Growth Mindset #2 Playwriting

I'm currently taking playwriting, and I've been waiting to take this course since the beginning of my education! My dad used to always say that I was a good story teller, and that I should write stories (specifically like Stephen King... not sure why? I wouldn't be mad if I wrote like him). I'm not sure how or why he thought this of me. We didn't have a very good relationship, but we were very close when I was much, much younger. I think it's interesting, because we're told that so much of our personality basis stems from before the age of five. Maybe he saw that in me then?
I'm told quite often that I'm a good writer. Every now and then I'll make a long, passionate, facebook post and that's where I find myself receiving messages and comments of friends, family, sometimes strangers, encouraging me to write. I never took an honest crack at it because what if I fail? What if I'm actually not very good and that's the ugly truth? But now I'm learning that life is about failure. It's tried. It's failed. It's get up again. It's fail again. Fail better. SO here I am, finally free falling into fictional fantasy. It's definitely a huge challenge! I have to write a lot of scripts and it's like... what am I doing?! Who am I trying to be?! How do I give this person (who only exists in my head) a real voice? But I can do it. I know I can. It's just a matter of trying. And failing. And trying again.

Thataka: A story of the misunderstood.

Thataka, misunderstood women of the Ramayana
wikiwand

"Mummy, mummy!" Laughter, sunlight, a field of flowers.
"Mummy!"
A child's voice echoing through the land. A young boy's legs gliding through the green.

"Mumm-aaaahy!" He squeals as his agile body is swung through the air. He was called Subahu. "I've got you!" A warm voice squealed back. "And I will eat you!" A shrill cry escaped the boys mouth. "No, mummy!" "I'm not mummy! I'm monster mummy, and I love the crunch of little boy's bones!" The two laughed and teased until she fell down in a fit of hysterics. Together they rolled down a grassy hill, Subahu safe in his mother's arms. When they reached flat land the boy sprung up again. "More, mummy! More!" "You're too heavy for me!" The woman smiled, knowing that her strength could quite literally carry a heard of elephants. "You've gotten too big, my son. But you know what?" She dropped to her knees, coming to eye level with Subahu as she gently tucked a strand of long, beautiful, dark hair behind her ear. "You will grow up to be a fierce warrior, my Subahu. And mummy will be so proud of you."

And her name was Thataka.

~Time passes, Subahu has grown older, so has his siblings. Thataka has grown even more stern in her maturing years, yet continues to love her family dearly.~

"Ouch! You bully!" "You scrawny weak chicken." Several shoves were exchanged between the two brothers, Subahu and Maricha. Although they were older, perhaps they still lack maturity. With a rough smack to the head, Maricha became tangled under his feet and his momentum carried him directly into a nearby tree. "Boys." Thataka scolded, making her way up the red dusted hill. They looked at each other, brotherly rage in their eyes. After a momentary stare down, Maricha rolled his eyes, muttering something fowl, and headed down the path. With a smirk, Subahu turned and waited as his mother caught up beside him. "I'm just trying to grow some skin on the kid's back." Truthfully Thataka wasn't exactly opposed to her son's efforts. She had always felt that Maricha was too... sensitive. Too reserved. Where his picked up such behavior was beyond her. Subahu, on the other hand, acted in spitting image of his mother. He mimicked her vast shift in mood, her on-again-off-again foul temper. He honored and respected that he had the most beautiful mother in all the land. Just take a look around. The trees swayed to her movement, the stars sparkled in her eyes, and the sun radiated almost as much as her beauty. And they were a team.

When they arrived to the house, Maricha stood in horror. Before Thataka even stepped foot on their land, their property, something shifted in the air and her stomach dropped. "What is it?" She demanded, picking up her pace to a soft run, Subahu there at her side. Maricha blocked the door. "Mother, please-" with a great force she pushed past her son, causing him to be overtaken by her strength and flailed out from underneath the arch way. He wanted to protect her, he did. He didn't want her to see, to know, to experience the horror of what laid out before them. Thataka's heart sank as her knees went weak. In a beautiful display of distress, the woman collapsed to the ground. In front of her laid Sumali and Suketu. Her father. Her husband.

Dead.

A low groan passed through her lips. This groan came from the deepest pit of her stomach, and it grew, and grew. The sound passed through her stomach, and then resonated in her chest. Her face grew hot as a yell scorched through her throat. Her mouth filled with unspeakable sadness, unfiltered rage. Subahu stood in the door way. His face was the color of cherry, his eyes seemed both dead and electrified.

to be continued....

Author's Note:
I was inspired to write this story after reading Thataka from the PDE of the Ramayana. I thought to myself.... there has to be another side to this story. Granted, the Ramayana and it's tales are mythology. There's only one story and that's the one we read. But what if there were two sides? SO I decided that I would attempt to write some justice for this mad mama. In order to write this with some dignity I had to conduct some outside research of who Thataka is, at least how does her story begin? (my main source of additional background)
It was really interesting to discover that there's a lot of tiny changes in detail from story to story. In the original source, the two princes arrive in the jungle to find this hideous man-eater, whom they're instructed to kill. It takes some moral weigh outs but eventually they kill her. And that's the story. Big, ugly, woman monster. Dead. BUT before she was this creature, she was a very beautiful, strong woman. A literal blessing. She had 3 children, two sons and a daughter (I decided to warp the story a little and leave out the daughter... just too many details and children to take care of.). Her husband and father are cursed with death by Rishi Agastya. From there Thataka seeks revenge (her son, Subahu comes along for the journey) long story short, they're turned into demons.
My most difficult feat was trying to imagine how the whole curse section of the story takes place. Would Rishi Agastya simply flaunt out from the back room? Of course he was waiting for her but it would pain me to type, "I've been waiting for you, Thataka." Since I was roughly 700 words in I decided to pause the story there, but I would be really interested to continue! I didn't even get to the good stuff! But I would have easily surpassed the 1000 word limit in that case. 

READING NOTES

I'm planning to write a story about Thataka, from her perspective.

As a writer it is most helpful for me to jot down quick thoughts and ideas, while I allow them to develop and grow internally. 

Thataka
(additional reference: Tataka's Story )
"The sage led the two princes towards a dark and fearsome jungle haunted by numerous beasts of prey, in which dwelt the terrible rakshasa woman namedThataka, mother of Maricha. She was misshapen and horrible, and continually ravaged all that country."

Setting: jungle (dark and fearsome)
What is it like to live there? What creatures inhabit there?


Characters: Rama, Lakshmana, vishvamitra 
Plot: Explain how she became misshapen and horrible. Explore the past and provide exposition (was she once beautiful and cursed?) Why is she so upset? What are her reactions to the prince's arrival? What are her reactions to being injured?
Loss of arms
Loss of ear

Give her an internal monologue when she shape shifts.



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I like the idea of writing from her perspective, because I always tend to play mom's in the theatre. I'm currently playing a role right now and she's an alcoholic, single mother. I feel like these characters are always monsterized (made that word up, yup), and while maybe they deserve it, there's always a story. I like to read characters one way (through the author's intent) and then I like to read that character in the way they (the character) would like to be perceived. Because, if we look through her lends, she's her own tragic hero. I'm excited to take a crack at Thataka's psyche!