In The Marshall Plan novel writing system, a novel is written in "sections." Sections can be either action sections or reaction sections. In simplest terms, in an action section, things happen. In a reaction section, people react to the things that happened.
STRUCTURING THE ACTION SECTION
In an action section, one of your novel's viewpoint characters tries to achieve a short-term goal she thinks will take her closer to her overall story goal. The short-term goal should be a logical outgrowth of what happened to this character in her last section.
For example, let's say you're writing a vampire romance in which your lead character, Sidora (a vampire), has the overall story goal of turning Damion, the human man she loves, into a vampire too, so that they'll be together for eternity. Damion is missing, so the first thing Sidora needs to do is find him. In her last section, she learned that Damion was last seen in the company of a notorious warlock pirate in a bar down by the piers in an especially nasty part of town. So the logical short-term goal is to find out where Damion is from someone at the bar.
Since you always want to start a section as quickly as possible, you can begin with her walking through the door of the bar, or if you like, approaching the bar from outside (more atmosphere this way).
Most action sections also involve a character who somehow gets in the way of the viewpoint character achieving her short-term goal. The resistance Sidora encounters should be the bulk of the section. So maybe you decide that after she's made a few inquiries and gotten only shrugs, she spots an old woman hurrying out the back. Sidora goes after her. The old woman is wearing Damion's scarf. The two women argue-the old woman denies having seen Damion, then admits she found him drunk on the street and took his scarf, then finally admits that she and a male companion robbed Damion.
How do you end your action section? In one of three ways:
1. The viewpoint character fails to achieve the section goal.
2. The viewpoint character not only fails to achieve the section goal, but she also learns of a new, even larger problem or obstacle that makes matters even worse.
3. The viewpoint character achieves the section goal but learns of a new, even larger problem or obstacle than the one she has just overcome.
Remember, Sidora's goal was to find out where Damion is from someone at the bar. I'm going to end the section with option #3. The old woman tells Sidora where Damion is (section goal achieved): on the ship of the slave the old woman and her companion sold Damion to.
Section goal achieved, but now there's a new, even larger problem/obstacle.
That's how you would end this section-with this revelation, which is dramatic and also a cliffhanger of sorts.
STRUCTURING THE REACTION SECTION
When the action section we created opened, Damion was missing, so the first thing Sidora had to do was find him. In her previous section she'd learned Damion had last been seen with a notorious warlock pirate in a bar near the piers. So Sidora's logical short-term goal of the action section was to find out Damion's location from someone at the bar. After making a number of unsuccessful inquiries, she spots an old woman wearing Damion's scarf. Eventually the old woman admits she and a male companion found Damion drunk on the street and robbed him. Then she drops a bombshell. After robbing Damion, they sold him to a slave ship.
That's how the action section ended.
After an action section, you have two choices: to continue with another action section, or with a reaction section. A reaction section should be your choice when the disaster at the end of the previous action section is especially devastating or shocking and needs some protracted thinking and planning on the part of the character. I think what Sidora has learned is pretty devastating, so I'm opting for a reaction section next.
A reaction section is a unit of story action in which the section character reacts to the failure she experienced in the preceding action section. The section character may be alone or with another character, most commonly the confidant. If the section character is alone, her reaction is shown through her thoughts and actions. If she is with another character, her reaction is shown primarily through dialogue, though it can be shown through thoughts and actions as well.
The first phase of the reaction section is the emotional phase, in which the section character could be said to respond with her heart to the failure. She is angry, outraged, insulted, frustrated, embarrassed, or whatever emotion would be natural in the situation.
After reacting emotionally, the section character pulls herself together, cools down and is able to react with her head-rationally.
In the rational phase of the reaction section, you first show the section character trying to analyze the failure and understand exactly what transpired. Then you show her trying to decide what action to take to solve the new problem brought about by the failure.
Finally she settles on a new course of action, setting a new short-term goal- the goal of the next section, an action section. A reaction section is always followed by an action section.
So here goes. This reaction section is set in the room Sidora has taken at the local inn. Sitting in the corner of the room is Patras, Sidora's cat- a sort of familiar visible only to her. Patras has been with Sidora since she was a little girl. They care deeply for each other. Patras often counsels Sidora, though she doesn't always take his advice.
She tells Patras what she's learned. She's devastated because Brutonius, the owner of the slave ship, is notorious, a ruthless, brutal man no one has ever been able to bring down. Neither Sidora nor Patras can recall anyone ever rescuing someone from Brutonius.
In the emotional phase of this reaction section, Sidora basically gives up all hope. She tells Patras that she's doomed never to have love in her life because Damion is the only man she will ever love, her soulmate, and he's gone forever. After a lot of ranting and crying, Sidora finally calms down enough to listen to Patras. Calm down, he tells her, and think. She's never been known to give up on something she wants; why should this be any different? She's got to find out where Brutonius's ship is headed, get onto the ship and rescue Damion.
But how can she possibly find out where Brutonius is headed? Sidora asks Patras.
Easy, Patras tells her. There must be dock workers who helped load the ship; who would have heard where the ship was headed. They must hurry down to the docks and see what they can learn...
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