Hello future authors!
We’re on Day 18.
Today is a bit of a pause; we’re taking a moment to acknowledge how much work you’ve already done. You’ve moved quickly, and you’ve made a lot of decisions. You’ve been thinking hard, often at speed, often on top of real life.
That’s exactly why today (and, in a slightly different way, tomorrow) is about alignment and calibration.
You’ll remember that on Day 20 we’re taking another proper breather day—time away from the book, doing something mundane, letting your brain work quietly in the background.
To make that rest actually useful, we need to prepare for it now by making sure the foundations you’ve laid are solid and working together.
So for the next two days, we’re stepping back from building and shifting into auditing.
What today is NOT
Today is not a day to fix anything.
So don’t do any rewriting, overhauling, or second-guessing yourself into a spiral.
Today is simply about looking.
Think of this as a story audit: a chance to zoom out, look at the whole shape of what you’ve built so far, and notice where things feel aligned and where they don’t quite sit right anymore.
Eighteen days in, especially if you’ve been moving fast or catching up in batches, it’s very easy for the early decisions to blur. This is where we slow the process just enough to regain clarity.
A quick context note
Before we get into the task, I want to share something briefly.
As part of running this challenge, I’ve been finalising a new version of the Academy, rebuilding it as a proper virtual campus, something live, active, and much closer to the way I’ve always wanted it to work.
And as I’ve been doing that, I’ve been thinking a lot about you and about what this challenge actually represents.
What you’re doing right now is essentially the first half of my signature framework, Story Architect.
The work you’re doing in this challenge is the Story Foundation. Inside the Academy, the next phase is Story Design. And once both are complete, the work shifts into drafting, writing, and finishing the book.
That’s why this pause matters.
If you were doing this part of Story Architect in the Academy, it wouldn’t be moving so quickly, and the next level relies on a solid foundation.
(PS: I don’t mean this to be a sales pitch…just a way to tell you that you’re doing a lot of important work that usually takes students a couple of month. But…if you do decide to join the Academy, you’ll be lightyears ahead!)
Your blueprint grid
Today we’re working entirely with your blueprint grid.
If you’ve been following along as intended, each task in this challenge has been feeding into a specific square in that grid.
Today’s job is to make sure:
everything you’ve worked on actually is in the grid
the pieces are talking to each other
the internal journey and the external events are aligned
You should have up to ‘Tests, Allies, and Enemies’ filled in at this point, even if only with bullet points or short notes.
Some of you will be using the POV and Time sections as well…but you don’t need to.
And we’re only going down as far at the Tension row. The rest are part of Level 2: Story Design.
What to look for in the character arc row
Up until now, we’ve been talking a lot about want vs need and the internal journey, but not always explicitly naming where that lives in the grid. Today, I want you to look directly at that row.
Here’s what you should be checking for at each stage:
Ordinary World
This is your Hero’s emotional baseline.
Who are they before anything is challenged?
What belief or strategy is currently “working” for them?Call to Adventure
This is the first crack.
Something disrupts the belief system.
They don’t change yet, but they can’t stay fully comfortable.Refusal of the Call
This is where they cling to the want.
The flawed belief is still running the show.
The resistance is emotional, logical, or behavioural.Meeting the Mentor
An alternative way of thinking or being is introduced.
The Hero may understand it intellectually, but not embody it yet.Crossing the Threshold
The first behavioural commitment happens here.
Even if the Hero doesn’t realise it, they act in a way that nudges them toward the need.Tests, Allies, and Enemies
This is where the belief starts to fail repeatedly.
The Hero still believes X, but X keeps costing them more and more.
If you look down that row and it feels flat, vague, or repetitive, flag it. Don’t fix it yet. Just notice it.
What to look for in the tension row
Now look at how tension is building across the same stages.
Ordinary World
Mostly baseline, but perhaps something feels off.
A hum of unease, a sense of wrongness, a quiet imbalance.Call to Adventure
Pressure enters the system.
Something destabilises the world the Hero was managing.Refusal of the Call
Internal tension spikes.
Conflict, fear, avoidance, rationalisation.Meeting the Mentor
Tension comes from challenge to self-concept.
The discomfort of being seen differently.Crossing the Threshold
Risk becomes real.
This is where more overt tension devices can begin: deadlines, consequences, danger, loss.Tests, Allies, and Enemies
Tension escalates cumulatively.
Stakes rise. Costs increase. Failure becomes more dangerous.
Ask yourself: Is tension building, or is it just appearing and disappearing?
Your audit questions for today
Sit with your grid as a whole and work through these questions carefully:
If your Hero got what they wanted at the end, would the story actually be over?
Does the need require them to become a genuinely different person?
Are the want and the need truly in opposition…or just two nice-sounding goals?
Is your villain strongest at the moment your Hero is most tempted to stay the same?
Do your allies reflect different possible versions of the Hero?
Do your tests reward the flaw early on and punish it later?
Are the tests escalating in emotional cost, risk, or consequence?
Don’t judge the story (or yourself!)…simply diagnose the story.
Your tasks today
Make sure your grid is fully filled in for plot, character arc, and tension (bullet points are perfect).
Flag anything that feels out of alignment in the comments. (Don’t try to fix it yet or suggest changes…just tell me what you think isn’t working anymore.)
I’ll be in there letting you know whether something genuinely needs realignment or whether it’s holding together better than you think.
Reflection question
Take this one seriously; it’s an important instinct-builder:
What part of your story feels the most alive right now?
What part feels like you might be forcing it?
That second answer is often where “killing your darlings” eventually comes into play. Your gut already knows more than you think.
Tomorrow, we’ll talk about what to do with what you’ve noticed. Today is just about seeing clearly.
I’ll see you in the comments.
Xx Shelly
