Lisa Cron, in her Story Genius
course, states
that your protagonist’s “aha moment” near the end of your novel is when the
protagonist finally overcomes her misbelief. This is where your novel makes its
point. A writer needs to know the point she is trying to make in her story to
be sure each scene is focused on that point.
If I analyze
my college journey experience, I notice that throughout my experience I am the
mother of five children first and a college student second. My life has always
been about the parenting of my children.
This brought me back to
how my parents raised me and my brother and sisters. It made me reconsider
deeply my father’s words in the origin scene. You can find my post on origin
scene here.
“What makes
you think you’re smart enough for college, Vic?”
Because
Victoria struggled in her early education, her father felt he was saving his
daughter from possible failure in life. Perhaps he thought he could save all
his children from failure by choosing an easier path for them; a path, he thought,
without unnecessary struggle; a path, it seemed, without a college education in
it.
Victoria’s
initial interpretation of the origin scene was that those who struggle in
school should not go to college because they’d have a higher risk for failure.
But what if Victoria
realizes near the end of her college journey that success in college doesn’t depend
only on how quickly you learn but rather on your determination to succeed? Doubt
and fear of failure are a part of life. Many people struggle to better
themselves. Parents shouldn’t keep their children from attempting new and
difficult goals solely to keep them safe from the risk of failure. We must
realize our full potential, and to do this, many need to struggle; like
Victoria does in her quest for a college diploma.
Maybe
becoming a parent myself solidified my work ethic. Perseverance matters in life.
Those who struggle early in their education learn this as they move through
life. Perseverance can overcome obstacles. Victoria learns this through her
college journey. She learns differently. Others may learn faster, but Victoria
keeps chipping away at education and understanding of course material to
receive her Bachelor of Arts degree from an Ivy League university.
The
takeaway message to readers could be:
Effort counts in life as in
college.
Perseverance matters.
Don’t let fear and doubt keep
you from your goals.
*In your opinion, which sentence
encapsulates what Victoria has learned from the info I provided above?*
While researching concrete evidence about what Victoria
learned during her ten-year college journey, I came across two great TED talks:
Angela Lee Duckworth defines “grit” as passion and
perseverance for long-term goals.
And Dr. Carol Dweck speaks of a belief called the “growth
mindset” and how we can improve in learning.
In memoir as in fiction,
the protagonist needs to deal with her misbelief scene by scene by scene in
order to earn her “aha moment,” that point in the story where the protagonist
discovers that her misbelief is in fact a misbelief. This is usually an “internal
realization” according to Lisa Cron in Story Genius, an internal realization
that is prompted by an event in a fiction story or memoir. Thanks for reading.
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