In my last post I answered 10 questions about Act I of my novel. These questions helped me sort out the flow of my plot along with the ideas I am kicking around.
Now, I want to go a step further. After going over my answers to those questions a few days later, I noticed some really strong plot points. I also noticed areas where I really wasn’t committing enough. My brainstorming is going to be turned up a couple of notches.
These questions for Act I will help build a frame for the foundation that I poured in the last post. My answers allow the pieces to snap into place. Feel free to use the sections and adapt these questions to help shape your narrative, too!
Let’s begin…
I. Opening Image & Immediate Reality (Ground the reader fast!)
- What is the very first image or moment the reader sees, and what does it quietly reveal about her emotional state? (Not just setting, but what does this moment say about her?)
Answer: Upon opening, my protagonist is walking at night. She is making use of the community walking path towards the beach. In this scene we learn that she has issues with her place in life and self-esteem. We see that she yearns for creating structure, but something within craves more. There needs to be movement within the structure. This is relatable, but the context in which she lives allows for more interest.
The protagonist lives in an intentional community that was founded by her mother and father before she was born. After her father’s disappearance and death, her mother is unable to lead the community in the ways she feels are necessary for its survival. The antagonist takes over the burden. The community slowly devolves. Not so quickly that the decline is noticeable. 
During the first scene, we find out about the protagonist, the setting, and the general conflict. It might be a little too much, but that can be edited down later. Plus, things can always be moved around so the structure isn’t overwhelming the reader.
- What does a typical day look like for her in the community and where, specifically, does dissatisfaction leak through?
Answer: A typical day in the community varies based on season, need, and project. However, the life of the protagonist doesn’t vary as much as the typical community member. She is the tutor/teacher and her days seem to blend from one lesson to the next. She loves her job, but her days all seem similar. The content of the lesson might change, but the teaching process is always the same for her.
Sometimes the students are not fully engaged. She is led to daydreaming. This brings on surprising visions and leads her to a discovery or two.
For others, there are many jobs that need to be completed. The community needs to make money. Things must be made and sold. Upkeep happens daily and weekly. Cleaning, cooking, feeding, healthcare, education, maintenance, and outreach must all be completed routinely. Everyone must simultaneously do their individual part to benefit the whole.
- What is one small moment early on where she feels “this can’t be it” but suppresses it?
Answer: The protagonist is reeling from a particularly vivid dream she had the night prior. Her students come and go all day without giving her much of a headache, except one. A little girl gives her an immense amount of trouble and leads her to question not only her sanity, but the very will it takes her to live through the day. She is the 4th child of the antagonist in the story.
This man had two sons before he came to the community. Then, the antagonist fathered a few different children during his last 20 years in the community. His 3 children live in the community, but only one of his baby mamas remain in the community. The most recent one who cares for his 3 year old son.
The protagonist has had a lot of trouble with the girl, but tries to move past the animosity she holds for her. Honestly, the student is only a child (16 years old) and the protagonist needs to get her act together, right? The boredom she ignores is one thing. The verbal abuse she ignores is a whole other thing.
II. The Emotional Core (Make the wound more than just backstory)
- How does her father’s disappearance still actively shape her behavior and not just her memories?
Answer: Her father’s disappearance and subsequent death has shaped the last 13 years of her life. He has officially been gone the same amount of time she had with him. It’s a weird feeling for the protagonist and she has trouble reconciling the grief with the sense that she doesn’t think about him every day anymore. It feels disloyal in some way to be moving towards healing.
Is she really healing, though? Perhaps a better way to describe the protagonist’s state of mind is “assimilating” to the lack. She still has dreams about him. She won’t let herself quit teaching in the community because he was also an educator before beginning the community. Then, worst of all, she finds herself going back and forth in a relationship that is so toxic her mother and sister have to sit her down (intervention-style) to talk her out of having an attachment to him. 
- What does she believe about loss, love, or stability because of what happened to him? (This becomes her deeply held internal misconception.)
Answer: She believes that love comes around once in a lifetime. If we let it pass us by, then we must live with that loss. Her mother has moved on since her father’s passing, but she never married again. Love and relationships should be worked on if they’re not perfect. She acknowledges that if a couple doesn’t fit perfectly together, we have to examine our expectations and work towards something palatable. She watches her friends date idiot after idiot and move on because of vibes alone. She isn’t built like that.
- How does her relationship with her mother show grief rather than explain it?
Answer: The protagonist holds on to her and almost worships her mother. She can be protective of her mother and her love is very appreciated, but it’s at the expense of her own growth at a very pivotal age. Her mother sees the sacrifice as unnecessary but cannot bring herself to alter the status quo.
It’s nice having another loyal family member present in an ever-changing community.
III. Relationships That Matter (No neutral dynamics!)
- What is one scene that clearly shows the current dynamic between her, her mother, and her sister?
Answer: On the morning after her night walk, the protagonist, her mother, and her sister head to the memorial they engraved on a willow tree. The canopy is skeletal, but they move beneath the swaying branches and see her father’s name carved roughly into the bark. The mother reveals something that triggers a memory from one of the protagonist’s unsettling dreams. A mystery is set in motion.
- What is the first moment where the antagonist feels off ? We’re not talking full-on evil, but unsettling in a way she can’t explain?
Answer: He has always been sort of an odd person. It’s not a crime to be a little odd in an intentional community…most are in some way. However, he always gave off the vibe that his plans for the future were far more control-based than the original plans.
When the protagonist confronts him about his daughter’s behavior in class, he brushes it off. He isn’t phased by this or respectful of the fact someone is having issues with his child. First of all, this isn’t odd behavior for anyone who has ever dealt with the parents of teenagers. They tend to not hold their children as accountable as they should. The antagonist goes further to warn her that his daughter is one that nobody should cross. Her lineage holds weight that must be respected…especially by those in service roles.
- What is one interaction with the son that reveals exactly why she keeps going back to him, even when she shouldn’t?
Answer: When the son ignores the protagonist, it drives her insane. She has a hard time dealing with his lack of caring. Then, when he wants something, he is open and charismatic. This pleases her and draws her back into the toxic dynamic. She loves his artistic side and the fact that he is a songwriter. He plays the guitar and has big dreams. These dreams allow him to push people away because he’s going to make it one day. When he finally makes it, a relationship would be burdensome.
There is an odd paradox attributed to the son. He is emotionally distant in his relationships, but everything comes out in his music. The act of writing helps him to express the things he hides.
So, why does she behave this way? After her father disappeared, the son was the only person who didn’t recede from her. He accepted the sadness and sat in it with her. A lot of the community members had a hard time with this, but he didn’t. He gave her a place to feel whatever she needed to and an outlet to ignore the rest. Their relationship was only friendly until right before she left for college. He was leaving the community, too.
IV. The World (Beauty AND Threat at the same time)
- What is one moment that will fully sell the beauty and appeal of the community?
Answer: The protagonist knows what it means to leave the community. She went to school and studied abroad. She has seen places and traveled during that time. To her, nothing compares to the community, though. This is her family. After the loss of her father, losing the people in the community terrifies her.
The beauty is that people have tried to make a life there together. Imperfectly, maybe foolishly, maybe with too much faith in the wrong people sometimes. Regardless, they’ve done it and are capable of supporting each other in ways that the towns and cities outside could not fathom. It’s appealing when people have your back without selfish intent.
- What is one subtle but undeniable sign that the community is changing in a dangerous way?
Answer: The community has rules about accepting new members. They must come and stay for a period and decide if they move within its confines. There might be 5 people per year that stay permanently. It’s understandable because working for the whole rather than the individual is something new for a lot of people.
Lately, there have been people moving into permanent housing immediately. These people contribute much less and the antagonist makes excuses for them. They seem really chummy, too. Something is up, but the protagonist is distracted by the mystery unfolding and her toxic relationship.
The mother, however, has had her eyes open for some time. These new members are doing things their own way. They’re around but never actually doing anything. They have polite habits, but take more than their fair share.
V. Foreshadowing & Unease (Build pressure early)
- What is the first “sign” (animal, behavior, event) that something is well and truly off and how does she explain it away?
Answer: After losing another two families to the mainland, the long-term members of the community are reeling. The loss is felt deeply.
The protagonist sees the truck that hit the deer in the first scene. They are loading something in to the truck but she isn’t sure what it could be. One of the new members is overseeing the work.
- What recurring detail or symbol appears early that will take on a different meaning later?
Answer: The deer from the first scene and the truck that hit it. The letter is also symbolic. I need to take time to meditate on how deep these symbols will go in the story.
VI. The Inciting Incident (No vagueness allowed here!) 
- Where exactly does she find the letter, and why is it there?
Answer: After a particularly unsettling dream, she is reminded of something by the student who is giving her problems. This interaction triggered the memory of the dream and the book in the school house. She went over to the top shelf and found the long unused encyclopedia collection. It’s yet to be determined, which encyclopedia the letter is hidden. The exact book needs to have meaning to the overall mystery of her father’s disappearance.
- What does the letter say specifically?
Answer: I have taken a long time answering this question. I am just not that interested in the letter idea for some reason. I keep thinking about it and I can’t seem to get excited. A letter could just reveal everything all at once and completely ruin any intrigue. Plus, if it didn’t reveal everything, then why not? I want her to find something else. Maybe a ticket stub or a receipt for a plane ticket. Something to show that her father was actively trying to leave. It would shine more of a light on it as a disappearance rather than a death and sow doubt.
I need to think about this more and when I begin that section of the story, I am sure something will come to me.
VII. Immediate Reaction (This determines pacing and tone)
- Who (if anyone) does she tell of her findings, and what happens because of that choice? (If she tells no one, what does that isolation create?)
Answer: She will likely tell no one because the protagonist is already concerned about the antagonist and his growing authority. She keeps her discovery hidden and that creates unrest within her. This is a chance to find him or at least uncover the story of what became of him.
VIII. Escalation & No Return (This is where most drafts fail)
- What happens by the end of Act I that makes it impossible for her to go back to her old life without betraying herself, and what would she lose if she stays silent?
Answer: I have a few ideas in mind for the end of Act I, but it seems that I am being shown two possible paths. She can begin her detective work, or she can leave the community in search of something deeper.
I don’t think I know exactly where I want to go.
My story feels a little flat as it is right now. That being said, the intrigue could come because of a deeply interesting character. The protagonist feels flat to me, too. I need to spend some time working through who she is and what she wants. Her wound feels like it might be scabbing over and that isn’t raw enough for an engaging story.
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