I recently created an infographic about the three-act structure because I genuinely like having a shape to work within when I am writing. I like seeing how a story is built and what each section is meant to accomplish. This is where brainstorming comes in handy.

Brainstorming helps me think more clearly. This task is useful, but it can also impede my progress. I can easily get caught up in outlining and avoid the writing. Unfortunately, that’s an issue for a lot of writers.

Having seen the drawbacks, brainstorming and outlining is not everyone’s favorite task. It usually helps though! I have been a teacher for over 20 years and everyone works differently. So, as I work on my novel, I have been thinking through each act more intentionally.

Brainstorming for Part I

For me, Act/Part I is about beginning, disruption, and decision.

This part of the book needs to introduce the protagonist’s world, establish what feels emotionally important or unstable, and begin the shift that will make the rest of the story possible.

How do I get there? That seems like a lot. Well, brainstorming is always a useful tool.

Answering the Questions

As I outline this section, these are the questions I am asking myself. The responses will be helpful brainstorming that can hopefully be turned into useful plot points.

I provided my answers to the questions as best I can at this point in my process.

Q & A:

1. Who is the protagonist at the beginning of the story, and what is her life like before everything changes?

My answer:
The protagonist is a member of The Community (to be formally named) and takes her role seriously. She is the teacher/tutor for the collective and enjoys the role she performs for the most part. There is a general feeling of being unsettled but that just might be where she is in life. She’s nearing 28 and life seems to be putting a bit of pressure on her to become something bigger. Who knows though. It could just be her imagination.

Ultimately, she is doing her part for the greater “intentional community” and sharing in the wealth they create as an income sharing group.

2. What emotional reality is already present beneath the surface?

In other words, what is missing, unsettled, painful, longed for, or unresolved before the main disruption fully arrives?

My answer:
The protagonist was born into the community her mother and father established. Within 10 years, The Community was thriving and expanding at a rapid pace. The quality of life within the parameters of the community were far greater than those in the general population.

Then one day the protagonist’s father disappeared. Her mother spent a few years searching for him, but ultimately gave up and gave in to the inevitable fate that likely befell him. She took a step back from her leadership role and a long-time benefactor stepped up to help. He changed the vibe, but the protagonist’s family was too wrapped up in their own grief to really grasp the extent the changes were altering the mission of The Community.

Our story begins when strange actions around the community are starting to raise more questions than there are answers.

3. What kind of world am I introducing the reader to?

This could mean the literal setting, the social world, the family system, the emotional atmosphere, or the spiritual logic of the book.

My answer:
The Community is located in Northern Ohio on Lake, Erie. The homes within the community were built on a little over 40 acres of farmland located across the street from the Lake. They built a beautiful land bridge over the road for people and animals to cross safely. There are wooded trails all over the land that lead to homes, the school, hangout locations, a restaurant, the beach, and other necessary buildings.

The Community forms its own social world and has a distinctly bohemian vibe. They are down to earth, understanding, and willing to give and receive in kind.

The World of this novel looks idyllic on the surface, but there are undertones of greed and power lurking in the shadows. New members have recently raised some eyebrows, but these people are used to putting others first and looking for the good in them, too. That might be a beautiful character trait, but it happens to be a great weakness right now.

4. Which relationships need to be established early?

Who matters in Act I, and what tensions, bonds, loyalties, or fractures need to be visible from the beginning?

My answer:
The most important relationships that need to be established are that of the protagonist, her mother, and her sister. They are different together after the disappearance and death of the father. They are scarred, but love each other through that wound.

The other relationship is that of the man who took over a leadership role in the community when the father disappeared. He is odd. I believe I can call him the antagonist at this point. The relationship between the mother and this man is strictly professional. It’s all business. Her warmth isn’t wasted on him. The protagonist’s relationship with the antagonist is unsettling at best. She actually has an infatuation with his son, who doesn’t live in the community. He wants nothing to do with his father and interacts with him for money.

The relationship between the protagonist and the son is important. The unhealthy dynamic needs to be established early so we see the bigger picture of her personality.

5. What central longing, fear, conflict, or imbalance is present in the protagonist from the start?

What is she carrying before the plot begins to move?

My answer:
The protagonist carries a loyalty to her family, but that bond came with a price. The pain of losing her father at a young age has left a wound that is difficult to heal. Likely it will never heal completely.

She fulfills her duty to the community as their teacher/tutor and enjoys the mental stimulation. She often fears that this is all she will ever have and that doesn’t seem like enough for her. Those thoughts are often pushed away rather than felt.

An imbalance in her “love” life leaves her desperate and pathetic. She chases after “the son” and he gives her just enough to keep her on the hook. Whatever self-respect she carries during the day, excuses itself in his presence. We’ve all been there, girl. Believe me.

6. What event, realization, invitation, disruption, or pressure begins to unsettle her life?

What starts opening the door to the real story?

My answer:
A little over halfway through Act/Part I is when something happens to create significant pressure for the protagonist. So, what could this life disruption be? After thinking about the story I see in my mind’s eye, two possibilities happening simultaneously.

First, her life is stable, but it feels like freedom is shrinking. The new members in the community feel off. They are not outright evil or anything, but they just seem a little too stiff. These people are being recruited into a cult, but that is not something the protagonist is aware of just yet. This will be a huge issue for the survival of the community her mother and father put their entire life in creating.

Then, there was a hidden letter that she finds unexpectedly and within the normal routine of her daily life. It’s from her father and it leads her to believe that his disappearance wasn’t an accident. He didn’t run off and abandon the family, but was forced to leave. He isn’t dead, but is indeed lost to her. She needs to solve the mystery of her father, which can be directly tied to saving the community.

7. How do I want to foreshadow deeper trouble, mystery, or change?

What can appear early that will matter more later?

My answer:
It took me a while to answer this question because it’s difficult to say at this point in my process. I know it’s an important question, too. Good foreshadowing keeps a reader engaged and poor foreshadowing is so predictable. Therefore, I think the best use of my skill will be put into creating signs, which will play a huge role in the life of the protagonist.

There will be subtle and not so subtle signs throughout the first part of the novel. Things that seem off, but could also just be overreacting. Animals will play a role in the foreshadowing, too. For example, I have a scene in the first chapter that involves a deer. This will be an important animal to the main character and show up throughout. She will not understand the significance right away, but it will become clear as the story moves forward.

8. What resists movement in Act I?

What makes the protagonist hesitate, deny, avoid, or struggle to move forward?

My answer:
Her community has been going strong for over 25 years, or so it seemed to be. Even after her mother stepped down from a leadership position, the others who stepped up kept the status quo.

9. What changes enough by the end of Act I that she cannot remain where she was?

This is the question I keep coming back to, because it helps me distinguish between a beginning that is merely interesting and a beginning that actually launches the story.

My answer:
If finding the letter was the inciting incident of Act I, then where can the protagonist go from there to ensure she cannot remain a bystander? There is something she discovers in the letter that implicates the antagonist. From the best novels, the point of no return must conclude that:

• She knows something she cannot unknow
• Staying would require self-betrayal
• Moving forward carries risk, loss, or exile

If these are not accomplished, then it would be fairly simple to go back to the life before the incident. I don’t want that. Understanding this, she must find information that will forever create a villain, change the course of the community, or cause the life she once knew to be ruined.

10. What does Act I promise the reader?

What kind of emotional journey, tension, mystery, or transformation is the opening quietly setting up?

My answer:
At this point in my brainstorming journey, it looks like Act I is going to promise the reader a journey through a thriving Intentional Community and the day to day lifestyle. Plus, there is tension forming with it turning into a cult of sorts.

Plus, solving the mystery of the letter will help to root out the villains and save her community.

Final Thoughts on Outlining

For me, this is one of the most helpful parts of outlining. It keeps me from treating the beginning of a novel like a place to simply explain things. Instead, it reminds me that the opening has a deeper job. It must create movement. It must introduce tension. It must begin shaping the emotional field the rest of the novel will grow.

If you have any thoughts or comments on my brainstorming work, please let me know! I am open to any helpful minds!