Color-Keyed Outlines & Structures are Essential

Outlines and Structure are Helpful Color-Keyed Outlines & Structures are Essential

I'm in the process of adapting my 373K word historical novel to a 24K word Young Readers edition. I always outline. It can make writing the manuscript boring because I know what's going to happen. Although I think it's better than writing by the seat of my pants and 4 days before the manuscript is due to the publisher, I discover that my hero is killed in a gun battle and I have no ending. The above graphic on my display is the outline for a 24,000 word Young Readers edition. Each colorful vertical rectangle (which contains six blocks) is a chapter of 800 words. I'll use Scrivener to target the word count. There are 30 chapters (x800 = 24,000) In each chapter rectangle, the GREEN block at the top articulates the POV character's physical goal for that chapter. The ORANGE block is the conflict encountered when attempting to achieve that goal. The RED block is the disaster that happens when the conflict is not resolved (it is never resolved until the last chapter...and I see I need to change the color of those blocks in last two chapters, they're still red in this picture and the one below.) The PINK blocks are the POV character's emotional reaction and internal debate, and the BLUE box is the tragic consequence and cliff hanger that drives the reader into the next chapter. Each column of one or two chapters is a classical dramatic beat in the story, and there are three major disasters in addition to the smaller ones in each chapter. This format ensures an engaging, emotional roller coaster for the reader. There are 19 chapter beats (plus 3 major turning points), 30 chapters, 800 words each, and 24,000 words total.

Left to Right apps I use: Powerpoint for Pitch deck, Scrivener and Word for text, and at the far right, Keynote for graphic outlines and plotting story beats (Keynote is the Mac Power Point)

Above is my writing set up of two Power Mac displays. As I flesh out the detail of the outline blocks on the right I reference my pitch deck (of character profiles, chronology, and scene summaries, along with the long form manuscript) on the left display. From here I'll open up Scrivener and start writing, one Scrivener document per chapter. After the novel is written and the chapters (Scrivener documents) are in order, I'll export to M.S. Word and finish up there before submission to a publisher. Or, if I self publish the M.S. Word document will be imported into Adobe's InDesign for finishing.

Yes, I'll make changes to the outline as I progress. But there's no frustration, writer's block, or second guessing, and I'll not revise the story 6-8 times to get it right.

New Editions for pre-readers, Young Readers, and a new Trilogy will be forthcoming later this year. A few original editions are still available at Amazon, and e-books available just about everywhere else.

Why Would an Adult Read Children's Books

Budding painters copy great works of art. Aspiring olympians emulate the regimen of gold medalists. Mathematic students recalculate centuries old proofs. 

Writers read.

My historical novel, Wizard Clip Haunting (WCH), was written for adults and mature teens. But it was long—too long for most—372,000 words. I argued it was shorter than Gone with the Wind (392K), The Road to Reality (490K words), or Atlas Shrugged (690K), but that didn't matter. The new edition from Defiance Press will be a trilogy, the three averaging 126K. Yet, in the age of Twitter (now X) it appears that anything longer than 280 characters is going to be a challenge.

Barnes &  Noble Novi, MI (1/3 of the Young Readers section.)

Another challenge caught my attention: Can Wizard Clip Haunting be told to children? The director of a children's museum in the vicinity of the historic events asked me that. Sure, I said recklessly.  

The local Barnes and Nobel introduced me to the hundreds (okay, thousands) of books for "Young Readers"ages 8-12. 

What was most popular I asked? The clerk led me to the long shelf of the Goosebumps series. I had heard of that, but 300 million printed? I didn't know kids read that much. 

Okay so WCH is about ghosts (thus Goosebumps), but it's also about American History, at least the events in the 1780-1790 era, EarlyAmerica. I was directed to another collection of best selling American History books for Young Readers, the Rush Revere series.

These two successful Young Readers series couldn't be much different. The Goosebumps books (genre: horror & adventure) are 5" x 7.5" x 0.375", paperback, weigh in at 4 oz, printed on ground-wood stock, contain no illustrations, and are about 15K words.  The Rush Revere books (genre: history & humor) are 6" x 8.5" x 0.75", hard cover, weight in a 1 lb, 4 oz, printed on heavy glossy stock, contain many full page color illustrations, and are just under 40K words.  

Yes,  you're guessing right. I've not only committed to writing a Young Readers edition of WCH—15K to 20K with B&W illustrations but also to a pre-school version—2K words with color illustrations perhaps like these:

A close friend who is responsible for getting me into this rabbit hole (hint: he used to do root canals), has already drafted a poetic, 1000 word pre-school reader for the latter. 

Now, all l've got to do is read these source books, learn to think like a kid, and after reading...write, write, write.

Any suggestions? I'm going to need them. Please comment below.

Stan

How to Kill a Bad Guy

 

Hans Gruber meets his fate in Die Hard

Mary Conneally (https://www.maryconnealy.com/) is one of my favorite authors.  Years ago (June 18, 2010 to be exact) we exchanged emails about her book "Petticoat Ranch" that I had just read. I was dissatisfied that she didn't draw-and-quarter the bad guy. But then I knew she could not, as she writes Christian Romantic Comedy in the Cowboy era. She's authored beyond 100 novels, turns them out like flapjacks at a church pancake breakfast.

So, she's limited in how she can kill the bad guys...I mean it's got to be a comedy suitable for Christian readers. Here's what she wrote to me:

I'm sorry I didn't kill Judd off, very bloodthirsty of you, but I know what you mean. I did stab a stake through his leg and I PROMISE YOU he was hanged, so rest easy. :)

I've killed a few villains in my day. Read Cowboy Christmas if you want a bad guy who is particularly dead at the end.  Deader than dead.

I've made two notes of how bad guys die in fiction, movies, books, whatever.

First is the 'Good bad guy' syndrome. The good bad guys tend to die while the bad bad guys go to prison. The moral there? Prison is worse than death???

And second, when the bad bad guy DOES die, you can judge how bad he is by the number of times he died.

• Shot through the heart. Bad.
• Shot through the heart, stumble back into an electric grid and be electrocuted, very bad.
• Shot through the heart, stumble back into an electric grid and be electrocuted, then fall six stories, very horribly bad.
• Shot through the heart, stumble back into an electric grid and be electrocuted, then fall six stories and land on a highway and get run over by a semi, miserably ugly viciously bad.
• Shot through the heart, stumble back into an electric grid and be electrocuted, then fall six stories and land on a highway and get run  over by a semi, which overturns and explodes...

Well, you get the progression.

Mary's email reminds me of the ending of James Bond and Indian Jones movies ... and Die Hard (the ultimate Christmas movie) where there always seems one-more villain, one-more time, who needs to be killed off.

How about some comments? What are the best ways to kill off a villain? Or, what movies kill off the same villain multiple times...please list the ways. We need to create a list of the Top 10 Villain Deaths.

Master Class in Storycraft Structure - Now FREE

 BIG ANNOUNCEMENT

Dear Storytellers, Screenwriters, and Novelists:

Please pass this on to others who may be interested. 

I have just moved my popular Master Class, Storycraft Training, from PPV Vimeo to YouTube and Rumble. The 12 Lessons are now available for free, although you'll have to wade through an occasional ad.

Disclaimer: I'm still slogging through copyright and content issues with YouTube, thus a couple lessons will link you to Rumble with no ads. Bear with me on the ads, I need income to provide this content. 

Bookmark this page, it's the only place where the lessons appear in order with links and lesson objectives.

Storycraft Training Link

For those who have purchased the training in the past,  THANK YOU for your support, the files you downloaded should still work. You will notice the 25 video episodes have been edited together into just 12 lessons; so access to each is easier.

If something doesn't work, in spite of my testing, please write me immediately, so I can fix it.  Or, if you have general questions, feel free to write.  For specifics on a project, I'm available for consulting. See this link: Moral Premise Story Consulting

Stan's email: stan@moralpremise.com

stan williams

https://stanwilliams.com