My Novel Blueprint

Plot: Beginning (Where Does Your Story Start?)

Plot:Beginning (Where does your story start?) ▼

(1) Describe your protagonist's life in the beginning (Ordinary World or Stasis) of the story. Brainstorm ways you could establish normality through action and dialog to avoid boring your reader.
(2) Describe the inciting incident or trigger (Call to Adventure) that prompts your protagonist(s) to embark on this story's journey (whether literal or metaphorical) and face the conflict. This incident could be large and obvious like a death or disaster, or it could be seemingly insignificant, such as an offhand comment by another character.

1. Ordinary World:


Answer these questions first:

1. Where are your character's parents?

Daved's mother died in childbirth with his younger brother, by 4 years. His father stay with the boys for 10 years. He took each opportunity to track the mountains leaving them in the care of relatives and friends. With Daved's mother gone, his father didn't have much to do with reservation life. When Daved was 14, his father claimed to have a tracking job high in the Smoky's. He packed his gear and his horses, left, and never returned. To this day, his actual whereabouts are unknown.

2. Why are people's expectations for your character so low?

People on the reservation never expected much from Daved or his brother, Ben
due to the fact they were half-white and their father never contributed to their welfare nor the welfare of the village. Patrick Wolfe fulfilled one function, and that was to track fugitives when needed. Friends, family, and neighbors all agreed that the apple doesn't fall far from the tree and that the boys would never amount to anything more than their father.


3, What is the core value of the story? How does the hero pursue it in a boring life? Is there a hidden threat?
The core value of the story is Good vs Evil. This core affected Daved subconsciously daily and influenced his choice of career. He always felt that if there was more good then people wouldn't;t hurt others. Both he and Ben took up Bounty hunting like their father. When Ben was 30, (Daved 34) he was shot and killed by a fugitive that Daved had insisted on tracking. Feeling it was his fault and unable to forgive himself, Daved gave up Bounty Hunting. Like his father, he felt no bonds with reservation life because of his ethnicity. So he accepted a position as a detective in the SFPD, bought a bar, and moved to Ocean Beach, San Francisco, CA.

The story opens on Ocean Beach in the bar, 7he Trouble Pit. There is a conversation between Granny Faye and Daved.



Protagonist:
My protagonist is Daved Wolfe. Nursing 5-year-old wounds from the death of his brother due to a bad call by Daved while they were closing in on 3 escaped prisoners up Squirrel Valley high in the Smoky’s. So he moves to San Francisco and buys a bar, which provides the excuse for his increase in drinking, an excuse to numb the guilt and soften the memories. Here in SF he meets and marries Carolina and starts a new chapter of his life. But after 2 years of marriage (the Days of Wine and Roses kind) Caroline storms out, goes to visit her girlfriend, Althea McCray, and is killed in a boating accident.

Ordinary World Life in the Beginning:

His wife had been killed and buried 2 months earlier. Not sure if Carolina will at the opening or getting ready to go visit
Daved usually starts his day with a whiskey-7 before he goes surfing for a couple of hours. He then comes back and changes into his buckskins and moccasins. In between his cooking ( he is known as an exceptional cook and is called Cooks) and his duties at the bar—he drinks. Occasionally he will get referrals from friends for PI cases like infidelity, background checks, and/or missing persons, etc. Two months ago, he was involved in a child custody case.H Likes his detective job and thinks he is doing some good. His partner,Kelly, suspects his drinking problem and to her credit at this point has not said anything. On his off time,
He keeps himself busy mixing and serving drinks and communicating with customers. Keeping track of the bar equipment and inventory and cooking.
June - August was the heavy tourist season and Daved’s favorite. San Francisco held many festivals throughout the year, but Ocean Beach Annual Pie Festival/Contest which was paired with July 4th was his favorite. (July 4th) Every year he would enter his special ingredient Dutch Apple Pie and serve it with his Spiced Tuna Steaks with Fennel and Red Peppers and a shot of his Absinthe and Ma Belles’ special coffee. He had won numerous awards for this combo.

Establishing normality (action and/or dialog):

Brainstorming- using his cooking and conversation with a customer that he knows well -like his friend Otto or his partner, Kelly.
Show a scene of the pie contest and his interactions with people.
Concerned has not heard from Carolina for about a week.
Gets a phone call from his Chief to head the investigation on Sartis Reef, Mr. Sinclair Banks has been found shot to death.


Inciting Incident:

Daved and his partner are assigned to investigate the death of Sinclair Banks. During the investigation, Daved receives a note stating that his wife's death was not an accident, but murder -

The Inciting will be on a stormy night, while feeling sorry for himself, an old man who is deaf and dumb deliberately runs into him waving his hands everywhere in front of Daved, and slips him a strange note. The old man disappears as quickly as he appears. Daved later finds the note which said Wife’s Death not accident—Murder

The inciting incident is the Call of Adventure, and it must be followed by a refusal to humanize the character. It shows 2 weaknesses, physical & emotional. ---Daved is going to wrestle with not turning the note over would be wrong because it is breaking the rules and going against those in authority though it would give him more insight into the case. But turning it over would get him pulled from the case. If he pursued the case anyway, turning it over or not, he could lose his job and possibly his license. He also feels that no one would listen to him because he is just a half-breed, a nobody.