What makes a good book? Conflict. Your character wants something (her goal)–but something or someone else is preventing her from achieving it.
Now, to reach her goal, she has to try a new approach. A small change is all that’s needed…at first. This works for while and your character is back on track, making progress toward achieving her goal–until something suddenly changes again and she is forced to try something else, something harder this time, to reach her goal. This shift in her world occurs periodically throughout the story, requiring the character to change in order to finally be able to achieve her goal.
This change in the status quo, the dramatic moment that that forces the character to shift and adapt to achieve her goal, is a turning point.
Map it out. My books generally have 20 chapters, running between 15 to 20 double-spaced manuscript pages each, one inch margins all around.
I’m a very visual person, so next I drew a grid. Four rows of five boxes–one for each chapter.
The first four boxes, Chapters 1-4, will be dedicated to establishing my protagonist, impact character, and the story (heroine’s) objective.
The boxes running down the right edge of the page, 5, 10, and 15 will usually contain my story’s main turning points, while 20 will contain the story’s resolution.
Chapter 5- The first real turning point. Lightening strikes and my heroine’s life is turned upside down. She can’t go back to the way things were if she is to achieve her goal. She has to change, adapt and move forward.
Chapter 10- The midpoint of the story. Here, something inside of the heroine changes. This turning point is more difficult for the heroine–it’s an emotional turning point. Her life is changed forever. She is not the same person as she was at the start of the story. This emotional change often culminates with a love scene in my books.
Chapter 15–The dark moment or reversal of fortune. Something happens and the heroine’s goal is no longer achievable. All is lost.
Chapter 20- Resolution. The heroine has grown as a person, possibly sacrificed what was most dear to her. Her goal has evolved along with her, becoming more noble and genuine. The changes in her, and her objective, finally allow her to achieve her goal and to live happily ever after.
Once I have established the turning points, its only a matter of moving my characters logically through the story, from one turning point to the next.
Tomorrow, the writing begins. Woohoo!
