R.H. Walker, Author

(Cover photo by Patrick Fore on Unsplash)

Welcome back to Demo Sundays!

Last week we started experimenting with the Story Genius method, as developed by Lisa Cron. In the first post we explored the elements that initially inspired me to write I Knew You Once, a short psychological horror story by way of Stardew Valley fanfiction. This week, we’ll dive a little more in our main character, their motivations, and their shortcomings.

The Story Genius method depends heavily on the protagonist to give the story its heart, what Cron refers to as the “third rail” (referring to the electrified rail that powers subways and tram systems across the world). This is not uncommon, but as I was reading the book I was impressed by Cron’s questions, which seemed to cut right to the heart of what is needed for a protagonist. Cron is also insistent that there can only be one protagonist (Save the Cat calls this person the “hero”– the character that the story is ultimately about). It’s not that there can’t be multiple point of view characters, but everything those characters learn must be in service of the main protagonist’s arc.

Enough dilly-dallying! Those of you who are Stardew fans might have picked up on this already, but I selected one of the game’s pre-existing bachelors to serve as our protagonist for this story. And now I’m happy to announce that that bachelor is . . .

(drumroll please!)

Elliott!

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PART 2: THE WHO

Question 1: Who is your protagonist?

• As stated, we’re going to be using Elliott as our main character. He’s one of my favorite Stardew romances (I swear it’s not because I am also a struggling writer. I plead the fifth. Shut up).
• I think Elliott is uniquely positioned for this particular story because he simultaneously has so much and so little to lose.
• At the beginning of the game he has no family in town, few friends aside from Leah and Willy, and despite his posh-looking appearance he lives a fairly ascetic life in his ramshackle beach hut.
• Compare this to the life he had with the farmer: he had children. He was more involved with the community, offering a reading of his book at the library. He wrote a best-selling novel and went on a whirlwind book tour. To wipe an ex’s memory in Stardew Valley isn’t just to make them forget you, it’s to make them forget themselves too, the people they became with your encouragement.

Question 2: What is your protagonist like right before the start of the book?

• I want the story to start the morning after the farmer wipes Elliott’s memory, so I’ll take this opportunity to describe his married life. Elliott loved being married to the farmer. He loved his children, he loved being an author with a muse. Though he won’t remember this for much of the story, there is still a keen sense of loss somewhere deep in Elliott’s heart. He’s missing a huge chunk of himself, he just doesn’t know it.

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PART 3: THE WHY

Question 1: What does your protagonist want right at the beginning?

• At the very beginning of the story, Elliott has reverted to his pre-Farmer memories, which means he feels aimless. In his mind he’s still a budding author, unsure that a book is in him at all. And that’s what he wants, more than anything, is to be a writer.

Question 2: Why? What will it mean to your protagonist if/when they achieve their goal?

• These are details that can be pulled directly from the game itself! Lucky us.
• Elliott is a terrible sentimentalist. He loves the perceived romance of being an author about as much as he loves stories themselves.
• His love of stories shouldn’t be underestimated either; the man is clearly passionate about good stories, given his dialogue throughout the game.
• What becoming an author means to Elliott, however, is a little different. He has dialogue in his later heart events that indicate nearly no one in his personal life supported his dreams. It’s why he moved to a shack on Pelican Town’s beach in the first place, he wanted a place where he could be away from the negative voices and write his book in peace.
• Writing a book to Elliott isn’t just a fun achievement, it’s proving to himself that his dreams are valid.

Question 3: What’s stopping your protagonist from getting what they want? What misbelief is holding them back?

• The subtext of the game doesn’t allow Elliott to finish his book until he’s befriended the farmer. This could indicate that Elliott is useless without a muse, but I’d prefer to take a much more charitable view: that Elliott is useless without a community. (Obviously the muse angle is more romantic, but unless you’re choosing to romance him, I think this works better for the narrative overall).
• The backstory given of Elliott’s friend & family giving him grief over his art indicates that support is something he’s never really had before. Like some of the other older candidates (Leah and Harvey come to mind), he’s been operating on his own for a while.
• But this poses an interesting question. Elliott is going to wake up with pre-Farmer memories. I’ve been hinting that the townspeople know about the memory wipe in some capacity, and that they’ll start working to hide Elliott’s past from him. But what happens when something slips through the cracks? Will Elliott be able to harness that support again, this time without the farmer?
• Cron’s method in Story Genius asks now that we come discern Elliott’s misbelief, some kind of lesson for him to learn over the course of the story. Because he’ll be operating on pre-Farmer logic, his misbelief will be the one he starts the game with: that he doesn’t have what it takes. This self-doubt will hold him away from really taking risks with his art until someone in the community (likely the farmer, if they’re trying to re-befriend him) tells them they believe in him.

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PART 4: THE WORLDVIEW

Question 1: What planted the seed for the protagonist’s misbelief?

• This is also lifted straight from the game; Elliott’s misbelief is fear that he really doesn’t have what it takes to be an author.
• I think I want the scene to be Elliott excitedly announcing that he’s going to quit his job to pursue writing full-time (perhaps he’s had some success selling short stories, and he now wants to pursue completion of a novel), only to be met with ridicule from his friends.

Question 2: Ok, time to write that scene!

• Some questions to consider:
  • What does your protagonist believe going into this scene?
    • Elliott believes that his authorial aspirations are noble and worth pursuing, and believes that his friends will agree.
  • Why do they believe it?
    • I mean, they haven’t given him to believe otherwise so far. We are all naturally inclined to trust our friends, aren’t we?
  • What is their goal?
    • Elliot is looking for validation, for camaraderie, for the communion of sharing an aspiration goal with your friends. He is making a bid for positive attention from them.
  • What do they expect will happen?
    • He obviously expects that they will congratulate him. So far they have been supportive of his writing hobby, why shouldn’t they continue to be supportive now?

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THE WORLDVIEW SCENE

(Though I plan to write the fic itself in third-person, Cron recommends writing these early character-building scenes in first-person, to help you nail the voice of the character. I’ll be trying to reference Elliott’s voice in the game here by using a lot of flowery language and tortured metaphors. He’s nothing if not a drama queen.)

Zuzu City seemed to hum with potential as I rushed downtown, success still ringing in my ears. An agent had read my short story, and had offered to help me sell a book deal! Me, a real published author! I could scarcely believe it. Was this how new lovers saw the world? Did everything shine like newly polished silver, did every sound of the city turn to music in their ears?

I waltzed into Paul’s with a face-splitting grin, and collapsed into the end of the big round booth. Grace, Liam, and Elita were already waiting, nursing lukewarm beers.

“You look happy,” Elita said, raising an eyebrow at me.

“I feel happy,” I replied. “No, more than happy. I am incandescent with joy.”

“Yes, yes, you’re glowing,” Liam drawled. “What’s up?”

The moment of truth. I must confess, I felt some butterflies as my friends looked at me expectantly.

“I quit my job!” I said, flinging my arms out like a stage performer announcing an act.

I’ll admit, I knew congratulations might not be in order, but I’d expected more of a reaction than this. I shrugged my shoulders, bringing my arms up again, and brightened my smile a little more in hopes of prompting a response.

“Why would you do that?” Grace asked.

Ah ha! I had left out the most important detail! No wonder they were confused.

“Do you remember how I sold that short story last month? An agent liked it and asked me to submit a longer manuscript.”

Liam’s brow wrinkled. “So you’ve sold a book deal?”

Disappointment started to gnaw in my gut, and I let my arms fall. “Not as such,” I admitted.

“Have you ever written anything longer than a short story.” Elita asked.

I shrugged. “I mean, I have several irons in the fire. I haven’t had the time to finish anything–“

“Oh Yoba.” Grace let her head thump down onto the table.

I felt fully deflated then, a Mylar balloon caught in a tree. “I thought you’d be excited.”

“Why, Elliott? You’ve just blown up your whole life to pursue a fantasy!” Liam pounded a fist on the table, making the rest of us jump.

I bit my tongue, trying my best to keep my high emotions in check. “Writing is my life,” I said.

“No, it’s not,” he said. “It’s a hobby. A hobby we were happy for you to pursue in your free time, but this is madness! Elliott, do you know how long it takes some people to write novels? How are you going to feed yourself? Clothe yourself? Where are you going to live?”

I thought of the beach shack I’d chosen for my convalescence, the first payment for which I had already wired to the grizzled old fisherman renting it out, and decided to keep my mouth shut.

Liam shook his head. “I can’t support this,” he said. “Call me when you come back to reality, Elliott.”

He stood, threw some cash on the table, and walked out. Grace and Elita did the same, though they were a touch more gentle and sympathetic in their parting glances.

My stomach sank. Liam was right, of course, because he was always right. I felt so stupid that I had blown up my entire life to pursue this pipedream. I hadn’t even finished a novel yet, how could I know if I were capable of it?

But I was in too deep now. I’d already, as Liam had so eloquently put it, blown up my life. I was going to have to try and see it through anyway.

That night, as the bus carried me and my one suitcase out of the city and into the lush countryside of Stardew Valley, I tried to think of what the novel would be. I couldn’t come up with a single idea.

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Already after finishing this scene, I am touching upon some other character flaws that I think will be important to Elliott’s story. He is proving hasty in his decisions, pursuing whatever he wants without first thinking about whether it’s the smart move. There’s some truth to what Liam is saying: Elliott has acted very rashly. This will be something to explore as we dive into Elliott’s relationship with the Farmer; will he be this reckless in pursuing love, or will he consciously be more restrained?

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That’s it for this week! Next week we’ll write three more short posts that will deepen Elliott’s backstory and deepen his misbelief in himself. We’ll also start sketching out “scene cards”, which will help us start organizing our thoughts about what the story itself should be. See you then!