"At the end of Act 1 a character must reach a point of no return; a place where he can’t go back to what things used to be, and he must go forward in order to survive physically, emotionally, mentally, socially, or spiritually."
The first doorway, the first threshold, 1/5 or 1/4
if 20 pages is a chapter and the book is 300 pages long, that is 15 chapters, then 1/5 is 3 chapters and 1/4 is 4 chapters - somewhere in chapter three there is the point of no return...
"That said, what is to happen in those first five or so chapters? The character is in her everyday world and experiences an increasing level of discomfort."
In Francesco Alberoni's Falling in Love it is said something like that a person's falling in love is always preceded by a feeling of that there is something missing but also an expectation of that there is something coming...
Could be!
Who knows?
There's something due any day;
I will know right away,
Soon as it shows.
It may come cannonballing down through the sky,
Gleam in its eye,
Bright as a rose!
Who knows?
It's only just out of reach,
Down the block, on a beach,
Under a tree.
I got a feeling there's a miracle due,
Gonna come true,
Coming to me!
Could it be? Yes, it could.
Something's coming, something good,
If I can wait!
Something's coming, I don't know what it is,
But it is
Gonna be great!
With a click, with a shock,
Phone'll jingle, door'll knock,
Open the latch!
Something's coming, don't know when, but it's soon;
Catch the moon,
One-handed catch!
Around the corner,
Or whistling down the river,
Come on, deliver
To me!
Will it be? Yes, it will.
Maybe just by holding still,
It'll be there!
Come on, something, come on in, don't be shy,
Meet a guy,
Pull up a chair!
The air is humming,
And something great is coming!
Who knows?
It's only just out of reach,
Down the block, on a beach,
Maybe tonight...
Maybe tonight...
Maybe tonight...
"...when the main character enters the special world--i.e. the world where most of the story occurs, where the character has agreed to the call that she experienced earlier, where there is no point of return--she can't go back to her normal world...
...Increase the tension until there is no other choice, in the character’s mind or in the reader's mind. She must cross over that first threshold into the world of adventure that she must pass through in order to gain what she has lost and return to her everyday world.
The following questions should be answered before crossing that threshold:"
Why should the reader care about Nell and Dew?
Because if they get each other there is still hope in the world that I too get someone. The story takes you away from your boring life and gives you an adventure with the best reward - love.
"a tightly woven adventure story that is very fast paced, and sizzling HOT HOT romance scenes that are very passionate."
Why should the reader read the story?
To find out what happens to Nell and Dew.
Why would she want to do that?
I have to make Nell and Dew so charming the readers fall in love with them... they need to want to be one and want the other
What will she get from it?
Ideas for her own fantasies, inspiration, hope, feeling of love
why should the character risk all to enter into his adventure?
Nell wants her talisman back, Dew wants to prove he is not a gigolo, Jim wants all the pretty, shiny things in the world
second treshold - Nell wants to live, Dew wants Nell, Jim wants all the pretty shiny things
third treshold - Nell wants Dew, Dew wants Nell, Jim wants all the... yeah. Jim doesn't grow.
If I share the book in 4 using Randy Ingermanson's snowflake theory Step 2 I get:
4 chapters - jewel gets stolen
8 chapters - Helen gets kidnapped
12 chapters - nightmare
last 4 chapters - binding it all together
no way that would work! It's too much time after nightmare...
1-2 chapter - the characters, and their normal life, are presented
3 chapter - the jewel gets stolen and Helen and Dew meet properly
4-5 chapter - Dew searches for the jewel and returns to Helen to share his findings
5 chapter - Dew kicks up a little dust and Helen gets kidnapped
7-8 chapter - Helen's life as kidnapped, Dew's journey to her
9-10 chapter - rescue and flight
11 chapter - coming to London
12 chapter - wedding, ends with the villains in their bedroom
13 chapter - wedding night horror, enter Betty
14 chapter - happy end!
280 pages, 70.000 words - that’s too little, but it will have to do for now. 70K is not too bad
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