Today, I started trying to map specific events in my story to the 22 plot steps from Truby’s Anatomy of Story. I have multiple storylines going on in this book, but for now, I’m working on the hero’s core journey and the external plot factors.
In the process, I’m getting a little stuck in the middle Drive section. I know that I need a series of escalating actions and reveals in this section, but this is the messy middle that I’d given the least amount of thought to in advance. I had my beginning and end fairly clearly mapped out, but as for how I get there. . . well, that’s a little less clear for now.
I do have a few other storylines to weave in, including my hero’s mental journey toward acceptance of her powers and willingness to use them, and I anticipate that will occupy part of these middle scenes, as well. My other characters also have their own stories to fill in. But ultimately, I want to try to combine multiple functions into each scene, so they all need to be related to this main desire spine.
But while I’m struggling with the details at this point, I also need to resist my usual temptation to fill in too many specific details at this point. I should be focusing on the story impact, and the details can only be examples of what could happen if I don’t come up with something better along the way.
The pressure is really piling up. I don’t want to set myself up for failure here.