Novel Writing Workbook NaNoWriMo 2012

NOVEL

WRITING

WORKBOOK My method for NaNoWriMo 2012

THE SETUP

PLOT POINT ONE

TURNING POINT ONE

MIDPOINT

TURNING POINT ONE

PLOT POINT TWO

STATIONS OF THE CROSS STORY STRUCTURING METHOD

THE END

INTRODUCTION The mind’s eye is the place where all the images for my story come from. It is the place in my brain that makes my dreams come alive. Metaphorically, it’s like an art gallery or a movie theater inside my brain. My mind’s eye creates an image, that is automatically worth a thousand words. Images pop inside and out of our heads all the time. When I’m excited by an idea for a story, my brain spits out a series of images. This is where I get into trouble. With a rapid succession of images popping inside my head, the images blur together. It’s like having ten transparent images overlaid on top of each other. When I write down an idea from an image, I end up with one sentence from picture A and another sentence from picture B, and so on. Everything comes out fragmented, broken, formless. The great thing is that all those images that flashed through my mind are not lost. As I go through the worksheets in this packet, I’ll recall those images and have an outline ready for NaNoWriMo. For the visually oriented writer, a picture is worth a thousand words. STEP 1: WRITE DOWN THE INITIAL IDEA

OBSTACLE 1.0 TENTATIVE TITLE OF WRITING PROJECT INITIAL STORY IDEA

WHAT IS THE MAJOR DRAMATIC QUESTION OF THE STORY ?

WHO IS THE PROTAGONIST(S)? WHO IS THE ANTAGONIST(S)? WHAT MAKES YOUR STORY DIFFERENT?

WHAT IS YOUR STORY IDEA PITCH?

IDEAS FOR YOUR STORY IMAGE

STORY IMAGE

THE 9 PLOT POINTS ACT (25%)- THE SET UP 1. THE LEAD IN - Tension Before the Storm THE LEAD IN is a sequence of events that demonstrates how the state of things in the story are before everything goes to hell. The major function of this part is to introduces the protagonist and his world. 2. INCITING INCIDENT - Lightening Strikes THE INCITING INCIDENT is an event in the story that starts to unbalance the world of the protagonist. Something exciting has occurred. It is the pivotal event that sets all the other events in motion. If this event did not happen, the rest of the story could not happen. Everything that happens in the lead in and the inciting incident is a set up for plot point one. 3. PLOT PONT 1 - The Point of No Return PLOT POINT ONE is the point of no return for the protagonist. Before plot point one, the protagonist can still walk away from what happened in the setup. Because of the event in plot point one, the protagonist has to go for the story goal. The reader is locked in and wants to know how this story turns out. If not, then plot point one is not good enough.

ACT II (50%) -THE CONFLICT 4. MARKER 1 - Raise the Stakes TURNING ONE is another interesting plot point, where what the reader expects to happen has changed. Depending on your set up, the reader is expecting A to B to C. To happen. Instead, you throw E in there and the first major of obstacle of the hero’s journey.

5. MIDPOINT - Everything Changes MIDPOINT is the point where something goes right for the hero. There is something about the protagonist and the antagonist. This part contains the second major of obstacle of the hero’s journey. In essence, the story plot is about change. This is the top of the story arch. The reader is hooked and needs to know the rest. It while fuck with them, if they don’t know what happened to the character in your story. 6. MARKER 2 - Raise The Stakes Even Higher MARKER TWO is like marker two, where the reader expectations of the story are changed. Marker one contains the third major of obstacle of the hero’s journey. This is a more dramatic and different type of change then what occurred in marker one. 7. PLOT POINT 2 - Farthest from Goal PLOT POINT TWO is where the hero is put in a glass box and lowered into water. This the lowest point of the protagonist, where there is no light at the end of the tunnel. At the end of this part, the hero can make it because they realized something about themselves that they did not know before.

ACT III (25%)- THE END 8. CLIMAX - Face To Face THE CLIMAX is the easiest part to construct. It is here where the protagonist and antagonist fight for the final story goal.In this part, we know what happens to the protagonist. Is it a happy or sad ending. The overall major dramatic question of the story is answered. 9. RESOLUTION - Dramatic Question Resolved THE RESOLUTION is how did things turn out in the end. Did the guy get the girl?

STEP 2: Write down the 9 plot points of the story

OBSTACLE 2.0 WHAT IS THE MAJOR STORY QUESTION THAT LEADS THE READER THROUGH THE STORY?

1. LEAD IN

2. INCITING INCIDENT

3. PLOT POINT 1

4. TURNING POINT 1

5. MIDPOINT

6. TURNING POINT 2

7. PLOT POINT 2

8. CLIMAX

9. RESOLUTION

Stations of the Cross Story Structuring Method STEP 3: Draw 1 image for every one of the nine plot point. Together, these nine images tell the entire story.

OBSTACLE 3.1 IDEAS FOR LEAD IN IMAGE

LEAD IN IMAGE

OBSTACLE 3.2 IDEAS FOR INCITING INCIDENT IMAGE

INCITING INCIDENT IMAGE

OBSTACLE 3.3 IDEAS FOR PLOT POINT ONE IMAGE

PLOT POINT ONE IMAGE

OBSTACLE 3.4 IDEAS FOR TURNING POINT ONE IMAGE

TURNING POINT ONE IMAGE

OBSTACLE 3.5 IDEAS FOR MIDPOINT IMAGE

MIDPOINT IMAGE

OBSTACLE 3.6 IDEAS FOR TURNING POINT TWO IMAGE

TURNING POINT TWO IMAGE

OBSTACLE 3.7 IDEAS FOR PLOT POINT TWO IMAGE

PLOT POINT TWO IMAGE

OBSTACLE 3.8 IDEAS FOR CLIMAX IMAGE

CLIMAX IMAGE

OBSTACLE 3.9 IDEAS FOR RESOLUTION IMAGE

RESOLUTION IMAGE

Stations of the Cross Story Structuring Method STEP 4: Go back to each drawn plot point page and draw supporting images where there are extra box. In total there should be 21 images that tell the entire story.

Stations of the Cross Story Structuring Method STEP 5: Write 4 story beats for each of the 21 images.

SKETCH SHEET 5.1 SCENE ORDER

IMAGE

1 THE LEAD IN

SCENE ORDER

IMAGE

2 INCITING INCIDENT

SCENE ORDER

IMAGE

3 INCITING INCIDENT

SKETCH SHEET 5.2 SCENE ORDER

IMAGE

4 PLOT POINT ONE

SCENE ORDER

IMAGE

5 PLOT POINT ONE

SCENE ORDER

IMAGE

6 PLOT POINT ONE

SKETCH SHEET 5.3 SCENE ORDER

IMAGE

7 TURNING POINT ONE

SCENE ORDER

IMAGE

8 TURNING POINT ONE

SCENE ORDER

IMAGE

9 TURNING POINT ONE

SKETCH SHEET 5.4 SCENE ORDER

IMAGE

10 MIDPOINT

SCENE ORDER

IMAGE

11 MIDPOINT

SCENE ORDER

IMAGE

12 MIDPOINT

SKETCH SHEET 5.5 SCENE ORDER

IMAGE

13 TURNING POINT TWO

SCENE ORDER

IMAGE

14 TURNING POINT TWO

SCENE ORDER

IMAGE

15 TURNING POINT TWO

SKETCH SHEET 5.6 SCENE ORDER

IMAGE

16 PLOT POINT TWO

SCENE ORDER

IMAGE

17 PLOT POINT TWO

SCENE ORDER

IMAGE

18 PLOT POINT TWO

SKETCH SHEET 5.7 SCENE ORDER

IMAGE

19 CLIMAX

SCENE ORDER

IMAGE

20 CLIMAX

SCENE ORDER

IMAGE

21 RESOLUTION

Stations of the Cross Story Structuring Method STEPS COMPLETED You should have a complete outline of the novel, consisting of 84 story beats, branching off from 9 plot points. OPTIONAL Use the next 84 pages to flush out a one page summary of every story beat in the story

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