0:03 hello my name is cat and this is the
0:14 series that's right I am starting a new
0:19 book well kind of newish the idea isn't
0:22 new but I only ever outlined it and
0:25 wrote like a really messy zero draft of
0:27 the first chapter you should know you
0:30 were there maybe were you a a couple
0:34 years ago back in 2018 I sorry what it
0:39 was 6 years ago 6 years ago allegedly I
0:42 came up with this idea about a haunted
0:45 tattoo that I offered as a writing
0:47 prompt so I never intended to actually
0:50 write this story I gave it away it was
0:52 free real estate because I'm the type of
0:55 writer who has an abundance of story
0:58 ideas and I love to throw a quick
1:00 outline together like give me a premise
1:02 and I will outline a book in an hour
1:04 let's go let's do it I actually did that
1:08 once in a live stream like 11 years ago
1:10 the Warlock Gladiator book like five
1:12 people know what I'm talking about
1:14 anyways haunted Tattoo book this was an
1:17 idea that I liked but I didn't love like
1:20 it wasn't precious to me it was so far
1:21 down the priority list like
1:24 realistically I was never going to write
1:26 it in my lifetime I had too many
1:28 projects that I cared about a lot more
1:30 and was like way more interested in
1:32 writing but everything changed when the
1:36 Fire Nation attacked no here's the deal
1:38 I have made a lot of videos about
1:42 writing from general advice to Vlogs
1:45 about my own writing journey and process
1:48 and in almost all of those videos I've
1:50 kept things pretty vague and like
1:52 spoiler free when talking about my own
1:55 projects you know I might mention like
1:59 the genre and some key tropes basic
2:02 premise enal Vibes but like no details
2:04 because I didn't want to spoil anything
2:07 or give anything away but what if I did
2:09 some of my favorite videos that I've
2:11 ever made are the brainstorming
2:14 outlining and zerodraft videos for this
2:17 haunted Tattoo book because I love
2:20 sharing that behindth scenes look at
2:23 story creation like breaking down my
2:26 writing process and how I make the
2:28 storytelling decisions that I make I
2:31 find that kind of thing so fascinating
2:33 so like what if I did a whole series of
2:36 videos of that what if I take this
2:39 project that you already know the whole
2:42 outline for it's designed to be like an
2:45 example project so I don't need to worry
2:47 about spoilers and I can show you how I
2:50 actually construct a story How I build a
2:52 book so I can make videos going into
2:54 depth about things like character
2:58 creation and weaving subplots together
3:01 and World building theme tone point of
3:04 view plot twists tropes all the things
3:07 all the story things what if I made a
3:09 bunch of videos talking about all these
3:11 writing craft elements while actually
3:14 developing the story alongside that as
3:17 an example and just sharing the entire
3:19 process I just think it's going to be a
3:23 really fun and interesting project I
3:25 love behind the scenes stuff like this
3:28 and documenting the entire life of this
3:33 story from random idea six years ago to
3:36 a hopefully finished book and even if I
3:38 don't get there even if I never finish
3:41 this book because let's be real that
3:43 could happen it's entirely possible the
3:45 story could fall apart along the way for
3:47 any number of reasons but even if I
3:50 never finish this project I still think
3:52 that the videos I make along the way
3:54 will be useful and interesting
3:57 regardless sometimes failure is a part
3:59 of the process but you know it'll be way
4:01 better if we're documenting a success
4:03 story rather than a flop but only time
4:06 will tell so welcome to build a book
4:08 episode one I'm going to consider those
4:12 first three videos kind of a prologue to
4:14 this series so you can watch them if you
4:16 haven't that is like the actual origin
4:19 story of this story but the first thing
4:22 we're going to do in this video is re
4:25 outline the book my hard drive crashed a
4:28 couple years ago now and I lost the
4:31 scrier document with the zero draft of
4:34 the story but because I only ever worked
4:38 on the story for videos I didn't really
4:40 lose anything you know it's a bit
4:43 bothersome that I have to recreate the
4:46 file but it's fine we can rebuild it we
4:49 have the technology we're also changing
4:52 some stuff up anyways I haven't actively
4:55 worked on this story over like the last
4:58 half decade but passively I have spent
5:01 quite a bit of time thinking about the
5:03 story you know further
5:06 brainstorming and sporadically making
5:08 decisions about how I want the story to
5:12 go like in my head I have all sorts of
5:14 worldbuilding info and character
5:18 backstory info I have a bunch of lore
5:20 about like how exactly the haunted
5:22 tattoo thing works you know I have all
5:24 sorts of stuff like that figured out in
5:26 my head it's all been brewing for the
5:29 last 6 years and the time has finally
5:32 come for me to actually write this
5:34 down so let's do that let's re outline
5:37 this book and start getting all these
5:39 ideas down on the page it's an important
5:42 part of the writing process you know
5:46 actually writing things
5:49 down who knew all right let's get to
5:52 outlining so I almost always use my
5:56 three act n block 27 chapter outline as
5:58 a starting point I'll link a couple
6:00 videos in the description for a more
6:03 detailed explanation of that if you want
6:06 more info on what all these beats are if
6:08 you're familiar with my outline method
6:11 then you may notice that I've used some
6:13 different terms for some of these points
6:16 chapter 3 used to be called immediate
6:19 reaction and has been changed to Fallout
6:22 and chapter 4 used to be called reaction
6:26 and is now choice and I just felt like
6:28 those terms were a better fit the points
6:32 do still contain the same story beat but
6:35 the terms Fallout and choice feel more
6:38 specific and more active like we're
6:41 still reacting but in a more active way
6:44 we want our protagonists to feel like
6:46 they have agency and to not just be
6:50 passively reacting to everything mostly
6:53 there are always exceptions but readers
6:55 generally like an active protagonist
6:58 that drives the story along you know
7:00 protags got a protag and all that jazz
7:02 now I'm going to go through this outline
7:04 in chronological order because that's
7:06 how I like to build it out but for those
7:08 of you who look at the 27 points and
7:11 think that is too restrictive you're
7:15 doing too much outlining try starting
7:18 with these five points instead in the
7:20 first 5% you have your introduction in
7:23 your inciting incident at your 25% Mark
7:26 you have a plot twist and the promise of
7:29 the premise at 50% you have of course of
7:32 course your midpoint at 75% you have
7:35 another plot twist that pushes you into
7:37 the darkest Moment The Dark Night of the
7:41 soul and at that last 5% of the story
7:43 you have your Climax and resolution
7:46 regardless of what story structure you
7:49 use whether you use three act with even
7:52 divisions like my 27 chapter method or
7:54 the version of 3A structure that's
8:00 divided by 25% 50% 25% or four act
8:03 structure or five act structure act
8:06 divisions are arbitrary to a certain
8:08 degree like it's really just a
8:11 structural Choice it's about pacing and
8:14 flow and where your sequences end but
8:16 regardless of whatever act structure
8:19 you're using if you're even using one
8:21 you're going to have these five plot
8:25 points at approximately these places and
8:27 once you figure out these five plot
8:30 points for your main story you can build
8:33 out around them or you can go in
8:35 chronological order like what I'm going
8:37 to do now so let's get to it so chapter
8:41 1 is our introduction we meet Charlie
8:43 our main character and her life kind of
8:46 sucks and then she finds out that her
8:48 estranged twin sister who she hasn't
8:51 spoken to in a year is dead and that of
8:53 course is our inciting incident penny is
8:58 dead but she is somehow here as a ghost
9:00 haunting Charlie's town tattoo The
9:03 Fallout of this incident has Charlie
9:06 rebelling against this call to action
9:07 she doesn't want anything to do with
9:10 this she is still mad at Penny for her
9:12 betrayal a year ago so she doesn't want
9:14 to help she tries to ditch Penny and
9:17 find a psychic who can help her with her
9:19 ghost problem but of course the only way
9:22 to actually get rid of Penny is to help
9:24 her complete her unfinish business so
9:27 she can move on Charlie reluctantly
9:30 agrees to help in chapter 5 Charlie
9:33 takes action Penny's unfinished business
9:36 is this science project that she must
9:39 complete in time for the Showcase in two
9:42 weeks so Penny convinces Charlie to
9:46 break into her Elite Science Academy to
9:48 get to her project we'll have some fun
9:51 like breaking and entering Heist type
9:53 Shenanigans in this chapter but of
9:55 course there's a consequence to this
9:58 action and Charlie is caught breaking
10:02 into this lab and now she must appeal to
10:04 the people in charge the Headmaster in
10:07 order to take over Penny spot in this
10:09 course to crank up the pressure a little
10:12 bit Charlie must first prove herself
10:14 before she's allowed to be accepted into
10:16 this program there's some kind of test
10:19 or interview that she must pass and she
10:22 does she is accepted into the program
10:25 but then plot twist while checking out
10:28 Penny's project and like assessing what
10:31 needs to be done the girls discover that
10:33 Penny's death wasn't actually an
10:37 accident it was murder in the original
10:40 outline from 6 years ago I actually had
10:43 this it was murder reveal at the
10:46 midpoint and like I could have tried to
10:48 keep it there and like make that work
10:52 but I concluded that the murder reveal
10:54 really does need to be here like we we
10:57 need to get that murder plot started
10:59 earlier than the midpoint like the story
11:02 story really is about the sister's
11:05 relationship first and the unfinished
11:08 business second so the murder isn't like
11:11 a huge element of the story like I
11:12 wouldn't classify this as a murder
11:15 mystery the murder mystery is very much
11:18 a b plot but at the end of act one is
11:21 traditionally where you introduce the B
11:25 plot so that it was murder reveal is
11:27 definitely our plot twist and push into
11:31 act two also pushing us to act to is
11:35 meeting the other five students peers in
11:38 the lab and one of them is most likely
11:41 our killer next up breaking into the new
11:44 world we get to explore this new
11:47 location the lab we get to know what
11:50 Penny's project is all about and who
11:53 these other people in the course are we
11:56 also get to have some fun and games this
11:59 is where we get some fun Ghostly
12:02 Shenanigans and you know the girls
12:04 investigating the murder and working on
12:06 Penny's project we're building some
12:08 tension because the sisters are
12:10 constantly arguing like they still have
12:12 beef there's still a lot of tension
12:15 between them from their estrangement
12:16 then we have the oldw world
12:20 juxtaposition chapter this is another
12:22 element that has changed because
12:24 originally it was just about the sisters
12:26 bickering and like rehashing their
12:28 history and we're still going to have
12:30 some of that here but I was thinking
12:32 about our timeline and like a realistic
12:35 sequence of events and Penny's funeral
12:38 would happen at some point over the
12:40 course of the story so this is the
12:43 perfect chapter for that Charlie goes
12:46 home for Penny's funeral and it's kind
12:48 of a reality check for both of the
12:50 sisters like they're both kind of
12:53 grappling with the reality of Penny's
12:55 death and both sisters are a little
12:58 emotionally stunted so all these big
13:01 feelings things they're dealing with
13:03 yeah they're just going to fight with
13:04 each other about it they're going to
13:06 like lash out and have a big blowout
13:09 fight which builds us up to the midpoint
13:12 where the Killer goes after Charlie
13:14 there's an attempt on her life and the
13:16 girls learn the hard way that they have
13:19 to work together if they want to figure
13:22 this out and complete the project and
13:25 you know at least one of them is still
13:26 going to be alive at the end of this
13:29 hopefully so we have a bit of a reversal
13:31 here like the sisters make up they hash
13:34 out their issues and start to make
13:36 amends and like really repair their
13:39 relationship so when we get back to the
13:41 lab things are different the sisters are
13:44 now working together and making real
13:47 progress on both the project and the
13:50 murder mystery it's not easy progress
13:53 though there are trials involved in this
13:55 process of course they are freshly
13:59 dedicated and determined to do the thing
14:02 they even go so far as to confront their
14:05 main suspect at the time but it wasn't
14:08 them it was someone else and they're
14:10 really narrowing down on the probable
14:13 suspect now the last night before the
14:16 Showcase we have our Calm before the
14:19 storm just a quiet moment of the
14:22 sister's bonding and kind of some
14:24 preemptive mourning uh you know the
14:27 Showcase is tomorrow and after that
14:30 penny is going to move on so you know
14:32 it's kind of a heavy moment and then the
14:36 killer attacks again Charlie is attacked
14:41 and hurt and Penny who is incapio can't
14:44 help this is the darkest moment Charlie
14:47 is Left for Dead Penny is helpless all
14:51 hope is lost except no it isn't because
14:54 Charlie and Penny find the power within
14:56 themselves to make a comeback at the
14:59 last minute we get our together
15:01 together and then we are racing to the
15:04 finale we got to get to the showcase on
15:06 time we got to call some reinforcements
15:08 in we call the detective who's
15:11 investigating Penny's murder we call
15:13 some of our allies at the lab can you
15:15 stall the Showcase we're on the way and
15:18 then everything is coming together and
15:20 converging Charlie and Penny have
15:22 connected the dots and they've really
15:24 connected this time everything
15:27 comes together we confront the Killer
15:29 and have our final battle our final
15:32 showdown and of course we are
15:35 victorious hooray for Justice at the
15:39 climax of our story we make it to the
15:42 competition showcase just in time we
15:46 present our project and we win again
15:50 another Victory but this Victory is a
15:52 little Bittersweet you know because it
15:55 means the murder is solved and the
15:57 project is complete and the sisters have
16:00 repaired their relation ship and all of
16:03 Penny's unfinished business has been
16:05 finished so now it's time for our
16:09 resolution our final goodbyes and Penny
16:12 finds peace and moves on maybe we'll
16:14 we'll we'll we'll just see about that I
16:17 have an alternate ending in mind but
16:19 we'll talk about that in a future video
16:22 and yeah here is our revamped outline
16:25 it's a very basic outline you know this
16:28 is only like 500 words or so it's just
16:30 like a story story skeleton that we're
16:33 going to hang everything else on but we
16:38 have these 27 basic story beats and we
16:40 have a general shape of the story this
16:43 way you know there's obviously a lot of
16:46 specifics that this outline doesn't even
16:48 touch like I said before the
16:50 relationship between the sisters is a
16:53 huge part of the story and we don't
16:56 really dive deeply into it in this basic
16:59 outline this is just like action points
17:02 story beats and as you will see in
17:05 future videos in this series it's pretty
17:07 malleable like I can split some of these
17:10 points into more than one chapter or
17:12 combine several points into a single
17:15 chapter it really depends on how the
17:19 story actually flows which you can't get
17:22 a good sense of from like this bird's
17:24 eye view but we have a road map now we
17:29 have broad Strokes of a story and now we
17:32 just continue to narrow in on each point
17:34 and flesh it out and yeah I think that
17:36 is going to do it for this video today
17:39 there's a lot of specifics and like
17:42 decisions that I've made that aren't
17:44 mentioned in this outline at all if you
17:46 remember at the end of that original
17:50 outline video I had all these questions
17:53 like what exactly is Penny's project
17:55 what exactly is this competition and the
17:58 Showcase and the program that Penny's a
18:00 part of what is the tattoo that the
18:04 twins share that is somehow haunted I
18:06 know all of this stuff now I figured it
18:09 all out I've made decisions and I can't
18:12 wait to tell you all about it as we
18:14 progress through this story and this
18:18 project a good amount has changed over
18:21 the years not just structure-wise like
18:24 introducing the murder mystery sooner
18:26 but also things like the twins
18:28 personalities uh they're they're pretty
18:31 different now and it changes a lot like
18:35 I am going to have to completely rewrite
18:38 the chapter one that I zero drafted
18:39 before because our main character
18:44 Charlie is very different now and that
18:47 original chapter just does not fit with
18:49 her personality at all which is where
18:51 we're going to pick up in the next
18:53 episode we're going to read draft
18:56 chapter 1 so tune in next time for that
18:59 until then thank you so very much for
19:01 watching this video I hope you enjoyed
19:04 it I hope you have a wonderful night and
19:07 I will have another video up soon so I
