Preptober Plans and Inspo for Victoria's mysteries

Oct 4th 23 : Plan ahead the Journey

Dear readers,

Your poor author has her hands full in purple ink from planning this series ahead. I may have a schedule, I still like to use random bits and tips here and there to write. This morning in class, I should have listened, instead, my ink cartridge exploded on my page. Thanks Austen, my notes are alright ... I will be more careful in the future (and stay away from unerasable purple ink). The red lining of this story is simply this : planning ahead garanties you success, not clean hands.

We already planned writing periods on the second of October. Now let's plan the story, not everything, do not panic! Just the very structure, the beginning, the middle and the end. I want you to picture them as scenes of a movie. What are the colors? The vibes? The clothes? Does it move from the beginning to the end? Which characters are present? Where?

I could go on and on but the truth is you are the only one that can determine how many details you need. I tend to advice that more is better, because I love reading lucious and meaningful descriptions. I mean I am a Jane Austen aficionado. And I do feel that those parts of the story should be very sturdy.

What is recommended is simple : all three scenes should have things in common. Same characters, same elements, maybe a place or a word... sky's the limit. But as your readers should understand what the story is about on the first page, they should be able to have a flash when they read the last one. This mirror effect is very common in movies, you can also create the same in a book.

It makes everything feel and look more tidy. It will help you fill out the blanks and create a coherent story. And if you are planning on creating a series ... the more you know the better. I plan on following different characters' point of view, so my openings, middles and ends will be determined by which voices I am using. Tomorrow we will talk about how to draft a solid character. One of the questions I will be asking is "how does your character view the world?". I will be using that exercise for my part of my work.

So those scenes will take place in balls. I love balls, the one who ended season 2 of Bridgeton was brilliant. We have plenty of descriptions of fantastic balls and visual representations that help me in my planning. The opening one feels like the one in "Sense and Sensibility" by Ang Lee (1995). Like warm and bright but with a suffocating and betrayal twist. Eric and Victoria don't know each other and find themself in a very dangerous situation.

In the middle of the story I hope to have them enjoying hating each other very much in a floral ball, like a bridgeton one. They respectfully want to throw fits at each other but they are in the society and cannot. They know each other better at that point but some mysteries are just so deep...

For the ending scene, I want the dramatic situation of the start to be reversed in a good way. They are now true accomplices, holders of the truth and ready for revenge. The ball is grande and bloody (not red wedding style). It's a great end to their story and the start of another character arc.

For today, I want you to be realistic and choose a beginning, a middle and an end. I know your mind might flow in every direction. Ask your stomach (a second brain) and choose, where do you want to start and stop writing. For the end of today tip :

Have massive fun. Like it's the first bite of your story, make it delicious and spicy.

Until tomorrow, may your week flow with ease.

Lady Light