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July 10, 2014

Blogiversary Winners & a New Worksheet!

Gift box with text: A Gift for...You! Story Development & Revision Worksheet

Ta da! I made it to the four year mark for blogging. *whew*

Appropriately, we had enough comments on the Blogiversary Contest post to earn four winners! Yay! Or boo… Depending on if you’re one of the winners or not. *sad face*

I wish everyone could be a winner. Seriously. But random.org does its random thing without caring about what we want. *sigh*

So… A Gift for Everyone!

I can’t make everyone a winner in the contest, but I can give everyone a gift by releasing a new worksheet. Yay!

A couple of my readers (*waves “hi” to Lou and Suzy*) asked me to take a look at John Truby’s work and see if I could come up with a worksheet based on his teachings. Last week, I picked up John’s book, The Anatomy of Story: 22 Steps to Becoming a Master Storyteller.

As someone who writes by the seat of her pants, I can’t apply everything he teaches. (This post is an excellent introduction to his approach and the terminology on the worksheet.) The chapters on premise, world-building, symbolism, and story arc are insightful for everyone, but some of his advice might not apply to plot-driven stories because he’s very character-arc-focused.

I’m still digesting the chapter on plot, so I’m not sure if a beat sheet could be made from his ideas or not. (His 22 steps are very flexible, which is good for creativity but bad for MS Excel formulas. *smile*)

However, his chapters on big picture story development were helpful enough on my revisions this past weekend that I thought a worksheet based on those elements alone would be good to share. Some of us might want to think through all of these questions during initial story development, and others of us might save some of these questions for our first revision pass. Either way, I hope this helps us all!

Introducing the Story Development & Revision Worksheet

This worksheet contains two tabs that cover four aspects of our planning and revision process:

  1. Story Ideas
    Found at the top of the Story Premise Development tab, this is a place to brainstorm story ideas and discover which ones might resonate with us.
  2. Story Premise
    At the bottom of the Story Premise Development tab, this section helps develop our initial story premise into its full potential. We can identify tricky aspects (Will it need a huge cast of characters? Does the protagonist start off “good,” leaving less room for growth? Etc.) and come up with a strategy for overcoming the issues (what John Truby calls the “designing principle”). We’ll also identify the protagonist, central conflict, and one verb phrase that sums up the cause-and-effect chain (“takes revenge,” “falls in love,” etc.).
    Note: As a pantser, I might answer some of these questions before drafting, but during revisions, it’ll be helpful to take a second look and ensure the story holds together.
  3. Character Arc
    At the top of the Character & Plot Arc tab, this section defines the choice the character is going to have to make, their ending point (Self-Revelation), and then their beginning point (Desire, Weaknesses, and Need). With these elements, we can see our protagonist’s arc of change, but John states that it’s easiest to work backward, from ending to beginning. (Agreed. I’ve taught that backward technique in my Lost Your Pants? workshop for years.)
    Note: As a pantser, I might have vague ideas for some of these items before drafting, but during revisions, these questions will also help us find our theme within the character arc. That way we can ensure our theme is fully developed.
  4. Plot Arc, Story World, and Symbols
    At the bottom of the Character & Plot Arc tab, these sections highlight some of the elements we can use to tie the character’s arc to the rest of the story. The bottom two lines contain questions to make us think about how we’re building our theme and how we can deepen the meaning of our story.
    Note: As a pantser, I might have vague ideas for some of these items, but during revisions, these questions will also help us fully develop the theme and story arc.

(Note: If you’re not familiar with MS Excel, how to enter text, or how to switch between tabs, check out my Beat Sheet 101 post. If you’d rather have this worksheet in MS Word, let me know, and I’ll see what I can do.)

The Story Premise Development tab (click to view full-size image):

Displays the first tab of the Story Development & Revision Worksheet

The Character & Plot Arc tab (click to view full-size image):

Display of second tab of the Story Development & Revision Worksheet

Click to download Story Development and Revision Worksheet – MS Excel ’07 version (.xlsx)

Click to download Story Development and Revision Worksheet – MS Excel earlier versions (.xls)

Please let me know if you have any suggestions for changes to this worksheet, as it’s very much just my first stab at trying to gather and apply John Truby’s teachings. Also, let me know if you’d like further information about any of the elements. I’m happy to explain more. *smile*

And Now… The Blogiversary Winners!

And finally, the news you’ve all been waiting for. Here are the winners of my 4th Annual Blogiversary Contest:

Sharon Hughson

Kirsten

Loni Townsend

Taurean Watkins

Congratulations to you all! (And I swear that’s how random.org spit them out, even though one of the winners was heavily lobbying for a win. *narrows eyes and wonders if someone did hack random.org*) You all should receive an email from me within the next day, so start thinking about what prize you want. Should I be worried? *smile*

Have you studied John Truby’s teachings before? Does this worksheet succeed at capturing some of his story development advice? Do you have suggestions for improvements? Do this worksheet help make up for the fact that you didn’t win? *sad face* Do you have any suggestions or reminders for me about other writing helpers I could put together?

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Carradee

I’ve never studied or used John Truby’s teachings before, but I look forward to adding your spreadsheet in my Numbers spreadsheet I sometimes poke at.

I have a single spreadsheet set up where I can plug in a WiP and check whatever I want, including a checklist from Janice Hardy’s “spit shine”. These look like nice additions for that template. Thanks!

Loni Townsend

*jaw drops* I won? Holy cow!

Thanks for the links and worksheets. As a fellow pantser, would you say John’s book ranks up pretty high on the need-to-own scale?

angela

I freaking LOVE your beat sheets, Jami! Thanks so much for all you do for writers!

Sharon

*screaming and dancing* I won. I love your random.org but I didn’t hack it. Wouldn’t even know where to start with that.
I’m also excited to check out these new worksheets. Some of the premise work I do at Hiveword, and I also find writing with pencil on paper helps my creative juices flow at the brainstorming stage.
I’m talking on the phone with Kristen Lamb today and getting to work with Jami Gold. Fan girl Heaven. I might die from excitement.

Kristen Stevens
Kristen Stevens

Congrats to the winners! Jami, I love your spreadsheets and so I’m really interested to give this a shot! Muuuch appreciated!

Kathryn Goldman

Did I ever tell you that my real name is Kirsten?

What? You don’t believe me?

OK, thanks for the gift of new spreadsheets.

Kat Colmer

This worksheet is very timely, Jami; I’m about to start drafting the sequel to my YA PNR, so a big thank you. Your other worksheets have been a fantastic help with the first novel 🙂

Kirsten

🙂 Yay!!! I’m the real Kirsten, and I’m so excited!
What a perfect time for me to get some book doctoring, as I’ve been diligently preparing for yet another revision of my very first novel. I suspect you will have your work cut out for you with this one but it will be fun, I promise.
I’m so grateful for all the fine writing advice you keep sending my way. Let’s see if it’s done me any good so far. 🙂
Thank you, thank you, thank you!!

Taurean J. Watkins (@Taurean_Watkins)

YAY! I won! I so rarely win these things. I’m so grateful to win this “Beta read up to 25,000 words” I really need it for this particular story, once you read the first part (which is within the 25K max) you’ll soon get why! (LOL)

My old beta-readers (also writers, and also parents/teachers) are so busy in their multiple careers and aren’t as available, I may still ask some of them, but I’ll just have to wait longer.

That’s not a big deal as I’m not anywhere ready to shop it around yet.
But it’s beyond alpha-level IMHO.

Nice of you to share a new worksheet tool for all, Jami, though I have to say that I tried using MS Excel once a few years ago, and let’s just say I wanted to down 8 1/2 bourbon shots afterwards…(I’m OVER 21, not a drinker, I just COOK with alcohol)

This has less to do with your beat sheet system and more to do with my less than keen math skills…

Besides, whenever I hear “Excel Spreadsheet” I think “Banker” or “Master Mathematician.” Neither of which describes me. No offense to any practicing (or former) bankers and/or master mathematicians who may come to this blog, okay?

Sonia G Medeiros

Congrats on your 4th blogiversary!

Great worksheets too. I’ve used your other ones with this WIP. Very helpful. 😀

Rebekah Loper

Congrats to the winners!

I’ll be honest – excel intimidates me. But this new spreadsheet has the things I juggle the most (and mostly only on index cards) with writing, and so I may just have to bite the bullet and comfortable with… the basics of excel, at the very least!

Ane Ryan Walker

Love the new worksheet! You are so fabulous to share these, god bless.

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[…] or breaks a story. Jolene Haley lists 8 must-read articles on editing, Jami Gold has a shiny new Story Development and Revision Worksheet, and Martha Alderson explains how to turn a lackluster middle into page-turning […]

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[…] I mentioned with the John Truby worksheet I shared last week, it’s often easier to work backward when we’re framing our story. At […]

Killion Slade

Thanks Jami for the beat sheet and directing me toward John Truby’s book. I agree with Loni that this style is definitely for the more advanced writer who is looking to kick their story level up a notch! I’m loving it 🙂

As I’ve been working through his book and walking through the steps, it has helped develop a strong premise which has been hard to grasp because of several [simultaneous] working components. His exercises truly help to focus, drill down, and find out what’s most important.

The chapters on the character arc are amazing! I was pleasantly surprised to learn I was able to write out this section on both my main heroes, without pulling out my hair by the roots. The one thing I [am still learning] is understanding the difference between desire and need and how it effects the arc to provide a warm-fuzzy-can’t-get-enough-of-that-character kinda feeling. He states that the desire for the character isn’t what he/she wants out of life, but only for this story. That was a huge clue in driving that focus. he also states that the need should be something the character doesn’t even know he/she needs it until they make a decision which leads them to the self revelation. Very subtle, but very powerful!

Definitely spending the time to work through these exercises is a terrific opportunity to strengthen while in revisions.

Thanks so much for sharing 🙂

Lost-chan
Lost-chan

Hi! I’ve been drifting to and fro this website and google for and about beatsheets. These sheets are extremely helpful for narrowing my thoughts, I’ve found, and asking me things that I didn’t know that I needed to be asked.

I was often perplexed by the questions, and eventually, I found that I needed to change some of my previous answers to make way for answers. It helps to make everything cohesive, I suppose.

Although I’m a bit stumped into one of the questions: What opponent is competing with the hero for the same goal? (Look deeply for what protagonist and antagonist are fighting about—like whether good or evil is in control.)

What if there’s no ‘personal’ villain? like, there’s an evil dude, but he affects everything, not the hero himself personally — that’s why they don’t have the same goal.

Also, this is for a fanfic, but the story seems to call for more than a hundred pages that I supposed that it can be called a novel now…

Anyhoo, thanks! 😀

Carina
Carina

Hi,
Just want to say thank you for sharing your spreadsheets!

Teri
Teri

Jami, I must be doing something wrong. When I click the links there is a message that says “No preview available” Trying to download these great worksheets! Thank you,Teri

Click to grab Stone-Cold Heart now!