Writing Plan

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Another week has flown by here, and I again find myself pondering the imponderable question of where does all my time go?  I can tell you what I've been doing, but everything seems to take longer than it should to get it done.

In this case I've been researching stuff about far away places for a new opening chapter to my novel Strike Dog.

This came about because I decided that the prologue of Strike Dog would work better as the epilogue for Bad Dog, which is titled Omake.  One thing leads to another and the result is I now have plans to go back and tweak Bad Dog again by adding some details to one chapter to punch it up a little more.

On top of all that I was reading Chuck Wendig's blog where he posted a plan for a novel.  This drove me to distraction, and I just had to go away and work through his list here.

This what I came up with.

ACT 1 

Hook

1. Hey look there’s a problem.

 

ACT 2 

Plot Turn 1

2. I’m going to go and fix the problem. Try Fail Cycle

3. OMG I’ve made it worse.

4. Somebody else is making the problem worse.

Pinch 1

ACT 3 

Mid-Point

5. Wait, I think I’ve got this.Try Fail Cycle 

6. Bugger, bugger, bugger. Try Fail Cycle 

7. It’s not just worse, it’s now a different problem. Try Fail Cycle 

8. Even more buggeration ensues.Try Fail Cycle 

9. Everything is so complicated.

 

ACT 4
Pinch 2 

10. All is lost. Try Fail Cycle 

11. Wait, is that a light at the end of the tunnel? Try Fail Cycle 

12. It is, but it’s not what you think it is. 

Plot Turn 2 

13. Wait I have an idea.

 

ACT 5

Resolution

14. Problem solved, but not in the way you thought it would be. 

So looking back at my diary I find I've only managed to write 2,130 words this week, but boy-oh-boy it has felt like an intense weeks worth of writing.