What is Middle or Act II? Do you happen to watch a movie or read a book whose Protagonist changes overnight? And you found it unrealistic. If I tell you a story of (a) a poor orphan who became (b) a rich man, would you believe this story? Or, […]
Middle (Act II/Confrontation) Read More »
In the previous post, we looked at the concept of narrative structure and the three-act structure. This post is devoted to the 1st Act. What is Setup or Act I? Have you heard that agents/editors give a book’s manuscript only a 10-page-opportunity? For picture books, the chance shrinks to a few first sentences! It sounds
Three-act structure; Act I (Beginning) Read More »
Before discussing types of character arcs, I would like to invite you to rethink the difference between Narrative Arc and the Character Arc: Narrative Arc vs. Character Arc One of my biggest confusions, when I started writing, was that I didn’t know that the Character Arc and the Narrative Arc (some call it Narrative Structure)
What is the narrative structure? When someone wants to tell a story, how should she organize the story segments—characters, dialogue, conflict, scenes, etc? As far as we know, Aristotle, the Greek philosopher, is the first person who tried to answer this question. In his book, \textsl{Poetics}, he wrote: Aristotle was the first one,
Narrative Structure; what is it and what isn’t it! Read More »
What is an Inciting Event? Compare the two texts below. Which one is a story? and: If I want to expand the latter to a manuscript, I need to add some scenes about its event—enemy attacked village—; about the enemy, threatening the village and finally the brave fight of the person. What if I want
Inciting Event in Picture Books Read More »
We all know that the first line or the first page(s) of the book ought to introduce compellingly the character(s) and, preferably, show the setting of the story. Do, merely, those elements hook the reader and persuade him/her to turn the page, investing time and emotion in the story? What makes
What makes a hook in Picture Books? Read More »
I will write here later
I read this book merely because of its title. My reasoning was that when an author is so careful with the title, the story will most likely be good. And it was not good, but brilliant.
Seven resin collectors
The story happens in a small, impoverished fictional village called Dukuh Paruk in the middle of Java Island. The main character, the 14-year-old Rasus, is in love with an 11-year-old girl, Srintil, whose grandfather believes she has a talent for Ronggeng—the Javanese dance. Moreover, in Rasus’s imagination, the girl is a replacement for Rasus’s mother, whom he had lost in childhood. A Ronggeng dancer isn’t a simple entertainer. The dancer is considered a sacred vessel for the village’s ancestral spirit and is expected to be available to the men of the village! I am not sure if it is comparable to the “sacred prostitute” in the temples that we read in the ancient Sumerian stories.
I read the first book in the trilogy in German—Die Tänzerin von Dukuh Paruk. Sadly, the other two volumes aren’t available to buy. In English, the trilogy is published in one volume with the title “The Dancer”.
The central conflict of the story is that Rasus has to emotionally put up with the tradition that everyone in his village believes in or benefits from. Rasus grows out of this calamity; he criticizes his village and its culture. In a nutshell, the story is the classic archetype: a boy becomes a man.
Tohari’s writing voice brings this archetype to life, especially his descriptions of nature and animals, which immerse me in the atmosphere of a Javanese village. The main theme of the story is the battle between tradition and humanity. In spite of the dire atmosphere in the story, it is very optimistic. Poverty and tradition cannot kill the humanity in Rasus.