Day 14 – Write the First “And Because Of That” Section

Today we finally get back to writing your story!


Finally! It’s time to get back to drafting this story!

You’re going to have three days of writing in a row, here so you’ll be able to get up a good head of steam…and yet you won’t get lost, because of all that patient prep-work you’ve done. Hooray!

To Do:

  • Pull out your draft. You should already have written your opening and shown us what your character is dealing with and how that normally goes.
  • Now, go back to your ABOT#1 brainstorming notes and write the scenes that show your character dealing with their challenge (trying to realize their desire). This is probably kicked off by something they did in the first part of your story.

If, in your Part One, your character answered the front door, I’ll assume some sort of interaction happened with the person on the doorstep. In that case, today you’re going to write the consequence of that.

A fun thing to do, to keep your story interesting, is make THIS the day they decide to react in a way they don’t normally react.

If a neighbor has come by to complain about your character’s dog barking, and if she normally apologizes, perhaps today is the day she decides to tell the neighbor what she really thinks of their petty complaints.

(This example works particularly well if your character’s desire is to stand up for herself more, or to be more respected, or to not be ignored…)

Remember that you’re setting up an action that gives you somewhere to go. You can move your character closer to or further away from their desire.

(In the next writing exercise you’re going to be writing the consequence of today’s actions, so leave yourself some room to move. The next section will either take your character further on the trajectory you set today or allow them to pull back in the other direction, re: their desire)

A word of caution

Don’t try to write the rest of the story today.

I’m normally all about the high-speed writing, but this fun-size challenge is, in part, designed to build your confidence in your ability to hold and develop a single story over more than one writing session. Stick with me and trust the process!

Fun size challenge day 14
Here’s your next Bingo Piece. Download the pic, print it out and paste it onto your bingo sheet. Then share a picture of it on social media with #storyadaybingo

Leave a comment telling us how today’s task went

Day 13 – Something Changes

Today we’re pivoting towards the ending. Brainstorming, all the way!


Now that you have a sense of where your character is going, you’re probably starting to get a sense of how you want to end this thing.

Today I want to give you the confidence to know that you can make that turn and begin to put an ending on this story!

The story begins to end when something finally changes for your character. Maybe it’s internal, maybe it’s forced on them by an external event, but the final action they take in the story answers the ‘will they or won’t they’ achieve their desire.

(If you’re getting fancy it can answer the question of whether or not their desire is actually the same as what they need, but that’s a more advanced task!)

Remember: we’re thinking about the events that show us how the character ultimately deals with whatever they’ve faced during this story. It will probably tell us something about how they have changed (or refused to).

Don’t worry about how you put a bow on the ending yet. We’ll talk about that on a future day. Just think about what might happen, or at the very least, how you want your reader to feel as they exit the story.

(This emotional part is useful to write down now, because it can get lost as you wrestle with the actual writing part. Keep it handy, as a sign post, for when you’re writing this part!)

Fun-Size Challenge Something Changes
Here’s your next Bingo Piece. Download the pic, print it out and paste it onto your bingo sheet. Then share a picture of it on social media with #storyadaybingo

Leave a comment telling us how today’s task went. Did you have a sense of hw your character will have changed by the end? Do you know how you want your readers to feel?

Here’s your next Bingo Piece. Download the pic, print it out and paste it onto your bingo sheet. Then share a picture of it on social media with #storyadaybingo

Day 12 – Brainstorm the Second “And Because of That”

Today we’re working on the middle of the story again.


The middle of a story is simply you, complicating things for the character based on the decisions they’ve already made, and taking them closer to, or further away from the desire the reader already understands that the character has.

We’ve already brainstormed one of these moments, and now you get to think about the natural outcome of that.

(I’m breaking it down in a way that might feel a little artificial, because I wanted to give you a clean break from the direction you were traveling in the previous exercise, and a chance to think about what your character needs next.)

Again, we’re not writing these scenes today, just roughing out their path.

Why brainstorm and not simply write these?

You can, of course do as you like (though I have some time set aside for you to do this writing in the next few days).

In my experience, however, many writers have been more able to get to the end of their story by sketching out a rough map of the terrain, than simply by writing their way through.

We tend to get lost in the weeds while writing scenes, and it helps to have a path to come back to!

Fun-Size Challenge Day 12
Here’s your next Bingo Piece. Download the pic, print it out and paste it onto your bingo sheet. Then share a picture of it on social media with #storyadaybingo

Leave a comment telling us how today’s task went. Are you starting to see some potential growth for your character? Somewhere for them to go?