This document provides information about a writers workshop on structure, plotting and more for writing novels. It introduces the speakers, Hannah Conway and Sara Turnquist, who are both authors. It discusses various brainstorming and outlining techniques including mind mapping, plot points, and the LINDY HOP method of outlining a story. The LINDY HOP method breaks a story down into initial events, inciting incidents, noble quests, disappointments, choices, climaxes, overhauls and resolutions. An example is then provided of applying these techniques to outline the story of a brooding CIA agent.

1. Clarksville Christian
Writers Workshop
Write That Novel: Structure, Plotting
& More

2. Hi, I’m Hannah Conway
• Kentucky Native
• Army Wife, Momma &
Speaker
• Author with Olivia
Kimbrell Press
• “The Wounded Warrior’s
Wife”
• “Wedding a Warrior”
WWW.HANNAHRCONWAY.COM

3. Who’s the other one?
Sara R. Turnquist
• Clarksville native
• Wife, mother, “closet
writer”
• Author with Clean Reads
• “The Lady Bornekova”
• “The General’s Wife”

4. BRAINSTORMING…
Mind-mapping & Planning

5. Mind Mapping?
What is it?
Brainstorming to make a
plan
Why do it?
Your mind has more ideas than are on the
surface

6. CABIN
What comes to mind?

7. Let’s make a Mind Map

8. After Mind Mapping
Circle groupings
Are there patterns?
Any possible topics for a second book?
Can you put a grouping at the beginning?
The middle?
The end?
The Climax?

9. Hallee Bridgeman
Layering

10. Plot Points…
Plot points are the highlights/markers in a story or outline

11. 5 Basic Plot Points
Initial event/Exposition: An action or idea that starts the
action. Normal world before life changes…
Inciting Event/Rising Action: point of no return,
something prompts them into action
Crisis: A choice that has to be made, the decision that
propels them forward on their journey
Climax: When we find out if the hero is going to succeed
or fail, we need to believe there is a chance he could fail;
the darkest moment is in the midst of the climax
Denouement/Falling Action: The End, The Resolution, to
untie, leave nothing left to explain or do

13. The Darkest Moment…
Spine of the Story

14. Darkest Moment is
Essential
Spine of the story
The Darkest Moment or The Darkest Night of the
Soul Moment
Often mixed in with the climax, directly before,
after or during.
It’s the all hope is lost moment
It can’t get any worse
You character faces his biggest fear/challenge
External Event(s) but the Character has internal
dark moment too

15. What’s Your Character’s
Dark Moment Story?
It’s why they are the way they are
drill down (ask character questions
until you get to a story they tell (like
a prologue in a movie, but don’t use
it as a prologue in your book)
Each Character POV (Point of View)
needs a Darkest Moment Story, it
drives the whole story/journey/quest

16. Dark Moment Recipe
LIE: That thing they
believe that’s not true
about themselves
FEAR: What is your
character most afraid of?
FLAW: What’s his/her
flaw? Often a strength is
a flaw
COMPETING VALUES:
What
values/relationships in
the characters life
conflict?
WANT: What’s the one thing your character really wants?
WHY (behind whole story): Why does your character want
that thing?
WOUND: What hurt your character? Disappointed?

17. Special Ingredients
The Character’s Dark Moment Story
Needs to be:
Specific
Relatable
Poignant

18. Break

19. LINDY HOP
Plotting & Outlining

20. LINDY HOP
…is a plotting roadmap

21. L = Life (Normal World)
The world in which your character
normally lives
Normal challenges, their status quo
Length – chapter, few pages
A glimpse of their regular life

22. LIFE
For Simba, life is
normal, everything is
as it should be…or is
it?

23. I = Inciting Incident
Something happens
The trigger, or ignition
First blip in their world that will
change it and set them on the
course of their journey

24. Inciting
Incident
Nothing is the
same…nothing can
ever be the same
again…Simba is sent
on a journey of self
discovery…

25. N = Noble Quest
The effect of the inciting incident (I)
Unpleasant I => the quest is to return to
normal world
Positive I => the quest is to increase that
pleasure
Ignition – the start of the story where it
takes off
Stakes –the higher the stakes, the bigger
the story

26. The NOBLE QUEST is a cause, a
journey that your character feels is
worthy of his/her time and we
agree it’s a good idea

27. Noble Quest
The search for himself, for meaning…

28. ACT II
Act I ends with the Noble Quest
Act II begins with the Ds of the LINDY HOP

29. D = Disappointments
The obstacles they encounter, the
conflicts
Can be positive things that cause a
rumple in the advancement of the plot
It may be revelation of information, or
because of a choice, or because of
outside forces
Must contain 2 elements:
Unexpectedness
Plausibility

30. Y = Y in the Road
Critical Choice/Point of No Return
“What am I going to do now?”
Every character reaches a point where
they have to make a choice about their
actions
Two equally worthy choices, characters
forced to choose between external and
internal goals

31. Y = Y in the Road
The choice => new conflicts => point of
no return
Consequences – plot must allow for
character’s choices and
consequences (preferably worse) for
each choice - leads to darkest point
Surprises and Choices – each
testing the character’s mettle

32. More notes about Ds and
Ys
When character comes to a D, has to
make decision based on VALUES and
SECRET DESIRE
Grows and continues journey toward
becoming a better person, making better
decisions
5 Ds– each one helps him/her grow
ACT II – dropping “truthlets”

33. D’s and Y’s
Simba grows…it’s about his journey

34. More D’s-Ys
Confronted by his
past

35. Facing himself…

36. “Man in Mirror” Moment
• propels him into the rest of the story
• tries to “do” the right thing
• seems as if the lie has been dispelled by
truth

37. Man in Mirror
Faces who he is

38. ACT III
• end of ACT II - “Man in Mirror” moment
• Act III begins with the Climax

39. H = Help! (Climax)
Final challenge – event the book has
been building to
Character’s goal in jeopardy,
everything at stake
No Hope – or the Black moment –it
can’t get worse
Character’s epiphany occurs close to
Climax

40. H = Help! (Climax)
• Darkest moment – sees lie –
accepts truth
• Inner Journey – comes from dark
moment story
• Climax = confirmation of the lie

41. Climax…
Will Simba prevail? Or will he perish like his
father? Does he have the strength to
overcome?

42. O = Overhaul
The change that occurs in the
character
Something internal or external
Something that redefines them
Logical, derived from the journey

43. Overhaul
Ain’t nobody gonna
mess with Simba
now… he knows who
he is…he knows
who’s he is

44. P = Perfect Ending
(Resolution)
The new normal
There must be an end game, something
definable to the reader, and the character.

45. Resolution
The “Circle of Life” is complete

46. •WANT
•WHY
•LIE
•FEAR
Life
•GOAL
•OBSTACLESInciting Incident
•OBSTACLES
•FLAWS
•TRUTH
Disappointments +
Y in the Road
•FEAR (Black Moment EVENT)
•LIE (Black Moment EFFECT)HELP!
•TRUTH
•FLAW (overcome)
•Sacrifice/Grand Gesture
OVERHAUL
•Greatest Dream
•Wound (Healed)
PERFECT ENDING

47. Now it’s time
to do it…
WHO is this?
Adjective and Noun

48. Brooding
CIA Agent
Now we need to drill
down…
WHY is he brooding?

49. Why brooding?
• Afraid his father is a
Russian spy/double
agent
Why?
• Father disappeared 6
weeks ago after
mother’s death
• Father has
disappeared on and
off all his life and his
character has logged
subconsciously every
time
• leads us to one of his
values – loyalty,
patriotism, dislike –
secrets

50. Again…why
brooding right now
at beginning of
book?
• because he had
to take his
mother off life
support
• argument with
father
• “you were
always gone
and I had to
take care of
things”
What happened?

51. What happened?
• One
Thanksgiving,
dad wasn’t there
and Dirk and
mom got a flat
tire on the way
home, spent the
night on the side
of the road in
Minnesota
• dad comes home
and tells him to
“man up” and
“don’t cry about
it”

52. Lie: He can’t
depend on
anyone, can’t
show emotion,
must take care of
mom
Greatest Fear: to
show emotion, to
need someone,
that a decision of
his will cost a life

53. Dark
Moment
Wound
Lie
Fear
Competing
Values
Flaw
Want
Why?
LIE: Emotions are bad
FEAR: that a decision
of his will cost a life
FLAW: can’t show
weakness, stubborn
COMPETING
VALUES: Family,
protectiveness,
responsibility, loyalty,
patriotic
WANT: approval from dad, perfect family
WHY (behind whole story): he wants a promotion
WOUND: disappointing an authority figure, embarrassed

54. ACT I
L – at hospital with mother
I – home, left skid room open – dad is there,
fight with dad, calls boss about breach
N – I will find the mole (who is the boss,
someone Dirk looks up to as a father figure)
(remember, N is motivated by SECRET
DESIRE – approval from work)

55. ACT II (a) – build
motivation
D – house on fire
D – can’t get into CIA headquarters
“Truthlets” delivered

56. ACT II (b) – Man in Mirror
Moment
D – dad crying at grave site
D – Dirk calls love interest/coworker (her
phone is being tapped) – emotional decision
D – dad is shot by boss (while dad is
protecting Dirk)

57. ACT III
H – Black Moment – emotional decision led
to my dad’s death
• TRUTH = dad’s dying words of approval
O – does the right thing, a patriot, his father’s
son
P – Thanksgiving Day, dad did not end up
dying, playing football with dad

58. Elevator Pitch: What if…
What if you grew up your whole life
with a Russian spy and you didn’t
know it…and now you’re a CIA
Agent.

59. BREAK TIME
5 Mins.

60. RESEARCH

61. • Your fiction may be the
only history your reader
gets
• Educate and entertain

62. Why do we care?
• “Fictional dream”
• Do your best but don’t obsess
• Less is more
• History supports the story

63. Ever feel like this?
We can help…

64. Where to find it?

65. The Internet
“The problem with internet
quotes is that you can’t
always depend on their
accuracy.”
- Abraham
Lincoln, 1864

66. The Internet
Good sources
Bad sources
BE CAREFUL - USE GOOD
JUDGEMENT
Wikipedia

67. The Real World
Libraries
Interlibrary loan
Your friendly neighborhood librarian
Books
Bird’s Eye View vs. Worm’s Eye View
Experts – museums, universities,
reenactments, etc
Other Documents
Period Media
Government Documents

68. More points to consider
“Rule of Threes”:
Three sources establishes accuracy
– three primary sources
consider the importance of the
tidbit to the storyline
consider the “weight” of the
source

69. More points to consider
Never assume. Watch out for modern
views.
we are influenced by what we see on
TV and in movies, by what we read in
novels; these are not facts
watch out for what we think we “know”
Watch the chronology
Start general, work down to the specific

70. Organization and
Documentation
Bibliography
Capture the essential information
The ever useful BINDER!
Organizing in the computer
Make sure you have BACK UPS!!!

71. Location, location,
location…
Nothing can replace putting your feet on
the ground…seeing it, smelling it,
touching it

72. But you can’t always go
there…
Google
maps
Google
earth
Google
images
Maplandia
YouTube

73. Researching
Characters
Let’s have some fun!

74. Character Profile Sheet
Character is like the tip of the iceberg above the water
– you need to know the whole iceberg to understand
the “tip”

75. Structuring for
Nonfiction

76. Bradford Smith
• West Point Graduate, Still
on Active Duty
• Married with Nine
Children
• Missions Pastor at The
Way Church in Clarksville
• Author with Olivia
Kimbrell Press
• “Scourge”
• “No Higher Call”

77. Questions?

78. HOW TO FIND US
HANNAH
www.hannahrconway.com
TWITTER: @hannahrconway
FACEBOOK: Hannah Conway, Author
SARA
saraturnquist.com
TWITTER: @sarat1701
FACEBOOK: Sara R. Turnquist, Author

79. Clarksville Christian
Writer’s Group
WEDNESDAY NIGHTS
6:30 – 7:30 pm
Hilldale Baptist Church
2001 Madison Street
Clarksville, TN

80. Next Workshop:
OCTOBER 25th
Topics to include: Querying, Publishing, Marketing…and
More