It is a story set in modern NYC, where a young man with traumatic memories of dying in a fiery plane crash as a WWII pilot, starts college at Columbia. His past life story is not believed and his wild imagination is not valued by his father, who punishes him for “making up nonsense”. He wonders if he is crazy, and distrusts his own imagination, as the past life memories are so real, yet his religious family and others tell him that reincarnation does not exist. The only family member who loves him unconditionally is his grandfather. Through mentors and friends, he learns to accept failure as an important stepping stone to success, and develops a growth mindset. He learns to trust his own imagination and memories and is able to write great poetry and song lyrics. He finally learns to deal directly with his trauma by harnessing and trusting his own creativity, rather than running from negative emotions to the logical extreme: suicide.
JohnnyDPenpusher
When traumatic memories of a past life as a WWII pilot haunt him, an emotionally fractured young man must harness his wild imagination; but when he breaks from his domineering father, he must master self doubt in order to become a whole and grounded person before losing his life to suicide
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The protag’s past life is your hook, and I get it’s the catalyst for change, but have you considered exploring your hook via his grandfather?
Riff: Grandad (co-pilot) was the lone survivor of the WWII plane crash that killed his best friend (now reincarnated as protag).
This is your story. Just offering ways to crank the hook up to eleven 😉