“BEFORE EXILE”

BY JEFF MUSTARD

A 5,000-WORD SHORT STORY

Backstory is critical in creating captivating drama. Why? It’s where we learn, as the story unfolds, how our characters came to be, revealed frequently in “flashbacks,” since the people they are today are a result of their “life experience.” So often, when we know more about a person’s life, we can empathize with them and better appreciate their story. 

Using the long-form treatment of the series (27 pages) - presenting high-level story engines and character arcs, etc., that reflect the potential for multiple seasons, the short story narrative prose drew upon "back story character elements" that powerfully demonstrates episode and season potential.

The short story commences at the point in which the inciting/key incident of the TV pilot/show begins, AND THEN, going "backward" from there rewriter produced a literary narrative of the "lives" of these characters that weave together key storyline/story engine elements that comes full circle, bringing us "back to today/present time" of the show/series.

The short story is intended to demonstrate the interesting, fascinating world inhabited by a wide range of diverse Cuban characters not often seen on network/prestige television.

• LAUNCHPAD PROSE WRITING CONTEST - SECOND ROUNDER

• COVERFLY - “BEFORE EXILE” EARNS PLACEMENT ON THE “RED LIST” (#1 HISTORICAL DRAMA, OCT 2022, TOP 20 FOR 2022) PROMINENT GLOBAL INDUSTRY PLATFORM FOR WRITERS, PRODUCERS, FILM/TV PROFESSIONALS