October Novel Prep Challenge

You're close. But there's more. Well, you are actually free to modify and twist it as much as possible.

I kind of was inspired by James Scott Bell, but I took it and made my own thing.

But this is a pattern that has shaped some of my more recent novels.

Here are the key points.

Trail Start: This is where the novel begins. Something out of the ordinary happens.

Uphill Climb: This is just build up and foreshadowing. Have you ever heard of how you are not supposed to start your main story too soon? Well, this is what this is. It's building up to the main event, all while introducing the world and some of the characters.

Peak One: Okay, will anyone ever push themselves off into a steep valley? Not without prompting. This is where a life changing event happens. In my novel, New Worlds, this is where my character vanishes into another world.

Downward Slope: This is where my character gets further down into the problem, and they probably discover more things about the world. In my novel, The Ice Hero, this is where my main character makes the long, grueling journey to a palace while battling an unbalanced energy inside her because she used it wrong. In some novels, this might be the place to start introducing ways your character might get through the final fight.

River of Change: This is a crucial point of discovery, realization, or the idea to finally go after something ignored for so long. They might discover a key thing about the world around them, or it could be a realization about themselves. It should motivate them to climb out of the valley, as the trek uphill is going to be hard on them.

Upward Slope: Going uphill is always hard, and so is this part of the story. There should be more conflict here, as the character might be learning more and more about what they might face in the final battle. They might hone a new skill they learned, or be working to achieve something. In my novel, Fractured Powers, this is where my characters agree to try their best to save the seven realms from dying.

Peak One: Now, at a first glimpse, this might look like the final fight. It's not. This is the event that starts the final fight. When the characters make the choice to meet the villain head on. Example: In my novel, Jyree's Pack, this is where my character decides she needs to give up her own life to save her wolf tribe (and pack mates).

Downhill climb: This is the final fight here. This is where the characters meet opposition. Jyree might be thinking about other options and openings she may have missed, and this is where she learns that she is right, and that she will have to give herself up for her tribe.

Trail end: This is the resolution, and where the story ends. It shows the results of everything else that happened in the book.

I hope it makes sense,