McAnally's (The Community Pub) > Author Craft

Run away?

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belial.1980:
Any suggestions for crafting a scene where the family of a fifteen year old girl finds out that she's run away from home?

Setting the stage: She's left a note on the table explaining that it's best if she goes off on her own. She's not bitter and it was a hard decision for her to make. Story takes place in middle class suburbia with a tight knit family group. Parents are still together in a good relationship and she has a brother that's two years older than her. She and her brother squabble occasionally but her mother and her have really been butting heads a lot lately over her partying and older boyfriend. The older sibling was diagnosed with schizophrenia when he was 9. His visions resulted in the destruction of a neighbor's home and landed him and the person that lived there in the hospital. (He's not schizophrenic; the things he saw were real, and he saved the neighbor's life but his family doesn't know this) Also there was a third sibling that died eleven years previous to this happening. POV is the older brother's.

I think the parents would be strong people after dealing with all this but of course it would probably be a harrowing experience just the same. I'm trying to size up how they would react and craft a plausible scene. Any suggestions are greatly appreciated.

The Observer:
Well if they're your typical parents they'll probably freak out for a few minutes before calling Everyone they can think of. Everyone. Friends, friends of friends, the cops, the fire department...they'll be terrified about their little girl.

trboturtle:
First thing to so is write the note. It will show the character's mindset,

Second, show the note to your own parents and get their reaction (Explain beforehand why your doing this) What would they do if it had you that had written the note for real?

The scene is going to be tense, the longer it goes, the more tension there's going to be in the scene -- Emotions is going to rise, family mem,bers are going to become more frantic and less calm the longer the situation lasts.

The Brother may use his 'ability' to see if something is wrong beyond the obivious. He's going to be ignored (Unless the police suspect him of comitting a crime in this scene)

Craig

meh:
Your stage setting includes some things I would put in the box labeled "contradictions".   

Sufficient reason to run away from home at 15  contradicts 'good parenting relationship', and strongly contradicts 'tightly knit family group'.   

The defining characteristic of 'tightly knit family group' is that the members very much want to be part of it.

Shecky:

--- Quote from: Exasperating on April 30, 2010, 01:38:20 AM ---Your stage setting includes some things I would put in the box labeled "contradictions".   

Sufficient reason to run away from home at 15  contradicts 'good parenting relationship', and strongly contradicts 'tightly knit family group'.   

The defining characteristic of 'tightly knit family group' is that the members very much want to be part of it.

--- End quote ---

Sometimes, that's the very stuff that drives kids away. One of the weirdnesses of the adolescent psyche; I've seen it before.

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