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Octavia's Brood

this worksheet will help you to build a world within which to write your visionary fiction story. we define visionary fiction as fiction that has an explicit intention for visioning beyond the current world, challenging mainstream power dynamics and ideals. we believe all social justice organizing - imagining a better, more just world and working to create it - is an act of visionary fiction. we want to encourage the exploration the inner workings of characters and communities seeking change, seeking justice, outside accepted current rules of reality. we see visionary fiction as a form that can include sci-fi, speculative fiction, fantasy, magic realism, myth, horror and more. it exposes current injustice and/or presents an alternative reality/future.

Main Issue:

choose this issue as a group. think of this as a lens you want to look through together as you build the world. you can be as specific or general as you'd like.

Main character:

tell us what you can about your central character - name, age, religion, ability, gender, human/robot/other, singular or multiple. think about themes in fiction that can apply to primary characters - destiny, prophecy, realizing one's special powers, being part of a persecuted group, redemption, etc. great characters are what make great fiction.

Setting:

what is the setting that will allow your character to really address your issue? this includes but is not limited to the physical, social, and political setting. elements of your setting can include time, geography, the science and technology, transportation, utopia/dystopia, environment, how people reproduce, and whether it's earth/outer space/another planet.

Back Drop:

what are the assumptions we can make for this world - the history, social structures, how people view life, death.

Conflict:

this is how we pull all the pieces together. this places your character in your setting, and assumes your backdrop as you address your issue. stay mindful here of whose story you want to tell and what perspective you want to represent.

here are some helpful questions:

who seeks a change?

who seeks to prevent that change?

are there others in the world seeking different kinds of change?

what role does the natural world play?

what role do other humans/machines/etc play?

how does the need for change become clear?

how will the change happen?

how does your character contribute?

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