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Guess the Plot

My Soul a Stage

1. After helping her best friend with a film project, and not being included in the credits, Dal ends the friendship, just as her grandfather lost many friends during the Korean War.

2. Actor James Fleming lived for the theater, so much so that when he died his soul returned to Earth as a Broadway stage. Sadly, it's not easy to enjoy productions when all you see are the bottoms of actors' shoes.

3. Agnes's psychologist told her to envision her feelings as people to help her to learn to interact with them in a more healthy way. However, after putting them in the spotlight, Agnes has found it more interesting to watch the fallout from the wings.

Original Version

Dear [Agent],

Dal has spent her early twenties slowly disappearing—passive at work, drifting among acquaintances, afraid of sinking further into loneliness. Then she meets Callia—brilliant, magnetic, untouchable—and, for the first time, she feels seen. Their friendship is intoxicating, the kind that makes Dal believe she is special, chosen, needed. She would do anything for Callia.

Then Callia unveils her latest art piece: a breathtaking video installation that Dal and her brother helped create. But when the credits roll and Callia faces great success [receives great acclaim?] , their names remain missing. Blindsided and betrayed, Dal is forced to confront a painful truth: Has she ever truly been seen, or has she spent her life becoming whatever others needed? [I'm not sure a question is a truth. Unless it's rhetorical, like when I ask myself, Isn't it about time you quit doing this blog? Maybe "ask herself a painful question"? Although she was probably already asking herself that question before she met Callie. The painful question she now should be asking is, Has Callie been using me all this time to advance her own career, and how much can I sue her for?

Does Dal ask Callia for an explanation? If so, which of these is Callia's reply:

1. I intentionally, maliciously left you out of the credits.

2. Oh, my God, I'm so sorry, it was an innocent but unforgivable oversight that I will immediately rectify.

3. I couldn't credit you because you were DEI hires. Didn't wanna get on Elon's bad side.

Even if the explanation is the worst possible, that reflects poorly on Callia, and says nothing about how Dal has spent her life. If only Dal's wise grandfather were still alive, he could convince her of this.]

Lost, Dal rediscovers a memoir written by her late grandfather, a man she barely knew. His words pull her into the turbulence of 20th-century Korea—war, exile, survival—and as she pieces together his past, she begins to understand her own: the fear of being seen, the quiet grief of self-erasure. If Dal wants to truly live, she must finally step into her own life, unscripted. [And her first step will be planning and getting away with Callia's murder.] [Note how much more interesting your plot became when I added something specific to your somewhat vague ending. If I got the facts wrong, maybe there's something specific in your book you can replace mine with.] [Though a better idea would be to steal mine.]

My Soul a Stage is a 61,000-word novel that blends contemporary fiction with memoir. It will appeal to readers of Banana Yoshimoto’s Dead-End Memories and Michelle Zauner’s Crying in H Mart, exploring emotional isolation, self-discovery, and the weight of Korean heritage and family loss.

Loosely based on my own early twenties, [when my best friend Callie won the science fair with a project I helped her on, and didn't credit me, and I will NEVER FORGIVE HER,] the novel draws from my experience reading my grandfather’s memoir during a bleak time. The memoir sections are taken directly from his real, unpublished writings, which inspired me to tell this story.

Thank you for your time and consideration.

Notes

A well-written query. Grandfather's memoir about war, exile, survival doesn't strike me as highly comparable to Dal's story but I'm sure you connect them effectively. Possibly if you provide details of what Dal contributed to the art piece, and how much time, we'd have a better understanding of why Dal felt this hurtful but possibly unintentional slight for which she was owed a sincere apology, was an unforgivable betrayal not unlike the betrayal of Korea by Hong Bokwong during the Mongol invasion of Goryeo.