Taara

**Taara Hamer :) ** **31st of October 2011: The Start of a very long Journey..... ** So today, is the day. The day, whilst indulging in various chocolaty delights, that we set up the Wiki page. I do admit that it was quite confusing at first, and the choice of choosing the font colour was quite overwhelming, but otherwise the job was completed. Watch this space for I will be posting my ideas very, very soon..... Bye for now,but not forever! :)

**Ideas !**

**Medium:** Short Story (Possibly, maybe, a Film)


 * Concept **

My short story will begin in the perspective of a young female adult, who lives in an 19th Century Village. This Village is quite secluded, completely surrounded by forests. It is ruled by so called 'Elders', who established rules where no one can leave the village and thus no one enters. The village folk live in fear of the outside world, as they are told stories of how people who do try to defy the 'Elders' and leave are not ever seen again. Even the female protagonist's mother has gone missing. I still have to develop a plot line for this, maybe include a plot twist even.

The perspective then switches to a young man, who, at this moment in time, has an unknown profession, but I'm thinking more along the lines of working for the Missing Person's Unit, maybe even FBI, possibly, some profession that deals with mysterious occurrences. There is a missing plot line here, but I plan to develop another twist here.

Finally, there is the final twist, which I shall not reveal as of yet, you're just going to have to watch this space. I'm sorry, but I really want to focus on developing my female and male protagonist first and then I shall run the ending by everyone. I'll tell you this, the female and male protagonist are connected in a way....

P.S.: Salome and Keira who I think know the ending of my story, please keep it under wraps until I formulate the beginning. Thank you! :)


 * This is a picture that has I found quite inspiring and somehow I have built my story around it! **



**ALRIGHT!**

This just occurred to me! I have thought of a new concept for my Short Story/Film. I feel an urge to write about **Nicholas Flamel, **or something to do about his legend.Yes, he was mentioned in 'Harry Potter and the Philospher's Stone', but that is besides the point. Legend dictates that Nicholas Flamel found this mysterious book, one that only scribes could read, one that belonged to Abraham, yes 'the' Abraham. Anyway, in this book, it is said that he was able to find the Philosopher's stone, the prized object that has the ability to turn everyday objects into Gold, or Silver. In fact, it is also stated that if used properly, the stone has the power to bestow upon its user **<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">IMMORTALITY **<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">.

<span style="color: #ff4900; font-family: Georgia,serif;">This link provides some information about him, it is a tad wordy, but it gives an insight into his life and legend.

[]

<span style="color: #fa4600; font-family: Georgia,serif;">Also, you can visit this **Youtube** link to get an even briefer version of his life, its a tad chilling his tale. I like it! I apologies for the the music before hand, and also if you can please specifically check out 0:50 to 2:05, that's actually a pretty interesting story......

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<span style="color: #ff5d05; font-family: Georgia,serif;">**The crazy thing about this story that it remains a legend to this day, thus no one really know's what Nicholas Flamel actually looked like. Only historical notes mention him a few times. Your thoughts?**



=<span style="color: #ff0505; font-family: 'Arial Black',Gadget,sans-serif;">Right, I know I have not been on this site for eons, but now I have decided to make up for it right now! :) =

=<span style="background-color: #000000; color: #05f6ff; font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;">I have recently watched the trailer for this film. I am planning to watch the film soon, but this has provided me with great inspiration. The Film is called ' The Lady in the Water'. =

**<span style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif;"> [] **

 * Feel free to watch it! Questions, queries and comments welcome!**

<span style="color: #2da2f0; font-family: 'Lucida Sans Unicode','Lucida Grande',sans-serif;">**Also, here are some images from the film, that have provided me with some ideas to go upon.**
= = <span style="color: #ff0006; display: block; font-family: Georgia,serif; text-align: left;"> <span style="color: #ff0006; display: block; font-family: Georgia,serif; text-align: left;">Discussion of each other's ideas. This really gave each of us the opportunity to critic and gain somewhat of a first impression on our ideas.

<span style="color: #ff2469; display: block; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; text-align: left;">It was suggested that I could explore the idea of a **Double Ego**, the **Dual.** This seems like a very interesting aspect, and I definately will explore it. I really think that this can add to the experiences of my female protagonist, and possibly it can help me to combine the two characters together.

<span style="color: #ff2469; display: block; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; text-align: left;">These are the thoughts to think on......

**<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">* **<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Audrey Niffenegger **<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;"> ' **<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">//The Time Traveller's Wife//' <span style="color: #ff0090; display: block; font-family: Georgia,serif; text-align: left;">* Diane Setterfield '//The Thirteenth Tale//' <span style="color: #ff0090; display: block; font-family: Georgia,serif; text-align: left;">* Robert Louis Stevenson //'Strange Case Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde//'. <span style="color: #ff0090; display: block; font-family: Georgia,serif; text-align: left;"> <span style="color: #ff0090; display: block; font-family: Georgia,serif; text-align: left;"><span style="color: #ff0006; display: block; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 20px; text-align: justify;">**My holiday checklist is:**

<span style="color: #800080; display: block; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 20px; text-align: justify;">5/12/11 - Tales from the Tower Volume 1: The Wilful Eye

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__**21st December 2011 Sri Lanka**__ <span style="background-color: #ffffff; display: block; font-family: arial; font-size: 12px; text-align: justify;">08°22N 80°28E)  Today I visited my Grandmother (My Mother's Mother). The reason for this visit, was two fold, to spend time with her and also to question her about the mythological stories of our country, specifically life when the Sri Lankan people still lived in mud huts with the coconut husks for roofs. She told me some very interesting and relevant tales that definitely pertained to my story. See, Sri Lankan mythology was an aspect that was integrated very heavily into the lives of village people during the days when my grandmother was very born. Think of it as an equivalent of Ancient Greece and how people of the time heavily believed in Zeus and Apollo, building temples to commemorate and worship them. The one thing that I found quite interesting was that each of the stories that my grandmother told me had this constant theme of light versus darkness, of some all powerful force (not theological in anyway) that somehow wavered the outcome of the fable. This, idea has inspired me to think about presenting a story, where the events are all inevitable, where there is this 'force', this 'authority' to put it simply that controls the lives of the characters. I have begun scripting my story, simply the introduction, based on these muses which I have uncovered. <span style="background-color: #ffffff; display: block; font-family: arial; font-size: 12px; text-align: justify;"> <span style="background-color: #ffffff; display: block; font-family: arial; font-size: 12px; text-align: justify;">Here are some of the pictures shown to me by my grandmother (on the internet):




 * 27 December 2011 Sri Lanka (At the Apartment)**

Read a collection of Short Stories titled, 'Jeevithathaya saha Maranaya', which means 'Life and Death'. These stories were non fiction, anecdotes, and detailed the plight of Sri Lankan villagers who were kidnapped by the Tamil Tigers or 'LTT' as they are known in Sri Lanka. These people were taken forcibly and were brainwashed to think that they were of Tamil descent. Many died during this process, but a few managed to escape and thus their story was made into this collection of personal anecdotes.It was very saddening, unnerving yet so interesting to read these stories, to see how one force can completely over rule the human figure.

I am using this image and integrating it into the characters of the 'Elders' present in my short story, who similarly to these malevolent forces impress strict controls on the villagers.


 * 30th December 2011 Sri Lanka (Rajagiriya, near my Grandmother's House)**

Thank God for wireless internet! I have just been doing some more research and I found this poem by William Butler Yeats, titled __Ego Dominus Tuus,__ which is Latin for 'I Am Your Master', taken from Dante's epic, 'Vita Nuova'. This poem, from research, sums up the conflict between the Self and the Anti Self and between the perfection between one's own life and the perfection of one's work. This poem has given me some inspiration regarding the conflict between one's normal self and this 'facade' or 'double ego' that they seem to consistently portray.

<span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #9c9c63; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium; text-align: -webkit-center;">33. **Ego Dominus Tuus**


 * Hic. || ON the grey sand beside the shallow stream || ||
 * ^  || Under your old wind-beaten tower, where still ||  ||
 * ^  || A lamp burns on beside the open book ||  ||
 * ^  || That Michael Robartes left, you walk in the moon ||  ||
 * ^  || And though you have passed the best of life still trace ||  //5// ||
 * ^  || Enthralled by the unconquerable delusion ||  ||
 * ^  || Magical shapes. ||  ||
 * Ille. || By the help of an image || ||
 * ^  || I call to my own opposite, summon all ||  ||
 * ^  || That I have handled least, least looked upon. ||  //10// ||
 * Hic. || And I would find myself and not an image. || ||
 * Ille. || That is our modern hope and by its light || ||
 * ^  || We have lit upon the gentle, sensitive mind ||  ||
 * ^  || And lost the old nonchalance of the hand; ||  ||
 * ^  || Whether we have chosen chisel, pen or brush ||  //15// ||
 * ^  || We are but critics, or but half create, ||  ||
 * ^  || Timid, entangled, empty and abashed ||  ||
 * ^  || Lacking the countenance of our friends. ||  ||
 * Hic. || And yet || ||
 * ^  || The chief imagination of Christendom ||  //20// ||
 * ^  || Dante Alighieri, so utterly found himself ||  ||
 * ^  || That he has made that hollow face of his ||  ||
 * ^  || More plain to the mind’s eye than any face ||  ||
 * ^  || But that of Christ. ||  ||
 * Ille. || And did he find himself, || //25// ||
 * ^  || Or was the hunger that had made it hollow ||  ||
 * ^  || A hunger for the apple on the bough ||  ||
 * ^  || Most out of reach? and is that spectral image ||  ||
 * ^  || The man that Lapo and that Guido knew? ||  ||
 * ^  || I think he fashioned from his opposite ||  //30// ||
 * ^  || An image that might have been a stony face, ||  ||
 * ^  || Staring upon a bedouin’s horse-hair roof ||  ||
 * ^  || From doored and windowed cliff, or half upturned ||  ||
 * ^  || Among the coarse grass and the camel dung. ||  ||
 * ^  || He set his chisel to the hardest stone. ||  //35// ||
 * ^  || Being mocked by Guido for his lecherous life, ||  ||
 * ^  || Derided and deriding, driven out ||  ||
 * ^  || To climb that stair and eat that bitter bread, ||  ||
 * ^  || He found the unpersuadable justice, he found ||  ||
 * ^  || The most exalted lady loved by a man. ||  //40// ||
 * Hic. || Yet surely there are men who have made their art || ||
 * ^  || Out of no tragic war, lovers of life, ||  ||
 * ^  || Impulsive men that look for happiness ||  ||
 * ^  || And sing when they have found it. ||  ||
 * Ille. || No, not sing, || //45// ||
 * ^  || For those that love the world serve it in action, ||  ||
 * ^  || Grow rich, popular and full of influence, ||  ||
 * ^  || And should they paint or write still it is action: ||  ||
 * ^  || The struggle of the fly in marmalade. ||  ||
 * ^  || The rhetorician would deceive his neighbours, ||  //50// ||
 * ^  || The sentimentalist himself; while art ||  ||
 * ^  || Is but a vision of reality. ||  ||
 * ^  || What portion in the world can the artist have ||  ||
 * ^  || Who has awakened from the common dream ||  ||
 * ^  || But dissipation and despair? ||  //55// ||
 * Hic. || And yet || ||
 * ^  || No one denies to Keats love of the world; ||  ||
 * ^  || Remember his deliberate happiness. ||  ||
 * Ille. || His art is happy but who knows his mind? || ||
 * ^  || I see a schoolboy when I think of him, ||  //60// ||
 * ^  || With face and nose pressed to a sweet-shop window, ||  ||
 * ^  || For certainly he sank into his grave ||  ||
 * ^  || His senses and his heart unsatisfied, ||  ||
 * ^  || And made—being poor, ailing and ignorant, ||  ||
 * ^  || Shut out from all the luxury of the world, ||  //65// ||
 * ^  || The coarse-bred son of a livery stablekeeper— ||  ||
 * ^  || Luxuriant song. ||  ||
 * Hic. || Why should you leave the lamp || ||
 * ^  || Burning alone beside an open book ||  ||
 * ^  || And trace these characters upon the sands; ||  //70// ||
 * ^  || A style is found by sedentary toil ||  ||
 * ^  || And by the imitation of great masters. ||  ||
 * Ille. || Because I seek an image, not a book. || ||
 * ^  || Those men that in their writings are most wise ||  ||
 * ^  || Own nothing but their blind, stupefied hearts. ||  //75// ||
 * ^  || I call to the mysterious one who yet ||  ||
 * ^  || Shall walk the wet sands by the edge of the stream ||  ||
 * ^  || And look most like me, being indeed my double, ||  ||
 * ^  || And prove of all imaginable things ||  ||
 * ^  || The most unlike, being my anti-self, ||  //80// ||
 * ^  || And standing by these characters disclose ||  ||
 * ^  || All that I seek; and whisper it as though ||  ||
 * ^  || He were afraid the birds, who cry aloud ||  ||
 * ^  || Their momentary cries before it is dawn, ||  ||
 * ^  || Would carry it away to blasphemous men. ||  //85// ||
 * ^  || Own nothing but their blind, stupefied hearts. ||  //75// ||
 * ^  || I call to the mysterious one who yet ||  ||
 * ^  || Shall walk the wet sands by the edge of the stream ||  ||
 * ^  || And look most like me, being indeed my double, ||  ||
 * ^  || And prove of all imaginable things ||  ||
 * ^  || The most unlike, being my anti-self, ||  //80// ||
 * ^  || And standing by these characters disclose ||  ||
 * ^  || All that I seek; and whisper it as though ||  ||
 * ^  || He were afraid the birds, who cry aloud ||  ||
 * ^  || Their momentary cries before it is dawn, ||  ||
 * ^  || Would carry it away to blasphemous men. ||  //85// ||

**1st January 2012 Sri Lanka**
Happy New Year everyone! Hope you are all keeping well. I have completed the beginning of my story. It is still the first draft, so I'm chopping and editing it like crazy. The protagonist of my short story will be a nineteen year old female. Her name is yet to be decided, but I like the name Evangeline ('Evy' to her friends, 'Gelli' to her best friend, who is male and suffers from a mental disability. He is extremely in love and has been in love with Evangeline since they were very young). Evangeline's disabled friend is actually quite interesting, he suffer's from a rare case of 'Asperger's Syndrome' mixed with a bit of 'Tourettes Syndrome', although during that time period the diseases would have no name and would be attributed to some form of congenital disease. This friend, whose name is yet to be decided, is the entity of the 'Double Ego'. Everyone feels sympathetic to his plight, but he believes that he is quite normal, so normal in fact that he causes the first of the plots twists to occur. Additionally, there is the male protagonist, who originally I decided to be a major part of the story, but I had other plans, and let us just say, his time in the novel is very short lived.


 * My Mission:** Research more about Asperger's and Tourette's Syndrome, but do not let the task overwhelm me as this character is only vital for the first part of the story.


 * 7th January 2012 Sri Lanka (Still ;) )**

Finished the drafts of my characters! They are done on small pieces of paper, so when I come back home to Australia I shall stick them on my wall, and make a copy and place them in my Process Journal. I wish I had my process Journal here so that I could update it (by the way Mrs. Bromley, I need it back please! :) ), but I'm making do with writing on loose sheets of paper, so that when I come back to Australia I can transfer it onto the Wiki. I'm still trying to mold the protagonist; I know her purpose in the short story and how she will play it out, but I am wondering about her personality. Should she be shy and conservative like the rest of the town, living in fear and in the shadow of the Elders, specifically her Grandfather who is the 'ring leader', for want of a better word, of this little 'inception-like' cult within a cult. I shall figure it out! Oh, and yesterday was my Sister's Birthday! She turned fifteen, FIFTEEN! Last time I checked she was twelve.... oh how they time doth fly!


 * 9th January 2012 (Bandaranayake International Airport, Sri Lanka LEAVING FOR DUBAI!!!!!!!!!)**

Our flight is about to board, but I thought I would squeeze in a few seconds of writing. Honestly, I do not know what I would do without wireless internet. I am still trying to figure out the personality of my female protagonist, but I am making progress. I have started drafting how the first plot twist will occur. I am writing it as I am writing this, does that make sense? Anyway, it's multitasking! I am almost complete finalising the first draft of the introduction of my story. I still have to give the character's appropriate names, but I can leave that till last. Oh, and I have decided the way in which one of my characters shall die. So this is very exciting!


 * 16th Januray 2012 Duabi, United Arab Emirates**

My apologies in advance for the delay in the writing. Every day has been so jam packed, the only time that I ever get to think is at night! It is crazy! It is great weather here, nice and cool, well it is Winter after all. I read this book recently, again about Sri Lanka, and its legends and its subsequent integration and impact on the villagers and present day people of the country. It is called __Yana Maga__ by Elmo Jayawardena, which translates to 'The Path Traveled'. The thing that set this book apart from all the other collections of mythologies that I read, is that it had such a descriptive, yet personal feel to it which provided the words being read such authenticity and life. I found it absolutely amazing. I transposed some of these ideas and additionally, some of the syntax's onto a piece of paper, the one's with such profound beauty and I am trying to integrate this imagery into my short story.




 * 23rd January 2012 BACK IN AUSTRALIA!**

After casually burning of all the jet lag present in my body, I got to working on my short story. Since everything was hand written, I got to typing it on the computer and also filling in a supplementary Process Journal, until I arrive back at school and can update the official one. I have written the first draft of the introduction and I have drafted the first plot twist of the story. I am currently doing more research regarding 19th century lifestyle, but I am leading towards changing the time period to a more conservative 15th or 16th century town. I feel that the older I age the town, the more history can be integrated into it. I have read and thoroughly enjoyed Audrey Niffenegger's __The Time Traveler's Wife.__ The way in which it was written is so created yet so simplistic which gives it that uniqueness. I am currently hunting out a copy of __The Strange Case of Doctor Jekyll and Mr. Hyde__, by Robert Louis Stevenson. I am very interested in reading it, and once I find a copy I shall definitely indulge in it.




 * 24th January 2012**

I sincerely apologies for not being able to make it to the group session today. I had a dentist appointment at the same time, it was six weeks in the making. I am truly sorry! The plus side is, I managed to make comparative notes of __The Time Traveler's Wife__ by Audrey Niffeneger and in doing some more research, have found a new way of writing my plot twists. I shall reveal more once I have tested this method to see whether it is full proof or not.


 * 29th January 2012**

I have finished updating the Wiki from when I was away on holidays. I am still in the process of the fixing my first plot twist, and I have decided to change my introduction slightly. I felt that it was to abrupt so I made it a bit more mellow, but still very sharp. I am still hunting for a copy of __The Strange Case of Doctor Jekyll and Mr. Hyde__ by Robert Louis Stevenson, this book is deciding to play a game of 'Where's Wally' on me, because it seems to be evading me. I am beginning to work on the second plot twist now, so I shall see how it goes! School is tomorrow, so I am excited to see all of you! I hope you all had a great holiday! :)


 * 4th February 2012**

Worked on the Viva Voce homework! Updating my Process Journal, and had a read through of my Major Work! Still trying to find a copy of __The Strange Case of Doctor Jekyll and Mr. Hyde__. Does any one know where I can find a copy? I have tried to buy one offline, but it says that it will take a while to send. I shall keep trying though!!!!!


 * 5th February 2012**

Currently reading __Tales from the Tower Volume 1: The Willful Eye__ by Isobelle Carmody and Nan McNab (Eds) I am reading the online version, so when I get back to school, I shall borrow the hard copy. It is actually a really god book, and pertains to my short story, as it takes ordinary fairy tales such as //Rumpelstiltskin// and transforms it into this whole other creative piece whilst still maintaining it's originality. This concept of taking ideas and altering them, so that the audience does not know what to expect is something that I hope to achieve with my short story.




 * 06th February 2012**

Had Mrs. O'Keefe and Miss Morrison today; they provided very in depth and helpful advice regarding my Major Work. I am afraid that my story is quite similar to M.Night Shymahan's film __The Village__, but in talking to Mrs. O'Keefe, it seems that with more research and with more fleshing out of the story, it will be quite different to the Film, so there is still hope!!!!

Miss Morrison also advised that possibly building on the fact that the characters, they start of as being simply characters in a story, but then this concept is flipped on its head, and they actually turn out to be real. I will continue to investigate this concept, as it is very interesting, and I feel as it can benefit my short story.


 * 13th February 2012**

Had an Extension English II lesson today. Updated my Process Journal, did some more research on __Literary Theories__. I discussed my topic with Mrs.Bromley, running through my ideas with her and telling her my concerns and how I have moved past them. I have not attended to my Major Work in a while, but I know that I must at least formulate the plot twists a little bit so that progress is being made!


 * 16th February 2012**

Updating Process Journal. Watched __The Village__, by M. Night Shyamalan, just for inspiration sake. Also read Markus Zusak's __The Messenger__. It is really really really a great read. The plot twist at the end is just..... words can't explain. It was very much inspirational. I also have found two journal articles relating to my Major Work. Here's a picture of Markus Zusak's novel. I definitely recommend it!




 * 05th of March 2012**

I have decided to include a **Prologue** in my Major Work. The reason being, is I want to allude to third plot twist, but still retain some suspense. I have worked on the first half of my Prologue and I know what I want to include in it. Again, I emphasise, it is a working progress. __Beatrice and Virgil__ by Yann Martel, a novel, was suggested to me, but __Shades of Grey__ by Jasper Fforde was suggested to read first. I can't wait, I love to read!

For now, I will keeping working on my prologue and see how it goes.

=<span style="background-color: #000080; color: #ffffff; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 250%;">BIG NEWS! :O = <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;"><span style="color: #2da2f0; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 33px; line-height: 48px;">I have decided to change my story! Just the beginning part. I am not going to reveal what exactly it is, yet, but I believe this new change will help me to explore the concepts that I wish to portray much more effectively. Also, it has a clear and much ore precise link to the Advanced and Extension I courses. The plot twists remain the same, it is just the unfolding and setting of the story that has changed.


 * 14th April 2012**

I have finished reading __The Eyre Affair__ by Jasper Fforde. I have to say, I really, really, really liked the book. It was so twisted and surreal, it just compelled you to read on. I have commenced writing my new take on my story. The plot twists, and characterisations have been planned out and I have my Prologue and Epilogue all started, a bit queer on the side of the epilogue, because its finished even before the story has ended! Let us see how it all goes!


 * 07th May 2012**

I have decided to scrap the Prologue and the Epilogue. I have decided to write an anthology of short stories, and I have even changed my concepts. I know it has been a long time since I have written, but during this absence, I have been rabidly re planning my short stories, so all I have to do is finish them. I know the change comes very late in the series of events, but I feel that it is something beneficial and something that I am comfortable with.

T'ill we meet again!


 * 21st May 2012**

Finished writing one of my stories! YAY! I am working on the rest of them, but I am almost finished so this is quite exciting! I have also asked Mrs. Bromley for a copy of __Shades of Grey__ by Jasper Fforde, just to gain another insight into his surrealistic writing style.