October Novel Prep Challenge

These articles were AMAZING.

I had an epiphany this morning, and I credit the subplot articles which have been stewing since I read them last night.

My NaNo "book" has turned into a "trilogy." Where I had one premise to start, I now have a story arc and three separate premises, one for each book. I wrote those and the outlines for each, but the third book was really hanging me up. I wasn't sure I had the right protagonist. That was because the objective and conflict I'd identified were weak, especially for Book 3 of a trilogy, which should be epic.

It turns out I was thinking too high-level.

My story is titled War of the Witches. I know who declares war on whom and why. I know who sides with the witches and who sides with their enemies. I know who lives, who dies, who wins and how. I know what the political fallout will be.

But that's just history. And let's face it, unless you're Professor Q or Professor Binns, who wants to read a history lesson?

Stories are engaging because of the characters. And the epiphany I had was that despite having identified a protagonist, I wasn't really focusing on him or any one character. I was viewing the war from the stratosphere, watching all the little chess pieces move into position.

Which makes it a jumbled mess of SIDE PLOTS with no main plot.

Back to my doubt yesterday, in which I wasn't sure I had the right character: I did have the right character. I just had the wrong story.

Now I'm frantically revising the premise, plot and outline for Book 3. Oh, and incidentally, a new theme crystallized along with the epiphany:

"The Right Thing" is not always clear-cut.

Cheers,
Michelle