How to Outline Your Novel in a Day

SO NANO IS HAPPENING IN FOUR DAYS. *shrieks*

The story of my NaNo success always seems to look like this:

Once upon a time, there was a little girl who signed up for Camp NaNoWriMo. Though she knew that it was fast-approaching, she also forgot (probably because she wanted to avoid doing an outline).

You see, this little girl was a plantser, meaning that she loved to pants, but she needed to plot. And so, when the first day of NaNo arrived, she ran around screaming and calmly ignored the task that lay before her.

"I'm outlining," she told her friends, when they inquired after her delay (in truth, she thought she was outlining; she still worked hard at school and Life™, and outlined once or twice a week).

Eventually, the month ended, and the little girl had yet to write a single word of her NaNo project. And so she ran around screaming and calmly ignored what had transpired. 

Sound familiar? I AM TOTALLY THAT LITTLE GIRL, BTW. If you've ever been that little girl (or boy), too -- or MAYBE YOU'RE THAT CHILD RIGHT NOW??? -- then congratulations! Because, despite the fact that Life™ (school, acting, church, volunteer work, and a new job) has commanded I refrain from NaNo this year, I have developed a sure-fire plan for preparing for NaNo last-minute (think outlining). All you need is one full day to yourself: no school, no work, no chores, no distractions. And the best part? You can be done before teatime.

(A quick note, before I get to the good stuff 😉: this post was inspired by Jill Williamson, who shared her outlining process at #RealmMakers2017. The card labels and whatnot were entirely her advice! 😁💜)

1. BE PREPAAAARED!

You need:

• One full-ish day of freedom
• Fourteen to eighteen 5x8 index cards
• One pencil/pen
• One eraser / vial of white-out
• Your sources of inspiration; maps, Pinterest boards, blog posts, playlists... whatever makes you happy 😁
• This blog post 😉

2. LABEL YOUR CARDS

Label your cards as follows:

1. Beginning
2. Inciting Incident
3. Second Thoughts
4. Act I Climax
5. Obstacle A
6. Obstacle B
7. Midpoint Twist
8. Obstacle C
9. Disaster
10. Crisis
11. Act II Climax
12. Act III Climax
13. Dénouement (Wrap-Up)
14. End

Note that, by the time you get around to writing what actually happens on your cards, you may need to re-number them.

3. BREW TEA

Trust me. You'll need it.*

*And no, this does not count as teatime.

4. IDENTIFY YOUR KEY EVENTS

Now that you're armed with warm tea and your fourteen cards, start identifying. You already have at least a slight idea of where your novel is going, right? Because it's totally okay to label your cards out-of-order! And it's totally okay to take a five-minute break to brew some more tea and come back, too. 😉

5. DON'T FORGET TO REFUEL

Refueling can be counted as a lunch break, as taking a walk, as grooming your cat... but try to avoid using the internet unless it counts as research / help outlining. You're in the zone, and we don't want you to fall out of it. 💜

6. DO A FINAL READ-THROUGH

Now that all your key scenes' roles are identified, do one last read-through. Everything makes sense, right? Though it may be hard, the flow and current make sense?

7. CELEBRATE, CHILL, AND GET SOME SLEEP

You're finished, you've revised, you're excited... now all you need to do is write that novel! So, this deserves celebration. Treat yourself to ice cream. Now that it's teatime, have some more tea! Re-watch Harry Potter & the Prisoner of Azkaban. Just chill, and get some sleep, too. 💕

Thank you so much for reading, my sweet Dragons! Just so you know, I'm totally rooting for you this NaNoWriMo. 😊

Since I totally missed posting this last weekend, I think I'll be back tomorrow with my October Highlights (better late than never, right?). I'm still trying to get the hang of reincorporating blogging into my it's-not-summer-anymore lifestyle. 😎

What's your #NaNo2017 project, Dragons? Any new blog posts of yours that you'd like to share with me?

❤,

Post banner background
image recovered from
Pixabay.

September Highlights ft. Bible TBR

SO I SURVIVED MY FIRST MONTH BACK TO HIGH SCHOOL AND I'M ACTUALLY SURPRISED THAT I DID??* I've tackled my first (real) AP class, my very first Honors class, my first totally online class, and then, ya know, ALL THE NORMAL CLASSES. Overall, I guess IT HAS BEEN A MONTH OF FIRSTS??**

*Note: SURVIVED. I DIDN'T LIVE MUCH, THOUGH. 😑

**And emotional taxation. Don't forget that.

A list of awesome (and less depressing 😜) things, though:

• I FINISHED SEASON SIX OF ONCE UPON A TIME. Oh. My. Worrrd. SO MANY FEELS. Especially since I'm one of those Oncers who plans not to watch the revival (a.k.a. season seven), due to (rumored) content. 😭
• BUT I HAVE DISCOVERED THE MAGIC OF PBS'S VICTORIA! My mom and I finished the first season earlier this week, and, to put things simply, WE ARE READY FOR SEASON TWO. *grabs pitchfork and roars*
• Even MORE exciting than OUaT and Victoria... I MET ASHLEY TOWNSEND! There was a book signing at a local bookstore, and we got to chat there and afterwards! Folks, Ashley is SO sweet and wonderful! She has the best ideas, and is so encouraging and kind! Also, you totally need to check out her books! She's the author of the Rising Shadows trilogy (Rising Shadows, Chasing Shadows, Defying Shadows), and oh my word, HER STORIES SOUND SO AMAZING. I seriously cannot wait to dive into her books! 😍

READING CORNER

SO I READ EIGHT BOOKS THIS MONTH (#accomplishment) AND I AM PROUD.

1. Tuesdays with Morrie by Mitch Albom [4-ish/5]. To be honest, I wasn't the biggest fan of this... I just don't like crazy depressing books, okay? 😖 But it was well-written, I'll give it that. 🙂

2. Catwings by Ursula K. Le Guin [4/5]. This was a super short read that I may or may not have read when I did just to up my reading goal (#priorities), and it had such a cute ending, too! 😀

3. Letter to the Reverend J. Page Hopps by Oscar Wilde [?/5]. A school read, ON WHICH I HAVE NO OPINION. *shrugs*

4. The Sound of Silver by Rachelle Rea Cobb [3/5]. Though a little late, a review's coming on this one, I PROMISE. 🌝

{Source.}

5. Cloaked ARC by Rachel Kovaciny [5/5]. flkgbngbog THIS BOOK WAS SO AMAZING!!!! Like, where do I even begin?? Just-- ALL THE FEELS!! And the Wild West and Red Riding Hood and the Cheyennes and ADVENTUUURE. READ THIS BOOK, DRAGONS. 'TIS INCREDIBLE AND YOU SIMPLY MUST READ IT, OKAY?? 😍😍😍 (Here's the link to my full review.)

6. Illusionary by Desiree Williams [4/5]. THIS WAS REALLY, REALLY GOOD. I didn't love it quite as much as I loved Sun & Moon, BUT IT WAS STILL AMAZING. The romance was just... *happily sighs* Yeah, it was pretty nice. You should read dis. 💜

7. The Notes in Our Hearts by Gabriellyn Gidman [4/5]. Lord willing, a full review will be coming on this one, too! 🙃

8. Fairest of All by Serena Valentino [4/5]. THIS WAS SO INTERESTING. The Evil Queen
was so human and then THAT ENDING, TOO, THOUGH. Just, whaaaa. SO MUCH YES.

BOOK HAUL

1. To the Farthest Shores by Elizabeth Camden. I've been rather curious about this book and then I FOUND A SPARKLING, BRAND NEW COPY OF IT AT GOODWILL. Stars, yes!

2. Snow in Summer by Jane Yolen. YES, I'VE ALREADY READ THIS. NO, I DON'T CARE. A gently used edition for $3 at a used bookstore? Even thought the cover is nowhere near as beautilicious as the library's edition? OF COURSE.

3. The Moorchild by Eloise McGraw. This was a dollar. ONE. DOLLAR. Even though the library has it, IT WAS ONE DOLLAR, FOLKS. What else was I supposed to do?!

4. AD 30 by Ted Dekker. A beautiful, never-read hardcover. Also $1. UM, YES.

5. AD 33 by Ted Dekker. Technically, my dad bought this one. 'Twas also $1 (WHAT IS THIS WONDERFUL MADNESS?!). But we both agreed it should go on my bookshelf instead of his and my mom's because I HAVE BOOK ONE. *cackles wickedly* 😉

6. Rising Shadows by Ashley Townsend. OF COURSE I BOUGHT ASHLEY'S BOOK. I'm hoping (once I get through my enormous stack of library books first, that is) I can read it sometime this month! 😃

7. White Dawn by Sara Baysinger. I won this beauty in a giveaway at S.D. Grimm's Summoner launch party, and my plans are to start the series around Christmastime, and hopefully bring in the new year with it! 😎

WRITING DESK

I've started writing Because of Midnight Poison! *does a happy dance* Granted, I'm not making a TON of progress on it, because of that annoying, pesky little thing called #school. *glares* But, if I play my cards right and everything falls into plan as I hope it will, then I might just be finished with draft one by the end of October! *continues dance*

So, October Goal: Finish draft one of Because of Midnight Poison! And, if time allows, maybe outline my next WIP and sign up for NaNoWriMo this year?? 😳

Current/Overall WIP Goal: Still the same. Finish draft one in October, and then

edit/rewrite it in November, and have it sent off by the end of that month. 😇

SEPTEMBER BLOG ROLL

ELSEWHERE IN THE BLOGOSPHERE

REALM MAKERS RELEASED THEIR 2017 CONFERENCE RECAP!!!! And of course, because I am a slightly emotional little unicorn, I naturally bawled my eyes out because #SWEETMEMORIES. Here it is (feel free to cry with me):

You can see me several times throughout the video. I'm either in a striped sweater wearing a Superman t-shirt (BECAUSE SUPERMAN), or in a striped sweater (I really love that sweater, in case you didn't notice 😜) with my #RealmMakers2017 t-shirt. (Also, look for the Nerf War slo-mo at about three minutes in. If you see a girl running, grinning like crazy, and wearing a dorky pair of lab goggles, THAT IS ME. 😀)

BIBLE TBR LIST

SO THIS PART WAS INSPIRED BY FELLOW BLOGGER JULIA RYAN (⮘⮘ click on Julia's name to see her blog and the post in question). A few Sundays ago, Julia brought up how we all have spring/summer/autumn/winter TBR lists, but why don't we ever have Bible TBR lists? THIS IS SUCH A VALID POINT.

So today, I'm going to share with y'all the next books of the Bible I CAN'T WAIT TO READ. (Also, feel free to snag the Bible TBR image above. The background is from Pixabay, and is classified as public domain. 🙂)

1. Judges. Some of my favorite Bible peeps lived in the time of Judges. Deborah, Gideon, Ehud... And I've never read the book straight through before, so this shall be an exciting new venture! 😁

2. Ruth. When I was a tween, Ruth was my FAVORITE Bible heroine ever. But since my romantic side has chillaxed (a ton) since then (thank goodness), I haven't read this in a while. Thus, I'm looking forward to reading Ruth with new eyes! 🙂

3. First & Second Samuel. Samuel fascinates me. I mean, God spoke directly to him! Through Samuel, God brought David into reign, and through Hannah's longing for a son, God brought Samuel into existence. I think that's very cool!

4. Esther. "And but who knows that you have come to your royal position for such a time as this?" ⮘⮘ THAT, THOUGH 😍 (Esther 4:14, NIV).

I'll leave my Bible TBR at that, for now, but I can't wait to start tackling these books! 😀

What did your September look like? Which books of the Bible are on your TBR list?

❤,

#RealmMakers2017

SO REALM MAKERS HAPPENED. And peeps, IT WAS AWESOME.

If you don't know what Realm Makers is, here's a brief definition by yours truly:

Complete and utter awesomesauce.

...Oh, sorry. I guess that wasn't coherent enough. *shrugs* 😉

Realm Makers is a Thursday-through-Saturday writing conference, tailored for writers of speculative Christian fiction. What is speculative Christian fiction, you ask? Christian fantasy and sci-fi. Think C.S. Lewis and Tolkien. 🙂 (Or Liv K. Fisher. Ya know, I mean, if you want. 😉)

I questioned whether or not to do a Realm Makers wrap-up post, but then I decided that Realm Makers is just way too awesome, I met way too many awesome people, and simply... why not? So here it is. Be jealous. I'll consider it a crime if you don't attend this conference sometime in the near future. 😉

{Source.}

FIRST AWESOME THING:

MY ROOMMATES

Tracey, Lisa, me, and Brianna, all locked and loaded for the Nerf War.
{Image stolen from Brianna.}

My roommates are seriously the best, guys! I'm so thankful I got to know and spend time with them! 💙

I bunked with Tracey (from Adventure Awaits), Brianna (from StoryPort), and Lisa (from Lisa Pickle).

Tracey is such a sweetheart, both online and in person! AND SHE GOT TO PITCH HER SLEEPING BEAUTY RETELLING AT REALM MAKERS, GUYS. *cheers* I can't wait to see the day The Brightest Thread hits the shelves!

Lisa is a terrific human being, and so much fun to talk to! She's so sweet and friendly, and such a joy to be around! 💜 Fun fact: Lisa, Tracey, and I are all INFJs!

Brianna is so knowledgeable and kind, and a great walking buddy! We walked pretty much everywhere together, whether it be to breakfast at eight in the morning or to our hotel room at two AM. 😄

Tracey as Emma Swan, me as a Halayda-inspired fairy,
Lisa as Arwen, and Brianna as a medieval peasant.
{Photo stolen from Brianna, yet again. 😉}

SECOND AWESOME THING:

JILL WILLIAMSON

The full crew from the Teen Track!
(Minus Brad (a.k.a. Casey Oswald), who was taking the picture.) 🙂
{Photo from Jill Williamson.}

We got to meet Jill Williamson, guys!!!! She's one of the Go Teen Writers bloggers, and she knows SO MUCH about her craft. She's so wonderful and selfless and all-inclusive! Jill = life goals.

THIRD AWESOME THING:

MEETING FELLOW BLOGGERS / G.T.W. MEMBERS

I got to meet more teen authors and GTWers! Jonathan Trout, Audrey Caylin, Keturah Lamb, Mary Horton, Hann Remraf, and several others. 😁

Me and Keturah!
{Photo credit to Keturah.}

FOURTH AWESOME THING:

MEETING ALL THE AUTHORS

I don't even know where to start, so get ready for a picture dump. 😁

Kara Swanson, Bethany A. Jennings, and me. Kara and Bethany are both such talented writers, and are both kind, courageous, and inspiring young women! 💗
{Photo credit to Kara.}

DEANNA FUGETT!!!! This woman is seriously wonderful. 💜 I'm certain that it'll be no time at all before her novel Ending Fear is a New York Times bestseller (it's an Amazon bestseller, already!) and is turned into a movie!

Brianna and I met Laura VAB! If you ever have the chance to meet Laura and talk to her... GO DO SO. She's such an amazing person, inside and out!
{Photo stolen from Brianna.}

Brianna, Audrey, and me with TED DEKKER. *is still starstruck*
{Photo from Brianna.}

Another picture with Ted Dekker! Thanks to Brianna for taking all my book signing pictures. 😄

I MET MARY WEBER, FOLKS. This woman is such an inspiration!

Carla Hoch! She gave a class Thursday night on how to fight properly! She even taught us how to break people's arms...

...which may or may not have been a good thing. 😜

I met Catherine Jones Payne, too! Her novel Breakwater looks like such a fantastic read, and I loved listening to her on the agents/editors and self-pub panel!

FIFTH AWESOME THING:

BOOK HAUL

I GOT SO MANY BOOKS SIGNED, Y'ALL. And I got to buy so many books, too! *madly throws confetti*

Replication: the Jason Experiment by Jill Williamson. Jill was so kind as to provide all the Teen Track members with free copies! Which was totally awesome, and had she not surprised us all with that, I totally would've bought it at the bookstore later, anyway. 😄

Threadbare by Bethany A. Jennings. I'm SO excited to read this! I adored Dragon Lyric and Bethany's faerie story I beta-read, so I can't wait to dive into yet another one of her stories!

Breakwater by Catherine Jones Payne! This was one of the many books on my list of fifty-one books I can't wait to read, and I'm so excited to finally dive into it! 🐬

Secrets Kept by J.L. Mbewe. This book's opening line... Gaah! I can't wait to read this!

Illusionary by Desiree Williams. I L-O-V-E-D Sun & Moon, so
I absolutely cannot wait to get a start on this beauty!

Kitsune-Tsuki by Laura VanArendonk Baugh.
KITSUNES. SHAPESHIFTERS. FOXES. Need I say more?

SIXTH AWESOME THING:

LEARNING

I learned SSSSSSSSSSSSSOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO much from Realm Makers! Like, seriously. SO, SO MUCH. Expect a trillion blog posts full of all the things I learned. 😁

~

Realm Makers was such an inspiring and uplifting experience. And basically the best weekend ever. I would do it all over again in a heartbeat. 💖

Are you going to #RealmMakers2018?

(Answer: yes.)

❤,