Konn Lavery's Blog: Posts from konnlavery.com, page 53
October 14, 2016
Seed Me Signing at Audreys Books
The fourth signing of the year. Following up from the Strathcona Chapters, I’ll now be heading over to the one and only Audreys Books for a signing of Seed Me. Drop in for a meet & greet the author, artwork, the World Mother score, and of course, the books themselves.
When and Where:
Monday, October 24th from 11:30am – 1:30pm
Audreys Books Ltd.
10702 Jasper Ave, Edmonton, AB T5J 3J5
Mark your calendars.
The post Seed Me Signing at Audreys Books appeared first on Konn Lavery.
October 13, 2016
PIG American Excess Tour – Trip to Seattle
If there is one thing that I enjoy, it is listening to weird underground music – as you may know through my Instagram account. Particularly I grew up listening to the industrial rock band KMFDM, first hearing them in 1998 with the song Spit Sperm featuring Raymond Watts. If that sounds like the type of music you’d like I’d highly recommend checking them out if you have not already.
Long story short, 3/4 of the original members left in the late 90s and reunited in 2016 for Raymond Watt’s project with the American Excess Tour. There was only one Canadian date in Toronto back in September, my schedule didn’t line up to attend. This was a one of a kind show and some musicians I look up to, something I could not miss. So without hesitation I booked flights, hotel and purchased tickets for the last show of the tour, in Seattle.
First time to Seattle
I am a little ashamed to admit of my lack of worldly travels – clearly I spend too much time writing and working to take real vacations. This short, three day get-away was well worth the re-scheduling of my work. I had yet to go to the United States of America and Seattle was a real treat as a first go.
Waiting for the flight at 11am with time to kill meant grabbing a beer and reviewing some of the new writing material I had in the works. I tend to bring my old Asus Transformer tablet for travel, smaller and not a big loss if it breaks.
Getting to Seattle was quick and after taking Uber to the hotel, it was practically time to hike over to the show. Yes, hiking, I did not expect there to be so many hills and certainly got my share of exercise through walking during the trip.
PIG American Excess Final Show
With VIP passes I was able to meet and greet Raymond Watts, En Esch and Gunter Schulz. After loading up on merch I got them to sign my new swag and take a photo with them. It was a pleasant surprise at how thankful they were for everyone who came by to meet and take pictures with them.
PIG had two openers prior to the show, Peter Turns Pirate and En Esch’s solo act. All three bands were well performed and they rocked hard, knowing it was the last show of the tour. I recorded most of the songs from all three bands, hearing classics like Go To Hell, Xcess, Conillon, Brute, and Rope to name a few it was a hell of a evening that extended well beyond midnight.
A video posted by Konn Lavery (@_konnartist) on Oct 8, 2016 at 8:37am PDT
Dead Phone, Standing in a Metropolis Alone
The next day I was a bit hungover and in awe at the wicked show last night and decided to hit up a retro diner a few blocks down before doing some sightseeing. Afterwards, grabbing a coffee at Starbucks, (it is where the company started so I had to give it a go) my phone froze mid Instagram upload and went black, refusing to turn on. This is when I really clued in that I was in Seattle. The phone dying caused a realization that I was disconnected from texting or calling everyone I knew and the ease of Googling anything I wanted. A real eye opener that put me in the present moment.
It forced me to do things like do more introductions with people around me to ask for the time or for directions, then write them down on a piece of paper. This was a short period of the day – something like several hours – but it truly felt like nothing else. Eventually after four cellphone stores and learning about technological advances and limitations since my last phone, I managed to buy an unlocked one that my SIM card fit into and I was reconnected with the world. The downer was most of my footage from the show did not backup in time and I lost them on the broken phone.
Experience Music Project Museum
A secondary goal of the trip was to explore the EMP Museum. They had a special horror film and fantasy exhibits that I wanted to indulge in for inspiration and insight into these genres.
“Can’t Look Away: The Lure of Horror Film” provided some insight into horror from directors Roger Corman, John Landis and Eli Roth who talked about their work, how to define horror and creating a sense of fear in their audience. The exhibit also showcased some iconic pieces such as the xenomorph suit, outfits used in the Thriller music video, Mars Attacks! alien sculpture among more.
The fantasy exhibit was focused on lore and story more than a specific media type. It narrowed in on topics such as character classes, world building, magic and story arcs from various authors. Seeing actual notes from authors such as Christopher Paolini was enlightening and motivating to crack the whip on myself and flushing out the rest of Mental Damnation’s world.
EMP Museum’s featured Star Trek exhibit was also a treat, got to see the original and rebooted costumes of Khan among many other props found within the franchise.
I have Seen the Light – Flying Home
I could write a lot more about my nerdism with KMFDM, PIG and En Esch (like in the sub title), the specifics of the EMP Museum and some of the sightseeing I had done but it’d be pages worth of writing. This post gives a solid outline of the main excitements from the trip. Getting out of my regular routine and the country, even for such a short bit, was rejuvenating and birthed a desire to do it again very soon. Seeing the slight culture differences and the vast history of Seattle began to spark new writing material, meaning it is time to buckle down and start typing away.
The post PIG American Excess Tour – Trip to Seattle appeared first on Konn Lavery.
October 1, 2016
Seed Me Signing at Strathcona Chapters
The third signing of the year is here. After the West Edmonton Mall Chapters signing, I’ll now be heading over to Strathcona Chapters for a signing of Seed Me. Drop in for a meet & greet the author, artwork, the World Mother score, and of course, the books themselves.
When and Where:
Saturday, October 8th from 11:00am – 4:00pm
Chapters – Strathcona
10504 82nd Avenue, Edmonton, AB T6E 2A4
Mark your calendars.
The post Seed Me Signing at Strathcona Chapters appeared first on Konn Lavery.
September 29, 2016
Unprocessed Thoughts – September
Summer is gone! That’s the first thing I thought when I noticed September rolled on out. It is hard to believe that the only two months of warmth that we get here in Edmonton were over. However that is the nature of the Alberta and we eventually get 8-10 months of snow. Growing up in Alberta it is something that you get used to.
Welcome to Another Edition of Unprocessed Thoughts
With fall and winter coming up it means it is back to finding a winter project. For the past couple of years I participated in NaNoWriMo where I wrote the original Seed Me manuscript in 2014. In 2015 I wrote half of another manuscript titled The Unfortunate Tale of Hashtag YEGman which is another Edmonton based story. The plot is quite different to Mental Damnation and Seed Me, it is its own beast entirely and I aim to complete the story… I plan on returning to the manuscript and finishing it within the year so it can come out 2018-19. However there are other writing projects in the works, which I have kept pretty hush-hush at the moment.
Outside of the secret winter writing project, the fall has been kept busy with book signings and ensuring that Seed Me ends up on as many store bookshelves as possible before I get too busy with graphics and web work. Fall is generally the incline for end-of-budget season for projects with Reveal Design. Scheduling becomes rather unpredictable. To be fair, that is just the nature of the contract business.
At this particular point in time, there has been a lot of planning for what the future holds in the writing career. This spring and summer have been major learning curves. Some conventions and marketing tactics worked and some didn’t. Seed Me was a major milestone for my writing and storytelling capabilities between the novel and the score. It’s nice to take a bit of a breather to reflect on what the original concept was for the Seed Me project, how I grew from it and deciding what will be the next objectives for the future projects.
The second book signing has been completed and the Edmonton Comic Expo is finished. Received a number of surprisingly great reviews for Seed Me. The latest being from ScifiAndScary.com giving a critical review of the story with a positive reflection. Very pleased with the feedback.
Moving forward, the announcement of the secret project will come in due time. The reason for holding back on a announcement is I need to project timelines before I can make any promises on what will be released. In the meantime, there will be more blog posts related to writing tips. Also enjoy the concert snippets from instagram, the last show was from the teaches of Peaches concert:
A video posted by Konn Lavery (@_konnartist) on Sep 26, 2016 at 11:01am PDT
Beer Note: Innis & Gunn Irish Whiskey Finish is probably my second favorite by this brand, next to the rum finish. It is probably the strongest Innis & Gunn I have tried, leaves a stern aftertaste – approved. 4.5/5
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September 28, 2016
Self-Publishing Talk at the Edmonton Expo 2016
This year I had the opportunity to run a panel with fellow author and comic book artist Beth Wagner. Our focus for this panel was the introduction to self-publishing. It was an entry level discussion for those who were seeking knowledge of the production side of the whole process. We kept it open to discussion with the audience allowing for a Q&A styled session.
The Rest of the Edmonton Comic Expo
The Edmonton Comic and Entertainment Expo has come and gone. What an exciting weekend. As always there are a ton of great costumes. Trying to take photos of them all would be a lot of work but check out their Facebook page to see a lot of the great shots. I did get to see a Spawn costume though, personally I think there should be more Spawn in comic cons (bring the new movie into production Todd McFarlane!).
That aside, during the weekend I got to catch up with fellow authors Adam Dreece and Vince Seim, both of who have been guest authors of the month for this blog. Check out the links in their name to find out more about their work. Many other colleagues and friends were also at the expo again, considering it is in my home town it makes it easy to travel to in comparison to some of the other conventions.
The booth was focused entirely on Seed Me and the World Mother: Seed Me Novel Score since they are the shiny and new work. A lot of Mental Damnation readers were pleased to see me release something new, finally. Especially considering there has been no new material for anyone since the launch of Fusion back in the fall of 2014. Basically 2 years of conventions and signings without any new work.
There were some downtimes throughout the convention, pretty standard. People tend to move in waves depending on lunch time and what panelists/photo-ops are going on. During these times it makes catching up with friends a lot of fun – especially when we’re both rocking Seed Me and Mental Damnation T-Shirts by SANE Clothing!
It was a fun year and the last convention of the 2016. As always, worth the experience and looking forward to exploring new conventions next year with future panels.
The post Self-Publishing Talk at the Edmonton Expo 2016 appeared first on Konn Lavery.
September 19, 2016
Returning to the Minstrel Cycle Podcast
The folks at Minstrel Cycle were kind enough to have me back for their podcast. We did a follow up to chat more about Seed Me and the World Mother: Seed Me Novel Score. Give the podcast a listen for some jokes, laughs and NSFW (Not Safe For Work) material. You’ve been warned!
Episode 00014 – Konn Lavery17-09-2016
Minstrel Cycle and Konn Lavery are at it again! He’s here to talk about his new book “Seed Me”. Check it out!
BUY SEED ME (Amazon) or (Google Play)
Your browser does not support the audio player
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September 14, 2016
Adam Dreece’s new Sci-fi novel The Man of Cloud 9
This month’s guest author is Calgary’s Adam Dreece. He is well known for his bestselling steampunk series The Yellow Hoods. Adam had a presentation at this year’s When Words Collide about the road of indie publishing, outlining some of the obstacles along the path and how to overcome them. It was truly an insightful session. Adam is also has finished a new novel titled The Man of Cloud 9, a Sci-fi story.
We had a Skype session together where we chatted about his work, career and the life of a writer.
Thanks for taking the time to chat, tell us a bit about your new novel, The Man of Cloud 9, that is available September 30th.
The story takes place 70 years in a future that has a world that’s damaged both in infrastructure and socially. Particularly the people have abandoned the concept of moving forward for a better tomorrow and innovation moved towards about solving the problems of their present.
The plot follows a Steve Jobs-like character named Nico Rafaelo who is like that classic Silicon Valley genius who has an idea for reviving the technology of nanobots and human microbial clouds (an aurora surrounding each person made up of dust, bacteria and particles). Nico wants to use these clouds as a battery for the nanobots. He has a vision of bringing back the ‘old world’ like video conferencing. It’s about the inventor vs the corporate beast that this world has created. As you go through the story you discover Nico’s company which has intentional parallels to Steve Jobs.
The primary advisory basically represents the reflection of people’s inner failings and seeing the work of Nico to be a giant billboard of their letdowns and feel the need to destroy him. This has been a reflection of my past both personally and professionally.
Have you found any challenges with writing Sci-Fi vs other genres you’ve worked in?
The background of being a software engineer made the tech come naturally. The writing was a lot more cold and suppressed in emotion than other genres. I enjoyed finding the right balance of how much science you put in mixed with the story telling. So it’s not too fantasy and not too technical.
This book and The Wizard Killer that I wrote were objectively meant to have me take risks and expand my audience. I wanted to show a different side of me. I had comments from long time sci-fi readers who found it like sci-fi from the 60s. It is focused on grounded storytelling that happens to take place in this otherworldly setting. I had some non scifi readers enjoy it that it didn’t go too deep in technicalities.
What inspired you to write a science fiction novel?
There were two things: After finishing the fourth novel in The Yellow Hoods, I needed a break. A friend of mine half-joking asked me to write a short story about microbial clouds. I had an idea and wrote 5,000 words, realizing it needed a tweak and it became 10,000 words, then 15,000 words and I realized I had a lot more to say.
Along the way I also began to pull ideas that I had parked previously and mined some of my background for concepts.
If you had to compare The Man of Cloud 9 to another story, which one would it be?
I was told that The Wizard Killer had a “Mad Max vs Lord of the Rings” and “Harry Potter meets Die hard”.
With The Man of Cloud 9, several of the early readers finished the book said it stayed with them for days. I didn’t get a comparison from early readers which was interesting for this book.
The movie Gladiator does comes to mind, except the era. It follows the concept of someone who is from up high, brought down low, and ultimately has to face their nemesis with their unwilling nature to give up their ideal.
Do you think you will continue to write in this genre or do you have a future direction in mind?
In sci-fi yes, a sequel to this, that I don’t know. I had early readers ask, or rather tell me that I am writing a sequel. I’m not sure if I will. I will write sci-fi space operas that will be very different than this novel. I have a couple of ideas based in the universe of The Man on Cloud 9, but I need it to sit for a bit. I got The Wizard Killer sequels and the next The Yellow Hood book to write.
I look at choosing the next book to write from a philosophical perspective: Does it have an effect on the world? Or I am doing it for myself? I also need to take a step back from a novel to remember the original intention of it. Maybe in January I will reflect The Man of Cloud 9 and revisit it.
At When Words Collide, you mentioned you used to be a software developer before becoming an author, how did you go about this transition?
When I was in my early teens, I started doing 2 things, playing a lot of DND (being the DM and coming up with stories) and teaching myself programming. So I always stayed with those, getting up at 5AM or 6AM in the morning and working on them throughout the day. Between those two things that took up my time.
I took computer engineering in university and became a solution architect for small companies and big companies like Microsoft.
I am a guy who loves ideas, not technology. Ideas have the element of people, the element of impact and the product itself. You need to understand what that product’s purpose is and who the audience is.
When we moved to Calgary in 2014, I had a big opportunity with software engineering while writing The Yellow Hood. Once that contract ran out, I hadn’t seen much of an opening in that industry since the .com explosion came to an end. My wife saw I had a good thing going with writing and encouraged me to pursue it. The IT background has helped me with the large-thinking planning that comes with writing series and drilling into the small details.
Also being a stay-at-home dad keeps me pretty busy.
You do more than just write, you do public speaking as well. Was this a skill you had prior to writing?
No. I wrote for 25 years and did nothing with it. The writers I had around me were very discouraging. In 2003 when I was at Microsoft, I signed up to be a co-speaker for a program that was running across the country. It was terrifying but I wanted to be able to stand in front of at least 1,000 people and be able to present. The whole thing went really well but was very stressful.
One thing I also learned about being a dyslexic is learning to role with whatever you said, don’t try and stop to fix it. Just role with it and people won’t notice the error because you made it unimportant.
A director over at Microsoft once said to me his key to success was try to outrun your mistakes instead of fixing them.
For aspiring writers, what advice would you offer them to convert their writing into a career?
First, the key message I give at all my talks is to give yourself permission to make a mess.
The second is recognize that building a career is an 8-10 year endeavor. Chances are it is not going to be your first, fourth or sixth book. It’s about applying yourself every day to move your author career forward. I personally don’t write every day, but I do at least one thing to support my writing so I am better off today than I was yesterday.
The last piece is to recognize that being an author is about having team. Not just the supporters and fans, but anywhere you can get advice. I have a cover designer and an editor. Knowing that having them focus on those aspects of the novel allows me to write more.
Recognize that everyone has their own speed. One person might be able to pump out a book a month and other people might take 3 years to do so. This doesn’t make one right or the other wrong, you have to find the speed of your voice without jeopardizing quality.
In a recent blog post I talk about anxiety and my long time workaholic behavior, having the feeling that you are never doing enough and how I own these symptoms.
A lot about being an author is developing grounded, sustainable, productivity and creativity and you got to slay a lot of personal demons along the way.
Thank you Adam again for taking the time to discuss your writing and some of your background, truly encouraging to keep at writing regardless of your mood and keep with long term planning.
Again, Adam Dreece is launching his new book The Man of Cloud 9 on September 30th and will be in Edmonton for a couple of book signings where you can grab a copy of the new novel.
The book is also available in digital copy at the following sites:
– Amazon http://smarturl.it/AmzMc9 (This is an internationalized link)
– Amazon US https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01HTVKDD6
– Kobo https://store.kobobooks.com/en-ca/ebook/the-man-of-cloud-9
– Smashwords https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/648114
– Barnes & Noble http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-man-of-cloud-9-adam-dreece/1124066913?ean=2940153109978
The Man of Cloud 9 by Adam Dreece Synopsis
Niko Rafaelo is a brilliant and driven inventor, determined to flip the late 21st century on its head with a new take on a banned technology, nanobots.
In a world that has been battered and bruised for decades by endless natural disasters, Niko’s ambitions are seen as reckless and wasteful.
Following in the footsteps of his Silicon Valley heroes, Niko’s startup takes the planet by storm. But what happens when the corporate beast and Niko’s conscience conflict? And what is his ultimate goal?
“Adam Dreece continues to surprise, enthrall, and sweep us, his avid readers, along – with his elegant prose and insightful story telling. If you, like I, enjoy the sci/fi fantasy genre, you can’t do better than THE MAN OF CLOUD 9.”
– Rene Auberjonois, Avid Reader, Actor/Director
The post Adam Dreece’s new Sci-fi novel The Man of Cloud 9 appeared first on Konn Lavery.
September 12, 2016
WARNING: Edmonton Comic Expo 2016
Later this month I will be returning to the Edmonton Comic & Entertainment Expo. I am very pleased to be joining it for my third year. Unlike last year, I actually have something new to share – the Seed Me novel and the World Mother: Seed Me Novel Score.
In addition there will be a limited run of Seed Me T-Shirts by SANE Clothing.
Where is the Edmonton Comic Expo?
Edmonton EXPO Centre
7515 118 Ave NW
Edmonton, AB T5B 4X5
Friday, Sept. 23rd 3pm-8pm
Saturday, Sept. 24th 10am-7pm
Sunday, Sept. 25th 10am-5pm
I’ll be at booth L04
See you all then!
The post WARNING: Edmonton Comic Expo 2016 appeared first on Konn Lavery.
September 11, 2016
Want to Write a Fiction Novel? Part 3 – Chapter Outlines
Welcome to the final part of the 3 part miniseries titled Want to Write a Fiction Novel? In the first post, we looked at creating the premise for your novel, thinking from a 5,000 foot view. In the second part we discussed plot outlines, looking at the general direction of the plot on a single page. With each post, we dig a bit deeper into the story, each component complimenting the previous. This post, we will look at developing each chapter outline found within the plot. These chapters reflect the important points we made on our plot outline.
What is a Chapter Outline?
A chapter outline differs from the plot outline, which offered a visual representation of the rise and fall of the story. The chapter outline level of planning is more linear and is intended to point out all major events that happen in the chapter. It is also the last phase of planning before jumping into the writing itself, with the exception of character sheets. These are done before, during and after the plot planning.
Each person has their own process with character sheets. You can find some insight into them from the “Defining a Character” series that I had written previously.
What is included in a Chapter Outline?
Good question, chapter outlines should be about a single page, labeled numerically. Each outline should include four key sections:
Objectives
Characters
Point of View
Summary
Objectives
The objectives section is the most important part on the page. This states the primary focus of the chapter that moves the story forward. Ask yourself if the chapter is developing a character or moving the plot onward. If it is not, what is it doing in the book?
Characters
This is a reference check, exceptionally helpful if your plot has a lot of characters. You’ll want to note who appears in a chapter in case you need to recall when and where they last appeared in the plot. It helps avoid major plot holes by knowing where your characters are.
Point of View
This section may or may not be used, depending on the type of story you are writing. If your plot has multiple narrators, then you will want to make note on whose perspective the story is being told through.
Summary
The guts of the chapter outline, here you will write down each event that happens in this section of the story based on the objectives you previously stated. Noticing a pattern here? Your chapter outlines are like mini premises and plots.
Your Objectives are much like the premise and the Summary is like your plot outline on a smaller scale.
That’s great, so how do I start a chapter outline?
Time to pull out your premise and your plot outline that you made earlier! Take a hard look at them by asking yourself questions about each of the points you made on the plot outline. What are the details of each event? How do they connect from one to the other? Broaden on the protagonist’s and antagonist’s goals. You answer all these questions by jotting them down on chapter outlines.
You do not have to start in a linear fashion.
If you want to work backwards, go right ahead. Sometimes the plot is a story where you need to figure out the details of the ending first, then you can visit the beginning. Some plots might not have the ending flushed out and you won’t know until you figure out the rest of the story first. In this case you will probably start with chapter 1’s outline.
This is your book, write it in any order you want. Trust your intuition.
Example of a Chapter Outline
In the photo below (click to enlarge), you can see a printed off chapter outline for the original Chapter 4 – Emotion Eater found in Mental Damnation: Reality. This is an extremely simplified version of a chapter outline. This worked because the chapter itself was short and had only a few key objectives.
Your Exercise
Now that we’ve covered how a chapter outline works, use the template below for your chapter outlines. Copy this into any editor you prefer or print it off:
Chapter title:
Objectives:
–
–
–
Characters:
–
–
Point of View:
Summary:
–
–
–
–
This sums up the 3 part series of writing a novel. There are MANY more topics to cover with writing a book that cannot be covered in 3 blog posts. I hope this does offer some structured direction for writing your novel.
If you have any additional knowledge to how you prefer to plan out a novel, please share in the comments.
The post Want to Write a Fiction Novel? Part 3 – Chapter Outlines appeared first on Konn Lavery.
August 29, 2016
Want To Write A Fiction Novel? Part 2 – Plot Outline
In the previous post, we looked at the premise of a novel. This is a very important step, it doesn’t take a lot of time to do and it can save you a ton of headaches down the road. The post also mentioned to put the brakes on before diving too deep with the writing, wanting you to think broadly. Now, we get to dive a bit deeper and look into the plot outline.
What is a Plot Summary?
Hold on, we’re talking about plot outlines, not plot summaries. Big difference here. You will hear people use this terminology interchangeably but the fact is, they are not the same. The plot outline is a series of points that you make prior to writing the novel. The plot summary is the piece that you write once the book is finished (the synopsis). This should offer you some clarification as to what it is.
Okay, so what is a Plot Outline?
A plot outline is your whole story summarized (ideally in a single page), noting the important plot points in the novel. They come in many shapes and forms. Some are more visual and others are simply bullet lists explaining the storyline in a chronological order. Below is an example of a visual plot outline:
As seen in the diagram above, a plot outline demonstrates the gradual rising action, climax and sudden falling leading to the finalization of the story. This is an extremely simplified example of what a plotline looks like. You can get quite detailed depending on how many sub stories or how complicated your novel is.
Reference Your Premise
Remember that thing you wrote earlier? That comes in handy. Previously we chatted about the one to two sentence statement to summarize your novel and spark new ideas. These ideas might be “who the antagonist is” or “who are the supporting cast in the story”. Now is the time to look at your premise and start asking questions about what it does not answer.
Linear Storyline vs Narrative Storyline
Your story might jump forwards and backwards in time to create mystery or tension. Your story may be told through a limited narrative format making the readings unaware of certain events until later in the book. This creates the differentiation between the linear storyline and the narrative storyline.
Linear Storyline – This is the chronological string of events that happen throughout the story. These events might not be revealed to the reader in the exact format that the narration follows. For example, there may be events A, B, C and D that happens but the reader learns about the events in the order of C, A, B and D. This creates mystery and a wonder of how the events from the beginning lead to the end.
Narrative Storyline – The narrative storyline is the version of the story told to the viewers. As mentioned above, the reader might be place at the end of a series of events and be baffled as to how this outcome came to be. An example would be an opening scene of several characters gunning each other down and not knowing the outcome until they read through the whole story.
How Do I Write a Plot Outline?
Your plot outline should focus on the Narrative Storyline that the novel follows. If you have sub-plots, or a Linear Storyline of events, it would be useful to note them in the Plot Outline but create a separate plot outline sheet about them for further detail.
You want the plot to increase gradually, building suspense for the reader, until the story’s primary climax is reached. What is the grand event that the readers have been waiting for?
The Initial Event and Its Rise
This is the start of the incline. The hook, also the most challenging aspect of a book. After you have defined the set up, you will want the story to gain momentum. What causes the story to be interesting? How does the book draw your readers in?
This is known as the Rising Action.
You could use the method described earlier with Linear Storylines vs Narrative Storylines technique or propose an interesting scenario where the protagonist and the Linear Narrative are in synch, leaving the remainder of the plot a shroud of mystery.
Recall the diagram initially shown? Use this as starting point where the template points note the general direction of a plot with Joe starting a regular day at his job, makes a mistake and tries to cover it up.
Download a blank template for your plot outline to print off.
The Climax
This is the peak of your plot rise. The prime tension of the story that you have been building up to. In the example, Joe is ultimately fired from his job. Oddly enough, you may come up with this point of the story prior to the previous events. That is fine, writing is not a linear format. The creative process jumps from all points and does not follow any set formula.
To summarize the climax, it should be the great conclusion of the overall book’s plot. Sub plots should be concluded at this point (unless you want to leave them open for sequels). The protagonist generally needs to make a daunting decision or has to overcome unbeatable odds to reach their goal. In this case, Joe has to accept the fact he tried to cover up a mistake and move on.
The Decline and Resolution
After the climax there needs to be some closure. A sudden break isn’t fair to the reader (it’s like a text message breakup, not fair). Give the reader some explanation to the peak of the story. In the example, Joe is update but concludes he should follow his dream.
Additional Thought
Plot Outlines come in many forms and this might not be the exact format for you. For my plot outlines, I simply use a bullet list that shows a series of events that leads to the end, it is not quite as visual as the traditional plot outline but that is the method that I have grown to prefer, mostly for its simplicity.
Your Exercise
With the gradual incline, climax and decline method, use the template provided to come up with a plot outline. This may take several iterations and reviewing. Work on it until it shapes into a generic direction of where you want your plot to go. We’re still seeing the story from an overarching view and not focusing too hard on details.
Write your plot outline and keep it for the third part of this series, where we dive deeper into the process by focusing on chapter outlines.
Not sure where to go from here? Or wanting to look for some inspiration? Clarify in the comments and we can chat about it.
The post Want To Write A Fiction Novel? Part 2 – Plot Outline appeared first on Konn Lavery.
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