Agile Writer Method

7/17/2019 Agile Writer Method

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/agile-writer-method 1/91



Agile Writer: Method

by

Greg Smith

Agile Writer Press

SHED BY AGILE WR ITER PRESSnd, VA

Writer is a registered trademark of Agile Writer Press.

he characters and events i n this book are fi ctiti ous, and any rese mblance to actual persons, li ving or dead, is purely coincidental.

ht © 2014 Greg Smith

ghts Reserved.

n the Unite d States of America

1 4

esi gn by Bonnie Watson

Dedicated to all the Agile Writers who helped create the Agile Writer Method.



Agile Writer: Method



cknowledgements

y thanks to the original members of Agile Writers who took up my challenge in January, 20ate a first-draft novel in six months: Alex Sharpman, Audry Jones, Camron Savage, Chrillips, Cyndy Kelly, Dillon Wilson, Gabriela Allen, Jackie Barbour, James Monroe, tzwiller, Lisa Mistry, Rishonda Anthony, Susan Welch, Suzan McKenzie, Tonya Rice, and

cKinnie.

My special thanks to those who had confidence in my vision and worked with me to comir first-draft novels. These people helped to shape the Agile Writer Method: Christine Phndy Kelly, Jackie Barbour, Lisa Mistry, Rishonda Anthony, Susan Welch, Suzan McKenzie, Tce, and Win McKinnie.

Thanks to the Agile Writers who went on to publish their novels and were the inspiratioat has become Agile Writer Press: Christine Phillips, D.L. Farrar, Cyndy Kelly, and

cKenzie.

Thanks to the Agile Writers who edited the first draft: Angel Fontenla, Luanne Kelly, Mmith, and Jane Bono.

Finally, a very special acknowledgement to my friends Ron and Maryann Ferland who cuChesterfield Writers Club in 2005. Their vision to foster a love of reading and writing

mmunity level was the genesis of what has become Agile Writers. Wherever you are, I hopow we all appreciate your inspiration.



reface

e purpose of this book is to help new and experienced writers discover how to write a firstvel in 6 months. This book is the culmination of 3 years of study with over 100 writers. In tha

created 20 first draft novels, published 5 of them, and two were finalists in the James iters Best Unpublished Novel Contest.

Agile Writer: Method is the first in a series of books that helps writers of all experience l

rn what makes a great story. This book is based on my seminar which I’ve delivered ovemes in the last three years to hundreds of people.

I want you to feel free to contact me if you have questions. Just email [email protected].

Greg Smith



Welcome

u’ve read books that tell you how to write a novel. They’re generic. They try to cover all aspevel writing from how to pick an idea, how to construct a character, and explain the elemeiting. They try to cram all of novel-writing into one volume. Frankly, you can’t cover all of niting in 250 pages. These books cover too many topics giving only the minimum attention toile Writer: Method is different.

This book is specific. It’s a practical explanation of what makes a great story and how to crn to write it. Sure, there will be moments where I will lead a cheer to remind you that YOU

O IT! But mostly we’re going to focus on plotting your novel.

You’ll be working to create a first-draft novel in 6 months. There will be further drafts to fowever, following the Agile Writer Method will reduce the number of drafts you will have to

cause you’ll have resolved many of your plotting problems ahead of writing your manusere are other books that promise to deliver a novel in 30 days or 90 days so you may wonderkes the Agile Writer Method different:

1.The Agile Writer Method is based on storytelling methods that are centuries old.

2.The Agile Writer Method borrows from the best. I’ve studied mythology, documenscreenwriting, project management and psychology to bring you the tools you need to great story.

3.I’ve borrowed from my own experiences as a software engineer using the Agile SofMethodology to help you create a plan for writing your novel that breaks it down

manageable chunks.4.

Finally, it works. We’ve used this method at the Agile Writer Workshop for three yearwe’ve produced twenty first-draft novels.

More than anything I want you to know that you can do this. Every Agile Writer started ouubts. But they stuck with the program and completed their first-draft novels. You can too.

1 Misconceptions About Novel Writing

I don’t have anything to say. This is the biggest misconception about novel writing. You’veng enough, you have an opinion, you matter. No matter how old you are you’ve had experit no one else has had. You live in a place that is unique. You know people that no one else hau have had challenges that you’ve had to overcome. So you’re different from other people. queness makes you interesting enough to write a story other people will want to read.

On the other hand, you have had experiences that other people have also had. You have hame experiences and feelings that drive every reader on the planet. This gives you an immenship with all your fellow humans. You can imbue your characters with these common experid feelings and your readers will identify with them. You are simultaneously unique among



gned with, every person on the planet. With your uniqueness you can create a story no one hasd, and with your common experiences make it a story that others will relate to. You really cs.

∙ I don’t have enough education. I hear this from so many new writers and it is one oggest indignities that has been pushed upon new writers. We think that we have to go to schoo

a Master’s of Fine Arts (MFA) or other degree. Not true. If you have a high school educck even a middle school eduction, you’ve learned enough to write your first novel. Whaven’t been given is a blueprint for what makes a great story. The Agile Writer Method will givt blueprint.

∙ I am lousy at spelling and grammar. I’ll let you in on a secret: we all are lousy at spellinammar. The fact is that we have tools at our disposal that will fix these problems. At Agile W

don’t worry about spelling and grammar during the first-draft phase. Just get your story dowper any way you can! Computers are pretty good at spell-checking your work. Grammar chel have a way to go, so we recommend you hire an editor when your book is complete. That’s big guns do. Do you think Nora Roberts goes through her manuscript with a fine-tooth

fore handing it off to her publisher? No, they punch up her work for her. You don’t have to w

out spelling nor grammar.

∙ I will never get published, so why start? There has never been a better time to get your front of readers than right now. It is possible to publish your book on Amazon.com for freeu can make money at it too. The Agile Writer Method is not a get-rich-quick scheme, and we into the publishing process in this book. But you need to know that when you finish your re are ways to get your writing in front of readers for little or no money. Again, there has

en a better time to get published than now.

∙ I’m a lousy storyteller. You’ve read books, watched television, gone to the movies anow what you like. You know a great story when you see one. What you may not know iskes it a great story. The Agile Writer Method will lay out a plan for creating a story that rell recognize. It will be like others they’ve seen, but because you’re a unique and special indivwill be like no story they’ve ever read.

∙ I’ve never completed anything. I hear this a lot. I hear from beginning writers how theyitten 100 pages and then go back and edit them over and over again. Or they’ve completed a apters and get stuck not knowing what comes next. Or they have family members who tell y’re crazy for thinking they can write a novel. With the Agile Writer Method you’ll have a pla

ll tell you just where you should be at any given time. It will also show you where certain eould happen. All of this is based on classic mythology, screenwriting techniques, psychology,le project management.

Don’t listen to people who tell you what you cannot do. They’re just showing you wherers lie. Focus instead on the people who encourage you. You can do this. Others have. You w

xt.

∙ A novel is a big project. Yes! A novel is a big project. But like any big project it c

naged if you break it into small enough pieces. The Agile Writer Method breaks a novel dowtages, each stage takes 30 pages. You’ll tackle your novel in 10 page tasks - one task per week



n write 10 pages (double spaced) can’t you? Sure you can. Do it for 25 weeks and you’ll hst-draft novel in 6 months.

I can’t emphasize enough how confident I am that you can write a novel in six months. Iy. You have to work. You’ll have to put your butt in a chair and write 10 pages a week. But

dicate yourself to your goal, you will be the proud owner of a fir st-draft novel in six monthne it and so have many other Agile Writers. You will be next.

2 What Makes a Great Story?

u may wonder what qualifies me to write a book on novel writing? Truth be told, a few yearsew less than you do right now. But I had some interesting experiences which led me to piting and developing the Agile Writer Method.

.1 The Video

2001 my parents celebrated their 40th wedding anniversary. I wanted to do something specim and decided to create a video that they could have as a keepsake. At first my family mem

d me to just get people waving at the camera and shouting “Happy Anniversary!” But I wmething more. I wanted to tell the story of my parents’ lives together from the beginningmily was reluctant, but I persevered and set out to create my first video documentary.

My first step was to watch a lot of documentaries. I spent a good deal of time watchinography video series on the A&E network. I also bought a book on directing documentaries bat documentarian Barry Hampe. I studied his books and took a lot of notes on what makes agraphy. What I learned from Barry Hampe is that it is best to let your subjects (intervieweestory in their own words.

I interviewed all my parents’ siblings and children and grandchildren. I collected 17 hodeo tape. Then I had to create a narrative of my parents’ story. I started with the story ofrents (my grandparents) and worked my way up to the time my parents met and up to the pr

me. Then came the painstaking task of selecting the interview scenes that would tell their storyused on letting my subjects tell the story. I didn’t have a powerful computer for editing the

t my brother in California did. So, I sent the tapes to him along with a spreadsheet of which scut from the interviews and the order in which to splice them together.

Well, the project was a success. My parents were surprised and we now have a family heir

t we can pass down for generations to come. And I learned something about storytelling. I lew to create a storyboard that outlines a story from beginning to end.

Additionally, I learned that there is more to storytelling than just stitching together a bunents, one after the other. My video did a fine job of retelling our family history. But it waseresting to family members. Frankly, anyone from outside the family (and a few from inuld be bored. There was something missing. So I set out on a quest to find what makes ary.

.2 Chesterfield Writers Club



2005 I visited my local independent book store. It was the Little Professor Book Center in Chrginia. The owners Maryann and Rob Ferland were conducting monthly seminars on novel wecame very interested and sat in on every meeting. The Ferlands and I became good friends. B

ng they asked me to run a monthly writers group for local area writers. I accepted the challengChesterfield Writer’s Club was born.

During my tenure running the CWC for the next 5 years, I came in contact with over 200 wmewhere along the way I was introduced to Christopher Vogler’s book The Writer’s Journeyis was the first in a series of events that would lead me to the Agile Writer Method. In his gler talks about Joseph Campbell - a comparative mythologist who discovered that all stor

ythology follow the same pattern. Campbell called this “The Hero’s Journey” and documentebook The Hero With a Thousand Faces[4]. Between Vogler and Campbell I had found the fir

understanding what makes a great story. I’ll tell you more about that in Chapter 4: The Hurney.

I tried to use the Hero’s Journey in my writing but I found it hard to get the pacing gler’s pattern has 12 stages to it. But it seemed that the first 5 stages happen early in the storre were long gaps between the beginning and middle parts of the pattern. I couldn’t get a gr

ere each stage belonged in the story.

Enter Michael Hauge. He is a screenwriter and script doctor. His book Writing Screenplaysl[7] is required reading for wannabe screenwriters. He had produced a video with Christgler entitled The Hero’s Two Journeys[15]. This was an aha moment for me. In this video Htlines his method for breaking a screenplay into 6 stages. Each stage has a distinct purpose eenplay. At the same time, Vogler overlaid his 12 stages for storytelling on top of Hauge’so methods together solved my problem. I now knew what had to be told and when it was to be

.3 Movies and Heroes

pent the next year taking Hauge’s advice and I went to every newly released motion picture I must have watched 100 movies that year. I would look for the break down of the stories into Ha

tages. I started looking for the mythical story elements. Not every movie had them, but thees did. I also rented classic movies on Amazon.com and broke the scenes down in a spreadsht I could analyze how the screenwriter told his great story. I analyzed Star Wars, The Wizard oe Karate Kid, and a dozen more. I wanted to become as much of an expert on storytellinguld.

I am good friends with Dr. Scott Allison. Scott and I were in the same improv troupe for ars. He’s a funny guy and very wise in the ways of heroes. He studies heroism at the Universchmond where he’s a psychology professor. We started going to movies together and discu

heroes in these movies. (Currently, Scott and I blog about movies and heroes on our welHeroes.net). Scott’s book Heroes: What They Do and Why We Need Them[1] had a big impa

y understanding of the hero in movies and literature.

By now I recognized a problem in the Chesterfield Writers Club. We had been meeting foars and I had my doubts about where the group was going. A friend had asked me how

asuring our success. I had no idea I was supposed to be measuring our success! But when I lothe group I realized we were a social club for writers. No one was required to write anything.



ong time member of the club quit, I had to ask myself if I had really lost a “writer.” I also not attendance was optional. People came and left as they saw fit. We didn’t critique each ork. So there was no feedback. Each meeting we spent an hour reviewing some element of thewriting - that was a good thing. Then we spent another hour talking about writing. There wtput from the Chesterfield Writers Club.

.4 Agile Writers

at’s when I decided to create a new group. I wanted to focus like a laser beam on one topic,

n trying to meet the needs of all writers, as we did in the CWC. I decided we’d focus on the nt just any novel, but the genre novel. Hence the birth Agile Writers in January of 2011.

I felt that the lessons I learned from Campbell, Vogler, Hauge, and Allison would be perfenre stories. Genre stories are heavily plot-driven, as are screenplays, so it seemed a nmbination. I wanted the group to employ critique as a way of motivating people to write, aoduce a first-draft novel in a reasonable timeframe. I also wanted to create a process thaeatable so that anyone could write a novel.

The Agile Writer Method didn’t spring from my brain immediately. I invited all 18 of the mbers of Agile Writers to engage in an experiment with me to create the Agile Writer Methoir credit, they agreed and were excited at the prospect.

We started using Hauge’s six stages. I reasoned that stories are stories. Screenplays are healog whereas novels are equally divided between dialog and narration. However, both requong plot. But we found Hauge’s method was lacking things we needed in the novel. There wcussion of the prologue or its purpose. The middle of Hauge’s method took a full 50% of theth very little direction on what happens in this middle area.

I spent a lot of time analyzing more movies trying to figure out what makes a great prologuw to breakdown the middle of the novel. We received a lot of criticism from the wmmunity for analyzing movies for insights into novel writing. But we’ve produced a good nufirst-drafts using this method, and the writers who are using it are telling me it works. What I with is 8 stages in the novel, 30 pages to each stage, plus a well-defined and optional prois adds up to 250 pages. We’ll talk more about why 250 pages is important in Chapter 2: The vel.

3 Why Do People Read Novels?

ive the Agile Writer: Novel in 6 Months seminar twice a month. At the start of every sessionattendees: “Why do people read novels? Why do you read novels?” The answers are always ch the same:

To escape realityTo go on an adventureTo experience something different

At Agile Writers we sum it up this way: People read novels to experience some emotion thr



e main character in the novel. Remember this because it is central to how we construct a nove

4 Why Do You Want To Write a Novel?

lso ask this question: “Why do you want to write a novel?” Here is a sampling of what I hear:

To make moneyTo tell my story my way

To tell someone else’s story

I want to warn you right now, very few people make any money writing fiction. I don’t wcourage you but the typical self-published author makes about $1.00 per book once all exppaid. The margins improve with eBooks.

At Agile Writers we aim to write a novel that other people will want to read . This is impome people just want to have the accomplishment of completing a novel. The act of writing thesatisfaction enough. The Agile Writer Method is designed to help you write a novel that

ople will want to read.

This means that you’re going to have to do some things that may not appeal to you right ke write a story synopsis and fit your story to a storyboard. We’re looking to help you cremmercially viable novel. If all you want to do is write whatever comes out of the tip of youu really don’t need a method.

5 Know Your Audience

e first thing you’ll do as an Agile Writer is define your audience. To do this you must ask yo

se questions:

Who will read your book?What Genre will you write in?What age range are your readers?What gender will read your book?What educational level are you writing to?

I know what you’re thinking: “I want to write a book EVERYONE will want to read.” Thstake. You need to create in your mind a very specific type of reader. The items I listed abovy elements to knowing your audience.

You have to ask yourself this question:

Are you writing to please your audience - or are you writing to please yourself?

The answer is: You must do both! If you aren’t enjoying the process it will come out initing and the reader will sense it. And you must write something your reader wants to

member, we’re looking to create a commercially viable genre novel.



We’ll come back to this topic in Chapter 2: The Agile Novel.

6 How This Book Is Orgainized

’ll start out identifying what it is we’re about to create. In Chapter 2: The Agile Novel we’ll dnovel and lay bare what our end-goal is. In Chapter 3: The Story Abstract, I’ll expose wha

ve to identify before you get started. We’ll look at your audience, the message of your store-line description and your elevator speech. In Chapter 4: The Hero’s Journey we’ll meet Jmpbell and Christopher Vogler and discover the elements of the Hero’s Journey. Then we’ll t the elements of the hero of your story in Chapter 5: The Hero Abstract. In Chapter 6: Plottingcing we examine the problems and solutions for laying out the plot of your story and makint your story moves along at a proper pace. Then, we’ll unveil the cornerstone of the Agile W

ethod in Chapter 7: The Agile Storyboard. Finally, we will pull it all together in Chapter 8: Wur Novel.

As a bonus, I’ve included two chapters based on seminars I run at the Agile Writer Workapter 9: The First Thirty Pages, gives you an idea as to how to start writing your first few chad Chapter 10: Agile Writer Critique will give you guidelines on how to conduct a critique

ur cr itique partners.

In the appendix, I give you templates for each of the Story Abstract, the Hero Abstract, anile Storyboard. I’ve also included the Agile Storyboard for my science-fiction novel Lu

anet as an example of how to fill in the template.

7 Summary

You know a great story when you see one. What you may not know is what makes it a great The Agile Writer Method will help you with this.We are looking to write a commercially viable novel that appeals to a specific demographiThe Agile Writer Method is based on mythology, screenwriting, psychology, and a little pmanagement.This method works. Others have used it and are currently published authors.The Agile Writer Method breaks your story down into 8 stages of 30 pages each. Chunkiyour story makes it easier to organize and complete.You’ll be writing 10 pages a week for 25 weeks resulting in a first-draft novel in 6 monthsYOU CAN DO THIS!



The Agile Novel

hat is a novel? What is it about a novel that makes it not a short story or novella or a memobiography or essay? A lot of people come to Agile Writers wanting to get published wowing what it is they want to publish. So, let’s go over the things that make a written work a nd what, specifically, is an Agile Novel.

1 An Agile Novel Is Fictional

e had people come to Agile Writers not knowing the difference between fiction and non-fictivel is a fictional narrative - meaning it is a made up story.

In our society we consider truth to be the default situation and non-truth to be the exceptionnd fascinating is that in the writing world the default is fiction and truth is the exception. T

w important fiction is to writers.

A novel is not the telling of actual events. For example, a novel is not an autobiographobiography is a retelling of the events of a person’s life. The Agile Writer Method doesn’tthese types of books because, frankly, unless you’re famous or infamous, most people a

ing to want to read your life story.

We’ve had Agile Writers attempt to use the method to create a memoir. This is usually a “life. Sometimes the events in a memoir are altered from their original telling to make theier to tell. You may argue that a memoir is a fiction that is merely “based on actual events

ample, Barak Obama’s 1995 memoir Dreams from My Father [10] included a “New lfriend” who was a composite of multiple girlfriends he had both in New York City aicago. This was not an elaborate lie. It was merely a literary device used to make the story eas

.[3]

Occasionally the line between the novel and the memoir is blurred. Take, for instance, themoir A Million Little Pieces[6] by James Frey. It tells the story of his drug addiction

habilitation. In 2005 Oprah Winfrey picked this book for her book club and it subsequently beNew York Times Best Seller. In 2006 it was revealed that Frey made up a good deal of the is is a case of a memoir that was actually a novel.[17]

The Agile Writer Method has been used to create memoirs with some success. The probl

t the author has to convert their closely held personal stories into a fictional account. Most pn’t want to alter their true-to-life stories to fit the fictional narrative.

As I learned in my parents’ documentary, you cannot simply stitch together a series of evenpect it to be interesting to a stranger. You have to pick an event that was life-changing andhion it into a narrative that readers will want to read - that of the novel.

A novel is not the retelling of an actual event, either. For example, the story of the 9/11mbing of the World Trade Center Towers is an actual event, so it isn’t fiction. However, yount to tell about your personal experiences on that day. But then we’re back to memoir. One

riter used the backdrop of 9/11 for her story of a woman suffering from amnesia. Now



king about a fictional story with a historical event as the stage - and that is a novel.

Real life is not a story. Real life is pretty boring - running steadily from one event to the nery has dramatic peaks and valleys. In Chapter 7: The Agile Storyboard we’ll see how to strucry so that it appeals to the reader .

So remember: an Agile Novel is a fictional narrative and not the retelling of actual events.

2 An Agile Novel Is Genre Fiction

Agile Writers we divide literature into two categories - literary fiction and genre fiction.

Literary fiction focuses on the characters in the story. It looks for depth and style. Literary fconstantly expanding the novel art form. This is the form of novel-writing that people versities to study and get a Master’s of Fine Arts (MFA). We don’t attempt literary fiction at

riters.

Genre fiction (or popular fiction) is plot-driven. It is a series of events that unfold to tell a

e Agile Novel is genre fiction.

Now that’s not to say that a literary novel doesn’t have a plot. It may. It’s just that the focusinternal thoughts, desires, and dreams of the characters. Good examples of literary novels a

l a Mockingbird or A Catcher in the Rye. These are stories that focus on the internal lives ofin characters.

Genre fiction focuses more intently on the events of the story, on the plot. At Agile Writealyze our story from the point of view of the events in the story and plot them out for a parttcome. A genre fiction novel falls into one of several popular types of stories (mystery, sc

tion, fantasy, romance, etc...)

3 An Agile Novel Is Hero-Based

a later section we’ll talk more about Joseph Campbell and his “Hero’s Journey.” For nowough to know that the Hero’s Journey is a time-tested pattern for story telling. It involves aaracter (the hero or protagonist) who is introduced in his ordinary world. Some inciting inccurs that throws the hero into a new and uncharted place or situation (the special world). Thest learn the rules of the special world and find the object of his desire. Once the object is foun

ro then must journey home to his ordinary world to tell of his journey.

While this simplified explanation of the Hero’s Journey may sound like a knight’s quest, st genre novels and screenplays. The hero can be a woman who runs a yoga studio in New y (her ordinary world). She gets a call that her mother is ill (the inciting incident). She then rme to live with her cantankerous mother in Ohio (the special world) where she must work r mother to good health (the object of her desire). In the end she returns to her yoga studio hrned from her experiences. This is the actual plot of a novel that was published by an Agile W

From this example you can see that the hero can be either gender. That the ordinary worl



special world can be real places. And the object of desire can be anything tangible. Whiro’s Journey is based on the stories of mythology, the elements can be applied to nearly any s

4 An Agile Novel Is 60,000 Words

e thing that separates a novel from other forms of literature (short story, essay, novella) gth. If you go to the bookstore and pull a novel off the shelf you’ll notice that it has a certaiit. The number of pages in the novel is what, in part, defines it as a novel. See Table 2.1 for nchmarks of different forms of literature.

Form Words Pages

lash Fiction 500 - 2,500 2 - 10

Short Story 2,500 - 7,500 10 - 30

Novellette 7,500 - 17,500 30 - 70

Novella 17,500 - 40,000 70 - 160

Novel 40,000+ 160+

able 2.1.: Literary Forms and Lengths

At Agile Writers we consider a novel to be 60,000 words (or around 250 pages). The reat when you take your book to a publisher, they won’t want to publish a book that is much les0 pages. There are economies of scale that make publishing smaller works less profitable. O

her hand, most publishers won’t want to take a chance publishing a work from a first-time at is a tome of 800+ pages. So, we shoot for 250 pages.

A side-effect of the digital revolution is that eBooks all cost about the same to producblishers of eBooks may not care how long your book is. Whether it is 100 pages or 800 pagsts the same to deliver the eBook to the reader. However, your reader may care. Amazon.comrted publishing the page count of eBooks along with other statistics. So, if you try to sell you0-page novella as an eBook for $9.99, your reader may turn their nose up at your work.

The other reason we picked 250 pages is that it nicely breaks down to 25 weeks (6 months) u write 10 pages a week. Through trial and error, we’ve found 10 pages a week an achievablemost new writers. We also find 6 months to be a time period most people are willing to wo

ate a novel at a decent pace of work.

5 An Agile Novel Is Commercially Viable

Agile Writers we aim to create a work that is commercially viable. That is, it is a book thblic at large would want to read. There are writers who are writing for the pleasure of welf. They don’t care if their work is appreciated by a larger audience.



However, we’re aiming to help writers create a novel that others will want to read. So, as a wu will want to pick a specific demographic to write to. You’ll want to think about the age, ged educational level of your reader as well as the genre you want to write in.

You will also want to deal with certain topics in moderation. For example, sex, violence, pd religion. If you are too extreme in any of these categories you will alienate large populatioders.

6 Summary

Agile Novel is

A Fictional NarrativeGenre FictionHero-Based60,000 words (or 250 pages)Commercially Viable



The Story Abstract

e first step in writing your Agile Novel is to write a Story Abstract. This is a one-page descryour novel. It defines your audience and asks you to think about the point of your story beforrt writing. This will help you to define what your story is about. It is also dynamic - you’ll ck to this and change it as your story develops.

At a glance:

Story TitleAuthor ’s NameAudienceMessageOne-Line DescriptionElevator Speech

1 Story Title

is is the working title of your story. It is not set in stone. You may change it later. Many aun’t know the title of their novel until the story is finished. Use this working title so you have describing the work to someone else. Publishers generally have the last word on the story titlepart of the marketing of your work and may change it.

Here is an example of a working title that will likely get changed. My uncle Don Bellew d09 and left behind an untitled manuscript. Aunt Betty wanted to publish the book for friendmily. It was the story of a young boy who is given a colt by a wealthy neighbor. The boy raise

t and trains it to run in the Kentucky Derby.

When it came time to create cover art for the book we had to have a title. Since it wastty’s book I let her pick the title. She decided on “A Neighbor of Love.” This is an obvious plabor of love” but since it was a neighbor who gifted the colt, she felt the title reflecteaning of the story. However, a publisher would likely change the title. Since the story is aboy and the horse, a different title reflecting the main elements of the story might be chosen.

2 Author’s Name

is seems like an obvious item - just enter your name, right? Well, some authors use a pseudpen name because they want to hide their true identity.

Sometimes the content may be too personal. We had a writer come to Agile Writers whose d been murdered. She was pretty sure it was a mob hit and wanted to tell her story in novel e wanted to protect her identity and so chose to use a pseudonym.

A friend of Agile Writers, Michelle Young-Stone wrote the novel The Handbook for Lighike Survivors[18]. It was picked up by Crown books and they put it on the end-caps of all the T

res in the United States. The book was popular and eventually she signed a two-book dea



mon and Schuster. But in the meantime she started getting visits on her doorstep in the wee m people asking for advice on their manuscripts. And people would stop her on the street

e was walking her dog and pitch story ideas. She wished she had used a pseudonym to proteonymity.

Another friend of Agile Writers is Pamela K. Kinney. She writes “sweet paranormal romder the pseudonym “Sapphire Phalen.” She also writes non-fiction books about haunted houchmond and Virginia. She writes those books under her real name. She uses two names to sepr two genres of books.

We all wish we had these problems, I’m sure. Even famous authors have written eudonyms for various reasons:

George Orwell (Eric Arthur Blair)Lewis Carroll (Charles Lutwidge Dodgson)Mark Twain (Sameul Langhorne Clemens)O. Henry (William Syndney Porter)

Richhard Bachman (Stephen King)

In the case of Stephen King, early in his career he was accused of being more lucky than lihis success. So, he took on the name Richard Bachman to prove his critics wrong. He wasn’tccessful, but he still uses the pseudonym from time to time.

3 Audience

u will be writing to a specific, well-defined demographic. It is important that you stay true to u must keep your audience in mind while you are writing. You will want to be consistent anitch between demographics midstream. You must not try to cover everyone generically or thell be too bland. And don’t try to cover too narrow a spectrum or you won’t find enough readke the effort worthwhile.

We had a writer come to us who wanted to write a book that he would sell only to his graduss of 1957. There were probably 150 people in his class. He had clearly defined his audiencssmates) but the topic was too narrow for a wider audience. (The book was successful wissmates in the end.)

I have studied the demographics that book publishers use to make their buying decisionsmographic data is what I used to assemble the advice in the following sections.

.1 Age Range

s important to know what age range you will be writing to. A book that is satisfactory for 12ds will often not be as interesting to 55-year olds.

Publishers divide readers into demographic groups based on age spans. These are showble 3.1.



Demographic Age Range

Generation Z 12-22

Generation Y 23-33

Generation X 34-45

aby Boomers 46-64

Matures 65+

able 3.1.: Demographic Groups

When you write to younger audiences you have to handle the big three topics of sex, reld politics differently than when you write to adults. You may sanitize your young reader proke it age appropriate. However, adults live in an adult world. They expect more mature conten

You must also keep the content consistent. A friend of Agile Writers who was a 75-year olds writing stories for young girls about teenage witches from outer space. He was consistent rytelling until the last chapter. He had the least experienced teen witch save the day with a bigr friends congratulated her and asked her where she learned the spell. This is where he brokntract with his readers. He intimated that she performed a sexual favor on a professor whove her the spell. Up until this point sex was not a part of the story. Throwing in an off-herence to pedophilia was not in keeping with the age group he was writing to. He agreed witique partners and took the section out.

Also consider who is buying books. By far, Baby Boomers are buying more books thanher demographic. See Table 3.2. So if you want to write young adult fiction (Gen Z) you may ard sell as they only comprise 10% of sales.

Demographic Percent of Sales

Generation Z 10%

Generation Y 25%

Generation X 20%

aby Boomers 30%

Matures 15%

able 3.2.: Age and Book Purchases

.2 Gender



ll you be writing to men or to women, or will you try to appeal to both genders at the same timy seem like a simple matter to write to both genders. But consider that men generally like to

out action and women generally like relationships. I know it’s a stereotype but it is often true.

You may try to appeal to both men and women simultaneously. If you look at the movieaguire you can see how both genders are satisfied at the same time (we will make many refermovies in this book. The Agile Writer Method is based in part on screenwriting techniques,).

In Jerry Maguire, Jerry is a sports agent. He has quit his job with a big-time sports acause he feels they have become too impersonal. He leaves taking only a fish, a secretary (Doyd), and one client (Rod Tidwell). Jerry has a problem to solve: he has to get Rod a new cont Rod doesn’t want to be an exhibitionist for the cameras. So on the one hand we have a sddy-hero story going on as well as football and big business. This part of the film appeals stra male audience.

On the other hand we have Dorothy who has a 5-year-old son, Ray. Jerry and the boy bonboy looks to Jerry as a father figure. Dorothy, in the meantime, has fallen head over heals in

th Jerry. Now we have a strange love triangle. This relationship part of the story appeals stronmen.

So, while it is possible to appeal to both genders, you can see that it takes a little thoughnning.

.3 Educational Level

ble 3.3 shows which educational levels are the biggest buyers of books. When you examinle it is clear that writing a book that appeals only to people who have some graduate s

ucation will attract only 13% of readers. Aiming for college graduates garners 33% (grahool students + college graduates). Dropping down another level and you pull in the readersme college and you satisfy 64% of readers. Finally, if you aim at high school graduates yopture 98% of readers.

ducational Level Percent of Sales

(didn’t graduate) 2%

High School 31%Some College 31%

College Graduate 21%

Graduate School 13%

able 3.3.: Education and Book Purchases



There is a problem with writing to the least common denominator, you may lose some readhigher levels. Of course the opposite is also true. Writing to the level of the graduate s

der will alienate those below them.

As an example consider the book Valis by my favor ite author Philip K. Dick.Valis is the firsogy where the main character is in search of God. Dick had studied religion and philosophyiversity of California, Berkeley. He applied this knowledge in his book and used the langua

aduate-level students in the text. I had to keep a dictionary on my bedside table in order to keth his prose. When I finished the book I was exhausted and I had no interest in reading the fobooks. Dick had successfully alienated me.

.4 Genre

u are going to have to pick a genre and stick to it. Publishers want to put your story in a by know how to sell it. Some writers come to Agile Writers with a plan to create a new genrea bad idea. Regardless of what you write, someone is going to want to put it on a book shelu also want readers to find your book. So if you write a Science Fiction / Romance, which shu want it to sit on - the Science Fiction shelf or the Romance shelf? If a romance reader com

d picks up your science fiction book they will likely not recognize it as a typical romance. Lika science fiction reader is perusing the Science Fiction section they will not find your book the Romance section. Pick a genre. Stick to it.

That doesn’t mean that you can’t successfully write a cross-genre book. A good exampss-genre is the Twilight series. Not only was it a hit as a young adult fiction, but it was a Fanmance. However, you’ll notice that when you find the book on the shelves of your local books in the young adult Fantasy section.

Genre Popularity

Young Adult 8%

spionage/Thriller 7%

Romance 6%

General Fiction 6%

Mystery/Detective 4%

Auto/Biography 4%

Literary/Classics 4%History 3%

Fantasy/SciFi 3%

Cooking 2%

able 3.4.: Genre Popularity



Table 3.4 shows the genres that are tracked by publishers. As you can see Young Adult fictmost popular. If you don’t see your favorite genre in the table it’s because it fell below th

rk. So before you commit to a genre you may want to consider how popular it is.

You may also want to consider what age ranges are buying which genres. Table 3.5 lisjor genres that book publishers focus on and the percentages of who is buying them.

Genre Z Y X Boomers MaturesYoung Adult 27% 29% 21% 18% 5%

spionage/Thriller 4% 14% 15% 34% 33%

Romance 3% 15% 21% 36% 24%

General Fiction 7% 21% 17% 31% 24%

Mystery/Detective 3% 11% 13% 36% 37%

Auto/Biography 6% 23% 18% 31% 21%

Literary/Classics 17% 33% 15% 31% 31%

History 5% 32% 24% 28% 10%Fantasy/SciFi 6% 32% 24% 28% 10%

Cooking 3% 22% 20% 36% 19%

able 3.5.: Genre vs. Age

Looking at the table a few things become clear. If you’re going to write Espionage/Thrilystery/Detective books, your main audience is going to be people over 46 (Baby Boomeratures). Baby Boomers are the biggest consumers of Romance novels, General Fito/Biography, and History. Fantasy & Science Fiction is appreciated most by Generation Y (

ar-olds). There is good news if you are writing Young Adult fiction (the most popnerations X, Y, and Z combined make for a big audience. Can you write a Young Adult novell appeal to all age ranges 12-45? J.K. Rowling did it.

You may want to decide which is more important to you - choosing a genre or choos

mographic. Pick one and let it determine the other.

4 Message

en if you’re a high school student, you have lived long enough to have an opinion aboutngs work in the world. Your novel will reflect these opinions.

Also, readers expect a payoff for spending the time to read your book. That payoff comes ssage or lesson that you present. In other books on writing this is called the proposition. Basu establish your message (or proposition) and your book is the proof of that message.



Stories that don’t have a message are empty and often little more than a roller-coaster rident your novel to have substance and having a message will give it that substance.

There will be times in your novel writing that you will have choices to make. These chme in the form of how you want your hero or other character to act. In fact, these becomaracter ’s choices. The message of your book will guide you on which choices to make.

The idea of having a message in a story is not unique to the Agile Novel. It goes back hunden thousands of years. The myths of antiquity, fairy tales, even modern movies all have a me

t the reader can take home. Your novel should too.

The Message is often simple:

a person can changelove conquers allyou are not alone

As you can see, the message is a simple phrase or single sentence.

5 One Line Description

is is a single sentence that describes your story. It is in a specific form:

It is a story about (the hero)who wants (the main goal)and learns (the message).

ample: It’s the story of a girl who wants to get back to Kansas and learns that she has urage, heart, and brains than she thought.

Example: It’s the story of a boy who wants to save a princess and learns to trust in himself.

At Agile Writers we break your story idea down to its simplest concepts. Creating the onscription forces you to think about the barest meaning of your story. As we progress, we’ll ur story up from this one line to a paragraph (the elevator speech), then eight stages, then scd finally your manuscript. This is called successive refinement and it is a proven way to tmplex subject and break it down into its simplest forms - and then build it back up again.

6 Elevator Speech

is is a paragraph (about 250 words) that describes the story. It’s not the entire plot or synopsiat the story is about. I like to advise Agile Writers to recap the first act of the story and pestion. Imagine you are lucky enough to find yourself in an elevator with an agent. You haveu get to the 30th floor to describe your story - about 30 seconds. You want to impress the fore she gets off the elevator.

Example: We meet Luke who buys some Droids that belong to Old Ben Kenobi. He meets a



an who tells him he must go to Alderon. They go into a cantina where he meets weird people. Am are Han Solo and Chewbacca the Wookie. They fly to Alderon to return the Droids buacked by a looming Death Star. They save a princess and return her to her planet. Thereilling dog fight and they blow up the Death Star saving the Republic.

This example is from Star Wars and has too much detail – it’s the actual plot.

Example: It’s the story of a young boy who lives on a desert planet. He meets an old manes him a magical sword. They go off to space in search of a kidnapped princess. The boy learn

most important things in life aren’t those that you keep in your hands, but that you keep inart.

This is better. It’s not a retelling of the whole story, just a recap of the first act and the lrned.

7 Summary

e Story Abstract is a one-page description of your novel. It defines your audience and asks y

nk about the point of your story before you start writing. This will help you to define whatry is about. It is also dynamic - you’ll come back to this and change it as your story develops.

At a glance:

Story TitleAuthor ’s NameAudience

Genre

DemographicEducational LevelGender

MessageOne-Line DescriptionElevator Speech

A template of the Story Abstract that you can fill in can be found in Appendix A.



The Hero’s Journey

1 Joseph Campbell

e Agile Novel is a Hero’s Journey inspired by the works of Joseph Campbell[4]. The story is ntered. When we say “hero” we simply mean the central character of the story. This is someled the protagonist. This is not to be confused with the common use of the word “hero” ans someone who acts in a heroic, selfless fashion (like first responders or our military m

men). The “hero” may be male or female, we still call them the “hero.”

Joseph Campbell was a comparative mythologist. He studied the legends and myths from tures, both present-day and back through antiquity. He found that stories from all cultures fsame pattern. He called this pattern “The Hero’s Journey.” These stories teach lessons like hwithin the culture and how to resolve differences. The history and values of a culture are p

by telling these heroic stories.

In the Hero’s Journey, the hero starts in their Ordinary World. They’re doing pretty well

dinary World when “Something Happens.” This is usually an event that is of such magnitudy are then cast into a Special World where they are on a quest or journey. There, the hero ends, allies, and enemies. The hero must overcome some great obstacle to gain their reward. hero resolves their quest, they return to their Ordinary World having learned from

periences. They are then the master of both worlds.

While this pattern appears to work only for quest-type stories (fantasy and science fictioample) it works for general fiction as well.

It is important to realize that stories are not reality. Campbell would say that storie

taphors for our daily lives. Stories have an arc with clearly defined high and low points, whlity proceeds chronologically at a steady pace. Reality is a fairly stable “non-arc” and can be ring. This is why we look to patterns like the Hero’s Journey to shape the Agile Novel.

We want to define an arc for the Hero’s Journey. Campbell teaches us that the hero is all f-sacrifice (but rarely about martyrdom). The hero starts out self-absorbed. There is a sepam family, friends, and society. The hero is then on a journey for identity and to return to thoseseparated from. During this journey, the hero encounters many characters. Often, these char

veal the hero’s Missing Inner Quality (more on that in Chapter 5) The hero must find a w

egrate these characters into himself.

Take, for example, J. R. R. Tolkein’s The Lord of the Rings[13]. It begins with Frodo whppy Hobbit. He enjoys life in the Shire, tending to his uncle Bilbo’s garden. Gandalf the wpears and challenges Frodo to return Bilbo’s ring to its origin and destroy it. Frodo resisimately goes on the journey accompanied by a few of his Hobbit friends. Later, he meets Aramli, Legolas, and Boromir. Together they engage on a quest to return the ring to Cracks of Dd destroy it.

In this story, Frodo starts out in his Ordinary World (the shire). Then “something hap

andalf lays down a challenge). Frodo is separated from friends and family as he embarks o



est. He meets new friends who each have a quality that Frodo will need to acquire to accomplission.

We also see this in The Wizard of Oz. Dorothy encounters the Scarecrow who lacks brainn Man who lacks heart, and the Cowardly Lion who lacks courage. These are all thingrothy doesn’t seem to have. In helping her new friends find their missing qualitiesorporates them into herself.

2 Christopher Vogler’s 12 Stages

ristopher Vogler is a screen writer and Hollywood development executive. During his tisney studios he read Campbell’s work and felt there was a strong correlation between the Hurney and the great movies of our time. In 1986 Vogler wrote a memo that took Hollyworm. The or iginal memo was entitled A Practical Guide to the Hero With a Thousand Faces.[often affectionately called, merely, The Memo. Later, Vogler would go on to write an instrucide for screenwriters called The Writer’s Journey: Mythic Structure for Writers[14]. Hergler ’s 12 stages and how we use them at Agile Writers:

.1 The Ordinary World

e hero starts out in her Ordinary World. This is how she lives her daily life. We get to knoro and what motivates her. In Agile Writer terms, we learn the hero’s Life Goal. It is often a go somewhere or do something far down the road. For example, in Star Wars, Luke Skywsires to go to the Academy and fly with his friends. Some other examples of the Life Goal are

running away to New York City to become a rock starbecoming the vice president of marketinggetting out of Kansas

Another important element of the hero that we learn in the Ordinary World is what we at iters call the Missing Inner Quality. This is a personal hurt or personality flaw that impede

ro from moving forward in their life. This can be such things as:

lack of confidencelack of intelligence

lack of compassioncowardiceselfishnesslack of empathylack of humility

As we’ll learn soon, this Missing Inner Quality is the single most important element to defur hero. It is the thing that your hero must overcome to complete their heroic arc. The Miner Quality, more than anything else, is what your story is about.

.2 The Call To Adventure



e Call to Adventure is an event that alerts the hero that there is something more to the worlat she already can see. It is often a request from a mentor character (as in the case of Frodo

w earlier) but can also come in other forms. The Call is often accompanied by an Inciting Inich launches the hero into her Special World. However, when The Call is issued, the hero

cepts it right away.

In Agile Writer terms, this is where the Main Goal is described. This is a tangible desire thro will take on in place of their Life Goal. This is the thing the hero is chasing for the rest ry.

.3 The Refusal of the Call

ere is usually a refusal of The Call that includes reasons why the hero cannot go. This is impit reflects the hero’s ties to the Ordinary World.

In Star Wars Obi-Wan Kenobi (the mentor) lays down the challenge to Luke Skywalker whys “You should come with me to Alderon and become a Jedi Knight like your father before ke doesn’t take up this call right away. The first thing he says is “I have obligations on the f

is clearly defines his attachment to his Ordinary World. It’s only when he realizes that his auncle have been killed that these ties are broken and Luke is free to go with Obi-Wan oventure.

Once the hero has accepted the Call to Adventure, she crosses a threshold into the Special W’ll talk about that soon.

.4 Meeting the Mentor

ere is often a character that guides the hero in the Special World. Vogler lists this as the

ge in the Hero’s Journey, but it can occur at any time before then as well. The mentor iaracter who gives sage advice to the hero and bestows gifts upon the hero. A mentor is nsidered an older person, but that’s not always the case. The mentor can be a teacher, or a pasten a younger sibling. There may be more than one mentor character. Any character who vice to the hero that the hero uses to maneuver the Special World is considered a mentor chara

In Star Wars Luke has an obvious mentor in Obi-Wan Kenobi. Katniss Everdeen finds a mHaymitch Abernathy. As you can see, the “look and feel” of the mentor character is wildly var

the one hand we have a wise old man in the form of Obi-Wan Kenobi and on the other han

ve the drunken ne’er-do-well Haymitch. But in both cases, the mentor gives advice and gifts.

.5 Crossing the First Threshold

ce the hero has accepted the Call to Adventure, she is ready to cross over into the Special We Special World is not necessarily a different location. It can be just a new situation to dealis transition from the Ordinary World to the Special World is often accompanied by some fonsportation. The hero may take a flight from one city to another. Or she may go on a long car

Luke Skywalker crosses his first threshold when he walks into the Cantina on Tatoine

ntina is a very different place from his Ordinary World. It is filled with many strange creatu



oud with bizarre music. And life there is cheap. Obi-Wan has to rescue Luke by killing a matime Luke leaves the Cantina, he has a new Main Goal - to return the droids to the rebel ba

deron. This is a clear and tangible goal. We will know when this goal is achieved becauoids will be in the rebel hands. And if the droids are destroyed, then we’ll also know that ours failed.

.6 Tests, Allies, Enemies

this stage, the hero is tested in ways that prepare her for the upcoming challenges. The hero

o make new friends (allies) and enemies. This stage covers a lot of ground, in a literary sensell bring more focus to this in the chapter on Storyboarding, Chapter 7.

If you look at Luke Skywalker at this point, he is making new friends in the form of Hand Chewbacca the Wookie. He’s also being tested by learning to use the light saber.

.7 Approach to the Inmost Cave

ter having established her friends and allies, the hero must come face to face with her enemy.

ends this was shown by the knight vanquishing all his enemies in the outer caves and then coface down the dragon in the innermost cave.

For Luke, he and his friends are being pulled into the Death Star where they will face the fthe Imperial Guard.

.8 Ordeal

about the midpoint of the story the hero does fierce battle with her enemies. This is an impge of the story as it is where the hero will put all her energy into a decision that forces her to

ve forward or go back. Once the decision is made, there will be no opportunities for the heback. The hero will be totally committed to her new path.

For Luke, he blows up the detention bay to rescue the princess and becomes an enemy ote. From here, Luke cannot go back to the farm on Tatoine. He is fully committed to being a d now, things start to go badly for our hero.

.9 Reward

e hero gains an interim reward that she must return to the Ordinary World. In the days of drd knights, it wasn’t enough to have killed the dragon and collect the treasure. The knight still h

back to the castle without falling prey to other dangers.

Luke saves Princess Leia from the detention bay. Now, the second half of his journey begins to return the princess and the droids to the rebel base.

.10 The Road Back

w that the hero has attained her reward, she must return it to her Ordinary World. This is n

y thing as she must cover the same ground she covered to get the reward to begin with.



Luke escapes the Death Star and enters into deadly battle with the tie fighters. Just as he s escaped, Princess Leia points out that they are probably being tracked back to the rebeley aren’t out of danger yet.

.11 Resurrection

this stage, the hero must have a climactic battle with the forces mounted against her. The herok to have failed in her quest. But that failure is a prelude to the thrilling completion of theal.

At this point Luke and his new allies must battle the Imperial Fleet and destroy the Deathere is a point where Luke appears to be doomed, but he is saved at the last moment and destroath Star.

.12 Return With the Elixir

nally, the hero returns to the Ordinary World, not necessarily with the Main Goal, but wisons learned on her Hero’s Journey. Vogler points out that the elixer is not a potion, but a l

rned.

In the relatively short ending of Star Wars, Luke has conquered his lack of confidence whiw finds in The Force.

3 Summary

e Agile Novel is a Hero’s Journey. The story starts in the hero’s Ordinary World, then “Someppens” and the hero is propelled into a Special World. The hero meets friends, allies, and end will suffer trials and tribulations. The hero overcomes her character flaws to obtain her d

e hero then returns home with the lesson learned.

I’ve given only the barest overview of Vogler’s 12 Stages here. I recommend you readiter’s Journey: Mythic Structure for Writers[14] for the full treatment.

1.The Ordinary World

2.The Call To Adventure

3. The Refusal of the Call4.

Meeting the Mentor5.

Crossing the First Threshold6.

Tests, Allies, and Enemies7.

Approach to the Innermost Cave8.



Ordeal9.

Reward10.

The Road Back11.

Resurrection12.

Return With the Elixir



The Hero Abstract

w that you know what we consider the hero of the story, take a look at the second document ate to describe your Agile Novel. The Hero Abstract is a one- or two-page description of

ro. Remember that regardless of whether your hero is male or female, we still call them theu want your reader to “become” the hero. The reader will experience your world through thee hero should have universal qualities, emotions, and motivations so that your readers will idse qualities in themselves.

1 The Missing Inner Quality

e hero should start out with a Missing Inner Quality. This is an internal character flaw that thst overcome by the end of the story. This is the single most important element of your novelssing Inner Quality is the one thing your hero must acquire. Even more than the Main Goal,ro is on a quest to discover the Missing Inner Quality and resolve it.

The Missing Inner Quality can be nearly anything. Here are a few examples that other

iters have used in their stories:

Lacking CourageLacking EmpathyLacking Self-ConfidenceCowardiceSelfishnessCrankinessLack of Compassion

Lack of EmpathyLack of HumilitySelf-AbsorptionAntisocial behaviorNaivetéStubbornnessDisobedienceShyness

For Luke Skywalker in Star Wars, the Missing Inner Quality is a lack of confidence. We sehis interactions with his uncle. Luke is not confident enough in himself to stand up to his uncke his own decisions.

2 The Main Goal

e hero should have a clear, identifiable desire. We call this the “Main Goal” and it is establisge 2: The Special World. It must be a tangible desire so that it will be clear when the hero aSurprisingly, it isn’t important if the hero gets her Main Goal. Remember, it is the hero’s M

ner Quality that must be attained by the end of the story.



The Main Goal for Luke Skywalker is the return of the droids to the rebel base anstruction of the Death Star. Dorothy’s Main Goal is to return to Kansas and her Auntie Em. Ines the Main Goal is tangible - we’ll know clearly whether the hero has achieved the Main G

t.

I can’t stress how important it is to create a tangible Main Goal. The Main Goal is not to gone’s miserable existence, or to be happy, or to be rich. These things cannot be touched and it be clear when they are acquired. The Main Goal is a particular thing that the hero and the rll identify as something that can be accomplished. So, translate “get out of one’s misstence” into “living in the old mansion on the hill.” Translate “to be happy” into “putdding ring on Mary Hatch’s finger.” Translate “to be rich” into “owning the yellow Lambothe show room floor.” These things are tangible - they can be touched.

For a good example of a story where the hero doesn’t get the Main Goal, consider Rudy. Ivie, Sean Astin plays Rudy Riettiger who is a high school senior and wants nothing more thy football for the Fighting Irish (his Main Goal). But he doesn’t have enough money or the gs Missing Inner Quality - intelligence) to enter Notre Dame. So, he works hard in junior cd gains acceptance. Eventually, he is permitted to play on the practice squad but is not on the o

ter. By the end of the film, Rudy confides in his mentor (Fortune) that he has failed. He feels tdn’t get to play and he’s wasted his time. His mentor reminds him that he has accomplished aal: as a graduate of Notre Dame he will have opportunities that his friends and family never ha

In this example we see clearly that Rudy did not achieve his Main Goal of playing for me. But he did overcome his Missing Inner Quality of a lack of intelligence.

Make the Main Goal something real, tangible, and solid so that the hero and the reader willen it is acquired. It was clear when Luke Skywalker achieved his Main Goal because the Deat

s destroyed. Not only did he destroy the Death Star, but he acquired his Missing Inner Qualercoming his lack of confidence using the Force. We know Dorothy has achieved her Mainen she wakes up in her own bed in Auntie Em’s house. These are clear, identifiable and tan

ain Goals.

3 The Life Goal

e hero starts out in her Ordinary World as having an overall goal in life. It’s often nebulous: ay, to go someplace, or to do something down the road. Often a young hero wants to graduate

hool or college. Or perhaps the hero wants to go to New York City and become a rock star

e Goal is the reason the hero gets out of the bed every day.

The Life Goal is interrupted by the Inciting Incident at the end of Stage 1: The Hero alaced with the Main Goal at the end of Stage 2: The Special World. (We’ll talk more about thapter 7.)

In The Wizard of Oz Dorothy wants to get out of Kansas – to go over the rainbow (but terrupted by the Inciting Incident of the twister).

In Star Wars Luke wants to go to the Academy and fly with his school buddies (that perrupted when the Imperial Stormtroopers murder his aunt and uncle). In Rudy, he wants to wo



steel mill until one day his best friend is killed in an explosion. In each case the hero has al that is to get away or to do something down the road until it is interrupted by the Inident.

4 Sympathetic Qualities

ur reader should sympathize with the hero. So you’ll want to endow her with characteristicke the hero relatable.

For example, classic Disney characters are missing one or both parents. Orphans get inmpathy. If you will recall, Harry Potter, Luke Skywalker, and Dorothy Gale are all orphans sed by aunts and uncles.

You can also instill sympathy for the hero if they have a physical shortcoming. If you recaegory House from the TV series House, we’re introduced to a character who is very unlik’s rude, acerbic, condescending, and mean. However, we give him instant sympathy becaulks with a limp due to pain in his leg. (House is also a healer and very smart. These aralities that endear us to him.)

Giving the hero an economic or social shortcoming can also create sympathy. In Dickens’pectations young Pip (also an orphan) is a street urchin who is taken in by a blacksmith. One

wyer comes to his home and tells him he is to be taken to London to become a gentleman. Weinitial sympathy for Pip because of his low social status. Other examples include Aladdi

nderella.

Yet another way to garner sympathy is for the hero to start out at the bottom of their socofessional ladder. These underdogs garner instant sympathy as we all like to see the littlercome their challenges and rise to the top of their game. Such movies as Rocky and The Kd are examples of the underdog story.

5 Flaws

e hero should have flaws. The reader will identify with the hero’s flaws and see them in hiere are emotional and character flaws – some serious, others not so serious. Some common :

AlcoholismSexGamblingAngerFaulty memory

A “perfect” hero is boring. Superman is nearly too powerful and perfect. Batman, on the nd is a tortured character. Often, the hero’s flaws interfere with their goals. Overcoming obsows the hero.

6 The Greatest Fear



s useful to identify the hero’s Greatest Fear. This is not the Missing Inner Quality. At some ppecially near the climax, you will want to force the hero to face this fear.

If you remember the movie Raiders of the Lost Ark Indiana Jones has a fear of snakes. Whally finds his Main Goal (the Ark of the Covenant) there is a sea of snakes between him and throlls onto his back and mutters “Snakes, why did it have to be snakes?” Indiana must ignor of snakes to get the object of his desire.

7 The Mentor

e Mentor is any character who gives advice or special gifts to the hero. The Mentor guides theough the “Special World.” The hero may have more than one Mentor. Often, the Mentor/Mationship ends and the hero goes on alone.

In Star Wars, Obi-Wan Kenobi was Luke’s mentor. He informs Luke that his father was aight and lays down the “Call to Adventure” by saying “You should come with me to Aldero

come a Jedi Knight like your father before you.” Obi-Wan also gives Luke a special gift m of a light saber. These are both invitations to the Special World of outer space adventure.

8 Allies

lies are characters who are friendly to the hero. Usually Allies are accumulated in the first hAgile Novel.

A great example of allies is in the Wizard of Oz. Dorothy meets the Scarecrow, Tin Manwardly Lion. These characters then assist the hero in her Main Goal for the rest of the storyke Skywalker, Han Solo, Chewbacca the Wookie, and Princess Leia are Allies.

9 The Opposition & Enemies

e Opposition (aka Villain) is the character who keeps the hero from the Main Goal. The Oppousually introduced in the Special World stage of the story. The Opposition is very much like at lacks selflessness and caring attributes. The best Opposition characters are equal to, or bettehero in strength and cunning. The stronger the Opposition, the stronger the hero.

Great Opposition characters from the movies include the Wicked Witch of the West fromzard of Oz, Darth Vader from Star Wars, and Cruella de Vil from One Hundred and

lmations.

It is important to realize that the Opposition is always a character in the story, not the hcumstance and not “nature” and her friends.

Think about Sheriff Brodie in Jaws. Many people think of the shark (named “Bruce”) aposition character. But in fact, killing the shark is really the Main Goal. The Opposition yor of the town. This is the character who tells Brodie that he can’t do what he most wants t

ut down the beach to keep the townspeople and tourists safe from the shark. The mayor

stacles in the way so that Brodie must take drastic measures.



Another example of the Opposition character is in The Perfect Storm. Here, it seems thposition is the storm itself. And in many ways, this is a story of “man vs. nature.” But ba

ore, there is an Opposition character in the form of Bob Brown, the owner of the ship. Browhtning rod for the town’s anger and concern for the men on the ship. Remember, even wheposition is a force of nature, you will still need a character that represents the challenges thees.

Finally, notice that we don’t use the word villain when describing the Opposition. This is bellain” implies evil intent. The Opposition isn’t always a villain. Consider the story of a youno wants to go to prom with a boy from the wrong part of town. Her mother may disapprove y and attempt to hamper the girl’s efforts to see him. The mother isn’t necessarily a villain - shr daughter’s best interests at heart. So we say the mother is the Opposition character in the stor

Enemies are the friends of the opposition. They are the ones who help the Opposition thwaorts of the hero in achieving the Main Goal. Such characters as the Stormtroopers in Star Waring monkeys in The Wizard of Oz, and the henchmen in One Hundred and One Dalmations aemies. These characters do the Opposition’s dirty work for them.

10 Summary

e Hero Abstract helps you to fully describe your hero and the characters surrounding her.

The Missing Inner QualityThe Main GoalThe Life GoalSympathetic QualitiesFlawsThe Greatest FearThe MentorAlliesOpposition & Enemies

emplate of the Hero Abstract that you can fill in can be found in Appendix B.



Plotting And Pacing

1 The Problem

Agile Writers we started out using Vogler’s 12-stages of the Hero’s Journey. We had a proere do each of the stages occur in the story? That is, how long should one spend on each stage

This problem was abundantly clear when a friend of mine asked me to review his book. It

ence fiction novel about giant chickens from outer space who come to Earth to kill andmans on a spit. Sort of Kentucky Friend Chicken, but in reverse. The problem with his bookt by the time I had read up to page 100, he had killed off all the characters he had introduced.

So I called him up and asked him who was the main character in the story. He replied thet a young co-ed around page 150 who befriends a professor and his wife. They are in

ading east from California for Florida where a rocket waited to take them to a safe planet.

Well, there was the story! We have a hero (the co-ed), a mentor (the professor), an allyfe), a Life Goal (college education), and a Main Goal (to escape to a safe planet). But most pn’t going to read 150 pages to get to the meat of the story. You really need to introduce the he

ge 1.

So I went in search of examples of methods of storytelling that not only followed the Hurney but also helped us know where each part of the Hero’s Journey occurs and how long to sre.

2 Structure

tarted my search for structure with Aristotle. He had analyzed plays and declared that they hginning, middle, and end – the classic three-act structure. This was what I had been taught in hool but it left a lot to the imagination about what was contained in each act and how long to re.

My next stop was Gustav Freytag’s 5-act structure: exposition, rising action, climax, fion, and resolution. The details of what goes into each of these stages were still vague.

I picked up a copy of Syd Field’s Screenplay: The Foundations of Screenwriting[5]. In it

scribes a three-act structure like Aristotle’s but he gets very specific about what happens in ea

Screenwriters have a different set of problems to solve than novelists. A typical movie laso hours. That’s 120 minutes to tell a complete story. As novelists we have a lot more flexibilitvels can span anywhere from 200 to 800 pages. Screenwriters reckon that a page of a screenslates to about one minute of screen time. So a good screenplay is going to be 120 pagesld gets very specific in his book about how long to spend in each act of the story. At last,

und the level of detail I was looking for.

Not only was Field more specific, but he also laid out important plot points that occur w

ch act. The Inciting Incident occurs about halfway into the 30-page first act. The First Turning



curs at the end of the first act and frames the dramatic question that must be answered by the emovie.

The second act occurs on pages 30 through 90 and is divided in half by the Midpoint wrks the beginning of the decline of the hero. (Some people use the midpoint to divide the sinto act 2a and act 2b.) This set of pages ends with the second turning point which is a devasment for the hero of the movie.

The third act runs from pages 90 through 120 and is divided in half by the climax of the

ter the climax comes the resolution.

This came much closer to describing what specifically happens in a story’s plot. But eded to figure out where the Hero’s Journey fit into each act of the story.

A friend had purchased some screenwriting software and with it came a video called The Ho Journeys.[15] In it Christopher Vogler (remember him?) and fellow screenwriter Michael H

uthor of Writing Screenplays That Sell[7]) compared their two methods of storytelling.

Hauge had defined a 6-stage structure similar to Field’s. In it he lays out the six stages of a e Setup (10%), The New Situation (15%), Progress (25%), Complications and Higher S5%), The Final Push (15%), and The Aftermath (10%). Each stage ends with a major turning p

In the same video, Christopher Vogler explained his 12 stages and overlaid them on Haugges. Finally, I had found the mapping I was looking for.

I felt that what the screenwriters were doing was laying down the pace and tempo for a goode plot of the story should be independent of the medium it is presented in. So, if these merked for movies, they should work just as well for novels.

Hauge issued a challenge to all his students to go to every new-release movie for a wholed see how his 6-stage structure matches popular films. I took up that challenge in 2012 and congo to every major release film that comes to local movie theaters. In fact, my good friendlison now joins me in this exercise. Scott is a professor of psychology at the Universchmond where he studies heroes and heroism. Together we review one or two new movies a our blog ReelHeroes.net. We analyze not just the movie’s quality but also the quality of thethe story. Together we published a collection of our reviews in the book Reel Heroes: Twoperts Critique The Movies[12].

When I started Agile Writers we attempted to structure our stories around Hauge’s 6ucture but we ran into some problems. The first problem was that the “Progress”omplications and Higher Stakes” stages together took 50% of the story. This was just too lartion of the story to write without some further turning points. Another problem was the divthe percentages of 10%, 15%, 25%, 25%, 15%, and 10%. These percentages didn’t seem to thin the framework of a novel. Finally, there was no stage that described where a prologlogue fit into the story.

After watching about 100 movies I was able to fully understand Field’s, Hauge’s, and Vo

thods and then apply their lessons to novel writing.



3 Stories Are Stories

e patterns of the Agile Writer Method are derived from screenplays, but we find these paply to novels, too. The difference between screenplays and novels is in detail and presentripts are dialog-heavy whereas novels balance dialog and narration. Following these patternape your plot and solve pacing issues.

While I get specific about how many pages you spend in each section of the story, there isflexibility. For example, I recommend spending 30 pages introducing the hero. Don’t be concyour novel ends up taking just 20 pages for this. What is important is that you don’t wait unti0 to introduce your hero as my friend did in his story.

4 Simplifying Assumptions

make several simplifying assumptions...

You are going to write a novel of 250 pages. This is not an arbitrary number. Publishers dnt to take a chance on an untested author with an 800-page tome. Also, most readers want to r

ok with a certain amount of substance. A novel of 250 pages is on the low end of what most repect.

You are going to write 250 words per page. If you go to the bookstore, pull a few novels oelves, and count the number of words on an average page you’ll find about 250-300 words toge. So you’ll want your typed manuscript to come in at about the same number of words per p

To accomplish this, set your word processor to the right font and page dimensions. We finting the page margins to 1 inch all around (top, bottom, left, and right margins) and the fomes-New-Roman 12-point (double-spaced) works best. With these settings you’ll write abourds per page. This way, a type-written manuscript page will approximate the final size of a p

ge. In other words, however many pages you type will be about the number of pages in nted book.

Our final simplifying assumption is that you are going to write 10 pages (double-spacedek for 25 weeks. This will amount to 250 pages in six months. This adds up to around 6rds (250 words x 250 pages = 62,500 to be exact). Don’t be daunted by this number. It is a

hievable goal. Most of our writers find 10 pages a week (2,500 words) is a comfortable amoiting and fits most lifestyles.

5 Summary

The Agile Writer Method is based upon screenwriting techniques.Stories are Stories: The lessons from screenwriting translate to novel writing.Introduce the hero on page oneSimplifying assumption #1: You’ll write a novel of 250 pagesSimplifying assumption #2: You’ll write 250 words per page

Simplifying assumption #3: You’ll write 10 pages per week amounting to a first-draft novemonths



The Agile Storyboard

1 Introduction

gure 7.1.: The Agile Storyboard

The Agile Storyboard is a structured outline of your story. It draws upon Aristotle, Cam



gler, Field, and Hauge to create a framework for your novel. By using this approach you “c” your story into manageable portions. The Agile Storyboard requires you to think aboutry before you start writing manuscript pages. You’ll find it easier to change your Storyboarchange your manuscript.

The Agile Storyboard divides your story into 8 stages. Each stage ends with a major tuint. When you finish your Storyboard, you’ll have a high-level description of your story. u’ll begin writing your manuscript pages. Each stage of the Storyboard represents 30 pagur manuscript.

The stages of the Agile Storyboard are as follows:

age 0: The Prologue.

This is an optional stage that includes foreshadowing of The Special World.age 1: The Hero.

Where we learn the hero’s Ordinary World, Missing Inner Quality, and Life Goal.

age 2: The Special World.

The hero is cast into a special situation or location and must learn the rules of the Special WThe Special World ends with a new Main Goal for the hero.

age 3: Discovery.

The hero has learned the rules of the Special World and is now discovering who she is Special World.

age 4: Growth.

The hero is growing in the Special World and becomes the master of the Special Worldstage ends with the point of Commitment where the hero makes a plan to get the Main Goal

age 5: Decline.

Things start going badly for our hero. The plan for getting the Main Goal is still working.age 6: Despair.

The plan for getting the Main Goal is in jeopardy. Near the end of Despair someone close hero may die. Getting the Main Goal appears to be impossible.

age 7: The Gathering Storm.

The hero and her friends come together to create a new plan for getting the Main GoalGathering Storm ends with the climax where the resolution of the Main Goal is determinedhero uses his Missing Inner Quality to achieve the Main Goal.

age 8: Resolution.

We wrap up any subplots. We learn the final disposition of the hero and friends. This mawith an optional Epilogue showing the disposition of the hero and friends years down the r

2 Stage 0: The Prologue



all the Prologue “Stage 0” because it is optional. Most stories don’t require a prologue. Inny writers misuse the prologue by setting up the world that the reader is about to enter. Thistake. We call it “homework for the reader.” You don’t want to force the reader to learn aboutro or his world by dumping a lot of exposition in the prologue.

We have seen this at Agile Writers and I discourage it. In one case a writer created a futurld where people were put on trial and subjected to a virtual reality for their sentence. This

ntastic idea. But the author dragged the story down by creating a lengthy prologue that describure world in detail. It also described the hero’s backstory and motivations. These are all thingreader should learn for themselves through the execution of the main story, not in a brain du prologue.

When you meet me in person for the first time I might introduce myself like this:

“Hello! My name is Greg Smith. I was born in Maine. My father was a traveling salesmas always on the road when I was a child. I really think this affected me deeply as I was misher figure in my formative years. My mother had always wanted to be a dancer but suffered f

mp she acquired after a car accident in her teens...”

This sort of personal introduction is probably not necessary and quite frankly could becomfortable for you as my new friend. You will learn these bits of “backstory” about me ane as we get to know each other. What we actually do in real life is start with where you andday and move forward.

The prologue in your book is no different. You don’t want to dump all the details of youd her life in one section of the book. You want to inject it into your story and let it unfold natu

So, if the prologue is not the place to expose your hero and her backstory - just what is a

ologue for?

The properly written prologue is set in the past (sometimes the distant past). It foreshaents that will occur in the second stage - The Special Wor ld. It should be a self-contained storyn right and should be as active as possible.

For example, in my reimagining of the King Arthur legend, the story doesn’t start with yWart.” Instead it starts with a prologue in which we meet Uther Pendragon. He is riding his

ough the dark forest and is being chased by the black knight. If the black knight captures the

calibur then Camelot falls to the dark forces forever. Pendragon realizes that he can’t escapight and dismounts his horse. He pulls Excalibur from its scabbard and plunges it into a largeying “Let only a man pure of heart pull the sword from the stone.” The black knight overcomels Pendragon. But he cannot pull the sword from the stone. Camelot is safe for now. Eologue.

Then we start chapter one with the introduction of young Wart who is an orphan being raisuncle. Wart’s older brother is a wannabe knight. They have travelled to the city for a joust wthe young men will attempt to pull the sword from the stone. Wart’s only job is to keep track

der brother’s sword. But he’s forgotten the sword and goes looking for a replacement whmes upon the sword in the stone. He tries his hand at pulling the sword out and it comes out



his hands. Thus the boy king is born and Wart enters the next stage of the story - The Sorld. We later learn that Wart is really Arthur who is the son of Uther Pendragon.

In my version of King Arthur’s legend the prologue is its own mini-story with a beginddle and end. It creates the backstory of the sword in the stone so that we know how importanen Wart pulls the sword from the stone. Likewise, the prologue foreshadows The Special Woich Wart becomes Arthur, King of Camelot.

We see this in Star Wars, too. The story doesn’t start on the dusty planet of Tatoine with

ywalker. No, it begins in outer space where a large Imperial destroyer space ship overcomch smaller ship. Darth Vader bursts into the ship and abducts Princess Leia. But not beforpatches a life boat containing the two droids R2-D2 and C-3PO. She has entrusted R2 withportant information and a message for Obi-Wan Kenobi.

This prologue introduces us to what will become Luke’s Special World - the world of ace and the Empire. Now that the stage has been set we can meet Luke in his Ordinary World aventure can begin.

3 Stage 1: The Hero

e first thirty pages of your book are critical. In fact, the first page, even the first paragrapntence are critical. Once someone looks at your book cover and is motivated to open your bok at the first page, you need to create a question in the reader’s mind that will compel them to

read more - and hence buy your book. You must establish four things in Stage 1:

The Ordinary WorldThe Life GoalThe Missing Inner QualityThe Inciting Incident

In addition, you should expose these elements of the Hero’s Journey:

Meeting the MentorThe Call to AdventureThe Refusal of the Call

Crossing the First Threshold

.1 The Ordinary World

the first thirty pages you need to introduce your hero and her Ordinary World. This is the ur hero lives in before her journey begins. It is critical that the reader know who the hero isginning of the story so that they will understand when the hero changes.

In Star Wars we’re introduced to Luke Skywalker. He lives on a dusty desert planet tooine. He is an orphan and lives with his aunt and uncle on a moisture farm.



.2 The Life Goal

ong with the Ordinary World, the hero must have a Life Goal. This is what the hero wants ginning of the story - her hopes, dreams and aspirations. It is often very simple, even nebulouually to go somewhere or do something down the road.

For the teenager it may be to go to New York City and become a rock star. For a waitrght be to have a restaurant of her own. For the corporate employee it might be to become thesident of her division. Whatever it is, it is a long-term goal. It is why the hero gets up

rning. It is what motivates our hero to push on every day. Whatever it is, this is the path thro is on that will be interrupted by the Inciting Incident when a new Main Goal is selected.

Luke exposes his desire to fly with his schoolmates early in the story. He wants to get awaydull life on Tatooine.

.3 The Missing Inner Quality

e Missing Inner Quality is something we’ve discussed before (see Section 5.1 : The Missing

ality) and must be exposed in the first thirty pages. It is an inner pain that must be mended bd of the story. Remember, regardless of what the Main Goal is, it is the Missing Inner Qualitst be found by the end of the story. As mentioned earlier, these are such things as a la

nfidence, a lack of empathy, or some other missing quality. Ultimately, this Missing Inner Qst be used to gain the Main Goal.

Luke shows that he lacks confidence when he is at breakfast with his Uncle Owen. He exprdesire to go the academy and fly with his old friends. But is not confident enough in hims

nd up to his uncle and do what he wants to do with his life.

.4 Meeting the Mentor

e hero should meet their mentor in Stage 1 (The Hero) or in Stage 2 (The Special Wmemer, the Mentor is a character who gives advice or gifts. This is the character who explaindes the hero through the Special World. Very often, the mentor / mentee relationship ends an

ro must go on alone.

Luke meets Obi-Wan Kenobi when R2-D2 runs away and Luke must retrieve him.

.5 The Call to Adventure

e hero must be challenged to change their current path and go on to the path of The Special Wis challenge is often laid down by the Mentor. It can be a verbal challenge or it can be a situati

For example, in Star Wars Obi-Wan Kenobi says “You should come with me to Alderonrbal invitation to The Special World.

.6 The Refusal of the Call

e hero almost always turns down the Call. This is the mark of a true hero, and it exposes the hs to his ordinary world.



In Star Wars Luke replies to Obi-Wan’s call by saying “I can’t go with you, I have obligatiofarm.” This is a clear exposition of Luke’s ties to his Ordinary World.

.7 Turning Point #1: The Inciting Incident

e Inciting Incident is the event in the story that upsets the hero’s Ordinary World. It severo’s ties to the Ordinary World and allows him to move on.

In Star Wars, Luke returns to the farm and learns that Uncle Owen and Aunt Beru have

urdered by the Imperial Stormtroopers. This breaks any ties Luke has to his ordinary world an go on his adventure.

.8 Crossing the First Threshold

ce the hero is free to go on their adventure, they cross over from their Ordinary World intecial World. This often appears in the story as some sort of travel. It can be a plane ride, trainsome other mode of transportation.

In Star Wars we see Luke race along in his land speeder. Then he crosses a literal threshold walks through the door of the Cantina where he is introduced to The Special World - a wo

ange music, strange creatures, and where life is cheap.

In The Hunger Games Katniss Everdeen rides a train from her Ordinary World of District 1Special World of the Capitol. Note that this is just the first threshold for both Luke and K

ere are others to come.

.9 Summary of Stage 1: The Hero

u have a lot to do in the first thirty pages. Many people are challenged to get it all in therate a compelling opening for the reader.

You must establish four things in Stage One: The Hero.The Hero’s Ordinary WorldThe Hero’s Life GoalThe Hero’s Missing Inner QualityTurning Point #1: The Inciting Incident

And these elements of the Hero’s Journey as well.Meeting the MentorThe Call to AdventureThe Refusal of the CallCrossing the First Threshold

4 Stage 2: The Special World

ce the hero has Crossed the First Threshold, they enter a Special World. This could be a physw location or just a new situation. As we have already discussed, Luke Skywalker ’s transition

ecial World of outer space is illustrated by the entry into the Cantina where there are many dif



ecies and the rules are different than they were on the farm. Whatever the Special Worldould be significantly different from the Ordinary World the hero came from.

If you wrote a Prologue, there should be some sort of link from the Prologue to the Sporld. For example, in Star Wars Luke meets up with Han Solo who takes him away to outer spke’s new Special World.

There are four things you must expose in the Special World:

The Rules of the Special WorldTests, Allies, and EnemiesThe OppositionThe Hero’s Main Goal

.1 The Rules of the Special World

ce leaving the Ordinary World the rules of the Special World must be learned. We see this inger Games as Katniss and Peeta ride the train to the Capitol. Their mentor, Haymitch, insm in the ways of the Hunger Games. This is a classic example of the mentor giving sage a

d it often occurs in the Special World.

In Star Wars we see Luke get in trouble at the bar of the Cantina. Two unsavory charproach Luke and tell him they don’t like him. Luke tries to ignore the two but they prepare to m. Obi-Wan Kenobi interposes himself and kills one of the attackers. The lesson learned is ts Special World, life is cheap.

While in the Special World the hero’s Missing Inner Quality must be further exposed. L

veté and lack of confidence is shown in the last example as well.

.2 Allies and Friends

e hero will also meet new allies and friends. Allies are people who are interested in helpinro attain the Main Goal. In the Special World, Luke meets Han Solo and Chewbacca the Wn represents what Luke wants to be - a space pilot with his own ship. Han is going to help

hieve his Main Goal of returning the droids to the rebel base. As such, Han is an ally. Chewbaesser character and doesn’t interact with Luke much. Chewie is Han’s sidekick and so is mor

end to Luke. The friend is someone friendly to the hero but may not be invested in his Main G

And lest we forget Luke’s extant allies in the form of the droids C-3PO and R2-D2.

.3 The Opposition and Enemies

e hero will likely meet the Opposition for the first time in the Special World. As we’ve discviously, the Opposition character is not “nature and her friends.” Nor is the Opposition the hficult situation or lot in life. In the Agile Novel the Opposition is always a character.

The Opposition is very much like a hero. In fact, the Opposition is often someone else’som our hero’s point of view, the Opposition lacks the qualities of caring and selflessness.



der in Star Wars is a great example. He has many of the qualities that make up a great hero (sart, resilient, charismatic, and inspiring - at least to his followers). But he lacks the qualiting and selflessness as demonstrated by his treatment of Princess Leia. You can read more Great Eight Characteristics of heroes in Scott Allison’s book[1].

The hero may also meet enemies - these are friends of the Opposition. In Star Wars Hanets up with Greedo, the bounty hunter. The Stormtroopers are also enemies.

.4 Turning Point #2: The Main Goal

age Two concludes at the critical 25% point with the hero trading the Life Goal for the Maine Section 5.2: The Main Goal). The Main Goal is a physical, tangible desire. It is not an emo

hievement (feeling better, stronger, or more confident). It must be a tangible object so thder will know when it has been achieved. As we’ve discussed earlier, it isn’t necessary for theactually achieve the Main Goal. The Main Goal is the thing the hero is chasing for the rest vel. What the hero must acquire is the Missing Inner Quality.

Make note that the hero can “trade up” their Main Goal. Luke Skywalker starts out wanti

urn the droids to the rebel base. Once that goal is achieved, the stakes are raised and he becohter pilot with the Main Goal of destroying the Death Star. Remember, if you change theal be sure the stakes are raised and never lowered.

.5 Summary of Stage 2: The Special World

By the end of Special World the reader should know:The Rules of the Special WorldThe Hero’s Opposition

The Hero’s initial Allies, Friends, and EnemiesTurning Point #2: The Hero’s Main Goal

The remainder of the story is the overcoming of the Hero’s Missing Inner QualityWhile searching for the Main GoalWhich the hero may or may not acquireBut he must always attain the Missing Inner Quality

5 Stage 3: Discovery

Stage 1 we introduced the reader to the hero and her Ordinary World. In Stage 2 the hero pm her Ordinary World into the Special World. Once the rules of the Special World haverned, the hero must discover who she is within the Special World. That occurs in Stascovery.

Learn More about the Hero’s Allies and FriendsThe Hero should be exploring the Special WorldTests and TrialsApproaching the Inmost CaveTurning Point #3: The Reminder



.1 Allies and Friends

with The Special World, during Discovery the hero meets new friends and firms uationship with friends she met in the previous stage. These characters often show the hero whacking. The hero then is learning from her allies and must incorporate their traits into her sel

Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz is a young girl who lacks intelligence, courage, and heart. Soner starts down the yellow brick road before she meets the scarecrow. The scarecrow sings aout having no brain. However, he immediately demonstrates that he has some innate intelligen

cking the apple trees to throw apples at him so that Dorothy can have a snack. This, thenaracter who reflects Dorothy’s own lacking quality and by the end of the story she takes oaracteristic.

For Luke, he has experienced the Special World of the Cantina and is now getting acclimaMillennium Falcon. While there he is learning more about Han and Chewie. For instan

rns that Han is a nonbeliever when he says “I’ve never seen anything to make me believre’s one all-powerful Force controlling everything.” He also learns that Wookies have

mper when R2-D2 is beating him at chess. Han warns “It’s not wise to upset a Wookie.”

.2 Exploring the Special World

e hero often starts to apply the lessons learned in the Special World. In Luke’s case we sehting a remote device that fires pellets at him. Luke is learning to use the light saber that Obs given him. Here, Obi-Wan is exercising his role as mentor - teaching Luke how to manthin the Special World. Luke is having some trouble with the remote when Obi-Wan suggests ain but this time with a helmet and blast shield covering his eyes. Now Luke is truly working w

Special World as he must “reach out” with the Force to “see” the attack from the remote dfore it shoots at him.

.3 Approaching the Inmost Cave

e hero may realize her first trial in the Discovery stage. This is an encounter with the Oppot the hero is probably not quite ready for. It will be a test that the hero may fail. But itportant trial as it exposes that the hero is not fully acclimated to the Special World and stilly to go.

In Vogler’s terms this is “Approaching the Inmost Cave” that we discussed earlier. For Luk

ends, the Millennium Falcon has dropped out of hyperspace and is in the debris field that is wt of Alderaan. They notice a tie fighter flying toward a small moon and they fly towards it.on realize that it is not a small moon but a space station - the Death Star. Before they can retrea

trapped in a tractor beam and are soon to be sucked into the landing bay.

This is a “Belly of the Whale” moment where the hero is brought into the Opposition’s wst likely before she is really ready for it.

.4 Turning Point #3: The Reminder

th all the activity surrounding the events of the Special World and the hero Discovering who



it, the reader may forget that the hero is on a quest for the Main Goal. This is why the Discge ends with a Reminder scene to emphasize and remind the reader what the hero’s mission is

In Star Wars Luke and friends all hide in the cargo bay of the Millennium Falcon. This is bey don’t want the Imperial Stormtroopers to find the droids (remember them?) who have thethe Death Star. This scene reminds the reader of the importance of Luke’s mission and howstakes are.

.5 Summary of Stage 3: Discovery

By the end of Discovery:Learn More about the Hero’s Allies and FriendsThe Hero should be explor ing the Special WorldTests and TrialsApproaching the Inmost CaveTurning Point #3: The Reminder

6 Stage 4: Growth

e fourth stage is Growth. Here the hero has Discovered who she is within the Special World. s 30 pages she is growing in and mastering the Special World. The hero will be tested in waypare her for the second half of the story. The hero is taking more initiative and exercisines of the Special World with more control and deft.

Final Allies and FriendsThe Hero is mastering the Special World

More Tests and TrialsThe hero goes through an Ordeal with a corresponding RewardTurning Point #4: Commitment

.1 Final Allies and Friends

ere may be more friends and enemies introduced at this point - but this is the last timnificant characters are introduced. The problem with introducing important characters aft% point is that it tends to look like a deus ex mechina.

In the days of the early Greeks, poets loved to tell stories that put the hero into an impouation that could only be resolved by a god flying in from Mount Olympus. In fact, duringys, they would have the actor dropped into the scene by a crane. Hence “god” (deus) “from”e machine” (machina). When you add a character late in the story that fixes all problems,

nsidered a modern deus ex mechina - and that is why I recommend against introducing anynificant characters after the Growth stage.

.2 Turning Point #4: Commitment

e ending of this 30-page stage is Commitment. This is an event or decision that causes the h



rn all her bridges such that going back is no longer an option. This occurs at the critical 50%the story. In Vogler’s terms this is the Ordeal. It should be a big event in the story. The heroeive a Reward (again using Vogler’s terms) at the end of the Ordeal.

Let’s look at what is going on with Luke at this point in the movie. Obi-Wan Kenobi has deventure out and disable the tractor beam such that Luke and fr iends can escape the Death Star.n, Chewie, C-3PO and R2-D2 are all waiting in a control room for his return. Then, R2-D2 ke that Princess Leia is being held prisoner in the detention bay. Luke then convinces Haewie to attempt a rescue by storming the detention bay.

Note that at this point in the story Luke is of no interest to the Empire. He’s just a farm boyhanging out with some seedy characters. However, at the moment that he shoots up the detey he becomes an enemy of the state. This is Luke’s moment of commitment. This is his point urn. There is no going back to the farm for Luke. He is a renegade and a rebel.

Luke is demonstrating an emerging confidence - which is his Missing Inner Quality, rememw that he has found something that he wants, he is breaking out of his shell and taking contSpecial Wor ld.

Make sure that your hero makes just such a commitment. This is the second most impne in your story (second only to the climax). Be sure to give careful consideration to your hssing Inner Quality. Create a scene that puts the hero in the position of burning all her bridgemmitment is huge and you must make sure that the impact on your hero is huge as well.

.3 Summary of Stage 4: Growth

By the end of the Growth Stage

The Hero is mastering the Special WorldMore Tests and TrialsYou’ve introduced the last of Allies or FriendsThe hero goes through an Ordeal with a corresponding RewardThis stage ends with an event or decision of Commitment

7 Stage 5: Decline

ter the point of commitment, things start to go badly for our hero. Up to this point the her

en pretty successful at making her way through the Special World. But now the tides are gon and things are going to get tougher.

Things start going badly for our heroThe hero is thwarted by the Opposition in her plan to achieve the Main GoalTurning Point #5: Why are we here?

The hero should be making a plan to acquire the Main Goal. This plan is the subject of theges. The plan may be thwarted by the Opposition and the Opposition’s friends (enemies o

ro).



In Luke’s case, he no sooner rescues Princess Leia when he is faced with the probleaping the detention bay. Leia takes his blaster and blows a hole in the wall which our hero an

ies jump through. Just as they’ve escaped the Stormtroopers, they find themselves in another “the Whale” situation where they are trapped in a trash compactor. The walls of the compactoclose in on the group and they need help from their friends R2-D2 and C-3PO. Finally, thempactor is turned off and our hero and allies escape into the hallways of the Death Star.

.1 Turning Point #5: Why are we here?

with the ending of Stage 3 (Discovery) our reader has been distracted by a number of events wy have overshadowed the Main Goal. The end of Stage 5 is a good time to remind him wh

ro is chasing after. So the last 10 pages are a second reminder of the Main Goal.

In Star Wars we see the reminder spliced into a chase scene. While Luke, Leia, Hanewbacca are in a running gun battle with Stormtroopers, R2-D2 and C-3PO are back at the co

om. While waiting for the return of their friends, a group of Stormtroopers run into the room-D2 and C-3PO hide in a closet. This is a reminder that the droids are the Main Goal - retum to the rebel base is what our heroes are attempting to accomplish.

Make sure that you don’t let your reader forget that your hero has a Main Goal. The lasges of Decline is a great place to do that.

.2 Summary of Stage 5: Decline

By the end of DeclineThings start going badly for our heroThe hero is thwarted by the Opposition in his plan to achieve the Main Goal

Remind the reader what the Main Goal is

8 Stage 6: Despair

e next 30 pages represent a series of failures for the hero that cause her to fall into despair. Bd of this stage, at the critical 75% point, the plan for getting the Main Goal looks impossihieve.

The hero will suffer more trials and tribulationsThe hero will experience a Death, Disappointment or Crisis of FaithAchieving the Main Goal seems impossibleThe hero is on The Road Back

.1 Turning Point #6: Death or Disappointment

the end of Despair, someone close to the hero may die. Or, there may be a signiappointment that makes accomplishing the Main Goal seem impossible. In Christianpirational genres there may be a crisis of faith.



In Luke’s case, the main players have converged on the docking bay and are running towarllennium Falcon. Just then, Luke turns to see Obi-Wan Kenobi in a light saber duel witposition - Darth Vader. Obi-Wan is struck down and Luke is completely demoralized by the lfriend and mentor. When the group escapes in the Falcon, they realize that they must h

cking device attached - thus they are leading the Empire to the rebel base. This is both a Deathsappointment for Luke.

In Vogler’s terms, Luke has his Reward in the form of Princess Leia. He is now on The ck to the Ordinary World of the rebel base.

In Christian and inspirational stories the hero will experience a “crisis of faith” monsider the movie Soul Surfer. Young Bethany is a promising champion surfer and has an ofdel for a surfing magazine. Tragedy strikes and her arm is bitten off by a shark. At her Dea

sappointment point, she seeks out her minister (a mentor character) and asks her how the lr arm fits into God’s plan. This is a crisis of faith moment. The minister admits that she dow and advises Bethany to go on a mission trip. This then is the beginning of Bethany’s stahe Gathering Storm” which we discuss next.

.2 Summary of Stage 6: Despair

By the end of DespairThe hero will suffer more trials and tribulationsTurning Point #6: Death or DisappointmentAchieving the Main Goal seems impossibleThe hero is on The Road Back

9 Stage 7: The Gathering Storm

e hero and allies have suffered a major blow and getting the Main Goal seems impossible.y must regroup and make a new plan to achieve it. This is the Gathering Storm stage and

ginning of the end of the story.

The hero should make a new plan to get the Main GoalThe ResurrectionTurning Point #7: The Climax

In Star Wars there are two Gathering Storm moments. The first one occurs after Luke reth the droids. There is a scene in an auditorium where all the fighter pilots (Luke includedembled and the stolen plans to the Death Star reveal a weakness. Since our hero has led der and his followers to the rebel base, they trade up their or iginal Main Goal (returning the dthe rebels) for a new Main Goal - that of destroying the Death Star. This meeting anormation about how to destroy the Death Star is a Gathering Storm moment.

The second Gathering Storm moment occurs on the flight deck. Luke is saying goodbye tod the droids are preparing his X-Wing fighter for battle. Han and Chewbacca arrive and makeodbyes. This is a classic Gathering Storm moment where our hero and his allies are reunited



t meeting.

.1 Turning Point #7: The Climax

e climax occurs at the end of the Gathering Storm and is the most important scene in your I’ve mentioned earlier, the Main Goal must be resolved by the end of this 30-page stage. W

y ’resolved’ I don’t mean that the hero always achieves it. In fact, it doesn’t matter if the herMain Goal or not. What matters is that the hero acquires her Missing Inner Quality. This is

ur novel is all about.

In Luke’s case the climax comes in a thrilling space battle as the rebels attempt to fly rridor of the Death Star and fire lasers into the exhaust port. Luke has a Resurrection moment is nearly taken out by Darth Vader but Han Solo arrives and shoots Vader’s ship just in time.n demonstrates his newly found confidence when he turns off his targeting computer and “usrce” to fire his lasers into the exhaust port and destroys the Death Star.

It is critical that Luke used his Missing Inner Quality (confidence) to defeat Darth Vader anmpire. While he does achieve his Main Goal, the story would mean nothing if Luke was st

ecure farm boy by the end of the story.

.2 Summary of Stage 7: The Gathering Storm

By the end of The Gathering StormThe hero should make a new plan to get the Main GoalThe hero may appear to have lost all, but regains himself (Resurrection)

There must be a thrilling ClimaxThe Main Goal will be resolved

Either the hero attains it or not - but definitely one way or the otherRegardless, the Missing Inner Quality is attained.

10 Stage 8: Resolution

e final 30 pages of your novel is the Resolution. This is the tidying-up of any loose ends anposition of the message of the story (remember that from the Story Abstract?). Vogler calposition of the message the “Return with the Elixir”.

The Resolution in Star Wars is quite short. We are treated to a scene where Luke and Hanwn the red carpet and receive medals. So, we see that Luke is no longer a farm boy, but own man (possibly a Jedi Knight). And we also see that R2-D2 (who was shot up during the cls been restored to full glory.

Other movies usually have a longer Resolution. If you consider Dorothy in The Wizard oe clicks her heels three times and returns home. Everyone gathers around her and asks wharned. She says “If I ever go looking for my heart’s desire again, I won’t look any further than back yard. Because if it isn’t there, I never really lost it to begin with!” In other wordeady had all the things she thought she lacked.



0.1 Epilogue

e Resolution may end with an optional Epilogue. The Epilogue is the opposite of the Prologueologue, you may remember, happens some time before the start of the story. The Epilogue me time after the end of the story. We see this in such novels as the Harry Potter series. In theok, we see Harry married to Jennie Weasley and Ron married to Hermione. They each have at is getting on the train to Hogwarts. So, the story has come full circle.

0.2 Summary of Stage 8: Resolution

The ResoultionWrap up the loose ends for the hero and alliesWrap up any subplotsAn optional Epilogue

11 Summary

The Agile Storyboard borrows from many sourcesStories are StoriesThere are 8 Stages7 Turning PointsThe Storyboard helps to tell you where things should happenAids in plotting and pacingNOTE: Not all plots fall into this patternGenre Novels fit this pattern exceedingly wellThe Percentages and Page Numbers are Guidelines, but it’s a good idea to stick close to them

emplate of the Agile Storyboard that you can fill in can be found in Appendix C.



Writing Your Novel

1 Introduction

w that we’ve introduced all the elements of the Agile Writer Method, it’s time to put them to ere are 6 steps to writing the Agile Novel. They are:

Step 1: The Story AbstractStep 2: The Hero AbstractStep 3: The SynopsisStep 4: The Agile StoryboardStep 5: ScenesStep 6: Manuscript Pages - 10 per week

The big idea here is to think about your story at a high level of detail and then break yourwn into more and more detail as you progress. The Story Abstract encourages you to writery idea as a One-Line Description. This is a very high level of detail. Then you write an Eleeech which is a paragraph - still a high level of detail, but more detailed than your Onescription. Next you’ll move on to an 8-page Synopsis. This is a finer level of detail. FollowAgile Storyboard which breaks your story into 8 stages and 7 turning points. Next you break

ges into scenes. And finally you tell your story in fine detail by writing manuscript pageges per week.

Breaking your story up into “chunks” this way helps you to get your mind around your storak it into manageable pieces. Thus we take a big project and turn it into a number of smallerddenly, your novel is not such a big project after all.

2 Step 1: The Story Abstract

e covered the basics of the Story Abstract back in Chapter 3. As the first step to writing your vel, you’ll fill in the details of the Story Abstract. I’ve created a template for you to upendix A. You can fill in the blanks there or create your own in your word processor.

Remember that this is a high-level description of your story. You may not have a clear ideaat your story is all about right now. But try to fill in the blanks anyway. You’ll come bac

date your Story Abstract as you progress with your project.

You’ll want to define your audience by picking a genre, demographic, educational levemary gender. Don’t be worried if your genre doesn’t appear in the list. The choices I’ve listndard industry genres. If you don’t think your genre is represented, it is probably a sub-gene of these. Go ahead and pick one and then write your sub-genre to the right.

Remember, in the Agile Writer Method we are building your story up from very highncepts to low-level details. We start with the “One Line Description” which is the basic idea ory in one sentence. Many people have trouble with this the first time around, so don’

couraged if you do too. As you can see from the template, it is “A story about (the hero) who



e main goal) and learns (the message)”.

From there, you’ll be asked to fill in the Elevator Speech. Now we’re expanding on the idur One Line Description into a full paragraph. Think about the back-flap description of your vel. You’ll want to mention the hero, her goal, and the conflict. Don’t give away the endingnt to entice the reader to buy your book. Give them enough information to whet their appetitt so much that they won’t be surprised by the ending.

When we get to the Agile Storyboard, you’ll be expanding on what you’ve written here, cre

re detail as we go.

3 Step 2: The Hero Abstract

e second step to creating your Agile Novel is to fill out the Hero Abstract which we detaiapter 5. The Agile Novel is hero-based, so you’ll want to get an overall view into the attribuur hero. Remember that if you don’t know everything right now, that’s fine. We’ll return tge after you write your synopsis. As with the Story Abstract, I’ve created a template for you in Appendix B. You can use mine or create your own in your word processor. Regardless, be

cover all the elements of the hero that you can.

Pick a name for your hero. If you aren’t sure, go ahead and pick one at random. We’ll be cock to this section later.

Identify your hero’s Missing Inner Quality. This is the thing your hero is lacking and needscovered by the end of the story.

Think about your hero’s Life Goal. This is the reason the hero is getting out of bed rning. It is the thing your hero is chasing and is interrupted by the Inciting Incident and replacMain Goal.

Be sure that you pick a Main Goal that is tangible so that the reader will know when it occur

Your hero should be flawed so you should pick some character flaws that the reader will idth.

You’ll want to pick some qualities that will make the reader sympathize with the reader.

It’s not critical, but if you can create a Greatest Fear in your hero it will create a nice tuint in your story when your hero has to confront it to get the Main Goal.

Your hero should have a Mentor character to guide her through the Special World. Rememb’t necessarily a wise old man. It is generally any character who is wiser than the hero in thethe Special World.

Identify any characters who are Allies to the hero. Likewise, identify the Opposition chamembering that the Opposition is not the hero’s bad situation or society. The Opposition is alwaracter who prevents the hero from attaining the Main Goal.



4 Step 3: The Synopsis

e third step toward writing your Agile Novel is to write an 8-page (2,000 words, double-spnopsis. It is a narrative telling of your story from beginning to end. You’ve already describedry in a single sentence (the One Line Description) and in a paragraph (the Elevator Speech). time to go into more detail.

The first time you sit down to write your synopsis you should let your mind wander. Tuch or as little of the story as you like. Be careful not to get too mired in details, you’re not wur manuscript at this point. But think of the synopsis as a “brain-dump” of your story. Just getpaper.

It is likely that you may come up with more than 8 pages. Many Agile Writers end up withre pages. That’s fine. But you’ll want to edit your synopsis down to just 8 pages. The reason

u’ll want to focus your thoughts on the “spine” or “straight line” of the story. You’ll probablyt subplots and backstory.

Once you’re done with the synopsis, ask some other people to review it. It won’t take long.

y have questions. That’s expected.

What is also possible is they’ll want to advise you on how to make the story better. We fins kind of advice is detrimental to your storytelling. Politely listen to such advice and ignore ityour story. If others want to write a better story, let them do their own work. What you’re loare questions about the story, not advice.

If people are confused about the story, take that to heart and try to find a way to make tarer. You should be able to get your full story idea across in this 8-page treatment. If people hof difficult questions, integrate them into your synopsis and try again.

5 Step 4: The Agile Storyboard

e next step is to add more detail to your story. Fold your synopsis into the 8 stages of the oryboard we learned about in Chapter 7. This is not just a matter of copying the first page ofnopsis into the first stage of the Storyboard, and the second page to the second stage, etc. Youve to really think about your story and make sure that you put the events of your story into thet represents what is happening. And make sure you hit the turning points at the right timesese turning points are critical to proper plotting and pacing.

You may want to write your stages out as a set of 3 paragraphs (about 250 words) or as nts. It doesn’t really matter as long as you hit the turning points at the right times. I have pro Agile Storyboard for my novel Luddite Planet in Appendix D. I used bullet points because her terse writer and bullet points appeal to me. I’ve also included a blank template of the oryboard in Appendix C.

During this phase it’s important to use the technology or medium that best appeals to you. crosoft Word but other Agile Writers have used different tools to create their Agile Storyb

e writer had her story take place over 7 days. So, she laid her Storyboard out on index cards e laid out on the table like playing cards - one row for each day. Another writer put a



oryboard ideas on sticky notes and stuck them to a whiteboard so that it was easy to moveund. The important thing to remember is that you want to get the story elements into theges and end on the right turning points.

Once you’ve finished with your Agile Storyboard, go back and re-read your Story Abstraro Abstract. You will probably find that they are easier to fill in now and you may have nificant changes to make.

6 Step 5: Scenes

ce your Agile Storyboard is complete, start breaking each stage into scenes that will realizges you created. This is a finer-grained telling of your story. Write each scene as one-senscriptions of what happens at each point in the story. For example, start each sentence with

In which ...Where ...We find ...

You want to create enough scenes in each stage that you fully covered that stage. Now, god “cost” each scene by estimating how many pages you think it will take to write that scene innuscript. Scenes can run anywhere from 3-10 pages. On average a scene will take 5 pagere will be about 50 scenes in your Agile Novel.

Once you’ve estimated the “cost” of each scene, go back and check to see if the number of each stage is around 30 pages. If you are lower than 30 pages in a stage, you’ll want to pand some scenes or add a few scenes. If you have gone over 30 pages you may want to cut nes. Most Agile Writers find that cutting scenes is easier than adding them. So feel free to ny scenes as you like into your stages and cut them in your second run through.

7 Step 6: Write Your First Draft

u’ve done a great job of r efining the level of detail in your story to the point where you haven. You have 8 stages, 7 turning points, and around 50 scenes. You started with a single senn a paragraph in your elevator speech, then you got into more detail in your synopsi

oryboard. And finally you created a set of scenes that outline your entire novel. Now it’s timrt writing manuscript pages.

We recommend starting at the beginning of your novel and continuing through to the endrks best especially if you’re working with a critique group who will be reviewing your woows your cr itique partner to see the story unfold logically and chronologically.

Plan to write 10 pages per week. Work from the beginning of your book and write toward. You are now in “novelist mode” and it’s time to put all that creative energy to work. Take thne and write the number of pages you estimated. You may have to write two or three scenes amake your 10 page quota.

Remember, you want to use Times-Roman, 12-point font with 1-inch margins all aroun



uble-spaced. This will average about 250 words per page (the same as the printed page in a perback). This way you’ll know that a typed page is equal to a printed page.

You should find a cr itique group and visit it every week with your newly typed 10 pages. Ityou can find two other writers to work with and see them weekly. This is what we do at the iter Workshop. We have weekly meetings and people meet with the same critique partners ek.

You don’t want your critique partners to critique your spelling and grammar (not tha

bidden). You want them to look at your story and let you know what they have trouble with. ver the critique process in more detail in Chapter 10.

When you get your critique feedback, go ahead and make any changes you need to make totiqued pages. Then put them away. Do not bring them back to your critique partners to re-criis will slow you down. At Agile Writers we strive to Constantly Move Forward.

8 Embrace Change

hen you receive your critique, you’ll want to make changes. This is fine. But sometimestique feedback will make you want to change some important parts of your story. This is noe, it is expected. When you find that you have to make a change - make it to your Agile Storyst. This will tell you where in your manuscript to make corresponding changes.

You may find that you’re making a lot of changes to your Storyboard. If that is the caseck and regroup. Examine your Storyboard and edit it. Once you’ve updated your Storyboarck and update your manuscript. Regardless of what you change, save all your manuscript pagy may come in handy later. Don’t bring the updates to your critique group, but let them know

anges you made and pick up from where you left off. Remember, at Agile Writers we strinstantly Move Forward.

9 Summary

The Agile Writer Method breaks your story down into manageable piecesIt requires you to think about your story before you beginThe Story Abstract and Hero Abstract are a high-level of detailThe Agile Storyboard breaks your story into 8 stages, 7 turning points and (around) 50 scen

You’ll find it easier to change your Storyboard than your manuscriptUse whatever technology suits youWrite your story 10 pages per weekGet critiqued by the same 2 people each weekCritique based on story elements, not spelling and grammarAt Agile Writers we strive to Constantly Move Forward



The First Thirty Pages

u must make sure that the fir st thing your reader reads creates a question in their mind. You wab them as soon as possible. Some Agile Writers have asked that the reader hang in there fges as they set up the situation for their hero. This is a mistake.

With the vast amount of information that readers have at their disposal, attention spans haveduced from hours to minutes to mere seconds. People can surf channels on their cable b

vering for a few seconds to see if they will be entertained before they click through to thetion. The internet and social media are other avenues for information seekers. Most people

an their Facebook news feeds and just read the headlines to determine if they will read more.

You don’t have the luxury to ask your reader to read 30 pages, or 5 pages or even 1 pagest capture the reader’s interest in the first three sentences.

1 The First Three Sentences

the first three sentences of your story, on page one, you must create a question in the reader’st will encourage them to read on. Answer these three questions:

Where am I?Whose Head am I in?What has changed or may change?

These three questions inform the reader and spark suspense. They enable and compel the rcontinue reading. Here is the first paragraph from a popular novel:

All during the flight from London and the long, winding drive north from Boston to Valley, New Hampshire, population 326 – or it had been ten years before when Jason Lawlast been there – he’d thought of how different things would be. A decade, even for a forglittle town in New England was bound to bring changes. There would have been deathbirths. Houses and shops would have changed hands. Some of them might not be there at all

Nora Roberts: The Gift [11]

How does this measure up to the three questions we mentioned earlier?

Where Am I? On a trip from London to Quiet Valley, New HampshireWhose Head Am I In? Jason Law’sWhat Has Changed or May Change? The town may have changed (deaths, births, houseshops)

Here’s another example:

Robert Langdon awoke slowly. A telephone was ringing in the darkness. He fumbled fobedside lamp. Squinting at his surroundings he saw a plush Renaissance bedroom with



XVI furniture, hand-frescoed walls and a colossal mahogany four-poster bed. “Where tham I?”

Dan Roberts: The Davinci Code[2]

Here the author has created a question in the reader’s mind. Who is calling? Where aracter? Let’s look at the three questions:

Where Am I? A plush Renaissance bedroom with Louis XVI furnitureWhose Head Am I In? Robert Langdon’sWhat Has Changed or May Change? The phone is ringing. There is another character cosoon.

2 The First Three Paragraphs

ce you’ve captured the reader’s interest in the first three sentences and created a question innd, you need to keep on the roll with the first three paragraphs.

Don’t try to explain everything up front. Avoid backstory. You can sprinkle your expositiockstory throughout the body of your Agile Novel. The first three paragraphs should dlowing:

Paragraph 1: Start with a great opening (the first three sentences)Paragraph 2: Establish something interesting that is happeningParagraph 3: Describe the setting. Foreshadow the rest of the storyAvoid backstory

Use good amounts of dialog, action, and interior monologue

3 The First Three Chapters

u’ve captured the reader’s interest in the first three sentences. You’ve pulled them in with thee paragraphs. Now you need to keep up the pace with the first three chapters. These firstapters correlate roughly to the first stage of your Agile Storyboard - The Hero.

Chapter 1: Introduce the Hero in the middle of their lifeChapter 2: Introduce the Hero’s Ordinary World and their Life GoalChapter 3: The Inciting Incident

4 The Next Three Chapters

u’re off to a good start. You’ve captured the reader’s interest and pulled them into the hdinary Wor ld. Now it’s time to lay down the Special Wor ld.

Chapter 4: The Special World (Physically described)Chapter 5: The Hero learns the Rules of the Special World



Chapter 6: Identify the Hero’s Main Goal (that replaces the Life Goal)

5 Summary

Make the First Three Sentences draw the reader into the sceneMake the First Three Paragraphs draw the reader into the chapterMake the First Three Chapters establish the Hero’s Ordinary WorldMake the Next Three Chapters establish the Special World

Don’t fret over exact numbers. If you can do it in 2, 4, or 5 Chapters that’s fine.



0 Agile Writer Critique

.1 Overview

e purpose of critique is to get feedback from other writers about your work. You want to get pression from unbiased readers. And you want to get a second opinion about what you’ve while it is useful to learn about mechanics of writing (spelling, grammar, etc.) what is portant is that you learn about structure (plot, character, etc.). You will improve your craft th

ceiving cr iticism but also by giving cr iticism as well.

At the Agile Writer Workshop we’ve found that the optimum number of critique partneroup is three. Fewer than three is not enough feedback to make the critique work. More thanrtners in a group and the critique meeting takes too long. We have had groups of four gether with good success, but the critique session may take up to two hours. With three crrtners a full critique is possible in about an hour ’s time.

.2 Formatting Your Work

u might think that formatting your pages is unimportant during the first draft process. At the iter Workshop, we have found that it is critical that you format your pages appropriately.

2.1 File Format

st, you should agree on a file format. You’ll be exchanging your pages electronically by emaur partners will want to be able to read your work. We’ve found Microsoft Word ’97 is a seline for most writers. There is free software available that will print files in that format. re is free open source software that will read and write Microsoft Word documents. Chec

breOffice and OpenOffice suites if you don’t have access to the pricey Microsoft Office Suite.free for downloading and work on almost all platforms (Windows, Macintosh, and Linux).

2.2 Fonts

u should set your word processor to 12-point, Times-New-Roman font, double-spaced, with 1rgins all around. As we’ve explained before, this creates about 250 words per page and is clo average for the printed pages in a trade paperback. The double-spacing and margins leave your critique partners to mark up the printed pages.

2.3 Header

e heading of your pages should contain the following elements:

Working TitleAuthor ’s NameChapter Number / Name

While it may seem obvious to you what your name is and what chapter this is, you nemember that you’ll be sending these pages to critique partners who have two other partne



tique. You want to give them enough information to keep their pages separated from each ppose your critique partner drops your pages in the parking lot on the way to your creting. How will they get the pages back together again? The header will help to keep aight.

2.4 Footer

e footer of your pages should contain the following items:

Page NumberTotal number of pages

As with the header, you’ll want your cr itique partners to know which pages go where in thea mishap. Also, some people will print out your work on a double-sided printer. It ca

nfusing to know which page you’re critiquing if you don’t have page numbers on each page.

2.5 One File Per Critique

a really good idea to create one file for each critique session. This makes it easy for your crrtners to know what to read and what to critique for the upcoming session. Sending multiple, pes gets confusing, especially when printed. Also, avoid sending the whole manuscript and aur critique partners to read a range of pages (say “read pages 134-155”). This is a burden onrtners to open the document and print out only the pages for the critique. Send only the pagent to have critiqued in the file.

2.6 Example Format



2.7 Summary

e standard ensures:



You know whose work it isYou know what story it isAmple space for commentsAbility to keep pages in orderAbility to know where we are in the storyEasy to read

.3 Sharing Your Work

u’ll need to share your work with your critique partners. At the Agile Writer Workshop weekly on Wednesday nights for critique. So, we email our critique partners on Sunday nighrk to be critiqued on Wednesday. This gives everyone plenty of time to critique the work bmeeting.

3.1 Agree On A Medium For Exchange

e’ve had good luck with two methods of file exchange. Since our files are typically 10 pages oy are small enough to be sent as attachments to email.

Some people have used the file sharing web site Dropbox.com as a way of sharing files. Yoop your files into Dropbox.com just like dropping a file into any folder on your computer. Agically appears in your critique partner ’s Dropbox folder. It is very easy to set up and many oiters have found it useful. However, it can be more technically challenging than a simple achment.

Another method of file sharing includes Google Documents. This is a system that allows yite and edit your work in a web browser and share it with anyone on the internet who has a Gail account. The downside is that Google Documents are not MS Word compatible and we’vuble with formatting the work when printed.

3.2 Agree on Amount

the Agile Writer Workshop we strive for 10 pages a week. No more and no less. Writing lesspages a week means that it will take longer than 6 months to create the first draft. Writingn 10 pages a week is a burden on your critique partners. But the amount you share with

rtners is strictly between the three of you.

3.3 Time Frame

I’ve already mentioned, you want to give your critique partners enough time to give you a ptique. We find that emailing the work on Sunday night in time for a Wednesday review is a

me. Remember that you and your critique partners will have 20 pages to review. And, durinme you’ll probably want to start working on the next 10 pages for next week’s critique.

It’s very rude to send your 10 pages to your critique partners the night before (or heaven fday of) your review. Typically three days review time is ample.

3.4 Don’t Resubmit



e have also found that you should not resubmit pages previously critiqued. This is another byour critique partners and will slow your progress. Once a set of pages have been critiqu

ould not be resubmitted. Go ahead and update your pages with your critique partners’ suggen put them away.

If you find that your story has changed significantly due to a rewrite, write a summary fortique partners and update your storyboard appropriately.

3.5 Strive To Constantly Move Forward

l of these rules are designed to help you constantly move forward. One of the biggest probiters have had before coming to Agile Writers is that they get stuck on the first few chaptersnt to keep moving forward. Remember this is the first draft. There will be others. So don’t wour work isn’t perfect. If you change someone’s name halfway through the story, just make a nurself to clean it up in the second draft and keep moving forward.

.4 Before The Meeting

hen you receive your critique partner’s work, you will want to read it from beginning to endthe ultimate reader might. Make comments as you go.

We have found that printing the work out offers the best critique experience for the wriur critique partner has followed the formatting guidelines there will be space for you to writemments between the lines and in the margins.

You can make comments about mechanics (spelling, grammar) on the paper but these are nbject for discussion at the critique meeting. At the meeting you’ll want to focus on the story.

If something about the structure (plot, characters, scene) leaves you confused, write a comthe paper immediately. Not only were you confused, but the ultimate reader may be eq

nfused. You want your critique partner to be alerted to this r ight away.

However, your confusion may be cleared up in a later section. You should make a comout that as well and do it at the point the confusion was cleared up. Don’t go back and updatelier comment. It’s important to let your critique partner know exactly when and wher

nfusion is resolved. This may have been done on purpose for literary effect.

Do not attempt to write your critique in the actual document using your word processoruses the page numbers to change and it will become difficult for you and your critique partnync up.” Imagine the confusion when you’ve inserted your comments in the middle of page twt pushes the next section onto page three. Now, everything is one page off. When you telltique partner you had a problem with the wording on “page four” - that original text was on ee” and your critique partner will be lost.

There is one exception to this rule: MS Word’s “Track Changes” capability. This allows yert comments into the document and they appear on the right margin without modifyingination of the document. If you use this method of critique, be sure to be consistent and dert changes in the body of the document. Also, be sure to print the work out with the “



anges” turned on so that your critique partner gets all your comments.

Finally, on the last page of the work, end the review with your overall impressions of what reviewed. This is a nice way to let your partner know what you thought of the whole thing.

Be sure to bring the printed, marked up, critique to the meeting.

.5 Your Comments

ore than anything, you want your comments to be honest and constructive. Don’t be afraid ur critique partner know when something is not working. The worst thing you can do is givetique partner a glowing review when there is something flawed with the work. Don’t be afraiu’ll hurt their feelings. Their feelings will be much more hurt if you don’t give them the ry need.

The comments you give should never be personal. You should never use strong languagupid” or “ridiculous” in your review. Never attack the writer. Your comments should alwaout the work itself.

Definitely include things that you liked. The worst thing that can happen to a writer is to cmething that works in exchange for something that does not. So when you see something thaught was good say something like “I liked this part where you...”

Also, don’t give unsolicited advice on how to problem solve. I remember a time when one ws writing a alternative history and had Canadian Mounties using crossbows. The critique pd that crossbows seemed archaic and then started listing other weapons that the Mounties migis is an affront to the writer. Surely, if you think crossbows are archaic, say so. But stop n’t offer unsolicited advice.

.6 At The Meeting

st determine how much time you have. At the Agile Writer Workshop we allot one hour to a eting (of about 16 people) where we share our progress and share writerly news. Then the sur is for critique.

In your critique meeting be sure that you know how much time you have and divide thaually between the three of you. If you have an hour, that means that each critique should la

re than 20 minutes.

Focus on one work at a time. Don’t try to critique everyone’s work at the same time. Criter ’A’ for 20 minutes, then writer ’B’. Remember to focus on the work. Don’t get sidetracke conversation. Save socializing for after the meeting. (There will be time to talk andchildren and vacations after the critique).

Never try to review the work in real time at the meeting. It is very rude not to come preparet to have read your critique partners’ work before you arrive. We’ve seen people reading thed in a meeting and trying to give a good review and it is impossible. Definitely review the

fore you arrive. And if for some reason you can’t do that (emergencies happen and sometim



nnot be prepared) let your critique partner know. Be honest. And promise to deliver that critiqail the next day. Do not try to review your critique partner’s work for the first time at the me

s just rude.

.7 Receiving Critique

you are the writer being critiqued you have some obligations, too. Firstly, you should remaent as possible. Don’t be defensive about the work. Positive, constructive criticism is not a perack. It is an attempt to help you improve.

If someone gives you a critique that you don’t understand, by all means ask them to elucso, your critique partners may have questions for you. Go ahead and answer them - but again, defensive.

Practice saying “Thank you” with each comment that your critique partners make. Remey are your friends and they are giving you free advice. Treat it as if it were quite valuable.

I encourage all Agile Writers to consider their critique as a gift your friends give yo

preciative and encouraging. As with any gift, say “Thank you.”

.8 The Critiquers

a critiquer of someone else’s work you should proceed from the beginning of the work towend. Don’t jump around (don’t jump to page 3 where your first comment is, the other crit

y have a comment on page 1).

Please avoid criticizing and pointing out spelling and grammar errors. By all means mark per with these corrections. But in a first draft we don’t much care about spelling or grammar.

care about is the story, structure, plot, and characters. Focus your attention on these elemework.

Remember, comment only on the work and never on the writer. You want to foster a sentual trust and admiration. So make your comments honest, positive and constructive.

The writer should be adhering to their storyboard and you should have a copy of it. Be surstory somewhat represents what is in the storyboard. However, writers are creative. They

ay from the storyboard. If so, the writer should be alerted and they should update their story

propriately. If the writer is constantly veering from the storyboard, they may want to go bacwork it.

At the end of the critique meeting, give the reviewed and marked-up paper to the writer.

As mentioned earlier, your comments in the meeting should be as supportive as your comthe paper are:

Honest

Positive



ConstructiveNever Personal (never use “stupid” or “ridiculous” or such words)Include the things you likedNever attempt to problem solveComment only on the workNever comment on the writer

8.1 Resources

the weekly Agile Writer Workshop meeting we devote about 20 minutes to some element ft of writing. Each week a writer volunteers to read a chapter from a selected book on writin

gests it for the rest of the group. One book we’ve used is by Becky Levine entitled The Writitique Survival Guide[9]. We’ve found it an invaluable guide to the elements of writing aracter, point of view, etc.), and her advice on critique is spot on.



1 Summary

e Agile Writer Workshop has been in existence since January of 2011. It has been my greatework with writers from all walks of life who are motivated to create a first draft novel nths. I feel a great sense of pride in the work we’ve done together in this time. And it has beeat pleasure to share this method that we’ve created together with you.

You’ll want to first make the decision to write your Agile Novel. Don’t underestimate the p

that first, small step. Don’t approach your novel with timidity and uncertainty. Jump in witht and plan to work on this project for six months. It will go by faster than you think!

The steps to writing your first-draft are:

1.Make the decision to create a novel in 6 months

2.Create the Story Abstract

3.Create the Hero Abstract

4.Write your 8-page Synopsis

5.Create your Agile Storyboard with 8 Stages and 7 Turning Points

6.Break the 8 Stages into Scenes and assign a number of pages to each Scene

7.Write your Manuscript 10 pages a week for 25 weeks

8.Critique your work each week with 2 other critique partners.

I am 100% committed to your success. I want you to consider me your Agile Writing Coacsuch I’ve set up an email address for you to write to for help. Write and let me know how

oject is going. Feel free to ask for my advice.

[email protected]

You can also follow the progress of the Richmond Agile Writer Workshop at:

AgileWriters.com

You can catch my review of the latest movies and their heroic content at my blog:

ReelHeroes.net

Finally, check out books published by Agile Writers at Agile Writer Press:

AgileWriterPress.com



.1 Future Works

is book Agile Writer: Method is just the first in a series of books that will help you write youraft novel in 6 months. Other planned books are:

Agile Writer: Hero Agile Writer: Villain Agile Writer: Character

Agile Writer: Workshop

By all means if you have a topic that you feel needs addressing, please drop me a note and low.

Until then, keep writing, let me know about your progress, and Constantly Move Forward!



. The Story Abstract Template

_____________________________________________________________________________

Author:_____________________________________________________________________________

Audience:

Genre:(pick one)

□ Young Adult □ Espionage/Thriller □ Romance

□ General Fiction □ Mystery/Detective □ Memoir

□ Histor ical □ Fantasy □ Science Fiction

Demographic: (pick one or two)

□ Gen. Z (12-22) □ Gen. Y (23-33)

□ Gen. X (34-45) □ Baby Boomers (46-64)

□ Matures (65+)

Educational Level: (pick one)

□ High School □ Some College □ College Graduate

Primary Gender: (pick one)

□ Male □ Female

Message:____________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

One-line description:

It’s a story _________________________________________________________________________(the

Who ________________________________________________________________________(the

al)



And l_____________________________________________________________________________ssage)

Elevator Pitch: (250 words)

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________



. The Hero Abstract Template

ro’s N_____________________________________________________________________________

ssing Inner Qu_______________________________________________________________________

is is the thing that will give the hero his ‘arc’. The hero should attain this by the end of the is is something like: lack of courage, lack of confidence, selfishness, lack of compassion, lapathy, lack of humility, self-absorbed, antisocial, naive, stubborn, disobedient, shy.

fe _____________________________________________________________________________

is is what the hero desires at the beginning of the story. It is often a desire to be in a differenta different situation. Something like “To get out of Kansas,” “To get away to Mexico,” “To

y friends at Star Fleet Academy”

ain _____________________________________________________________________________

is is the goal the hero wants at the end of “The Special World”. This is the goal that the hrsuing for most of the story. It is what causes the story to move forward. It must be a tangibleHarvard Education,” “To return home to Kansas,” “To return the droids to the Rebel Alliance

aws:

_____________________________________________________________________________

e hero should not be perfect. He should have some personality or physical flaws that endear m. Such as: stuttering, shyness, a limp, and grumpiness.

mpathetic Qua_______________________________________________________________________

dearing qualities are positive aspects of the hero that causes us to like him. These crsonality or situational qualities. Such as: kindness, awkwardness, intelligence, small stature

eatest _____________________________________________________________________________

ur hero should have at least one strong fear. At some point you should make your hero facr. Such as: snakes, heights, water, being alone

e Me_____________________________________________________________________________

e mentor is a person who imparts wisdom and / or gifts upon the hero. There can be more



e. The Mentor guides the Hero through the Special World.

ies & Friends:

_________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________

lies are the characters who help the hero in their quest. Friends are supporting characters.

e Oppos_____________________________________________________________________________

e hero must have at least one person who gets in the way, often pulling the hero back tdinary World. This is not an environmental or ephemeral obstacle (like the weather or the sould be a person.

emies:

_________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________

emies are friends of the Opposition.



. Agile Storyboard Template

age 0: Prologue (0-30 pages)

We hate prologues

It’s like homework for the reader

But if you must ...

Make sure it sets up the Hero’s Special World

Make sure it is more than pure backstory

Usually set at a time period well before we me et our Hero

age 1: The Hero (30 pages)

Getting to know the Hero

Getting to know the Hero’s Ordinary World

Getting to know the He ro’s Life Goal

Getting to know the He ro’s Missing Inner Quality

the Call to Adventure

the Refusal of the Call

Exposing the Hero’s ties to the Ordinary World

Expose the Hero’s Missing Inner Quality

Turning Point #1 : Inciting Incident

Crossing the Threshold

Something happens to our Hero that transports them into a new situation

This can be a big event or a small event

But whichever it is, it is something that puts the He ro in uncharted territory

The Life Goal for the He ro is defined

Often the Hero m eets the M entor for the first time

And can also mee t the Opposition for the first time

age 2: The Special World (30 pages)

the Hero is propelled into a new situation

the He ro has to learn the rules of the Special World

the Hero is doing pretty well pursuing their Life Goal in the Special World

Further Expose:

the Hero’s Main Goal

the He ro’s Missing Inner Quality

Turning Point #2 – The Main Goal

something significant happens...



the plan for getting the Life Goal

Is replaced with an eve n more urgent Main Goal

the Hero must mak e an adjustment to their plan in order to get the M ain Goal

age 3: Discovery (30 pages)

The Hero makes new friends

And new enemies

The Hero discove rs more about himself

The Hero starts to realize how to get the Main Goal

Turning Point #3 – the Reminder

A scene in which the reader is reminded of the Main Goal

age 4: Growth (30 pages)

More tests and trials

The Hero is tested in ways that prepare them for the sec ond half of the story

Possibly more friends and enemie s

Turning Point #4 – Commitment

This will be a hard decision for the Hero : to m ove forward or go back

Or, a situation or event that forces the He ro to move forward

Whatever the reason, the Hero must now be so comm itted that going back is no longer an option

No new (significant) characters are introduced after this point

age 5: Decline (30 pages)

Things start to go badly for our Hero

The Hero has to overcome problems

Turning Point #5: Why Are We Here?

This is a major event that rem inds the reader of the Main Goal in our story

It should somehow be linked to Turning Point #3

the Hero has to overcome problems

age 6: Despair (30 pages)

Things are ge tting desperate for our Hero



The Hero suffers setback after setback

Turning Point #6 : Death or Disappointment

Someone important to the Hero may die or

An event occ urs that makes achieving the Main Goal seem impossible

In Christian / Inspirational stories, the Hero suffers a crisis of faith

The Hero falls into a situation that makes his Main Goal unattainable

age 7: The Gathering Storm (30 pages)

The Hero and friends make a new plan for getting the Main Goal

Turning Point #7 – Climax

There may be a false climax or false ending

The Hero must ex ploit the Missing Inner Quality to resolve the climax

The Main Goal is resolved

The Hero may, or may not get the Main Goal

But, the Hero’s Missing Inner Quality has bee n found

age 8: Resolution (0-30 pages)

Resolution of subplots

Let the reader know where the major characters go from here

The Epilogue is often set in the future

Shows where the Hero and others end up



. Luddite Planet Example Storyboard

age 0: Prologue (0-30 pages)

We hate prologs

It’s like homework for the reader

But if you must ...

Make sure it sets up the Hero’s Special World

Make sure it is more than pure backstory

Usually set at a time period well before we me et our Hero

ar 2350:

Walth is running away from the living quarters of the cargo ship Aether which is on fire

He is carrying 3-year-old GymRuby, his wife is following himWalth deposits them outside in the lush green flora of the new planetMistress XXX approaches “How many more are inside?”“About 50 – did you get the Pearl out?”“Yes – it was the first thing we got out.”“I’ll go back for the others”Ruby: “Walth, you will stay here with your wife and son! I told you trusting in this technolobehemoth was a bad idea.”

“The Law is clear, no man shall rest while woman or child is in need.”She relents and says through clenched teeth: “If that’s the way it is, then that’s the way it shaGym holds on to his father’s leg: “Daddy, don’t go!”Walth picks the boy up, “Don’t worry – I’ll be r ight back.”He kisses the boy and hands him to his mother. Walth kisses Ruby on the lips and looks ineyes, “I’ll be right back.”He runs into the burning wreck just as it explodes.

age 1: The Hero (30 pages)

Getting to know the Hero

Getting to know the Hero’s Ordinary World

Getting to know the He ro’s Life Goal

Getting to know the He ro’s Missing Inner Quality

the Call to Adventure

the Refusal of the Call

Exposing the Hero’s ties to the Ordinary World

Expose the Hero’s Missing Inner Quality

Turning Point #1 : Inciting Incident



Crossing the Threshold

Something happens to our Hero that transports them into a new situation

This can be a big event or a small event

But whichever it is, it is something that puts the He ro in uncharted territory

The Life Goal for the He ro is defined

Often the Hero m eets the M entor for the first time

And can also mee t the Opposition for the first time

Year 2355:Jod fights and damages a MechaCorp battle ship by pretending to be dead allowing his shget close to the battle ship.Jod’s ship is replete with odd technical devices“Who’s the best fighter pilot in the galaxy?” “As of today, Yan Hammer is the best.” where am I?” “You are still third best, Jod” “Man, I can’t catch a break” (Jod’s catch phrasThe MechaCorp ship is badly damaged and retreats.

Jod returns to base with his friends.Jod is a fighter pilot for the Conglomerate – one of two mega-corporations that have repall governments. There are numerous planets with human life (all originating from Earthno other intelligent life in the galaxy.Jod explains his death-defying trick that destroyed the MechaCorp ship to Buddy. He succebut the MechaCorp ship learns from its mistakes and playing dead will never work (MechaCorp is typified by using rebotic/artificial intelligence whereas the Conglomerate on human intelligence. Conglomerate does not allow self-aware machines.)Jod’s captain chides him for not working with the team. This exposes Jod’s desire

independent and “do his own thing”Jod meets a strange old man (Dodge) who barters for a lift to a dark corner of the galaexchange, he offers Jod enough money to pay off his debt to the Conglomerate and keeship. This allows Jod to start a venture of his own and sell electronics to inhabitants oouter worlds (life goal).As a condition of this payment, Jod must take Dodge to a planet on the outer rim of the galthe Dark Zone. (call to adventure)Jod objects – he travels alone. He doesn’t want any attachments or to belong to anyt(missing quality) (refusal of the call)Dodge retracts his offer of paying off the debt and Jod relents.The trip will take two days. (NOTE: They still use Earth-standard time even though theyouter space. Jod makes a wry comment about this since he’s never been on Earth).They make their way to one of the outer planets called “Tranquility”(Dodge is after the Luddite Treasure)They land on “Tranquility” but badly (there is a strange power-dampening field surroundinplanet), causing the ship to be damaged. They meet up with Gim (a young boy) and mother (a red-headed widow). Ruby takes them into her home.

age 2: The Special World (30 pages)



the Hero is propelled into a new situation

the He ro has to learn the rules of the Special World

the Hero is doing pretty well pursuing their Life Goal in the Special World

Further Expose:

the Hero’s Main Goal

the He ro’s Missing Inner Quality

Turning Point #2 – The Main Goal

something significant happens...

the plan for getting the Life Goal

Is replaced with an eve n more urgent Main Goal

the Hero must mak e an adjustment to their plan in order to get the M ain Goal

The inhabitants of Tranquility are of the “Luddite” religion, a fact that Dodge failed to mto Jod. They shun technology and are pacifists. In fact, they left the central planets oConglomerate to avoid contact with technology.

The tribal leader tells Ruby that as she was first to find the strangers that she must put them that is the tradition. Ruby agrees saying “If that’s the way it is, then that’s the way it sha(ruby’s catch-phrase)Dodge has other plans. He approaches the tribal leader and says that he doesn’t want toburden on the young woman and perhaps there is another place he can stay. The tribal ltells him that she is a widow and there is room in her home for him. He gleefully accepts. (is an obvious attraction between the two elderly people)

Jod’s main goal is to get off this planet and start his new venture

“All I want to do is get off this rock and start making my fortune selling useless junbrainless idiots”

age 3: Discovery (30 pages)

The Hero makes new friends

And new enemies

The Hero discove rs more about himself

The Hero starts to realize how to get the Main Goal

Turning Point #3 – the Reminder

A scene in which the reader is reminded of the Main Goal

Jod learns that there is a group of “Untouchables” who manage what little technology is o



planet. They are not allowed contact with the main group of Luddites. But when things get hard on them, the Untouchables occasionally bail them out.***BACKSTORY***The luddites left the central core planets 5 years ago. They chartered a cargo ship to takethrough the Dark Zone to the outer r im planets. Unfortunately, the cargo ship crash landedwas fine for the Luddites, because they didn’t want to go home. However the crew and famof the cargo ship were stranded with no way home. They started their own colonymaintained what little technology they had left, occasionally helping the luddite when thereproblem. The Luddite kept their distance from the untouchables. Occassionally, a ludditehad “developmental problems” and would not adhere to the strict luddite way. They were oto the Untouchable tribeThe MECHACORP (MechaCorp) is a corporation run completely by people who use macto do their dir ty work and (the machines) are self-aware. The Conglomerate is constantly with the relentless Mechacorp. The Conglomerate use technology but does not allow the uartificial intelligence.*** END BACKSTORY ***Gim is a loner not playing the games other children play. They have a way of sharinghistory by acting it out. There are no books, too technical. “Any story worth telling is

living” Instead they use improvisation to tell and retell their stor ies. Gim doesn’t like talong. He likes gadgets and takes an instant liking to Jod.Gim was on the track to become an untouchable. And Ruby was fighting that tooth and nailJod is getting fond of the boy and teaches him to ride his “ionoslider” (a board designeskimming along the ionosphere) but only over the ground. Jod learns from the boy thfather died while going on an expedition with the Untouchables.Ruby is furious that Jod is exposing her child to technology. The boy goes for a ride andhimself. “There will be none of it in my house. That’s the way it is, and that’s the way itbe!” (Ruby’s catch phrase).

Jod sees a ship overhead which crash lands to the north

age 4: Growth (30 pages)

More tests and trials

The Hero is tested in ways that prepare them for the sec ond half of the story

Possibly more friends and enemie s

Turning Point #4 – Commitment

This will be a hard decision for the Hero : to m ove forward or go back

Or – a situation or event that forces the Hero to mov e forward

Whatever the reason, the Hero must now be so comm itted that going back is no longer an option

No new (significant) characters are introduced after this point

They find a MechaCorp probe designed for seeking out raw minerals and energy sources. it finds raw materials it takes several samples and sends a report to MechaCorp. The Mecha

then sends a mining ship which strips the planet of raw materials and returns to turn them



products.Unwittingly, the Luddites destroy the probe. This aler ts the MechaCorp that something oplanet has technology enough to kill a probe and that requires investigation. Technolocoming to Tranquility.Jod explains to the Luddite elders that the MechaCorp will likely interpret the destruction oprobe as a hostile act and dispatch a battle ship instead of a mining ship to eradicate the plaharmful human inhabitants.Jod will not be able to get off Tranquility before the MechaCorp ship arrives. And he wilto fight the MechaCorp either way. Jod agrees to lead the Luddite in their fight againoncoming MechaCorp ship. (The point of no return). The MechaCorp ship will arrive in 2(ticking clock)Jod puts in a call to his buddies to come help. It will be a race as to who arrives first. He them about the power dampening field.Jod and Ruby nearly kiss.

age 5: Decline (30 pages)

Things start to go badly for our Hero

The Hero has to overcome problems

Turning Point #5: Why Are We Here?

This is a major event that rem inds the reader of the Main Goal in our story

It should somehow be linked to Turning Point #3

the Hero has to overcome problems

Ruby is furious with Jod and blames him for bringing this technology upon them. She fearher way of life is over and she hits Jod. She refuses to allow her people to fight the Mechas that would mean giving up their pacifism and shunning of technology.Jod struggles with her and argues that he didn’t bring the technology to her, but the technfound her and her planet on its own. The outside “world” is expanding and finding the Lud Whether they fight or not, their wor ld is over. They can either let the MechaCorp comdestroy their culture, or they can fight to retain what they have. Either way, the Luddite wodone.

Jod contemplates running. After all, all he wants is to sell worthless trinkets to people withmoney than sense. He discusses it with Dodge. Dodge: “A battle like that could be a diversion for a getaway”

age 6: Despair (30 pages)

Things are ge tting desperate for our Hero

The Hero suffers setback after setback



Turning Point #6 : Death or Disappointment

Someone important to the Hero may die or

An event occ urs that makes achieving the Main Goal seem impossible

In Christian / Inspirational stories, the Hero suffers a crisis of faith

The Hero falls into a situation that makes his Main Goal unattainable

The Untouchables relate that they have fixed Jod’s ship except for a single part that they dhave.The Untouchables arrive with an analysis of the probe.It apparently was seeking out whatever the Luddite Treasure was made of. So, the Lubrought this technology upon themselves.Now the Luddite have something to fight for.Dodge has found the Luddite TreasureDodge is found in a near-comatose state. He has been gazing into the Luddite Treasure. Itreligious experience, but it was too much bliss at one time.

As he dies he says “Well, I got what I came for”Ruby: Well you didn’t want any attachments. Now you should be satisfied. You’re alone.

age 7: The Gathering Storm (30 pages)

The Hero and friends make a new plan for getting the Main Goal

Turning Point #7 – Climax

There may be a false climax or false ending

The Hero must ex ploit the Missing Inner Quality to resolve the climax

The Main Goal is resolved

The Hero may, or may not get the Main Goal

But, the Hero’s Missing Inner Quality has bee n found

Buddy and friends arrive just ahead of the MechaCorp ship. They all have a hard time laand one of the ships is damaged beyond repair. But it has the part that Jod needs. The pilot

damaged ship stays behind and uses his radio to keep track of the battle for the Luddite.Touching scene with Jod saying goodbye to Gim. Gim: “You won’t be back – just like m He never came back.” Jod gives him something???. “Are you kidding, Kid? I’ll be back. I acome back! Hold this for me. You can give it back when I return.”Ruby gives him a handkerchief.The MechaCorp ship arrives and Jod and friends take off to do battleThere is a stunning battle – the Luddites are listening in on the Untouchable’s radioJod contemplates leaving the battle. He could get away unscathed and undetected. He couldhis little trinket business and live the high life with no attachments. He takes off for

unknown while a dismayed Buddy and team realize they’ve been had.Jod realizes the MechaCorp ship is going to beat the small troupe. He decides to “play



like he did in the opening scene. His friend “Buddy” radio’s him to remind him (strongly) won’t work a second time. But Jod plays dead again.Jod says goodbye to Athena “You were the best, girl.” “You were always third from theJod.” “Man, I can’t catch a break today.”The MechaCorp battleship sees Jod’s ‘dead’ ship and recalls the earlier battle. The ship foits attention on Jod’s ship.Buddy is horrified at the prospect of Jod’s pointless maneuver until he sees a small hole battleship’s defenses due to the fact that it overextended its firepower on the ‘dead’ ship.Buddy and the others focus their attention on the weakpoint in the battleship’s defensedestroy it. But not before they witness Jod’s ship exploding.Back on the planet Ruby sheds tears as she realizes that Jod is dead

age 8: Resolution (0-30 pages)

Resolution of subplots

Let the reader know where the major characters go from here

Often short

Buddy and friends return to the planet. He tries to console Ruby. Gim (the boy) gets out sick bed and refuses to believe Jod is dead. “He’s too smart – he said he’d be back!”As the elders and Buddy discuss the battle and everyone exchanges congratulationcondolences, Gim stands off looking into the sky. “He said he’d be back –he’ll be back.”Gim shouts “There!”, In the distance is a thin red streak that grows into large dot. EvenJod can be seen skimming along the horizon in his “ionoslider”. “I told you he’d be back”Jod rejoins the group and explains that he ejected from his ship just before it was destroyeorbited a few times on the ionoslider before landing. He saw Buddy and the rest destroy thusing the hole he hoped would be created if the battleship attacked him.Ruby stands off to the side, quietly listening, with tear-streaked face. Gim is pulling onarm and Jod picks the boy up. “I knew you’d come back!” “I said I would and I always willThe elders shake his hand. Jod says, “This isn’t over. The MechaCorp lost a valuabletoday. They will be back.”The elders ask Jod to lead them in preparation for the day when the MechaCorp does returnexplains that it will be a hard job. They will have to integrate with the Untouchables. He d

have the knowledge of the people or the culture. He looks to Ruby and says “I’ll need somstrong who can guide me.” The elders say that only a union of marriage can allow him twith a partner. Jod says, “If that’s the way it is…” and Ruby joins hands with him and says that’s the way it shall be.”EPILOGUEGim is playing improv games with the other children. He acts out the battle that savedplanet. Ruby is pregnant with Jod’s child. There is talk of expanding to other planets.



ibliography

Scott Allison, George Goethals, Heroes: What They Do and Why We Need Them. OUniversity Press, October, 2010, ISBN: 978-0199739745

Dan Brown, The Davinci Code, Doubleday, March 2003, ISBN: 978-0385504201

Dylan Byers, Obama: ’New York girlfriend’ was composite. Politico, On Media Blog, 5/2/20

Joseph Campbell, The Hero With a Thousand Faces. New World Library; Third Edition (Ju2008), ISBN: 978-1577315933

Syd Field, Screenplay: The Foundations of Screenwriting. Delta; Revised Edition (Nove2005) ISBN: 978-0385339032

James Frey, A Million Little Pieces. Anchor Publishing, September 2005, ISBN: 978-030727

Michael Hauge, Writing Screenplays that Sell (20th Anniversary Edition). Collins ReferMarch 2011, ISBN: 978-0061791437

Cyndy Kelly, Inhale. Agile Writer Press, 2012, ISBN: 978-0985744038.

Becky Lavine, The Writing & Critique Survival Guide. Writers Digest Books, January ISBN: 1582976066

0] Barak Obama, Dreams from My Father, Broadway Books, August 2004, ISBN: 978-140008

] Nora Roberts, The Gift , Silhouette, October 2011, ISBN: 978-0373281534

2] Greg Smith, Scott Allison, Reel Heroes: Volume 1, Agile Writer Press, April 2014, ISBN: 9941526-00-2

] J.R.R. Tolkein, The Fellowship of the Ring: Being the First Part of The Lord of the RMariner Books (June 1, 2005), ISBN 978-0618574940

4] Christopher Vogler, The Writer’s Journey. Michael Wiese Productions; 3rd edition (Nove2007), ISBN: 978-1932907360

5] Michael Hauge, Christopher Vogler, The Hero’s Two Journeys. DVD. Screenstyle.com, Au2009, ASIN:B002M3WWKO

6] Christopher Vogler, David McKenna, Memo From the Story Department . Michael W

Productions. July, 2011, ISBN:978-1932907971

7] Wikipedia, A Million Little Pieces. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Million_Little_P1/4/2013.

8] Michele Young-Stone, The Handbook for Lightning Strike Survivors. Crown Books, 2010, I0307464474.



bout The Author

eg Smith founded the Agile Writer Workshop in 2011 with the mission of finding a new apphelping beginning writers complete a first-draft novel in 6 months. Greg created “The iter Method” based upon the writings of experts in mythology, screenwriting, psychology le project management.

Greg also writes a blog at ReelHeroes.net with noted psychologist Scott Allison. Scott sroes and heroism at the University of Richmond. Together they review movies and analyze

their heroic content. The two co-authored Reel Heroes: Two Hero Experts Critique The Mich compiles their reviews of 75 movies from 2013. The book also contains insights intokes for great heroes as depicted in the films they reviewed. The book can be found in pape

d ebook form on both Amazon.com and BarnesAndNoble.com.

Greg’s seminars on the Agile Writer Method have informed and delighted hundreds of wrholars, and university students. Since 2011, Agile Writer authors have completed 20 firstvels, 5 published novels, and two members were finalists in the coveted James River Writerpublished Novel Contest.

Greg can be contacted at [email protected]. Follow the progress of the Richmond chAgile Writers at AgileWriters.com and join other Agile Writers at our Facebook g

ww.facebook.com/groups/AgileWriterMethod .



Table of Contents

ile Writer: MethodknowledgementsefaceWelcome

1.1 Misconceptions About Novel Writing1.2 What Makes a Great Story?

1.2.1 The Video1.2.2 Chesterfield Writers Club1.2.3 Movies and Heroes1.2.4 Agile Writers

1.3 Why Do People Read Novels?1.4 Why Do You Want To Write a Novel?1.5 Know Your Audience1.6 How This Book Is Orgainized1.7 Summary

The Agile Novel2.1 An Agile Novel Is Fictional2.2 An Agile Novel Is Genre Fiction2.3 An Agile Novel Is Hero-Based2.4 An Agile Novel Is 60,000 Words2.5 An Agile Novel Is Commercially Viable2.6 Summary

The Story Abstract3.1 Story Title

3.2 Author’s Name3.3 Audience

3.3.1 Age Range3.3.2 Gender3.3.3 Educational Level3.3.4 Genre

3.4 Message3.5 One Line Description3.6 Elevator Speech

3.7 SummaryThe Hero’s Journey4.1 Joseph Campbell4.2 Christopher Vogler ’s 12 Stages

4.2.1 The Ordinary Wor ld4.2.2 The Call To Adventure4.2.3 The Refusal of the Call4.2.4 Meeting the Mentor4.2.5 Crossing the First Threshold4.2.6 Tests, Allies, Enemies4.2.7 Approach to the Inmost Cave





7.5.5 Summary of Stage 3: Discovery7.6 Stage 4: Growth

7.6.1 Final Allies and Friends7.6.2 Turning Point #4: Commitment7.6.3 Summary of Stage 4: Growth

7.7 Stage 5: Decline7.7.1 Turning Point #5: Why are we here?7.7.2 Summary of Stage 5: Decline

7.8 Stage 6: Despair7.8.1 Turning Point #6: Death or Disappointment7.8.2 Summary of Stage 6: Despair

7.9 Stage 7: The Gathering Storm7.9.1 Turning Point #7: The Climax7.9.2 Summary of Stage 7: The Gathering Storm

7.10 Stage 8: Resolution7.10.1 Epilogue7.10.2 Summary of Stage 8: Resolution

7.11 Summary

Writing Your Novel8.1 Introduction8.2 Step 1: The Story Abstract8.3 Step 2: The Hero Abstract8.4 Step 3: The Synopsis8.5 Step 4: The Agile Storyboard8.6 Step 5: Scenes8.7 Step 6: Write Your First Draft8.8 Embrace Change

8.9 SummaryThe First Thirty Pages

9.1 The First Three Sentences9.2 The First Three Paragraphs9.3 The First Three Chapters9.4 The Next Three Chapters9.5 Summary

Agile Writer Critique10.1 Overview

10.2 Formatting Your Work10.2.1 File Format10.2.2 Fonts10.2.3 Header10.2.4 Footer10.2.5 One File Per Critique10.2.6 Example Format10.2.7 Summary

10.3 Sharing Your Work

10.3.1 Agree On A Medium For Exchange10.3.2 Agree on Amount



10.3.3 Time Frame10.3.4 Don’t Resubmit10.3.5 Strive To Constantly Move Forward

10.4 Before The Meeting10.5 Your Comments10.6 At The Meeting10.7 Receiving Critique10.8 The Critiquers

10.8.1 ResourcesSummary11.1 Future Works

The Story Abstract TemplateThe Hero Abstract TemplateAgile Storyboard Template

Stage 0: Prologue (0-30 pages)Stage 1: The Hero (30 pages)Stage 2: The Special Wor ld (30 pages)Stage 3: Discovery (30 pages)

Stage 4: Growth (30 pages)Stage 5: Decline (30 pages)Stage 6: Despair (30 pages)Stage 7: The Gathering Storm (30 pages)Stage 8: Resolution (0-30 pages)

Luddite Planet Example StoryboardStage 0: Prologue (0-30 pages)Stage 1: The Hero (30 pages)Stage 2: The Special Wor ld (30 pages)

Stage 3: Discovery (30 pages)Stage 4: Growth (30 pages)Stage 5: Decline (30 pages)Stage 6: Despair (30 pages)Stage 7: The Gathering Storm (30 pages)Stage 8: Resolution (0-30 pages)

bliography