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 |   A month-long novel-planning challenge with prizes galore. |
| I guess I don't understand (by day) how much of the story needs to be posted in this one day. Are you just looking for what would be the 1st chapter? Espero |
| You can post how much you want. An entire chapter would be great. So today's assignment, if you're following the OctoPrep calendar is: Climax Where is your story going? Describe the climax, the point at which everything changes and the tension of the primary conflict is finally resolved. Use the 'What If' brainstorming exercise to create a list of possibilities, remembering to consider the growth of / change in your main character(s) as a result of this event. The climax can be as hidden and seemingly tiny as that moment when your character finally makes that decision they've been dreading or avoiding for fifteen chapters, or it can be as huge and obvious as an exploding planet. Sometimes, the climax is a little hard to pin down. Was it the moment Ender won his game? Or was it the moment he realized the moving images on his screen were not a simulation, not the game he thought it was, and that he had just personally wiped out an entire alien race? Every story has a climax. Some early, some late. But all have one. Queen NormaJean 2023 Quill Finalist. 2023 Quill Nominee. Quill Finalist Logo 2022. Quill Nominee Signature 2022 Preferred Author |
| I was looking ahead to tomorrow's outline and didn't understand if it was just an outline or we were supposed to start putting the story there. Regarding the climax. It's hard to know what it will be as it is so early in the writing of it. Espero |
 100 GPs were sent to QueenNormaJean maybesnow?!  with this post.Espero |
1,000 GPs were sent to Espero  with this post.Here's the assignment as on the calendar. Basically, you're going to map out your story. I did this some time ago with note cards. I found it easier than using the computer. Reach out to the writing coaches if you need more help. Start with the head, Anders J. Skeleton  They are there to help preppers. Send an email and ask for some guidance. (1) Select a desired outlining strategy from the list below. (2) Review your plot elements thus far and organize them into your outline. (3) Flesh out your outline by adding more details. Outlining Strategies *Bullet* A traditional outline format with bullet points, numbers/letters, or chapters. *Bullet* Index cards (paper or electronic) which can be easily shuffled to change scene order later. *Bullet* The Snowflake Method. *Bullet* Use one of the following story models as a fill-in-the-blank outline template: *Bullet* The Five-Point Story Structure. *Bullet* The Eight-Point Story Structure. *Bullet* The Hero's Journey Story Structure. *Bullet* Any other appropriate model. Good luck. Queen NormaJean 2023 Quill Finalist. Image #2291664 over display limit. -?- . Image #2273455 over display limit. -?- . Image #2273457 over display limit. -?- Preferred Author |
Thanks for supplying the assignment to help in this case.  I will be posting about tomorrow's assignment in a little while with some information too and my own view over the methods. |
| 100 GPs were sent to QueenNormaJean maybesnow?! with this post. The question was for tomorrow's date. How much (how many chapters) do you expect. Espero |
Well, you only are supposed to spend 15 minutes on the assignment. But you can literally spend months or years perfecting a novel. I read through the examples. The Snowflake method sounds good. It is about building your story, much like a snowflake is built in a cloud, layer upon layer. So, what do you think you can do in 15 minutes of uninterrupted work? A chapter? Perhaps two? What about an hour?? I note on your bio that you've already written a novel. Think back to that time. How did you approach it? Like the old joke. How do you eat an elephant? Bite by bite. Good luck. Queen NormaJean Image #2291665 over display limit. -?- . Image #2291664 over display limit. -?- . Image #2273455 over display limit. -?- . Image #2273457 over display limit. -?- Preferred Author |
| Just to add on, you could focus on just a few chapters or the beginning of that is what you know at this point. In general, this draft is some notes that show an overview or map for the novel. If it helps, here is one of the first outlines I did years ago when I was newer to novel writing but it wasnāt my first year doing prep. "epic fantasy outline 1"  |
| Hey Espero, So for these assignments, I usually like to spread the outlining over multiple points, and I often follow inspiration from the Snowflake method (here's a link if you're uncertain): https://www.advancedfictionwriting.com/articles/snowflake-method/. For the first one, I just kind of got an essence of what I wanted my stories to be about as a whole, especially over 15-30 minutes. Sometimes that means narrowing down a summary of the beginning, middle, and end. However, if it means nailing down your one-sentence summary to gauge how much plot you have, go for it. So then this is how I do things. For the first outline revision, I am just getting the bare bones. For the next one, I nail down, with aid from the structure I want to use, what happens where. The last stage is to work on the scene-by-scene outline. This one, I often take a Sunday or, in the event I finish early, I will take the rest of the month to work on, until I have everything laid out. At this point in the exercise, we still have a lot we're trying to learn about our characters and our stories. Don't be afraid if your outline is a little sparse. All of this is to say that the outlining process is very personal, and it can depend on how you, the author, interpret it. And this is okay. You only need to be as thorough as you need, so long as it fits the 15 minute requirement. The most important thing is to work in a way that works for you. Thanks, Anders SuperPower Signature |
| I understand what you are asking. This is the process of outlining. The reason why we are asked to work on our climax this early is because we want to know where the story is going. For example, in this case, you'd have worked out how your story begins. You need to know how your story ends, usually what the climax is so you know how to work your way there and build the story towards that direction. While a lot of people are not used to idea of working their story this way especially when they are so used to pantsing their novels, personally, my issue—as it is for many writers—is that we tend to write the story off to Timbaktu and have no idea how to end our story. In my case, during my much more amateurish novel-writing years, I have consistently gotten stuck after writing 20k words because I no longer know where the story is going. Outlining and working out your climax early in the story will help you navigate out of there. At the same time, it would help develop your sense of story. I say that because we can build a perfectly good outline, but at the end of the day, during the writing process, I have experienced how my actual writing takes off in a different direction from what I have outlined. That is okay. Just let your fingers lead the way, but always bearing in mind the story structure, labelling what part of the story you think it is so that you could have some sort of guide to what happens next to finally reach the end. Sometimes, when we write without thinking, we find that we build more problems into the story, not resolutions that we have outlined enough for a trilogy instead of a novel. That is why I mentioned that we have to be mindful of which part of the story we are at when we write a certain scene or a vignette. Hope that helps.  |
| Having said what I did above, bear in mind there are other writers who have no problem pantsing without an outline. But these writers already had a lot of experience and have successfully pants an entire novel without facing problems. Authors like Steven. There are always exceptions. |
| You're just compiling the bare bones structure of the overall story arc, some of which you've already identified. You already know the beginning / "normal" for your main character. You also have an inkling of the conflict/problem your protagonist will face (day 2, premise), who or what the antagonist is that's causing the conflict (day 2, premise), his your protagonist may it may not react to the conflict (days 4 and 5, protagonist profile and background), and roughly what the turning point will l look like (climax). Put all that into a formal outline document or template of your choice. Fill in some more info if you are so inspired and/or haven't already spent fifteen minutes on picking a format / template and compiling. As far as how much to include in tomorrow's revision: you have two more outlining days, as well as several freebie days and brainstorming days which may be used for plotting if you choose. So no, you don't have to generate an entire detailed outline tomorrow. Have fun, Michelle Battywyn |
| 1,000 GPs were sent to QueenNormaJean maybesnow?! with this post. Cheers, Michelle Image #1958063 over display limit. -?- |
| 5,000 GPs were sent to Anders J. Skeleton with this post. Cheers, Michelle Image #1958063 over display limit. -?- |
1,000 GPs were sent to Elycia Lee ā®  with this post.Cheers, Michelle Image #1958063 over display limit. -?- |
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