Done with Packet 1 of Semester 3!

I sent it off at 8:00 am.  I had it all done last night and would have sent it off but, wouldn't you know it, the internet went out.  Of course.  The first time in my life I have a packet ready to go before the actual due date and I can't even prove it!  Well, it wasn't too much of a problem.  I got everything sent out in the morning and have already been emailed by my mentor - the fabulous Laura Williams McCaffrey - that she received it and will get me a response either Sunday or Monday.  That means I have until about Monday before I have to get all nervous about critical writing again.  And in the mean time I can read and I can also write on Death Man.

The beginning - as I learned in Robert Lopez's class at residency and as I learned from reading Crawford Killian's Writing Science Fiction and Fantasy - gives one all the necessary clues to figure out the ending.  This isn't a spoiler per se - it sets up the thematic logic that will drive the story toward an ending.  It gives a certain amount of foreshadow and also sets the tone of the piece.  This is difficult for me concerning the Death Man - obviously it's a dystopian work and has no choice but to end with hope or hopelessness.  I want there to be a message of hope.  Even a small one.  And so there has to be some kind of 'innocence' and 'determination' in the beginning that carries through to the end.  The 'hope' character might not even be the main character but the impression left by him will drive that innocence and determination forward.  This sounds kind of complicated.  I guess what I'm saying is that I'm having a hard time deciding on an opening scene.  I am thinking of starting it the day the Death Man really starts to be formed; the day the Luminary's wife sends him to the Arena.

I'm thinking that we might do some library time tomorrow.  I'll get my Pan's Labyrinth soundtrack going and just let my characters do as they will.  By the next time I have a packet due, I want to really be able to give Laura something polished and decent - something that will interest and impress her.  She's a dystopian writer and I am very much looking forward to her ideas concerning my story's world.