NaNoPrep2023#06 Plot: Outline #1

ACT 1

Opening Image – Jane driving to the retreat, conversing with husband and adult child. Scenery is nice, but church looms in distance – odd mix. Oh no – don’t run over that cat, Jane! Indeed, SAVE THE CAT! lol

Chekhov's Gun – Husband wishes Jane good luck with her new tricked-out laptop.

Set-up – arrival at convent – sign in – assigned unexpected roommate – meet some weirdo writers – unpack – log an entry – look around – creepy staff is creepy.

Message, Want, and Theme Stated – During log entry, Jane engages AI and set everything into motion ((( but she was assigned a roommate before AI got involved? Is that a potential plot hole? Or can I address this somehow later? Maybe as part of trick ending when we wonder where tf she came from??? )))

Bittersweet Ceremony – Dinner with fellow attendees – hand over phones.
womp-womp.

Disturbance – blood everywhere

Inciting Incident – roommate missing – what roommate? You never had a roommate, weirdo!

Debate – Should I stay or should I go now? Jane feels crazy af. She talks to Robin, the manager or whatever (can’t think of what she’s called), who invites her to stay and write about her experience, saying that maybe it will help her understand why she would imagine such dreadful scene. Husband agrees with Robin – besides, week is paid for up front and of course non-refundable so…

Invitation – email from missing roommate – oh snap – please help me? And don’t tell anyone else or ((( insert menacing threat here ))) – I’ll sleep on it, maybe call police in the morning because this is bananas.

Catalyst – bedtime for all writers – oh woops, we have a ghost now. Shit just got real. Yikes, scary stuff happening, and another message from roommate. Flat tire on her car means she’s stuck for at least a day. Ugh. Guess Jane is going ghost hunting!

Door #1 – Jane walks back into convent, plugs in her laptop, and starts to write.


ACT 2

Transit – The next morning Nuns give Jane a ride into town the next morning to see about her stupid car.

Short Trip – mechanic shop is across the street from the town deli

Warning: a local tells Jane about the rumors of ghosts etc. that haunt the church. Warns Jane about some of the staff???

Nurturing and Gifts – obviously gotta have a pen or a quill or something here. Notebook??? something writing-related.

Pop Quiz and Training – Back at the monastery, Jane attends writing classes and workshops her pieces with other aspiring authors. Jane is kicking ass and taking names. She is on fire. She is gonna write the shit out of this book. The ideas are pouring out of her brains and her fingers can’t even keep up. Just wow! Go Jane Go!

Mentor – She meets an editor who works for the publishing house that Jane hopes to woo, and the two hit it off. Hooray for networking! Lots of mentor-related dialogue here, and maybe some drunken tittering as evening approaches. The editor is staying in town though. There wasn’t enough room – oh hey, well Jane no longer has a roommate! This could be perfect! Jane invites editor to stay at convent so she doesn’t have to drive back and forth every day.

Clue #1 – okay, something about roommate questioning the new laptop, which makes her seem like the one we should suspect, because she’s like super into it.

Chekhov's Gun #2 – but we should also have like a staff member get caught in the room trying to mess around with the laptop. So it keeps coming up, right under our noses, but readers concentrate more on the people than the item.

Intro Big Bad – heading into night time again, and Jane has pretty much forgotten her fears from last night. Until the ghosts get her editor. WTF! Is everyone Jane meets just going to disappear??? Wait, Jane hears a noise – it’s her editor friend / roommate – and of course she goes off into the dark to investigate.

Chase ensues – through forest and labyrinth which is no longer flat but now has walls because of course it does.

Defeat Minions – Jane finds Editor, who thinks she was just sleepwalking. Jane finds stuff that leads her to believe that a lot of the ghost junk was just her imagination. She’s mad she let herself be tricked and swayed into believing in supernatural nonsense. Jane feels triumphant and brave as the two return to the convent.

Midpoint / False Victory – Editor is so grateful for Jane’s help last night, and they have hit it off so well, that she tells Jane she set up an appointment with an agent to get Jane’s foot in the door at the publishing house. Everything’s going so well!


ACT 3

Bad Guys Close In –

Approach Inmost Cave –

Mentor Departs –

Whiff of Death –

Team Falls Apart –

All Is Lost –

Mirror Moment –

Dig Deep –

Repair Team –

Door #2 –


ACT 4

Make a Plan –

Storm the Castle –

It’s a Trap! –

Regroup –

Chekhov's Gun Pays Off –

New Plan –

Gifts Used –

Final Battle –

Plot Twist –

TKO Victory –

Denouement –

Final Image –