Ive thought about writing a book about a girl finding out she was kidnapped. I don't have an idea to start it off with. Could you help me? Thank you so much for your time in reading this. ❤
NaNoPlaMo - National Novel Planning Month
I’ve been wanting to post about novel prep in anticipation of November’s NaNoWriMo and this seemed like the perfect opportunity to do it. We have an anon with a vague idea that they’re looking to build off of. How perfect!
*If you’ve never heard of NaNoWriMo, read up on it!
The Building Block Method
I’m going to preface the rest of this post by saying that I drew a lot of inspiration from The Snowflake Method. Sarah did a post a while back where she gave us a brief overview of this process. It was originally developed by Randy Ingermanson, and I have to say that this man is my hero. If this method sounds too intense for you, I’m going to simplify it using the building block metaphor.
Building blocks are a great way of thinking about story planning because each plot element you plan needs support in order to have impact. Starting with a good foundation allows you to build up an impressive structure. And of course, when you’re frustrated, it’s easy enough to tear it down and start again.
Choose Your Blocks
Our anon has a couple story details to start with, but we’re going to backtrack as if we have nothing. To get started off on the right foot, construct your first five blocks.
Protagonist
Antagonist
Conflict
Setting
Genre
Make sure you have an idea for each block before you start delving deeper into others. Our anon already has 3 blocks figured out.
Protagonist = the girl that is kidnapped OR the kidnapper
Antagonist = the girl who is kidnapped OR the kidnapper
Conflict = the kidnapping
See, I left the protagonist and antagonist open because it’s all a matter of perspective. Does the kidnapper have to be the antagonist? Not necessarily. The important thing is that the writer knows which is which. This leaves us with the setting and the genre.
Setting = where and when does this story take place, for example: 2018; New York City
Genre = fantasy, science fiction, romance, literary, mystery, ect.
Don’t overthink your genre at this point. You don’t need to define it in specific terms just yet, but it’s a good idea to at least know if your story will be grounded in reality or not.
Build Each Block
A block has 6 sides, yes? Each of the blocks we defined will need 6 sides to complete it. Start wherever you want with this process. For each side, make sure that each description is no longer than one sentence. Notice that the sides for protagonist and antagonist are the same, because well, they’re both characters.
Protagonist/Antagonist
Name
Age
Gender
Ethnicity
Sexual Preference
Top priority
*For top priority, think of vague ideas: creative expression, professional advancement, family relationships, financial stability, self acceptance.
Conflict
Who/what sets conflict in motion?
What will happen if the conflict is not acted upon?
What will be gained?
What will be lost?
Who are the players?
Who will survive?
I’m going to break this down by using the anon’s story as an example. Remember our conflict is the kidnapping. Who/what sets the conflict in motion? The kidnapper. If we know more at this stage, we can provide more as long as we keep it under a sentence. For example, an organization looking to exploit the protagonist’s superpowers may be behind the kidnapping, and therefore, sets the conflict in motion.
What will happen if this conflict is not acted upon? The girl has been kidnapped, so what will happen if she is not un-kidnapped (i.e., saved)? This will help you define the stakes of your story. If the organization is looking to exploit her powers, the answer to this question could be whatever they look to do with those powers (the world is destroyed) or it could be a personal consequence (the girl is killed, the girl is corrupted).
What will be gained? Now we’re looking at how the story will actually play out. Think in terms of your protagonist. If the kidnapped girl is our main character, what will she gain from begin kidnapped? This is a tough question to answer, but more often than not, the responses here will have to do with how that person changes as a result of the story’s conflict. If you’ve already completed your protagonist block, it may be as simple as pulling from the top priority side. Perhaps her top priority is self acceptance, and she gains it by going through this ordeal. Or maybe it’s family relationships, and this situation enables her to establish a better bond with a family member.
*What is gained does not have to be the character’s top priority, but it’s a good place to start if you’re stuck on this one.
What will be lost? Again, we’re talking about what will actually happen in the story. What does our kidnapped girl lose from being kidnapped? She may suffer physical or psychological traumas that change her life. She may literally lose a friend, whether that is because the friend dies in trying to rescue her or because the friend betrays her. Maybe she loses her home because she can’t return there, even after she’s freed from her prison.
Who are the players? Think basic. We’ve obviously got our kidnapper and our kidnap-ee, but who else is involved? Start with the protagonist’s and antagonist’s allies. For example, who assists the protagonist in obtaining her freedom, or who ultimately rescues her? Who assists the antagonist in carrying out their goal (the henchmen)? Again, you don’t need specifics. Brainstorm ideas for additional characters at this stage.
Who will survive? Decide upfront if there will be deaths, whether on the good side or the bad side. Planning a character death can help you construct your ending and build to it, so the death feels more integrated into the story and less a matter of shock value. This is especially good for horror stories or murder mysteries where there will likely be a lot of death.
Setting
Real or fictional?
Accurate or inaccurate?
Static or variable?
New or familiar?
How is the setting changed?
How does the setting compel change?
Real or fictional is whether you made up the location or whether you based it off of somewhere that’s real. Accurate or inaccurate expands on real locations/time periods to determine if you’re taking liberties or attempting to tell an accurate portrayal. Static or variable refers to the amount of times the setting or time period changes. If a character is on a long journey, you’ll likely have a variable setting that changes constantly. Same with time travel. New or familiar should tell you if your character is going somewhere new, of if they’re facing challenges in an environment they feel comfortable in.
How the setting changes depends on how the conflict influences it. A barren wasteland may be made fertile again based on the outcome of the story. A violent country may become peaceful. This gets you thinking about big picture goals for your story’s universe.
How the setting compels change is the opposite. What does the setting do to your character? Does it force them to develop new survival techniques? Does it make them examine aspects of their life they used to ignore?
Genre
Genre is structured a bit differently. Instead of basing each side on a particular idea, list six concepts or adjectives that will describe your story. These can be more detail about the genre (urban fantasy, psychological thriller, young adult), they can be themes or tropes (coming-of-age, chosen-one, grief) or world-building details (magic, time travel, serial killers) or even types of people or species (fairies, vampires, astronomers, middle-class).
Think of six words or phrases that you find fascinating. Imagine how you’d complete the sentence: “I’ve always wanted to write about ______.” This will help you develop a story that intrigues you and holds your interest.
Start Building
Now comes the fun part. You have all your blocks, with 6 sides each. Now you can start making connections. Make notecards for each side (maybe different colors for each block), and then randomly draw 2 or 3 at a time. Look at the items on the notecards and see if you can connect them with new threads.
For example, say we draw our “who are the players” side, along our protagonist’s age. This gives you an opportunity to consider the ages of the other players, and how they’ll relate to the protagonist. Remember we referred to potential players as the protagonist’s allies? Are they older than her or younger than her? Does this lead to domineering or submissive relationships? Is someone protective of someone else? Does someone look up to someone and think them indestructible?
Each time you make connections, you’re starting the construction of a new block. These second tier blocks will be more dynamic because they pull in pieces from your five foundation blocks.
Don’t Be Afraid to Knock It Down
As you’re building, you may run into things that no longer work or that just don’t interest you anymore. It’s okay to tear down the tower and start constructing something new, whether you come up with new foundation blocks or attempt to use your existing ones in a different way.
Things may not seem crystal clear during this process, and you may run into some speed bumps along the way, but don’t let it discourage you. The whole concept behind this method is play. You’re developing a story from the ground up and that takes a lot of patience, and a considerable amount of trial and error. Cut yourself some slack and just enjoy the process.
-Rebekah
