January 2025

Welcome back! Happy New Year!

Today's Topic: Rethinking Everything

1. Working on Act I

2. How Act I is going

3. Rethinking Everything

// CHAPTER 1: WORKING ON ACT I

Simply put - Act I is the first quarter of your book if you're writing a 3 Act Story Structure:

• Now I know you can write a 4 or 5 Act story arc

• But there's something solid with the 3 Act story structure

• Probably because it is the most common and it just works

• Call it beginning, middle and end

• Or perhaps setup, confrontation and resolution

• You get the idea

For me - living in the Story Grid world for so long now it refers to:

• The Beginning Hook

• The Middle Build

• Ending Payoff

But the interesting thing is that these are not equal parts. According to most 3 Act story articles, and for sure the Story Grid - they break down in the following way:

• The Beginning Hook 25%

• The Middle Build 50%

• Ending Payoff 25%

Basically - the Middle Build (or Act 2) is larger than the other two parts. And the Story Grid breaks it into two parts - each coming out to 25%. Strange right? At the end of the day this sounds more like a 4 Act structure - but because the two parts of the Middle Build are connected - they make up the 2nd Act.

Story grid refers to the two parts in the following way:

• Middle Build 1 or the Progressive Complications and Turning Point of the Global Story

• Middle Build 2 or the Crisis of the Global Story

If you remember the 5 Commandments of Storytelling - here's how they break out in the 3 Act story structure:

• Beginning Hook: Inciting Incident

• Middle Build 1: Progressive Complications and Turning Point

• Middle Build 2: Crisis

• Ending payoff: Climax and Resolution

So what I wanted to focus on today is Act I - or the first 25% of the story:

• Because that's where I'm at

• I'm close to finishing up the first 25% of my WIP

• In this case I've estimated that my book will contain around 80 scenes

• So I'm finish up the first 20

• This means that by now the reader should be 100% clean on the Inciting Incident - because that's the goal of the first 25%

• Which is interesting - because most of the articles I've ready say you need to get the Inciting Incident at around the 12% mark

• So what is the other 12% for?

• Well - many say that after you present the Inciting Incident - you move into a build up that ends with your first plot point - which comes at the 25% mark

• The build up is simply additional information needed to help define the conflict, while ramping up tension

• Then at the 25% mark you provide the first plot point

• According to most authors this is the transition from Act I to Act II

• And a key event that moves the protagonist or team fully into the new world - or the new reality

• In terms of the Hero's Journey:

• The hero has received the call to adventure, worked through it (potentially refusing it) and has finally decided to accept the call

• And when a call is accepted - there is typically a threshold that is crossed - moving from the ordinary world into the extraordinary world of the adventure

• In the LOTR trilogy this is when Frodo leaves the Shire - literally crossing a threshold when he crosses the boundary defining the Shire

• In the Wizard of Oz it's when Dorothy is picked up by the tornado and dropped in Oz

• And so on and so forth...

// CHAPTER 2: HOW ACT I IS GOING

So I said that I'm planning on having roughly 80 scenes in the book. However, this is only an estimate based on the fact that sci-fi and fantasy books often have between 80 and 100 scenes per book. And these often become part of trilogies or longer series.

But just because I've written 20 scenes doesn't mean I'm done with Act I.

What I need to do is makes sure those 20 scenes did the following:

• It needs to introduce you to the Ordinary World of the protagonist(s) - the world he or she lives in, what they do, what they're like, etc.

• It needs to introduce the Inciting Incident - a big event that creates conflict for your protagonist(s) and require them to joint the adventure

• It needs to define the Call to Adventure - the thing the protagonist(s) are asked to do

• It should showcase a Refusal of the Call (assuming it exists) where the protagonist(s) feel incapable of the call, or outside forces appear to prevent them from answering the call

• It should introduce a Meeting with a Mentor - where your protagonist(s) are mentored by someone with knowledge, skill or tools that help them understand the new world they will be entering

• And finally, it should document the Crossing of the Threshold from the ordinary world into the new, or special world

• This is that final event - the first plot point - where something big happens and the protagonist(s) realize they have made the move - the adventure is underway and there may be no going back

Now that might sound like a lot. Not only have I included the typical story structure elements like Inciting Incident, and First Plot Point. But I've also layered in elements from the Hero's Journey.

The Ordinary World, Call to Adventure, Refusal of the Call, Meeting with the Mentor, and Crossing the Threshold are all steps in the Hero's Journey. But super helpful in setting signposts along the way for you as you write.

For me - it was very helpful in ensuring I wrote scenes that included these elements, but also that there were scenes to help the reader transition well between them.

Now, without completely leaking my entire story - I want to walk through each element and explain how I included it in Act I.

• Ordinary World:

• I introduce Jordan Sullivan - archaeologist at Yale, who is going through a difficult time, and has some really bad habits

• I introduce Connie Cho - a strong, independent woman who works for the Deep Space Exploration Administration (DSEA). She lives on a military style base, and is just returning from two weeks of leave in Albuquerque, NM 

• Inciting Incident:

• Jordan is taken from his home without his consent - and finds himself in Washington DC at the Department of National Security

• Connie, after being assaulted at a gas station and barely making it back to base, learns that she will be going on a dangerous mission to deep space

• Call to Adventure:

• Jordan is asked to be part of a team that will research and investigate a mysterious device in Cairo, Egypt

• Connie is asked to be part of a mission to deep space - one that ended up in disaster the last time it was attempted

• Refusal of the Call:

• Jordan struggles with the ask due to his lack of self esteem and his drinking problem

• Connie Cho struggles with the ask due to the danger

• This is the weakest part of Act I for me - an area I need to rework a little to ensure there is an obvious refusal if there is going to be one

• Meeting with a Mentor:

• Jordan meets a member of The Alliance who seems to have a lot of information and understands the history they're walking into

• Connie gets to know the Captain of the DSR better and learns from the stories he tells

• Also a weak part - and one that could be beefed up

• Crossing of the Threshold:

• This sort of happens in two places

• For Jordan, he crosses a threshold when he agrees to be part of the team - and flies from Washington to Cairo

• But there is also another threshold he crosses in Cairo when the team learns more about the device and they are forced to the next location

• Connie crosses a threshold when she agrees to be part of the DSR-7 mission and the spacecraft goes from Earth to the USSS-Alpha

• First Plot Point:

• An fairly major event that makes it obvious to the protagonist(s) that they aren't in Kansas any more

• Jordan and his team have had no major snags on the trip - until they do - and a traumatic event forces them to admin there is something dangerous going on behind the scenes

• Connie Cho is asked to communicate with Earth outside normal channels - thereby going behind the back of the Captain. She has to decide who to trust - and how she wants to handle the request from DSEA command

// CHAPTER 3: RETHINKING EVERYTHING

So where do I go next? The simple answer is keep writing. Right? Start working on Act II - and the 50% that makes up the Middle Build.

Sounds right to me! But unfortunately I don't think it's the next right thing - at least for me personally.

For this entire year, I've been looking forward to this "break in the action." Because I assumed I would be in a good place. A place that would allow me to share my work.

Up to this point I've held everything pretty close to the vest:

• I let my daughters read the Prologue. That was a mistake - because I didn't explain it in those terms. They assessed it as if it was the first chapter in my book. And much of their criticism was valid to be sure

• Then I read a big chunk of the book to my wife. This was a few months ago, and it only gave her a taste

My hope was to finish up ACT I, and let it go. Literally send it out to my core group of readers (mainly family and close friends) and let them tell me what they think.

Tell them it's Act I. Tell them it's a first draft. And ask for honest feedback. Things like:

• Did it hold your interest - and keep you turning the page?

• Did you connect with the Protagonist?

• If so - why and how?

• If not, why not?

• What did you like?

• What did you not like?

• What did you have a hard time understanding?

• Were there parts that sounded naive, hokey or cliche?

• I think that's a pretty good list for now...

And that's it. I truly believed this is my next step in the process:

• Send it out

• Let them read it

• Take their feedback

• Then start ACT II - with the recommendations and suggestions in the front of my mind

• For example - if someone said, "I love Connie Cho - but I'm having a hard time connecting with her."

• In Act II I could spend more time defining her character - the things she likes, or doesn't like. Her hopes and fears, and a bit more of her back story. Eventually this could get beefed up in Act I as well - but at least it would be added to the last 75% of the book while still writing the First Draft

So there you go! That was my plan:

• Obviously you want people to say, "Yes! It was amazing - I loved every minute of it - when can I get Act II?"

• But the opposite is also helpful. When someone says, "You totally lost me when you started explaining how a spacecraft docks at a USSS in the future. I don't care, I just want you to tell me it docked. Then move on to the people interacting on the space station."

• Ouch - hard to hear on some level - but at the same time valid. Maybe I was in love with that piece of world building and wanted to share how much I loved it. But for the reader it's too much exposition. Info dumping. Telling vs. showing. Get back to the dialogue and allow the info to be injected in smaller chunks

• So. Like I said - this is what I'm excited to hear - both the good, the bad, and the ugly

• And my hope was that this would fuel my imagination as I entered the world of Act II.

But at some point the doubts started to creep in again.

In a previous episode I talked about moving away from The Trilogy - my Big Idea - my WIP - in order to start with a smaller, more simple novel to cut my teeth on.

And I talked about how my wife kind of agreed - but at the same time pushed me to do what I felt was right. And if I truly felt my Big Idea was the story I was supposed to write - who had the right to tell me otherwise?

So I dove back in and kept working on ACT I.

But at some point the conversation came back up in my mind. And two things pushed me over the edge:

1. One of the standalone books I had thought about writing suddenly became a lot clearer to me:

1. I realized I could change the location of the story - making it a lot easier to write and ensuring readers would connect better to the story

2. I realized something about the way I was writing The Trilogy:

1. I was becoming an exposition machine

2. Sure I had dialogue, and character development

3. But sprinkled in there were huge blocks of me world building

4. Explaining technical things like the DSEA campus and how it was set up

5. Like describing the three spaceships the DSEA built and how each was used

And that's when I stopped, put my pen down and had a come to Jesus moment...

Was I just forcing things because it was my Big Idea? Was I really ready to take on such a large project?

And unfortunately for me - I kept going back to the same answer. No, you probably aren't ready yet.

But you could be...if you practiced on something less complex:

• Like a story that focused on a single protagonist

• In a fairly common location, with a pretty simple plot

• With one main antagonist - or force of antagonism

What would that look like? Would it give me the experience needed to write the Big Idea somewhere down the road?

Possibly. Probably...

And so I Rethought Everything...

Right then and there.

Now, I can't lie, this new project is NOT entirely new. And it's NOT entirely standalone.

It's one of the standalone's I thought up back in the first moment of crisis. A story based on a character from my WIP. A character that doesn't come into play until late in the second book, and then plays a major roles in book three.

So for me - it's the best of both worlds.

It will be a single novel, much more simple to write, and will allow me to play with a more traditional story structure.

But at the same time - it's set in the same world as my WIP. This will allow me to do a number of things:

1. I can use the same world building I've already come up with

2. I can introduce ideas and concepts along the way that will foreshadow The Trilogy

3. I can spend a fair amount of time creating a secret society called The Travelers in this book so I won't have to do that in The Trilogy

4. And I can focus on the character development, and story arc for one main character instead of multiple at the same time

Like I said, it's a win-win.

Except that it still feels like I failed at my Big Idea. And it feels like I'm starting over - without a single sentence on paper.

But, I believe it's the next right thing for me.

So I have to be true to myself and do it.

So over the holidays I spent a fair amount of time prepping for this reality:

• I created the world

• I fleshed out the protagonist

• I came up with timelines and how this story fits into the large world of The Trilogy

• And I started to define the story arc - the change I want the protagonist to go through in the book

My next step is to think through an entire storyline - or plot structure that would work to get me started.

Maybe it's fleshing out the 20 Skeletal Scenes from Story Grid.

Maybe it's fleshing each of the 12 elements of the Hero's Journey.

Or maybe I find something totally new - something that speaks to me in terms of setting up a single novel with one protagonist.

I found a YouTube video by a guy named John Matthew Fox.

His channel is called Bookfox: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tuEMXTOB47c

• In his video called "5 Story Shapes that will change Your Book FOREVER"

• He walks through five simple ways to plot your novel:

• First, the Frytag Pyramid

• Second, the 7 Point Plot Structure

• Third, the Snowflake Method

• Fourth, the Embryo Method

• And fifth, the Save the Cat Method

• Now I won't bore you with the details

• But if you're interested - go check out the video - it's in the show notes and it's only 9 minutes long

Basically - five more ways to think through the structure of your story so you can hit the ground running and write through the loose structure you came up with.

And like I said, that's where I find myself.

Let's Land the Plane:

I think that's a good place to end for today. Thanks for sticking with me as I continue to struggle with my WIP and the best way to make sure it gets written.

In this case that means not writing it all all - at least not yet...

As always, I hope whatever you're working on is going smoothly. Or, if you're in a similar spot - I hope you have the courage to evaluate things and make changes in real time as I have.

Have a great week friends - and as always keep Transcending Human!

References:

• https://www.studiobinder.com/blog/three-act-structure/

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tuEMXTOB47c