#all the denouement put in the last chapter instead of half in 22 and 23 | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

oldtumblhurgoyf · 7 years

Text

NaNoWriMo Prep

Under the cut I have the outline of a novel. NaNoWriMo challenges you to write about 1700 words a day (roughly 3 pages) so by the end of the month you have 50,000 words written and nearly 100 pages. That’s a short novel, probably about half of a book of the length I’m planning to write.

Now I’ve seen plenty of reasons not to do what I’m about to do to write a novel, but there are a few reasons I’m going to do this anyway:

Nothing else has really worked (I once wrote most of a novel but basically just sort of lost interest and wasn’t sure where it should go)

Everyone’s process is different--this might end up being mine (that’s my hope)

I’m doubtful my goals in this are the same as other people’s (I want to churn out pages and books and try to streamline the stuff that feels like it inhibits that currently)

So under the cut I’ve got a breakdown of a generic plot outline, pretty much chapter by chapter. The idea is that it’s the characters that really matter, not the plot. Following this outline should guide me toward making things more difficult, not allowing breathing room, and keeping things pushed. I don’t need to think big picture, it’s right here. Just figure out what these characters are doing in this specific instance and how that trends toward the next big story hook here.

Basically the details change but all stories have the same general outline so I should think about that a lot less.

Also I’ve got enough chapters outlined for the extent of NaNoWriMo so some later stuff isn’t really fleshed out (or rather it boils down to what I’m thinking of as “side quests” (SQ) and I didn’t want to write that each time) so if you have thoughts on what those chapters/groups of chapters might look like, what they would do in the story, do share!

Chapter 1: Intro protagonist and their personal conflict Chapter 2: Intro antagonist if I didn’t already and the world conflict Chapter 3: How do those two conflicts end up dramatically altering the protag’s life forever?

Chapter 4: Intro side character and their conflict if I haven’t already Chapter 5: Build on the three conflicts introduced, let them intermingle and complicate each other Chapter 6: If I haven’t already, set up a potential solution and set protag/friends down that path

Chapter 7: Build tension. Think of this as a side quest or a step in the bigger process. It might be an idea that doesn’t bear fruit for the protag or maybe it does, but it’s not the only thing that needs to happen. Chapter 8: Or maybe there’s a minor setback, something unforeseen which needs to be overcome before moving on (this is really just a different type of side quest) Chapter 9: What we really want to see from these chapters is how the characters live and seeing that what they do matters. Right around here they should be ready to confront the big issue at hand, likely unaware that they can’t succeed against it yet (though the audience may be well aware of that)

Chapter 10: Victory seemingly within reach, it all goes pear-shaped. Things end up worse than before. Chapter 11: Aware now that they aren’t powerful enough/don’t have the right tools/in some way just aren’t able to solve their problem yet, a new solution comes their way, perhaps in the form of a new character Chapter 12: Still, they wallow in things a bit. If they are to venture into the underworld to overcome their problem, that might happen now (and in the next few chapters)

Chapter 13: Similar to chapters 7 through 9, the intent with these chapters... Chapter 14:...is to develop the characters and let them breath... Chapter 15:...while they explore their world and seek to address their problems...

Chapter 16:..without succeeding. What does failure do to them? What are their successes when they aren’t able to succeed against the big thing? Chapter 17: Around here they should be ready for round two against their problem. They’ve prepared anew and have a better understanding of what they need to do to overcome. Really explore that and how they go about tackling something that they failed at before. Chapter 18: SQ

Chapter 19: SQ Chapter 20: Yet again they fail. Something new ruins things (again, perhaps a new character or an old character in a new light). Chapter 21: If they haven’t ventured into the underworld before, they definitely do so now. If they ventured into the underworld before, they probably need to return and go deeper now. And by underworld I really mean the protag pushing beyond what they thought their limits were. What they had wasn’t enough to overcome this thing twice now. At this point they have to go further than they ever thought possible. Do what they never thought they could.

Chapter 22: SQ Chapter 23: SQ Chapter 24: SQ

Chapter 25: Somewhere in these chapters our character probably faces a sense of utter hopelessness. The stuff they’re doing doesn’t seem enough. Some promising SQ fell through. A friend betrayed them or left or died. It’s always darkest before dawn. Chapter 26: Probably about this early the Final Battle starts, whatever form that takes. Either the last few moments/part of the journey leading to it, when our heroes are further from help than ever before and cemented down the trajectory that will lead to their dooms or their validation (or the last few moments when they can forget it all and go home, for better or worse, the real temptation to just give up) Chapter 27: And somewhere in here, probably the last scene of that Final Battle, the protag really pushes beyond all they’ve ever done before. You though Super Saiyan was as high as it went? Check out Super Saiyan 2!

Chapter 28: Actually what I just wrote probably happens here or the next scene. The Final Battle should follow it’s own mini story arc, beginning, middle, and end. Think a boss fight where you beat form one and of course it has a form two and you beat that and then have to overcome the final form. Chapter 29: The Final Battle. Whatever it is, they face it here. All or nothing, do or die. Actually the battle may well have started a few chapters before. But this is where it’s decided. All the pieces fall into place, the questions find answers (some certainly unexpected), and these people have to live with the outcome, whatever it is. Chapter 30: denouement. This shouldn’t read like a years later epilogue most times but instead provide just a hint of a path forward from the wildfire of a climax we just experienced. it’s not an ending but the promise of a future we just aren’t seeing right now.

I am thinking of this as three parts; chapters 1-10, chapters 11-20, and chapters 21-30. Beginning, middle, end. Stuff can move around a bit and change, but the point of this is as a sort of road map and I can be aware of how much mileage my story is getting (already going into the middle after 5 chapters? maybe this story doesn’t have as much to it as I thought. maybe I should explore the characters some more. still in the beginning at chapter 15? maybe this is two books worth of material or even just a longer book. alternatively perhaps I’ve included a lot of stuff that isn’t really necessary to the story). This also functions well if I do decide my story is just the first part in a longer series since I just have to change the last bit so that it’s clear the Final Battle wasn’t won and then any denouement is a short setup (that could maybe even function as a first chapter slightly modified) for the next book in that series.

Additionally I’m aiming for about 7 pages per chapter (in some circles that’s believed to be the perfect length for a short story and that’s sort of how I’m envisioning each chapter even though they won’t really be stand alone short stories). That’s right around 3500 words, or about two day’s worth of NanoWriMo writing. For those doing the math, that means I end up with about 15 chapters at the end of the month, not the 30 I have outlined here. But I’m cool with that. It also means my resulting book is about 210 pages/I have some room to cut here and there to put forth the best work and still have like 180+ pages. the dream would be doing this full time and literally producing about 6 books a year, one every two months and that being my full time job

#nanowrimo #may start a separate blog for this or something #feel free to ask me how this is going #I may also start earlier than november #we will see #i also think this puts emphasis on making each individual chapter as interesting and meaningful as possible #each little side quest #either does something important #even if not for the overall story #by developing the characters #or it's clear how it isn't functioning in that bit of the story and how it should change or get cut #and I'm never at a loss for where to go next in general #and can even jump around the story and just work on whatever bit I feel inspired to at the time #tired of into and exposition and whatever?#jump down the line and write a little side quest for later on #those details might still change #but if I have the seed of a good idea for a side quest #it will probably still be a good seed later #it will just need to take into account what I wrote for the earlier part of the story and change to fit that

0 notes