfully fearful of an old action/situation/person* I fear having to kill myself because of lost hope for any future worthwhile. I fear the feelings of being a waste of space and that the world would be much better off without me. I fear being left all alone. I am isolated enough from everyone. I cannot lose John. I gave up everyone and everything in my life for him. I fear him leaving me or just becoming so fed up he treats me worse and worse it we live that way because he knows I won't survive losing him.

*In a very vulnerable situation* I'm emotionally attacked and my love is taken for granted. I have many personal psychoanalysis of this but I think my defenses are up and I'll convince myself of whatever I have to for self-preservation, not to lose my mind, go catatonic, jab a knife through my body/heart, not die slowly and painfully as my heart breaks more every day.

*Abused as child or currently by boss, friend(s), companion* Physical, verbal,emotional, psychologically damaging and traumatizing.

*Althea is going to have a recognition that will change her life forever that there's something peculiar that she had not been cognizant of before in John's eyes. A fire burns around his pupils for portions of seconds. She catches it for the first time. Had it always been there?
She will learn, somehow, I haven't figured out how yet, in a realistic believable way she can know this. He was possessed long ago by a nephilim (half-fallen angel, half human). These angels were punished because they couldn't restrain their strong lustful urges and came down the clouds of Normality, called Heaven by some, (I haven't thought of a proper and intelligent name yet for what it will be called) and they had sex with any and all the human women they desired. The offspring were the nephilim. These strong tyrannical powerful and smart but cunning creatures feed off of the emotional suffering of others' only to make them mentally more sick, feel lost and alone and in fear of having to exist in this world. You'll find out more as I continue to brainstorm and outline, writing a chapter at a time, with editing time afterwards for that chapter after putting it through a software editing program. I'm a newbie as an author. I'm working hard to correct some distinct weaknesses and I know this is going to be a long, hard, grueling process but I'm passionate right now.

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REALLY ROUGH WRITEUP FROM OUTLINE(CHAPTERS 1&2)

Information and instruction from writers of this outline: While there is no set formula, we recommend the three act structure (intro, middle, and end). It has existed since ancient time because it is effective and has been used by countless greats. Take a week to outline each of your acts here, on paper, or using our plot line feature. There is no magic formula or outline approach. To help we offer you one below as a starting point. If you are a writer that believes outlining destroys the natural creative process, ignore the following, write a few dozen pages, and see what develops. Note the below outline is for a story of about 20 chapters; but again, there is no perfect number of chapters or division of acts.

INTRO

Hook or Inciting incident (chapters ~1-4):

This is where you hook the reader and convince them to read the other chapters. It doesn’t have to be big but it needs to hook the reader, ideally within the first paragraph. It needs to add challenge to the story and characters.

Progress check (INTRO):

Is the lead character worth following? Not yet, really. The book won't really begin until this inciting event. Somehow (working on ideas) she uncovers that John is really a host of a nephilim who is out to kill all of life's happiness and pleasure and induce stronger pangs of worthlessness, despair, fear, worry, anxiety, and depression. What does she do. She's a hermit with agoraphobia to a serious degree. No one would believe her and think it's merely an hallucination/delusion, whatever you want to call it. How is she going to handle this situation. Not only is he half demon and inducing mental anguish upon her daily but as one who has never been liked to much, he begins to wheel and deal when she lets on that she knows the truth now. She understands what is inside him and how this is working against her well-being. She turns to him, with no one else to turn to, and she cannot make any decisions for herself anymore, so she asks him what they are going to do. He offers her an "opportunity." Knowing how she loves to sleep like a cat, 20 hours a day, he offers to trade her ability to have such vivid and pleasurable dreams if he takes away her mental illness. What he doesn't tell her is that now she will experience nightmares so vivid he can still feed off of her. She will become scared of sleeping and begin to lose it. He continues to prove nothing short of dismissal of her existence to a large degree still doing nothing to prove in action love the way she feels it for him. Overall, she's happy. But the nightmare of agonizing mental anguish and having her heart ripped in two, being left alone with nothing and no one. The dreams are always in the back of her mind but she somehow keeps pushing them away as she begins to digress as an artist and her capability to make any movement towards an accomplishment for her life. Her happiness feels like a mask that someone pasted on her face that she's can't see too clearly through.

Is there a hook involving the lead in the first few pages? I'm not sure. She can be heavily empathized with as many human beings understand the extent of pain involved for everyone in someone's life when clinical depression, and unexpected mood swings on top of that with a dysfunctional past and all kinds of hangups...I think there are a lot of readers that will feel automatic sympathy for the character. I just need to show not tell more and put the reader in her mind more. She needs to be a more sturdily built character with vivid color.

Has a strong opponent been introduced? If not, will the opponent somehow grow in strength…if not, make the opponent stronger. The sooner the better to introduce the nephilim host, the protagonist love that she breathes and lives solely for.

Did you create a situation that will lead to conflict between the lead and opponent?When she has a hint of awareness that the happiness is just a "magic trick" of sorts, feeling like she's had this mask put over her and that the nightmares are affecting her more deeply than she knew, she will begin to digress intelligence-wise, activity-wise, just ceasing to live life in general. John is not helping by only being there because he can control her and use her for his sexual desires and to run errands for him and to have someone drooling over him loving on him not having to do anything but just bask in the building of his prideful ego. He wants total domination over all and he can get it from her vulnerabilities towards his halfhearted attempts to return affection to string her along. He will eventually rule the world as he's always
dreamed.

MIDDLE

Escalating Tension (chapters ~5-15)

This begins with the point of no return for the lead. It creates a situation that must be solved. Lead the reader through a continual rise in tension (not necessarily just action). Tension often comes from unachieved desires…what your lead wants but can’t obtain. Don’t forget to give the reader a way to understand and connect with your lead character(s).

Knowing nothing about demonic powers really, she fails to understand John's growing powers, not only from feeding off her horrific experiences in nightmare land at night but he has power in his dreams to control what happens in his reality of wakefulness. She had always felt like she was the only person he saw him for his goodness; that too many people dismissed him as a nuisance and a person who causes trouble but she felt like it was the most misunderstood person in the world. Little did she know that he was developing a charismatic personality for himself while he dreamt it up modeled just perfectly to gain the attention and admiration of every person he came in contact with. His popularity was reaching pinnacles of glory for him. He loved being adored and admired by so many. He moved emotionally further and further away. One night he comes home and as she lies down in the bed, she goes into cardiac arrest and stops breathing. He knows he's brought this on. He calls 911 and she received treatment but she find out that her heart is failing and she is put on a transplant list. He knows there's something that he can do to fix this. WIth so many admirers now he could have sex with a new girl every night if she was out of the picture though. Can he let her die or will he dream a way out of this for her and save her, even though his motives are not entirely puritanical. Weeks pass with no donors and time is running out for her. Will he take action?

Progress check (MIDDLE):

Can the point of no return be avoided or resisted by the lead? If so, make it stronger. Oddly, it's up to the antagonist to save the protagonist's life. But he fails to decide between his lustful desires fulfilled to the brim or save the girl he believes he loves but also because of the gain he receives out of her 'overwhelming obsession with him and their 'magical,' she wants to believe, love like you only see in fairy tales and movies. He waits to long and standing in the hallway one early October morning waiting for the doctors to come around he here's the beep of the flatlining coming from her room.

Is the lead fighting to avoid death or loss of something important? If not, make it more meaningful to lead. I think I just covered that...

Does the point of no return happen before the half-point? It should, ideally closer to the one-quarter to one-third point of your work. I guess one-third because when he pulls the covers down a little to see her for maybe the last time before a funeral, he sees a shiny piece of crystalline glass cut into 3 shards. It is all that left of her. He doesn't know yet that it is her. She awoke after dying, taking a journey off into Chaos where space, time, the beginning of all the universe, and the place to which all the vastness of creation will eventually go to die. She was sucked into the massive black hole that is going to be the end of time for absolutely every last bit of exiting matter, force, and magnitudes of light, heat, and the unexplainable abstractions out there invisible on any spectrum but really have existed in essence-this is where a journey into her reincarnation began. Now, she appeared to him as three mere shards of glass. He was confused to find this. Her journey was a transformation beyond his wildest imaginative, skillful mind. These shards were omniscience in the form of reflections of light shining on a nearby wall from the sunlight hitting the pieces. They held great power, beyond any fathomable belief in greatness he would achieve in the world. She still only thought of him. She could do for the entire world earth-shattering relief to so many in a multitude of ways but the break into three separate parts had shed her sadness, pain and she was a star stronger than the sun. Still, she had not lost her tragic flaws in her sole focus in being at all. He was everything and the only thing that existed in her scope of existence in any shape, form, great, or small. She would rid his body of the nephilim and return to the black hole at the speed of light, anxious to sacrifice man's greatest gift ever given to return to him in her flesh as she was but beautiful and loved by him once again.

END

Crisis (chapters ~16-18)

This is where there is a significant rise is stakes for your lead character. It sets up the lead for the final resolution. It can be a discovery, major twist, set-up for final confrontation, critical setback, etc.

Climax (chapter ~19)

Alas this chapter is where everything seems lost for your lead.

John becomes so enraged that he had not made a decision fast enough and saved her with no knowledge that she was even there anymore. He thought that perhaps she had disappeared from existence because of him. Had he wished it subconsciously? His anger grew and he became so volatile that the flames in his eyes became larger and began to burn as they reached temperature levels of infernos and crematoriums capable of burning down the world. He couldn't help but thwart the fire from his eyes onto the building around him as everything was engulfed in flame beyond control within seconds. The fire was so hot, her remains began to melt into globs void of shine and reflections. The fire was so hostile that everyone in the building within minutes was burned alive, patients, doctors, visitors, maintenance. In fact, the fire department lost control of the situation and a full mile of buildings, people outside, drivers and their cars, trees, animals, and land burnt to ash from where it began to as far as several miles away.

Resolution (chapter ~20+)

This is the fall in action and resolution of the story. Usually it includes the transformation of a situation, character, or both.

They both had attained in this lifetime immortality, however. So, they both traveled off separately to the black hole at the end of Chaos and reincarnated themselves reshaping themselves into unselfish desirable human beings still thinking of each other and the love that they both knew all too well was probably the strongest force of all man's existence. It really was magical, he realized. What they had was unique and special and he didn't want to be the person that he had become anymore. He wanted her and to love her wholeheartedly. She absorbed the ability to be placed back in earth's realm with him so that she could be with him again. She focused on his transformation and it aligned with all his desires, not only hers. They rushed back in a flash of light travel to a place they simultaneously and equally created for their liking to live their days out on this planet together.

NEED A BREAK. WILL BE BACK TOMORROW.