Story Prompt 2 — Stories Where Protagonists Life Goes From 0 to 100 (or vice versa)
A small business idea can become a huge money-maker in the future.
Just like that, what seems like an insignificantly small problem now can eventually destroy your whole life.
The thing is, LIFE IS UNCERTAIN, we don’t know what’ll happen in the future. Like the famous saying of Lord Krishna in Bhagavad Gita — “This too shall pass…!”, nothing is permanent, everything changes eventually, it is only a matter of time and effort.
For Example — In the beginning of The Social Network — Mark Zuckerberg is a student of the most prestigious university in the world and an insecure nerd, who’s eager to accomplish great things in life.
By building a once in a generation idea and after battling two different lawsuits — from a student he becomes one of the youngest self-made billionaires and co-founder of a pioneering tech company by the end of the two hour film.
Stories where characters end up in completely opposite circumstances from where they started can simply be broken down in two different types :
- The Rise (0 to 100)
- From failure to success (The pursuit of happiness)
- From rags to riches (Slumdog Millionaire, Breaking Bad)
- From chaos to order (The silver lining playbook, limitless)
- From obscurity to fame (Black Swan, 8 mile)
- From injustice to justice (Shawshank redemption, A few good men)
2. The Downfall (100 to 0)
- From success to failure (Wall street)
- From sanity to madness (Fight club, apocalypse now / heart of darkness, rosemary’s baby, the shining)
- From freedom to Captivity/enslavement (The Pianist, 12 years a slave)
The only rule in these kind of stories is your character’s life get metamorphosed into completely opposite circumstance from where they started. That’s why as a writer they may even offer you somewhat idea of a beginning and end.
Write down your own story with this prompt — You can pick one of the above elements to write and the kind of beginning and radical end you want for your character.
