Hashing it Out [Book Writing Blogrimage 16/30]

More outline!​

It's slow going, but I've been talking out the story with several people, including my wife, and they like the way I'm telling the story. I'm writing it like it coud be made into a move. It would be awesome if it was. I wonder who would act as me. Maybe the guy from life of Pi?​

​​1.     Mini Adventure 4

a.     Going back to Sri Lanka for the first time

b.     Seeing people that looked like me

c.      Thinking that I would fit in

d.     People knew I was American

e.     I couldn’t speak the language

f.      Thinking that I would recover my home

g.     The sites

h.     The confusion. Riding a train. Going to a whore house.

2.     Major Setback

a.     I didn’t fit in Sri Lank either

3.     Climax

a.     Preaching on my Birthday with war all around me. The war that transitioned my parents transitioned my heart. People that made me dinner are dead.

b.     Seeing the reason my mom was the way she was and choosing to be caring.

c.      The fear I saw in these women’s eyes, is the same fear I see in my mom’s eyes. I had to choose to love her.

The Line is Out [Book Writing Blogrimage 15/30]

Spent another hour today working on my outline. Things are shaping more of what I want it to be. Yesterday, I watched the movie Oz while thinking of elements of a good outline for plot. It definitely had an exposition, inciting incident, period of no turning back, progressive complications, climax and resolution, but still was not a good movie. That shows writing, creativity, dialogue and all those elements are still needed. You can have all the "correct" components of a story, and still lose the audience.

Interestingly enough, Oz was filmed in Pontiac, Detroit. 

1.     Mini Adventure 3

a.     Being Called Into The ministry

b.     Finding Mentors

c.      Marc—helped me discover my artistic side

d.     Tim —helped me deal with my mom

e.     Garth—helped me see my leadership

f.      Jody—helped me see how to love people

g.     Sister—helped me hate injustice

h.     Ben—the prophesy

i.       Having a heart for my school

j.       Standing on a lunch table

k.     Writing my testimony on tables

l.       I went to the Zoo School

m.   I preached in Movie Theatres

n.     Praying for healings

o.     Facing Rejection at School

Total Acceptance [Book Blogrimage Day 14/30]

Today's Excerpt: ​

The Church became my safe haven in a world that tolerated me. In conversations with Christians, and through party invites, I learned about acceptance in God. “Go where you are celebrated, not where you are tolerated,” is a phrase that appealed to me most of all. God’s family accepted me. For some reason, these people took me into their homes, out to dinners and genuinely wanted to know my story. So many times I fought for the attention of people, but in this strange place called church, people fought for mine. Small gestures like giving me a ride home, smiling when I walked into the door, and remembering how to pronounce my name made an eternal impact on my soul.

For those you unfamiliar with this BLOGRIMAGE journey, click here.​​

More Outline [Book Blogrimage 13/30]

For my book, I'm still taking my plot direction from Finding Nemo. It's helping to shape my story quite a bit. After this, I'm going to shape how I am going to tell the character stories more. My character, confidants and villains.​

More of my outline:

​1.     No Turning Back

a.     Mom asked me to get my dad back

b.     I was living in a horrible situation with my mom

c.      He said he wasn’t coming back to the family

d.     I got arrested

e.     Dad moved me from Coon Rapids to Apple Valley

2.     Mini Adventure 1

a.     Starting to gain control

b.     Bad friends

c.      Getting in trouble with school

d.     Pranks in the neighborhood

e.     Using my negativity to hurt friends

f.      Wanting to Commit suicide

g.     Feeling like an outsider

h.     Finding my community in friends

i.       I finally had a place to belong

j.       Drove my friends away because of how mean I was to them

k.     Breaking point leading into a relationship with God: Salvation

For those you unfamiliar with this BLOGRIMAGE journey, click here.​​

Re-Outlining [Book Blogrimage Day 12/30]

I keep on working on my outline. If I get this to be what I want, I will write my book with confidence and purpose. Each time I write one, I think ​get closer to communicating the overall picture I see.

Here is the first part of my outline:

​1.     Exposition

a.     Parents life in Sri Lanka

b.     Moving to America 

c.      Raising an awkward kid in a parsonage

d.     Creating a unique Sri Lankan culture

e.     Dynamics between my sister, me and the family

f.      Show the beauty, the fun, the fusion, the diversity

g.     Also, show rejection, looking for attention

h.     Show that I felt like I had a unique place to fit in the world

i.       I could do anything. I was confident.

j.       It was all about me

k.     I was the mama’s boy. I got my way. Center of attention. I was spoiled.

2.     Inciting Incident

a.     My Parents Divorce

b.     Sister Moves to college

c.      Community Rejects us

d.     My dad is out of the house

e.     I no longer had a home

f.      I no longer had an audience

g.     I suddenly didn’t fit in anywhere

For those you unfamiliar with this BLOGRIMAGE journey, click here.​

What If [Book Blogrimage Day 11/30]

Today's Excerpt:​

The first time I visited Sri Lanka as a 19 year old, a new question dominated my mind. This question never occurred to before I submerged myself in a culture so distant and familiar. All my life, I thought a certain way, made decisions to be true to myself, but all of those traits could have ended up very different. Characteristics like my sense of humor, methods of learning, and temperaments, perhaps were result of nurture. In my unfamiliar homeland, I wondered for the first time ever, “What if I was born and raised in Sri Lanka?”

For those you unfamiliar with this BLOGRIMAGE journey, click here.​​