Story Proposal
Jade, who is a young working woman living alone, has recently gone through a lot of hardships in the past year. She has been searching for many ways to cheer her up and keep her distracted but nothing seems to be doing the trick. One day on her way back home from a party, she notices an animal shelter and spots a puppy who looks severely ill. She spontaneously decided to adopt the puppy and that spontaneous decision was the start of her new journey of happiness. She ended up saving the puppy's life, just as the puppy did for Jade.
Story Theme
The theme of the story is that there is always a light at the end of a tunnel. No matter how bad things get in life and how dark of a place you might find yourself in, there will always be a way out. Furthermore, we as humans underestimate the impact that animals or pets have on our lives because we often think that we are the superior species. However, these animals can impact our lives for the better in ways that some humans can't.
Mentor Feedback
The feedback which I received initially was that the story seems very straightforward, some challenges and conflicts are needed in order to make the story more interesting. Some possibilities include the death of the dog, severe health issues, dealing with neglect. It would be interesting to see Jade learn things about herself during the story. Perhaps she learns that she has attachment issues or trust issues because she does not want to connect with the dog, she wishes to not get too attached because she believes he will maybe die soon. Think about what happens between the moment Jade and the puppy meet, and the end. Jade must face herself and her issues and learn about them. Include 2-3 conflicts, that should be enough.
Peer Feedback
We were split in groups and were able to present our stories to our peers. During this, I gave my peers feedback on their stories and also received feedback on mine. The image to the right shows what my peers loved most about my story, and what tips could be used for some extra magic.
Character
History
Jade is young woman who has grown up in the netherlands with her mom. At the young age of 7 years old, her parents got divorced and her dad was suddenly no longer a part of her and her mom’s life. Just a few months after their divorce, Jade found her dad with a new woman and was heartbroken seeing this. Growing up with only her mom around was difficult financially as her mom wasn’t financially stable and had a hard time taking care of the home. This motivated Jade from a young age to work hard in school and always strive for her best as one day she wished to relieve the financial burden she felt she had on her mother. Fast forward to the future, Jade is now a software engineer. She has been in a relationship for 7 years but suddenly discovered that she had been cheated on and got dumped. Her heart was broken as she felt betrayed by one person she loved dearly and thought she could have trusted with anything. Jade slipped into a slight depression ever since and has been completely closed off to new people.
Character Profile
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Jade Reed
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25 years old
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Software Engineer at Philips
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Very ambitious
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Hard working individual
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Very loving and caring individual
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Loves animals
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Loves gardening
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Loves technology
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Dislikes liars
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Dislikes betrayal
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Dislikes unproductivity
Motivation
Jade’s main motivation is to feel happy once again after going through such a rough breakup experience and also to learn how to form attachments again and trust others without being afraid of getting hurt.
Something to lose
Jade’s biggest fear is her depression becoming much more severe as this can lead to more harmful things such as suicide.
Make them evolve
Jade begins to feel happy again after being around her dog, Flash, and her new friend, who is her neighbor Beck. She realizes that they are there by her side when she needs them and are not going anywhere and this allows her to feel safe within their relationships, in the end making her form attachments with these 2 characters and also building trust.
Story Bricks
After adjusting my story with the feedback in mind, I have written the following story bricks using the three-act structure, which is a narrative model that divides stories in 3 parts. I named it "The light at the end of the tunnel".
Intro
Jade is a 25 year old software engineer who has been cheated on and dumped after being in a 7 year long relationship. She has had a pretty rough year. She felt bad, betrayed, and went into a slight depression. On her way back from work one day she comes across an ill-dog who she finds crawling to shelter from the rain and he seemed unable to walk properly and was limping severely. Although reluctant, she picks him up to take him home. She named him Flash. Almost getting home, her neighbor Beck saw the dog and asked if he could help in any way or form, Beck ends up getting rejected for Jade cant seem to trust someone at the moment due to her recent experiences.
Rising Action
One morning, Jade struggled to take out the trash, leading Beck to again offer his help - again being rejected but somehow convinced Jade to give her his number in case she ever needed help, Jade laughed at him but saved his number to not be so rude. Time has passed and Jade realized that the dog’s presence made her forget about her relationship, but she started to fear that Flash would leave her soon as well. Jade decided that she would leave Flash the next morning and give him up for adoption when suddenly, she felt something in her stomach and stumbled to the ground.
Climax
Jade woke up in the hospital, she was told she collapsed because of an illness but immediately worries about Flash since she is unable to be there for him. Jade pondered on what to do and tried to get up, falling down the bed, crawling to the door; eventually realizing she couldn’t do anything, she felt forced and asked for her phone, and called Beck for help.Still unsure if she could have trusted him, she called him to pick up the keys from her and look after Flash for her while she was in the hospital.
Falling Action
Jade wondered if she made the right decision and imagined her house being robbed and wondered if Beck did anything creepy in her bedroom. Upon being released from the hospital, she was surprised to see Flash walking up to her, with his tongue out. Jade felt happy and thanked Beck for his help.
Resolution
One day, Jade forgot to close the backdoor to her home but was ecstatic to notice that Flash stayed indoors. She then decided to keep Flash and promised herself to be by his side no matter what. The next day, Jade saw Beck taking out the trash and offered him help and later invited him for a coffee. Having the company of her dog and her new friend, she realized that she is much happier being open to others and trusting that they won’t leave her. It made her feel like things will always get better no matter how dark times can get.
Final Result
In order to visualize my story, I created a video using iMovie and this was the outcome:
Final Feedback
After presenting my story video to the class during the Storytelling Exhibition on January 18th, 2022, I received the following feedback. I was very pleased with the results and was happy to see that a lot of my peers loved the message behind the story.
Reflection
Overall, I really enjoyed the storytelling classes and I loved how the sky was the limit when it came to what kind of story we wanted to create. It really left a lot of space for creativity and imagination. It also brought me joy to see that others liked my story and found the message meaningful. It was definitely a proud moment. The exhibition was really fun to experience and I had a great time viewing the works of my peers as well. It felt like being indulged in a room full of creativity and stories I've never seen or heard before. II did find it difficult however to come up with an interesting way to visualize my story because of how many possiblities there are. In the end, I chose to create a video which embodies the story I created using my voiceover to tell the story and using visuals which show emotions that viewers can relate to. Furthermore, studying Digital Marketing as my major, storytelling is very important within the field I want to pursue therefore I'm very happy and grateful for the knowledge that I was exposed to and gained during these classes.