Day 29: Outlining the Last 75-100% of Your Novel

Hey there, Igniter! Monica Leonelle from theworldneedsyourbook.com, and today we are on Day 29 of the challenge. Wow, so we are almost to the end. Very exciting. And today we are doing some outlining around the last 25% of your novel. We are in Day 29 of the challenge and we are outlining the last portion of your novel, 75 to 100%, using the Ultimate Novel plotter, this is the resolution, this is the martyr energy, this is Act 3 of your story if you are using a 3-part structure, or Part 4 of your story if you are using the 4-part structure. So similar to the setup, and in many ways mirroring the setup, this section has some pretty defined beats, uh, and definitely a defined order as well as to what those beats are going to be. And so if you want to learn more about this, truly learn more about this, I highly recommend the book Super Story Structure by James Scott Bell. And so he kind of maps this out in more detail. And I have, you know, I have like kind of a different, slightly different take on it and different words. So The first beat of this is— so we have that final, you know, the cards on the table moment, and then we're in the final battle section. So we're in the resolution section. So the first beat of this is what is your character's misguided goal going into the resolution? So they're going to start the final battle with a goal, and it's going to— it's going to be both a misguided goal and an upgraded goal. I talked about this in the day— I think it was day 18 or 19 when I was talking about the resolution and the martyr energy. So basically, um, so I'll explain the misguidedness and the upgradedness. So we'll start with the upgradedness. Um, basically your character had a goal at the beginning of the story, and so in the case of The Hunger Games and Katniss Everdeen, Her goal at the beginning of the story is just to win the Hunger Games so she can come home to her family. And this goal sounds very reasonable at the beginning. It is, however, also, also already misguided by the end. So now, so that was, that's kind of her goal at like the 25% mark of the book. By the 75% mark of the book, A lot has happened and she has already experienced a transformation. Um, and because, because of that, we want to show that new goal, uh, and the upgraded goal that takes into account her whole transformation. So the goal that she has at the 75% mark is that she wants to win the Hunger Games with Peeta and she wants to bring him home as well. Um, and, and The reason that this is so important is that she is truly not going to settle for less. Like, she— like, like, if she were just to win the Hunger Games by herself, that would be a defeat. Okay? And that's very important for her to know and realize. It's very important for the reader to know and realize, because what has happened is that the story has really upped the stakes. Going into this final battle. So that's the upgraded part. Now the misguided part is actually the, the goal was misguided in both cases. Um, so at the beginning, you know, the misguidedness of it is, you know, Katniss believed that she could just win the Games and come home and everything goes back to normal. Like she survives, you know, everybody's happy, everything's normal again. She can go back to her old life. She can be just be left alone at that point. Um, that is just not true. And this is something that Haymitch, who is her mentor, already fully understands. Like, he— because he's experienced this. He, he is somebody who won the Games in the past and now has like an alcohol problem, basically. And we eventually learn the reason he has that alcohol problem is because, um, he doesn't get to walk away from the trauma of the Games. Like, it was it irrevocably changes his life. So for Katniss, this misguided goal— the misguidedness was already there at the beginning, but now the misguidedness is that she now wants to save Peeta. You know, she's had a change of heart. She— it's very important to her to save him, and she— there's that part of her that believes that she's going to be able to. She trusts in the Gamemakers new rule. And at the end of— like, during the final battle, the Game Makers say, "Oh, by the way, like, you can't both win. Like, one, you know, one of you has to die." So she has placed her trust in the Game Makers to some extent, when the Game Makers have never— they've never cared for her. They've never you know, loved her. They've never had her best interests at heart. Um, she's only been there for entertainment, basically. So, um, this goal is very misguided. The Capitol was never going to let these two tributes win the Games. All right, so, um, that, that's a very important beat. I'm trying to think, like, so if this were You know, if this were like a, um, well, yeah, so for— let's, let's look at like Twilight because that's more of like a romantic storyline. Um, so, so in Twilight, this misguided goal— so at the beginning of the story, Edward's goal is just to like not kill Bella, basically. He's like trying not to like kill her, eat her. He's thinking of all the different ways he can escape her, and that doesn't work. So by the end, going into that final battle, he just wants to, um, keep her alive basically still. Like, that's his goal, is just to keep her alive. And, uh, what ends up happening— and she, you know, she wants the same thing, she wants to stay alive. Um, so their goal is just to stay alive, but what ends up happening is that They basically— Bella ends up being willing to sacrifice for Edward, and he ends up, you know, she, she gets bitten with venom, and for him it's no longer enough to like keep her alive. Basically, it's no longer enough to keep her safe and to keep her to keep her living. So when she's injected with venom, he has the chance to let her turn. Like, she, she could turn safely at that point and become a vampire, and he can have her forever, really. Like, they can have each other forever. But he is not willing to do that. He wants to keep her human. And so his, his, um, the ante has been upped. Again. So again, that's the, that's the upgrade in this. It's not enough for him to just like keep her safe, um, or, or even to like let her turn into a vampire. He actually wants to keep her human, uh, for as long as possible. Um, it's still a misguided goal because ultimately they're not gonna— like, they, they just— they're not gonna work, um, with her being human and him being vampire. Like, they're not gonna work long term. And also Bella doesn't want that. Bella does want to become a vampire to be with him. So it's a— it's just a misguided goal for that reason. All right, so that's enough about that beat. Okay, what else needs to happen before the final battle can happen? This is just a chance to like tie up any loose ends, um, and anything that, that needs to happen. So like one thing that happens in The Hunger Games is that there are like these fake fires that kind of force Peeta and Katniss out of hiding and force them toward the Cornucopia. And so Katniss recognizes this and she explains this to the reader basically that they're going to get forced— she— I mean, they could also die in the midst of that. So it is like something dangerous to navigate because it could very easily kill them as well. So they do end up getting to the Cornucopia where they can have that showdown with Cato, who is also being forced to the Cornucopia in the same way. All right, what are the details of the battle? So the battle takes place at the Cornucopia in The Hunger Games. This is important just because it's, you know, the Cornucopia is It's, you know, as far as the games go, the Cornucopia is kind of the central— it's like the place where the games start, so it's got to be the place where the games end. And this has been, you know, Katniss has watched a number of these games over the years, um, and because it's kind of like forced— they're forced to watch. So, um, she is very familiar with this. She already knows that like the endgame is going to, you know, the final battle is going to take place at the Cornucopia. And this is kind of the perfect setting for it because it has a lot of history in the games. It has, you know, has some platforms, it has stuff to climb on and, you know, obstacles, protection, that sort of thing. And it's just like, it's just a good place for this to end. So the details of it, I've talked about this a lot as well, these specific beats, you know, where it's like the villain's fatal flaw, the hero's clever moment. This is something I haven't talked about. The battle is ideally not just between two people but also between two ideologies or worldviews that are the foundation of the book's larger themes. So In The Hunger Games, it's very important that the final tribute is actually Cato and not somebody else. The reason is because Cato is a Career tribute. He, you know, he believes and has always been raised to believe that the Games are a massive honor, and it's like a huge honor to go to the Games. So it kind of has to be him because You know, Katniss and Peeta are the opposite. Like, they don't want to be a part of these games. They don't want to be a piece of these games. They've been forced to be in these games. And so there's this, you know, the other thing is Katniss and Peeta have this romantic storyline, which is a massive conflict for Cato. Cato is like not into that at all. He, you know, he doesn't He doesn't have that type of feeling around this. Like, he's very much like everybody for themselves. So he's also very conflicted with, you know, with this idea that Katniss and Peeta actually care about each other and actually are trying to help each other. So one of the things— so basically there's a fatal flaw there, and Cato's fatal flaw is that he's, you know, he's all in it— he's in it all for himself. All of his allies were just people he was using, you know, they were a means to an end. And so he mistakenly believes that Peeta is a means to an end for Katniss, um, or that they're a means to an end for each other. So that's kind of his fatal flaw, and that sends him over. That ends up killing him, basically. Um, how does the villain make a comeback after the hero's clever moment? So this is the eye of the storm, and in The Hunger Games, this is really kind of dark what happens. So, so Katniss and Peeta, they think they've won, but they are, you know, Cato goes over the edge and instead of just dying, like they, they wouldn't, they kind of like don't let him just die. They actually send in these animals that end up like torturing him, like eating him alive basically, until I think I think Katniss and Peeta eventually just put him out of his misery. They get— they, you know, they offer him mercy. But then— so it's like this really dark thing, and you can see, you know, it again points to the real villain, which is the gamemakers, and how like traumatizing and torturous they are to these tributes. So then the, you know, that's, that's kind of how the villain makes that comeback. So even though they've, they think they've defeated the villain, which is, you know, they think the villain is Cato, it's actually the gamemakers who are the villain. So they have this eye of the storm moment where Cato is finally taken away and like they're finally out of danger and they believe that they've won. They're waiting to be announced. But there's something very unsettling. There's something wrong. And the tension is really drawn out and really just dark. Like, this whole section is very dark. So then the— like, sometimes in this section, this eye of the storm section, there's sometimes an explanation as well. So in The Hunger Games, there was not that explanation, which was really nice. The only— I mean, the only explanation was really like in Katniss's mind.. But in like in the first Harry Potter book, Professor Quirrell does like kind of this unmasking, like, I mean, like very literally unmasking Voldemort in the back of his head. But he also, you know, he kind of explains to the, to Harry slash the reader, like what happened and how, you know, how he and how he turned out to be the villain the whole time. So this is kind of where that section goes as well, like the villains. I don't know, monologue about how they're just so clever and how they did it all. So then the villain has a clever moment, and the villain's clever moment for The Hunger Games is that they say, actually, only one of you can win. There's two of you left, only one of you can win. We changed the rule, you know, we changed the rule before and we change it again. And so the villain is expecting this really great finale. And this is kind of the twist, though if you're a careful reader, you can see this coming. Like with everything, like, like it's a twist to the reader, but if you've been paying attention, you maybe even expected this twist. And especially if you understood like the fatal flaw stuff, it's really like the only twist that you could have in this case. And everything has built up to this. And so that's another thing about this, um, the fatal flaw and false beliefs and all that stuff, the antagonistic force sightings. The reason that all of those are important is because when there's this, this clever moment from the villain, you want the reader to be prepared for that. So the reason this clever moment in The Hunger Games has resonance is because it's, it's had a foundation throughout the whole entire book already and movie, whichever one you're watching. Like, the foundation has been laid for that. And so, um, in The Hunger Games, the game makers have cornered Katniss and Peeta, um, and they've given them the impossible choice of, um, turning on each other. So there seems no way out for the hero. Who in this case is Katniss. But the hero luckily has one last trick in their bag, and this is where the poison berries come in in The Hunger Games. So they have these poison berries and they threaten to commit suicide and leave the gamemakers with no victor. And so they, because of that, the gamemakers say, okay, just kidding, you guys can both win. And so they're able to manipulate the game makers into declaring them both winners. In Harry Potter, the very first book of the Harry Potter series, this is that, you know, this last clever moment for Harry Potter is not really, it's not really something he did, but it's actually that Voldemort is not able to touch Harry Potter's skin. So he is able— Harry Potter is able to defeat Voldemort because of this and sets Voldemort back many more years because of this skin thing that is inherited from his mother's sacrifice. So it's a very old magic and it's around love. It's not totally explained in the in the series. Um, but basically he has the— he has his mother's sacrifice as protection for him. So, um, you know, so ideally— I mean, Harry Potter was a children's book, so it still worked. And it had been seeded as well, like Dumbledore had kind of already explained this to Harry that he had this. Um, I think The Hunger Games does this a little bit better though, in that the protagonist has to be clever, basically. So in Harry Potter, you know, he's like an 11-year-old, I think, in the book. So you don't really expect that much from him. I think for Harry Potter, the reason that people loved him is not because he figured out how to defeat Voldemort, it's because he was brave in defeating Voldemort or in even going after Voldemort. So his bravery is what people loved about him as a character. With Katniss, she has to be clever, and so she is. She's clever, and then she has to kind of deal with the fallout of that. So then this is the last bits and pieces. How do you want the reader to feel at the end? You have to show the character has experienced a transformation. You know, in The Hunger Games, Katniss really truly understands that the game makers are the villains. She understands it perfectly now. And I think it took her a long time to understand that, that the game makers are the villains and that the tributes were never her enemies. They were just a product and like a victim of the system and a product of the system. So the issue is truly the system. And so she, she really understands this. Um, she also understands that her hopelessness about life is really around these games and the Capitol specifically. Like, it's a systemic unhappiness. And so she realizes that, and she realizes that there are things worth fighting for. Um, this is also, um, a place where the character has— they usually end up returning home. So in Harry Potter, you know, Harry does end up going back to the Dursleys for the summer. It's definitely, you know, he goes back with more allies, more friends, you know, it's not the same. He's not going back to the misery that he experienced originally, but he does have to go back. With Katniss, it's the same thing. She does get to go back to District 12, but she's got a lot of drama that she has to deal with now. So she's got a fake boyfriend, and she's got a, um, best friend at home who's in love with her, and she's got, you know, Haymitch now who she's tied to forever, and she's got the Games to contend with every single year. Like, she has to go back every single year to these Games. And she's got her mom and her sister and like, and there— so she has a lot of— it's definitely not— she's not going back the same person, and she's also not going back to the same people because now all these people have seen her play the games. All right, so then, um, you know, Twilight's another one. She— they, they end up going back to, um they end up going back to, I think it's Forks, Forks, Washington, and they, they go to like a school dance. That's kind of how that book ends. So, you know, lingering conversations, that sort of thing, and any additional things that are needed to give the reader closure. The other thing you want to do here is you can do some sort of cliffhanger. So you can either do this in the epilogue or you can do it just as part of, you know, part of the situation. So in Twilight, for example, there was the promise of a second book basically, which, you know, that promise was that we still don't know if Bella's gonna become a vampire or not, if Bella and Edward are gonna be together forever. So we know they're together right now, but the real promise of that, or the real question of that series is, will they be together forever? So that's the Twilight one. In The Hunger Games, you know, she wins the games, but it's a very hollow victory. She realizes that there's truly more to fight for, and it's like the system is the problem. It's not her winning the games. That's never going to be enough for her. And so, um, she goes back and she's kind of created the spark. And then with Harry Potter, it's really like, you know, there's this air of like, well, Voldemort is gonna come back. Like, there's no question in Dumbledore's mind that Voldemort is coming back and that, you know, they're going to have to— like, they pushed off this, um, him coming back, but they're going to have to deal with him eventually. So there's that promise as well of like, okay, Harry's coming back for another year, and then um, we'll take it from there type of thing. So we have scene notes for the last 75 to 100%, scene number, scene description, and there are I think 11 pages. Thank you so much for watching and listening. If you have a question, please leave a comment below. I'm happy to answer your questions. If you'd like to sign up for the challenge, the links are in the description. And yes, it is day 29, but not too late. There's lots of great material on the other side of that signup, so definitely check it out if you're interested. Hope that this has been helpful to you. Have a wonderful day.