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Brainstorming a New Novel
Premise
Storyworld
Characters
Plot
Theme
Premise
The gist of your story.
How you explain what your story is about.
Ideas are everywhere
Opposites attract:
Combine two unrelated things
Military training . . . & . . . children
Ender’s Game
Regency era . . . & . . . fantasy
Jonathan Strange
& Mr. Norrell
A lawyer . . . & . . . an honesty
Liar Liar
Love story . . . & . . . vampires
Twilight
A doctor . . . who is . . . an assassin
The Way of
Kings
What if . . . ?
What if a boy found out
The Lightning Thief
he was a demigod?
What if there was a farm that Replication
grew people?
What if a boy found out he was a The Lightning Thief
demigod?
What if Peter Pan grew up? Hook
What if a boy was raised by wild
The Jungle Book
animals?
Theme
Can be powerful and life-changing
or just plain fun
Theme
-Reveals the human condition
-Illustrates a universal truth
-Inspires readers to a higher level of humanity
-Allegory
-Issues-based
-Asks a question (Are angels real?)
Theme
[Vice] leads to [defeat]; but
[Virtue] leads to [success].
THE INCREDIBLES
Battling adversity alone leads to weakness and defeat;
but battling adversity as a family leads to strength and victory.
BRUCE ALMIGHTY
Expecting a miracle leads to frustration;
but being a miracle leads to peace.
KING’S FOLLY
Expecting a miracle leads to frustration;
but being a miracle leads to peace.
Logline
A one or two sentence
description of a story
that tells us what it is.
Jill’s Logline Ingredients
1. Inciting incident
2. Character + adjective
3. The hero's (primal) story goal
4. What's at stake
When ____1____ happens to ____2____ he must
____3____ before ____4____ happens.
Or this:
A(n) ____2____ does/experiences ____1____ and
must ____3____ before ____4____ happens.
WHO
+ GOAL
+ OBSTACLE
Jaws
WHO + GOAL + OBSTACLE
Logline: A police chief, with a
phobia for open water, battles a
gigantic shark with an appetite
for swimmers, in spite of a
greedy town council who
demands that the beach stay
open.
The Revised Life of Ellie Sweet
WHO + GOAL + OBSTACLE
Logline: An outcast teen finds
therapy writing her enemies into
her story, but when her novel is
published, she faces the
consequences of using her pen
as her sword.
Jurassic Park
WHO + GOAL + OBSTACLE
Logline: A group struggles to
escape a remote island park
whose main attractions—
genetically restored dinosaurs—
have been set loose by a power
failure.
High Concept
An intriguing idea
that can be stated in a few words
and is easily understood by all.
Dinosaur theme park.
A blonde goes to
Harvard Law School.
A man relives the same
day over and over gain.
Fight to the death on
national television.
Love story between
two terminal teens.
Die Hard on a bus. Speed
An innocent man is convicted of The Fugitive
killing his wife.
Fairytale characters trapped Once Upon a Time
in our world.
A horror film in the water. JAWS
A man dies and becomes his
Ghost
wife’s guardian angel.
Test Your Idea
Ask yourself the following questions:
1. Is your idea universal?
Everyone understands it.
Either we know what the experience feels like, or
it's an experience we've all fantasized about.
The weirder the idea, the more it has to be
grounded in universal human emotions or behavior.
2. Is your idea unique?
Find something that hasn’t been done before.
Or find a new twist on an old idea.
Blend the familiar with the strange.
A good idea should be both
unique and universal.
If it’s unique, but no one can relate to it,
it's not high concept.
If it’s universal, but we've seen it a million times,
it's not high concept.
3. Do you have an empathetic hero,
dealing with a BIG problem?
-an unforgettable character
-an impossible situation
-a relentless threat
-the stakes
-a time limit
4. Is your idea short?
Imagine that every word reduces your
chance of success by 10%.
Then choose those words carefully.
5. Do you have a great title?
Legally Blonde • Star Wars • Miss Congeniality
Running Lean • She’s the Man • Four Christmases
Jaws • Uglies • Alien • Shakespeare in Love
Assassin’s Apprentice • To Kill a Mockingbird
The Sixth Sense • Titanic • Saving Private Ryan
Steelheart • Gladiator • The Mummy
Storyworld
Where your story takes place.
Treat Storyworld Like a Character
Choose it for a reason.
What kind of world?
What kind of place?
Land
• Geography
• Cities/Towns
• Major landmarks or buildings
Culture
•
•
•
•
•
•
Technology
Ethnic groups
Religions
Government
Occupations
Way of life
Environmental Factors
•
•
•
•
Weather and climate (astronomy?)
Natural resources (magic?)
Animals
Diseases
History
• Creation story (of world or location)
• Political backstory
• Wars
Current Day Problems
Work them in by . . .
•
•
•
•
•
A threat to some part of the world
Show the characters clash with the world
Show through way of life (family, occupation)
Create scenes that involve the world
Create an “outsider” character who must learn
Avoid Storyworld Builder’s Disease!
Just because you know it . . .
Characters
Protagonist
Antagonist
Internal and external motivation
Clash
Every Character Needs…
To be unique
To have a purpose
For things to get uncomfortable (conflict)
To change or grow during the course of the story
Fight the Stereotype
Turn the stereotype on its head.
Build flesh and blood people, who have depth
and are unique.
Everyone is the star
Character Worksheet
-Helps me find who my
characters are
-Quick reference
-Always changing
-I do this sheet for all my
important characters
Let’s take this step by
step with one of my new
characters.
Who is he?
Name: Prince Trevyn Echad Chorek Nathek Hadar of Armania
Age: 14
Appearance (tags): tall & skinny, dimpled smile, long neck,
wrinkled clothing, often seen running and yelling out, “Sorry!”
Famous counterpart(s): a young Indiana Jones (Alfie Enoch)
One-word descriptor: *Curious
Use Personality Tests
Myers-Briggs
-www.celebritytypes.com
-Pick a famous person or character
Trevyn: INFP
The Healer/Dreamer
J. R. R. Tolkien
Mason: INTJ
The Mastermind
Isaac Newton
The 5 Love Languages
-Words of affirmation
-Quality time
-Gifts
-Acts of service
-Physical touch
Trevyn
Quality time/gifts
Tags
Identifiers for characters that set them apart from others*
Harry Potter: green eyes, lightning-shaped scar, glasses, messy hair
Hermione Granger: buck teeth, bushy hair, clever
Ron Weasley: red hair, freckles, long nose, gangly, poor, shabby clothing
Rubeus Hagrid: huge, shaggy hair and beard, beetle-black eyes, loves
animals
Albus Dumbledore: long silver hair and beard, half-moon glasses, long
fingers, sense of humor—twinkling eyes
Minerva McGonagall: square spectacles, green clothes, hair in bun,
severe/strict
Severus Snape: long greasy black hair, hooked nose, sallow skin,
calculating, mean, talks slowly
Draco Malfoy: pale, blonde, pointed face, arrogant, rich
Prince Trevyn’s Tags
• Tall
• Skinny
• Long neck
• Dimpled smile
• Wrinkled clothing
• Charcoal-smudged fingers
• Rolls of maps under his arm
• Often seen scaling walls
• Runs through the palace and yells out,
“Sorry!” after he knocks people over
Titles
Actual names:
Prince Trevyn
His Royal Highness / Your Highness
That boy (by his mother)
Your Magnanimousness (by Hinck)
Trev (occasionally by Hinck)
Life roles:
Prince, son, brother, friend,
firebrand, truth-finder, explorer,
celebrity, potential husband
Important Backstory
-Before Trevyn was born, some of his older brothers
were sacrificed to the god Barthos. As the third
queen’s firstborn son, this made her an obsessively
protective mother, smothering him.
-His brother Willek, who is ten years older, was deeply
affected by the deaths of his brothers. This caused him
to be very protective of Trevyn.
-Trevyn grew up in a castle filled with politics. His father
has three wives and people are always looking for ways to get on Trevyn’s
good side to gain power at court. Trevyn hates all of that.
-As a lesser prince, the king decreed that Trevyn would become a priest.
-Father Tomek took Trevyn out to sea for the first time when he was six.
The sea became a safe-haven for him from his paranoid mother.
-A year ago, a girl pretended to like Trevyn. He found out his brother Janek
put her up to it with the promise that he’d get Trevyn to marry her, thus
making her a princess. Trevyn hasn’t trusted girls—or his brother Janek—
ever since.
Goals & Motivations
Day-to-Day Goal: Explore and perfect his
maps of the coastline
Story Goal (external): Solve his mentor’s
murder
Story Goal threatened by: Evil priests
The Push/Pull that makes him act: Room is ransacked
Second Goal: Spend time with Mielle
Conflicts with first goal: Both goals demand his time.
Plus he doesn’t want to put Mielle in danger.
More Goals & Motivations
Goal he lives by (*internal*): Freedom
Emotional Life Goal: To matter. To be someone’s #1.
How this shows: By proving to others that he is right
He most values (take it away): Freedom
Willing to die for: That his people would know the truth
Greatest dream: To find new land beyond the bowl
Noble Cause: To go where no man has
gone before—and in that prove himself
unique and worthy
Greatest fear (make it happen): Being
locked up/loss of freedom
Personality & Attributes
Personality descriptors: Impulsive, easy-going, creative,
loyal, guarded, passive aggressive—purposely risks his life
(No one would miss him, anyway)
*Methods of action: Works best alone, perfectionist, must
have meaning or he won’t do it, if someone says no…
*Methods of evaluation: Observes, reads
Skills: Artistic, detailed, fast, athletic, smart
Flaws: Sensitive, evasive, emotional, hates
criticism, acts indifferent towards his friends
Traits/Quirks: Acts disinterested, fearless,
untrusting, doesn’t like to sit, never gets lost
Hobbies: Map-making, exploring, parkour,
climbing, any life-risking activity, annoying his mother
Extra Conflict & Growth
Story change he must face: God is real
How can I make life worse? Take away all his
real friends (Willek, Hinck, and Mielle)
What can I threaten? The truth, his freedom
What else can I take away? Mielle
Six things that need fixing: Impulsive,
stubborn, powerless to make his own choices, has a
subconscious death wish, untrusting (afraid to risk his
heart), he acts indifferent to his friends (Hinck)
Six Things That Need Fixing*
Dramatica Theory’s
Eight Archetypal Characters
Protagonist
Reason
Antagonist
Emotion
Guardian
Sidekick
Contagonist
Skeptic
Character Interactions
Protagonist/Antagonist: Trevyn / Prince Janek
Guardian/Contagonist: Father Tomek / Trevyn’s mother
Reason/Emotion: Prince Willek / Miss Mielle
Sidekick/Skeptic: Cadoc/Hinck
Character’s Past
Happiest moment: When he took his first
ride in a ship with his mentor and learned
to draw a map of the coast .
Dark moment: When his mother was cast
aside from the king and took it out on him.
Lie he believes: His live is meaningless—he doesn’t matter
to anyone, except as a pawn.
Mantra he lives by: Life is too short to worry about
anything—enjoy today because tomorrow you might be in
chains.
*Interesting thing about his mantra—He’s forcing himself to believe it, but
daily his instincts tell him differently. But the lie he believes about himself
is stronger than the evidence that opposes this statement.
By Darkness Hid
by
Jill Williamson
Protagonist: Achan
Internal Motivation: To be free
External Motivation: Train to be squire
Antagonist: Prince Gidon
Internal Motivation: Power and pleasure
External Motivation: Control Achan
Clash?
Plot
The events that happen to your characters that
move the story along toward solving an end goal.
Three-Act Structure
-Act one is the setup of the plot.
-Act two is the confrontation, the emotional story behind the plot.
-Act three is the resolution, where the plot and emotional story
come together.
By Darkness Hid
by
Jill Williamson
1. Opening: A knight (Sir Gavin) offers to train Achan to be a
squire–even though this is against the law.
2. Climax of Act 1: Achan is declared a squire, but Prince Gidon is
threatening to steal the girl he loves.
3. Climax of Act 2: Achan is struck down in a battle while trying to
save the prince, who frames him for treason.
4. Climax of Act 3: Achan gets out of prison, but Sir Gavin takes
Achan before the Council of Seven and reveals a shocking secret.
5. End: Achan and Sir Gavin flee into Darkness to get away from
the evil Prince Gidon.
Act One: The Setup
Beginning: Katniss and her family
prepare for the reaping ceremony.
Inciting Incident: Prim’s name is
drawn. Katniss volunteers to take
Prim’s place.
Second Thoughts: A few pass
through her mind.
Climax of Act One: Peeta declares
his love for Katniss on national
television. How will she kill him now?
Act Two: Confrontation
Obstacle: Peeta is working with the Careers.
Obstacle: A fire forces Katniss out into the open.
Midpoint Twist: Peeta saves Katniss’ life, and Katniss
forms an alliance with Rue.
Obstacle: Katniss and Rue set out
to destroy the Careers’ supplies.
Disaster: Rue is killed.
Crisis: Katniss reflects on Rue’s death.
Climax of Act Two: New rule: Two tributes
can win if they are from the same district.
Act Three: Resolution
Climax of Act Three (Obstacles):
Katniss offers the poisonous berries to
Peeta. If they both can’t win, no one
will.
Dénouement: Katniss and Peeta are
heroes, but there was a price.
End: Katniss and Peeta go home, but
the Capitol is not pleased.
Scene Plotting Start Chart
The Storyboard
The number of cards is based on the length of your novel.
For example: 10 cards per scene for a 400-page book.
The First Cards
The Rest of the Cards
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www.jillwilliamson.com/teenage-authors/helps
or
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Any Questions?