Exercise #1: Start by answering the following questions. If you don’t currently know the answer to any question, skip it and keep going. Return to fill in the blanks after you’ve figured out more of your story. There is no right order in which to do any of this.
Question #1: Who is your protagonist? Woulf
Question #1.1: Is your protagonist ordinary or extraordinary? Extraordinary
Question #2: What is his situation at the beginning of the story? He has failed to find a place where he fits within his pack
Question #2.1: What is the protagonist’s personal condition at the beginning? Sad, Overwhelmed, frightened
Question #2.2: How is it going to be changed, for better or worse, by the protagonist himself or by the antagonistic force? Brave, more in control
Question #2.3: Is your protagonist’s situation ordinary or extraordinary?
Question #3: What is the protagonist’s objective? Rescue the girl
Question #4: Who or what is the main opponent? Mr Black
Question #5: What early disaster will befall the protagonist and force him out of his “normal world” and into the main conflict? rabbit, the mayors party, failed apprenticeships, 21st birthday
Question #6: What conflict will result from the hero’s reaction to the disaster? forced to interact with his year group, rejection by the dream girl, shame
Question #6.1: What is the logical flow of cause and effect that will allow this conflict to continue throughout the story?
Question #7: Is this idea plausible?
Question #8: Is this idea original?
Question #8.1: How is this idea different from similar stories?
Question #8.2: How can you strengthen its originality?
Question #9: What is the focus of your story?
Question #9.1: What will be its genre?
Question #9.2: Who will be its intended audience?
Exercise #2: Using the information you’ve discovered in answering the above questions, put them all together into a premise sentence(s). Reference: Outlining Your Novel, chapter 3, pages 50-52.
