DAY TWO - ACT TWO (10)
...they discover the person that they are meant to be, IF they discover the person that they are meant to be. Because, of course it is all still to play for, and that's what makes it so fucking exciting, isn't it?!! I'm excited!
And tomorrow...ACT THREE.
If I remember 😉😉
DAY TWO - ACT TWO (9/...)
...they need something to feel, they need to be on an internal adventure; discovering who they are through external challenges. Because that is what will make us go on the journey with them - whether it be up mountains or across oceans - we want to be with them when...
DAY TWO - ACT TWO (8/...)
Act 2 has less leading notes than Act 1- less story set up, less needing to let the reader know where they are and what is happening, because Act 2 is about character - not story. The adventure IS your character (gasp!) yes, they need something to do but more importantly..
DAY TWO - ACT TWO (7/...)
ACT 2 - Rising action and complications...
▶️Pressure increases - what goes right and wrong now that your MC has made their decision?
▶️Decision Point Two - why do they STILL not turn back, even when given a choice.
▶️What small wins / false senses of control are they given?
DAY TWO - ACT TWO (6/...)
Okay then, I say, let me give you tools to find that well of adventure, that pathway to a satisfying character arch, the road to a world full of wants and needs for all 😊
Let me give you the next part of my story plan - ACT TWO...
DAY TWO - ACT TWO (5/...)
... even, maybe, a little dull 😱 NO! You say. Never! Let me not fall foul of the soggy middle, the aimless wanderings of a character in search of wants and needs! Let me navigate this land of story and find the well of adventure I seek...
DAY TWO - ACT TWO (4/...)
But you can't go into my brain, so I have to plan it and then write it and therefore I have to move onto ACT TWO - where the magic happens and, hopefully, not the soggy middle. Because Act Two is where we writers sometimes lose it, our shiny idea becomes less shiny...
DAY TWO - ACT TWO (3/...)
In fact it pisses me off that I even have to write it down. This world, this story is there, in my brain, fully formed, waiting to get out & if you could go into my brain you would see it there - the colours and sounds and smells and tastes - everything waiting for you...
DAY TWO - ACT TWO (2/...)
But that's fine because - as any writer knows - when something is good you cannot leave it alone and you do not WANT to leave it alone. You want to eat, sleep, breathe that idea and getting it out of your head and down onto paper is the only thing that matters...
DAY TWO - ACT TWO (1/...)
So, on Monday I put up a *skeet* (thanks for letting me know the term @pmchoan.bsky.social 😊) about how I was going to skeet every day about the process of writing my new book and then, on the very next day, I COMPLETELY FORGOT TO SKEET 😱😬😱😬
I wish, when someone first told me writing was rewriting, that I had listened.*
*Might have this on my gravestone.
Haha! Thank you ❤️
I'll be honest - I've not got any publisher interest in a sequel at the moment so it's on hold for now. BUT as soon as I do have any interest or I win the National Lottery I have an absolutely BANGING sequel ready to write 😊
I like that! Thank you 😊
Haha! No I'm afraid - but maybe even better! 😱
DAY ONE - PLANNING (CONT 8)
And that's it.
Day one of planning and First Act done.
I mean obviously I have to redraft it roughly one hundred times still but it's there. The bones are there. Exciting, huh?
Come back tomorrow for Act Two 😊
DAY ONE - PLANNING (CONT 7)
Act 1 - Set up/Inciting incident
▶️Prologue (if you have one)
▶️Introduce your protagonist / setting / tone
▶️What's broken in his/her world?
▶️Inciting incident - what happens that CANNOT be ignored?
▶️Decision point - what does you MC do that means they cannot turn back now?
DAY ONE - PLANNING (CONT 6)
And I'm going to give it to you because I'd never gatekeep anything that can help fellow creatives 😊
Next 'tweet' (what the hell do we call these things??) is a (very) brief idea of what I plot/plan for the first act...
DAY ONE - PLANNING (CONT 5)
Act one.
And yes, I talk in terms of acts, because I started out as a screenwriter, and because it is easier when trying to plot or plan something if you can break the story down into three or four parts.
Wanna know what's in the first part of that planning doc?
DAY ONE - PLANNING (CONT 4)
I have taken the kernel of an idea and made it into a walnut and then a kiwi, an apple, cantaloupe, watermelon and finally a full-sized book baby. And now I need to give birth, or rather, write it down. So today I am writing the first section of the plan...
DAY ONE - PLANNING (CONT 3)
The book that I am working on has been in my brain for about a month. I have thought about it in the shower, walking the dog, when I go to sleep, when I wake up, whilst driving, during boring conversations, sometimes during interesting conversations...
DAY ONE - PLANNING (CONT 2)
After years of trying and fruitless research I found a plan that works for me - not something that needed loads of time and effort - a 3-page breakdown that gives me something to hang my plot on and then muddle and mould into a first draft.
IT HAS BEEN A GAMECHANGER....
DAY ONE - PLANNING (CONT...)
I'd tried not being a pantser, I tried to plan. I tried writing a short story, I tried doing a story graph, I tried chapter breakdowns, I covered my house in post-it-notes. It never helped ☹️
But then, last year, a miracle occurred...
DAY ONE - PLANNING...
I've always been a pantser when it comes to books. Have an idea. Think about that idea for a bit. Start writing that idea. See what happens...
What normally happens is I write 150k words in order to get a 80k book out of it at the end.
It's long, intense and hard work....
So, my BlueSky has gone a bit empty and bereft but I am going to fix that starting now.
Who wants to come along with me whilst I plan and write a new book??* Not just any book. THE book.
*Trick question. You don't have a choice. I'm doing it and I'm going to write about it here. Every. Single. Day😊
It was a hit! Proud to say that he shall be carrying on the family tradition 😋
The 14yo is having cheese with his Christmas cake for the first time this evening... I shall report back...
An adorable small blonde toddler at the very bottom right of the frame
The top of the head of an adorable small blonde toddler at the very right-hand side of the frame
The whole of the head of an adorable small blonde toddler
A blurry adorable small blonde toddler at the right hand side of the frame
Finding the photos your daughter took when she stole your phone seven years ago is one of life's unspoken joys ❤️
Watching 1923...
Me: Harrison Ford is still a good looking fella...
Husband: Even at 150-years-old
Me: 😳
Husband: What?! He's that old now isn't he??
