HOL

Please turn in your Lesson 2 homework and extra credit here. Should you prefer to email your work, you may do so at: [email protected]

IMPORTANT: Emailed assignments must include your HOL name & house. The subject line should state the class name and assignment number.

Assignment #2 (required) – Outline
Worth 30 House Points
Due October 31

(I do require students to outline their novels. However, you are not required to use this outline while writing your stories. While the choice is yours, without completing this assignment you’ll be missing a tool in your writer’s kit.)

• 1) Which outline format will you use? Will you use a grid, traditional vertical outline, or some other format? (2 points)

• Build and fill out your outline. You may CLICK HERE to fill it out online and/or print it, or you may draft your own. While doing this, discuss in the forum and ask me questions without hesitation. Remember, there is no right or wrong, and you are not obligated to use all the ideas you include on your outline. Once completed, turn it in either in the forum or through email. If you hand-wrote your outline (the method I use), then you may need to either scan or photograph it. Please let me know if you encounter any difficulties while turning in this assignment. (28 points)

Extra Credit #2 – Get Ahead
Worth 30 House Points
Due December 31

• 1) Identify and list your main characters. Include your main character, villains, and group of minor characters (they can be identified as “other characters” in your outline). Name and briefly identify each character, and share 3 of these characters here using between 50 and 75 words per character. (10 points)
  Notice that I didn’t give the characters real names. That part is optional and can sometimes stall the writing process. For now it’s the story that’s most important, not the names. That being said, I’m a huge fan of names and cannot write without them. Each author is unique.

• 2) Identify and list your main settings. Be sure to include physical locations, times, key seasons, and moods. Will the story shift settings? List all that you can think of, and continue keeping track as you write your story. Share 3 settings here using between 50 and 75 words per setting. (10 points)
  Where and when does your story begin and how do you hope the story will end? (Don’t be surprised or distressed if these details change after you begin writing.) Try to keep your answer between 100 and 300 words. (10 points)

1. Which outline format will you use? Will you use a grid, traditional vertical outline, or some other format? (2 points)
I could not use the grid (it was reader only) but I got the data off it and put into Notepad and then into here.

2. Build and fill out your outline. You may CLICK HERE to fill it out online and/or print it, or you may draft your own.
Beginning/Stasis : The main character is perched on a ledge – full of potential. This stage includes the “hook”, which creates interest and dedicates the reader to reading your story. Some stories begin with a “bang” and seemingly skip the Stasis stage, diving straight into the “hook” and next stage.
Main Character --
Woman who works in a book store. Maybe Barnes & Noble (because I'm fond of Barnes & Noble). She loves working there; she is fine being around people, assisting them, and loves being around books. She also gets a discount on books so win-win.

Trigger : This stage prods the character to action. It can be anything, including an event, request, item, or even a memory.
She wakes up one morning and she can see and hear ghosts. (They see and hear her, too. Goes both ways.) Other stuff has happened too, other 'abilities' or something. (No idea right now of what.)

Quest : The character embarks on a quest and leaves their known world behind.
She decides to use this new-found ability to help police solve crimes. Many ghosts, after all, were murdered or involved in suspicious deaths. She figures if she can talk with them, she can help figure out who did what.

Bolt : An unexpected event or realization hits the character like a BOLT of lightning.
She discovers that ghosts tell LIES. They are the same as they were before they died. Becoming a ghost, being dead, does not mean they change into a truthful person. They might be pathological liars or just plain lying to get someone else in trouble.

Shift : The character’s perception has changed and/or the quest’s direction shifts. This might come in the form of a plot twist.
Defeat : The character reaches their lowest point and suffers a major defeat and/or loss.
Shift and Defeat are sort of all part of the Bolt. This shocks her, tremendously. She'd always sort of figured that once a person died, they changed into someone without the 'nasty', the 'evil' (I don't have a word for it at the moment) which characterized their alive personae. That they would only be truthful, 'good'.

Power : The character musters/discovers/asserts enough renewed power to continue moving forward.
She finds out that they CANNOT LEAVE -- cannot 'go on' -- if they are liars, if they lie.

Resolution : This is where everything is (mostly) resolved.
So she has to learn to accept that folks lie and sometimes believe their lies but the 'Universe' has an auto-detect thing which stops them from going on until they say what is true.

The True Shall Set You Free (The Truth Shall Set You Free)

Extra Credit #2 – Get Ahead
Identify and list your main characters. Include your main character, villains, and group of minor characters (they can be identified as “other characters” in your outline). Name and briefly identify each character, and share 3 of these characters here using between 50 and 75 words per character. (10 points)
Main - woman, late 20s, mid-30s - works in a book store. Enjoys her work a lot. Lives (probably) by herself - ie not with 2-legger -- has dog or cat or something with her. I've not looked at that. Not married/no relationship with 2-legger at start of story. I don't know what will happen right now. Likes to jog, goes to the track and sometimes runs on the trails around the area.
Minor/supporting - friend at book store. Woman. Someone MC can talk with, share some stuff with. Might have a tendency to 'psychic' abilities herself, which helps her to believe what is going on with MC. Similar age probably but dissimilar background. Maybe in a happy relationship, wants MC to be in a happy relationship (besides with her 'dog/cat'.)
Minor/supporting - someone at police station. Probably a Sergeant or Captain (as she'd have to get in touch with, interact with, someone of authority who could give permission for things to happen).
Minor/supporting -- someone who got killed. Told truth, went on when what they wanted was done.
Minor/supporting -- someone who got killed. Told truth, went on when what they wanted was done.
Villain - someone who got killed and lied and lied in order to get someone in trouble. MC listened to him/her and told the police about it, and the usual stuff went on but then found out that the person accused had a VALID alibi and couldn't have done what the Villain said and the Villain gets off scott-free and MC has huge 'validity' crisis. (See Shift/Defeat).
Villain / Not Villain - someone who got killed and lied and lied and then chose otherwise and told truth. Went on

Identify and list your main settings. Be sure to include physical locations, times, key seasons, and moods. Will the story shift settings? List all that you can think of, and continue keeping track as you write your story. Share 3 settings here using between 50 and 75 words per setting. (10 points)
Book Store -- in medium size town, not a major city. Someplace small enough that the people sort of recognize each other by face if they see them often enough. ie not Seattle size city. I will probably make up a name for it, the book store and the town/city.
Police station -- smells of coffee and paper and weapons. Sweat. Some fear (from those brought in). Not brand new, has been around for a while. Brick and wood construction. Maybe the setting will be in a 'canyon' town, where there are pine trees (ooohhhh). It congeals as I write -- I think it will be somewhere like where I used to live, in California -- canyon country. I totally loved that place and know it well enough to write it.
MC's home -- small dwelling far enough away that she has to drive to town to work in the book store, but close enough that it's not a long commute. Just a small house; she wanted something she could afford and make the 'reasonable' payments on it and still be able to live and indulge her hobbies / chosen lifestyle. Has a little 'land' around it; it's out in the boonies a bit and the house itself has enough for a yard, small garden, privacy.

Where and when does your story begin and how do you hope the story will end? (Don’t be surprised or distressed if these details change after you begin writing.) Try to keep your answer between 100 and 300 words. (10 points)

The story begins with MC looking over the shoulder of a customer, at someone else in line. Thing is, she can see the next person who is in line, but when the customer turns to look, no one is there. A minor bit of confusion, MC says, oh, I'm sorry (or something), I thought I saw someone. the transaction continues.
Later on, she's talking with her friend at the bookstore, at break, and describes what happens. Her friend smiles, and they chat a bit. (IE I've no idea but am writing because I know that is the first scene.) I think it is here that there is reference to the police -- to going to the police station after work, to discuss 'Sylvia' with the Captain.
Then it goes to where MC goes home, and relives what happened. How it all changed. That she woke up one morning with some 'new abilities'. ***************** Oh, I see that you said keep it between 100 and 300 words. *counts words************* [152 words to there]

1 Outline Format
I used the vertical outline. It’s the most comfortable format I could find. Though I am not sure how well I did, I’m not used to working with an outline. Still, I am proud of what I came up with.

2 Outline
Stage One: Beginning
The main character is a girl somewhere between seventeen and twenty. She is timid and introspective, often coming across as weak willed. She is often delegated to looking after her younger siblings. She is aware her father wishes not only that she was a boy but that she spoke out more and that she brings shame upon their family. The story begins with a memory/dream and reflections of her life.
Stage Two: Trigger
The MC is summoned to her fathers study and learns she is to marry a knight from the village. She remembers him and once dismissed goes to the abandoned cottege her family lived in until her father became successful. She finds something in the old home, not sure exactly what, but it gives her the courage to leave the village.
Stage Three: Quest
The MC sets out to find the answers to her family’s success and to find out what her father did to gain it. She knows she is not the only person her father has taken advantage of and sets out to help them. Knowing first hand what he can do she wants to help the others as no one helped her.
Stage Four: Bolt
She learns the extent of what her father did. She realizes that despite how harsh he is to her he was lenient with her. She wonders if she had not gotten over her head with her determination.
Stage Five: Twist
The MC meets a stranger who helps her regain her resolve.
Stage Six: Defeat
She is caught and returned to the village. Her father and the knight are determined to force her to marry the knight.
Stage Seven: Power
The MC finds she has a will and a voice when it comes to those she is determined to protect.
Stage Eight: Resolution
She confronts her father and refuses to marry the knight. She chooses and finds the strength to live her own life and learns to speak out against those who wish to take advantage of her.

Extra Credit:
Characters:
Main: teen girl between seventeen and twenty years. Has three younger siblings, not sure what gender. Spends her time looking after them while her parents work or attend social functions. Any free time is spent in the woods gathering herbs and studying them. She also spends as much time as she can drawing, hoping one day to create a book, a compendium of herbs.
Minor one: Mother of the main character. A herbalist in the village. She loves her family and is completely blind to her husbands faults. A bit naïve and easily controlled but she means well. She teaches the main character all she can about herbs and plants. She was young when she had the main character and is only between thirty and thirty-four years old at the beginning of the story.
Minor Two: Someone who has been used by the main characters father. The person who opens the MC’s eyes to just how aweful her father can be. Someone who brings both fear and determination to the MC, the one who triggers the bolt.
Villain: The father of the main character. He finds he isn’t a good merchant but knows how to manipulate people to his advantage. Everything he does is for the advancement of his wealth. He doesn’t like his eldest daughter, thinking her weak and a birden. A liability to his wealth. He plans to pawn her off to the highest bidder. He doesn’t like his wife’s profession, but uses it as leverage whenever she begins to question him.

Settings:

Cottege:
A small cottege in the forest outside the village. The home of the MC’s mothers family where the MC’s family grew up until her father’s wealth increased. A wooden building upon a stone foundation. Has a homey feeling despite the garden being overgrown and gone wild with neglect. It is in a clearing and has a pond and stream nearby.
Father’s office:
A room in a large house with heavy and uncomfortable furniture. It has a strict and foreboding air. There is a large wooden desk and the walls are covered with shelves containing manuscripts and trinkets. There is a high window that is small and above it hangs a wicked looking blade. The two visitor chairs are hardwood, straight back chairs that dig into the occupants uncomfortably. The only comfortable furnishing is the large stuffed chair behind the desk.
Herbalist shop:
A small, well lit shop with a basement. Both shop and basement have rows of shelves containing jars of herbs and mixtures. High, round windows dot the walls. A small back room is dedicated for preparing the herbs to be sold.

Beginning:
The story begins with the MC having a dream/memory of her life while living in the cottege in the forest. She wakes up and remembers the change to the large house and how different the two places are. How homey the cottege is and how impersonal the new home is. She is brought out of her thoughts by a servant and is summoned to her fathers office.
After being told she is to marry she is ordered to watch her siblings. Once their tutors arrive the main character goes to her mothers shop and speaks to her. She sees the man her father married her off too in the village with another girl. After helping her mother she is able to slip off to the cottege to think.

I used the grid format for my outline. Here is my original, handwritten outline that I drafted out while at work (oops…) I find handwritten helps me with notes and outlines, there’s something more organic about it for me.

I will post my lesson 2 here (I will edit this post reply). Bear with me as I am just getting back from having dealt with RL flu. No fun. Hit me hard. Already.

-Pezzie