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Project Development

So I surprised myself with how much I got done yesterday: I finished one treatment and wrote two more. I'm still more impressed with myself because the second treatment was almost entirely original and borrowed no major scenes from any of the IRL episodes.

A few days ago I said that I might share and show my development process, and because that second treatment generate a lot of notes that demonstrate it, I'll do that today and here. I don't know how interesting they'll be, but I think you can see the story emerging and coming together in them.

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Step One
Construct worksheet with the three key questions at the top:

Who wants what? What happens if they fail? What is stopping them from getting it?

This is a constant reminder that the story must pose and give specific, particular answers to these questions, preferably for each of the major characters. Though it's a bad idea to state these questions and answers in the actual story, it helps for the author (me!) to have them constantly in the forefront while trying to develop the story.

Step Two
Copy over necessary plot points from Series Outline. Arrange them in a tentative chronological order and assign them to an act.

(The Season Outline is a set of beats and developments that must be hit during the progression of the series, with each beat tentatively assigned to a particular episode. Sometimes they are beats that each episode is designed to embody; other times they are beats that need to appear at roughly that spot in the series chronology.)

Act I
* NORMAN OSBORN conveys to SPENCER SMYTHE how much he fears Spider-Man and the "spider army" he suspects is coming.
* Smythe steals his son ALISTAIR's projects to use in his own work.

Act II
* THE JACKAL attacks Oscorp.

Act III
* GWEN STACY expresses her appreciation for PETER PARKER, though Peter failed to adequately protect her. [It turns out that this moment isn't necessary to the story and doesn't fit in what I wrote; insofar as something like this scene is needed in the series, it will have to be inserted elsewhere.]
* Norman fires Smythe after Jackal attack and hires DR. OTTO OCTAVIUS.
* There's a final break between Spencer and Alistair.

Step Three
Main protagonists are chosen and goals and plans tentatively ascribed to them.

* Peter Parker wants to convince Harry Osborn to return to Horizon High before their friendship is fatally attenuated by the rivalry between Horizon and the Osborn Academy. He must overcome Harry's stubborness and pride to do so.

* Raymond Warren wants to find a cure for his condition before his Jeckyll-and-Hyde transformation into the Jackal becomes permanent, but Oscorp is the only place with the research that can help him, and Osborn won't want to help him.

* Spencer Smythe wants to keep his job at Oscorp, but his equipment keeps failing and Norman Osborn is growing impatient.

Step Four
Break each of these stories into three acts, with each act structured around a specific goal and plan that either takes the protagonist closer to his overall goal or which reflects an adaptation to the changing circumstances, and which is thwarted by a disaster. These are also tentative.

1a. Peter wants to tempt Harry back to Horizon by showing him the great research projects at Horizon that he could help them with, but Harry's insecurity means he feels upstaged by his old friends.
1b. Peter wants Harry to help solve a problem that has occurred with a Horizon project, thereby making Harry feel useful and wanted. But he discovers too late that solving that problem could uncover Peter's secret -- or cure it.
1c. Peter wants to return to a status quo ante with Harry, but he must rescue Harry from the Jackal, who has made off with him.

2a. Raymond Warren wants to persuade Osborn to giving him his old research so that he can effect a cure for his secret condition, but Osborn refuses and Warren can't tell him why he needs it so badly.
2b. Warren wants to steal his old research, as it is now the only way to get it, but he is surprised in the act, and the excitement causes him to revert to the Jackal, who emphatically does not want to be cured.
2c. The Jackal wants to stop all chances of Oscorp finding a cure for him; and he must escape the intervention of Osborn security (in the form of Spencer Smythe), Dr. Otto Octavius (in his octo-rig) and Spider-Man.

3a. Spencer Smythe wants to demonstrate the utility of his inventions to his boss, but his device to locate and track the spider-man isn't working.
3b. To protect himself, Spencer steals tech from other Oscorp researchers, but he is caught by his own son in the act, which strains their unhappy relationship further.
3c. Spencer wants to stop the Jackal so as to demonstrate the efficacy of his tech, but fails and is shown up by the superiority of Octavius's octo-rig.

Step Five
Break up each act into individual scenes, with an emphasis on developing a location or reason for showcasing some element of the act that needs dramatizing.

1a1. Setup: Peter and Horizon making trip to Oscorp Expo to raise money by showing the tech they are working on. Attendees include Peter, Miles Morales, Gwen Stacy, and Dr. Otto Octavius.
1a2. Peter talks to Harry before presentation.
1a3. Peter's presentation, which leaves Harry insulted.
1b1. Gwen's invention is a DNA sequencer and she uses it on Peter's blood, revealing non-human material.
1b2. That machine could uncover Peter's secret unless he finds a way of covering it up. But after thinking about it --
1b3. -- Peter decides to reconcile with Harry by telling him his secret and getting Harry to return to Horizon to help him (Peter) find a cure for being Spider-Man.
1c1. Peter only reveals that his DNA is scrambled before Harry reacts badly, showing fear that Peter could turn into a monster like Curt Connors.
1c2. Peter has to save Harry from the Jackal, who has seized him.
1c3. Peter convinces Harry that it was actually a glitch in the machine, for it was contaminated with Raymond Warren's DNA.

2a1. Warren changes back to himself from being the Jackal, shows fear of changing to the Jackal permanently.
2a2. Warren talks to Osborn, who refuses to help him.
2b. Warren sneaks into his old lab at Oscorp, where he is confronted by Spencer, who gloats over him and threatens him; the excitement provokes Warren to change into the Jackal.
2c1. The Jackal rummages through Oscorp research bays, setting off alarms.
2c2. The Jackal tries to kill Osborn, and grabs and runs off with Harry.
2c3. The Jackal must escape Oscorp.

3a1. Spencer is tasked with tracking Spider-Man, and has to admit to Osborn that the tracker is not working.
3a2. Spencer asks Alistair for his invention—the weapons that will eventually transform Alistair into The Shocker—but Alistair refuses.
3b. Spencer steals Alistair's tech, rifles other research bays; catches Warren.
3c1. Spencer uses modified tech, including Alistair's, to battle Jackal, but loses.
3c2. Spencer is fired by Osborn, who hires Octavius as his replacement; Alistair renounces father to stay at Oscorp and work with Octavius.

Step Six
Shuffle these scenes together, combining them where possible, in chronological order. As they are combined, make changes where necessary or add new ideas while folding in series points

1. Warren changes back to himself from being the Jackal, shows fear of changing back.
2. Peter and Horizon making trip to Oscorp to raise money by showing the tech they are working on. Attendees include Peter, Miles Morales, Gwen Stacy, and Dr. Otto Octavius.
3. Spencer is tasked with tracking Spider-Man as Norman Osborn conveys just how much he fears Spider-Man and the "spider army" that he suspects is coming. Spencer has to admit that the tracker is not working.
4. Warren talks to Osborn, who refuses to help.
5. Peter talks to Harry before presentation; Harry betrays resentment, so that Peter pulls back on showing his item, allowing others to go ahead of him.
6. Spencer asks Alistair for his invention and is angered when Alistair refuses..
7. Gwen's invention shows that Peter has non-human DNA.
8. Spencer steals Alistair's tech.
9. Peter decides to come clean with Harry so they can work on a cure together; he reveals that his DNA is scrambled, but Harry interprets it that Peter could be a monster.
10. Warren sneaks into old lab, confronted by Spencer, who gloats and threatens; turns into the Jackal.
11. The Jackal rummages the bays, setting off alarms.
12. The Jackal tries to kill Osborn, kidnaps Harry; Peter has to save Harry from the Jackal.
13. Spencer uses tech to battle Jackal, loses; Octavius drive Jackal off, seemingly.
14. Spencer loses job, son, to Octavius.
15. Peter convinces Harry that it was just a problem with Gwen' machine and that there's nothing wrong with him.
16. It is revealed that the Jackal has stolen some of Harry's blood, Jackal intends to cook up something special for the brat.

Step Seven
Compose the treatment, expanding on each of the above points. Certain developments may be added, dropped, or altered as the story comes into greater focus. Treatment is here: "S01E09 "Mark of the Jackal""