Day 30 - Preptober

Are there any scenes that you are looking forward to writing the most? How can you utilize them to motivate you to continue, as well as get into the groove of the story the fastest?

Actually yes!! While I haven’t planned out everything I know there are 3 scenes in particular that popped into my head far before a lot of the other plot points and those 3 involve Halloween, Christmas, and Las Vegas. I won’t go into anymore detail than that, but I’m pretty sure the Las Vegas one won’t happen until the second book anyways.

And in terms of using these as motivation to finish or continue - it’ll be good motivation, because Halloween is about 3/4 towards the end of the first book, Christmas is at the end of the first, and Las Vegas should be in the first half of the second book (if my ideas of how long these will be is correct).

Day 29 - Preptober

How do your characters, theme, and conflict develop throughout the story? Does one develop faster/deeper than the others? How can you create or maintain this balance?

I’m going to say that a lot of the characters are going to develop at the same speed, because right now I can’t think (plot-wise) how it would work out if one developed faster than the others. Mostly because I don’t have it planned out well enough. And trying to create a balance is going to be the trick! I’m sure it’ll be messy at first, but I guess that’s what editing is for later on.

Day 28 - Preptober

What commonalities of the genre have you incorporated into your story, and how have you changed them to suit your original vision?

Hmm... well originally I wanted my story to be like a corny Hallmark romance story. However, since the beginning of the story I’ve had the idea to add some more thrilling / suspenseful things into the plot. Whether they stay as thrilling / exciting as I’m (dreading) I will have to write, we shall see. But, the story is far less mushy than it started out as. Right now I’m really trying to figure out how to incorporate all the tones together to make the story flow well and not sound like I’m jumping from thing to thing.

Day 27 - Preptober

What emotion do you hope the reader exits your story with? What do you hope they remember most about the story? 

Well, with the end of the first part of the story (so the first book in the series), I hope there’s some shock and anticipation. Dread maybe? Nothing too serious, but serious enough to be like “WHAT? I wanna know what happens next!”

Day 26 - Preptober

How does your falling action effectively bridge the gap between the climax and the resolution?

I honestly feel like the falling action will take place in the second book, or maybe even the third! So I’m not sure how it’s going to go, or even play out completely at this point. I have some ideas, but I think I need to get further into the story itself, before I smooth those details out.

Day 25 - Preptober

List the major and minor events that occur in your story, then describe their consequences, both short-term and long-term.

I can’t go into too much detail about any of these, because it’ll spoil the story (and later books), but here are the basics...

Talulah getting fired from her job - minor in retrospect (because most of us have been there!) but why and what happens after are rather major. Getting fired leads to her losing her relationships (with her lover and her friends), but it leads to finding new ones with her family and new friends.

Cheyenne has a knack for dead things, which raises some concerns with her family members. Things start to get serious when her family neglects the trouble that her twin sister is in, mostly to focus on her weird interest.

Dakota is involved in some illegal activities. When she owes someone money and isn’t able to pay it back, she’s kidnapped. After being saved, she is able to grow closer to her twin again because of this, but has to deal with the trauma of what happened.

Blake - Talulah, Cheyenne, and Dakota’s future step-dad, is trying to build a relationship with them, but they are all exhibiting strange behaviors. He also has a well-respected job to maintain and a wedding to plan. But, when a family member comes back into his life, who he never got along with, things start to get even more stressful for him.

Talulah finds out from one of her close friends a few details about the blackmail, but upon discovering who actually got her fired and why, she realizes that she’s been played. This causes some tension in her new relationships, which aren’t too happy to hear about the blackmail.

Day 24 - Preptober

Describe the evolution of tone in your story. Focus especially on suspense and tension.

The tone... well, honestly I haven’t even thought of that but it’s something I really do need to consider. I know I’ve described it as a “soap opera” with drama and romance, but I want there to be some humor in there too. I don’t want it to all be serious, but let’s just say whatever the tone of your usual romance-dramedy (drama/comedy) is, that’s what I want.

Day 23 - Preptober

Are there any symbols you initially see incorporating into your plot? Go through your outline so far and note places where you may have room to hint at them. 

If there is any sort of symbolism in my story, I haven’t gotten far enough yet to figure it out. Once I start writing maybe something will work its way in. I’m not sure...

Joseph “Joe” Lindemann

An eccentric older fellow who is the geology and entomology (insect) expert at the museum. He gets a kick out of “torturing” (pranking) the younger staff and has a thing for Mimi, although she’s too oblivious to notice. He’s also half Scottish and is constantly picking on Bee and Kiley for their Irish roots. He loves the outdoors and owns a mountain home.

Day 22 - Preptober

How do you plan to incorporate time-period and setting into the story in a meaningful/note-worthy way, without info-dumping?

Mentioning the types of technologies available to do certain things will help clue the reader in as to when the story takes place. Also, what things are in style, and what sort of electronics the characters use as well. It’s a modern story, for sure, just not one set in this decade.

Miriam “Mimi” Barnwell

A cat-mom and overly-doting friend, Mimi is also the botany expert and youth educator at the museum. She is known for her eccentric, brightly colored outfits and for being extremely bubbly. She also throws great, themed dinner parties and always invites her coworkers. She can be annoying, but because she’s so sweet, nobody has the heart to tell her.

Day 21 - Preptober

Describe the evolution of the 3 main relationships portrayed in your story, using the Beginning, shift, and outcome structure.

Talulah & Bee start out as a chance meeting when Talulah arrives back home. Bee has a crush on her, but tries to stay cool because he doesn’t like breaking down his walls for anyone and it seems pretty apparent that Talulah just got out of a relationship. They begin working together, which doesn’t make things weird for them yet, but something else later on down the road does...

Cheynne & Dakota are twins and used to be super (creepily) close. Kota, however, has turned to the dark side and Annie is trying to figure out what sort of trouble her sister is getting herself into. Kota keeps pushing her sister away, but ends up in a lot of trouble and has to rely on her sister to come save her.

Vanessa & Blake are deeply in love and are excited to plan their wedding coming up the next year. However, Blake is having issues developing a relationship with Vanessa’s daughters, who she seems to not have a good relationship with herself. They try to keep their relationship smooth despite their family problems, until a long-lost relative shows up.

Kiley O’Shae

The paleontology expert and second teen educator at the museum behind Austin. She and him are close friends, as they attended high school together. She comes from an Irish family and because of this shares a common interest in Irish culture with Bee. She is a tomboy and seems disinterested in people, but becomes very close friends with Talulah.

Day 20 - Preptober

Make a simple chart that demonstrates the rise and fall in action, as well as the major twists that occur in your story. How evenly placed is the action and the reaction?

Since I don’t have any tools to make a chart with (and it’s late at night and I’m in bed, so I’m not going to do it on paper), I’ll just do it in bullet point form.

Introduction: This is the beginning where we get introduced to Talulah and most of the other main characters and get some incite into the backstories of her and her family members.

Rising Action: Talulah starts work and builds a relationship with her new coworkers, but also with her family members at home. Cheyenne is busy being suspicious of her sister, while back in the city Spencer takes it upon herself to try and find out who got Talulah fired.

Climax: Something bad happens to Dakota and Cheyenne, Talulah, and her friends have to go save her. Someone weird also shows up at their house and makes Talulah uncomfortable. Then after all that tense stuff, on Talulah’s birthday she gets an ominous email from her blackmailer.

The Falling Action and the Resolution don’t really happen in this story. I mean there are some resolutions to the small problems, but not final ones. Those will all come with time...!

Austin Miller

The archaeology and anthropology expert at the museum. He also teaches a lot of the teen classes, because he’s the only one calm and level-headed enough to deal with a lot of teenagers. He likes to hang out with Kiley, who he seems to have a one-sided crush on, and despite his “coolness”, he can be pretty awkward.

Day 19 - Preptober

How do your themes tie together as a complete work?

Well, that’s another one of those things you’ll have to read to find out. I kind of explained it in the last question, but I can’t go into too much detail otherwise I’ll give too much of the story away!

Deandra “Dee” Cates

Dee is the genealogy expert and local historian of the museum. She comes off as arrogant and snobby, and has a hard time making friends. She is also quite jealous. She has a past with someone at the museum, which makes things at the museum awkward, despite their attempt at a continued friendship.