Good morning, and welcome to Day Zero!
I’m so glad you’re here! I’ve been looking forward to this one for a while.
Today isn’t really a challenge day. Day One is tomorrow, and Day Five lands on Saturday. Today is simply where I tell you what we’re doing, hand you your worksheet, and walk you through exactly how everything works. Nothing heavy…it’s Monday, and if you’re anything like me, Mondays are hectic enough.
What we’re doing this week
This challenge is going to get you actually writing again, and to get your momentum going on your book.
So here’s the plan:
Every single day, you’re going to write one pillar scene. So…five days, five scenes. And each one, you’ll have the chance to send to me for real feedback.
So…what’s a pillar scene?
A pillar scene is one of those scenes that holds the whole story up.
(It’s a term I started using one day. I honestly don’t know if anyone else uses it, so don’t go looking for it anywhere else!)
Every story has five, maybe ten, of them. They’re the big, load-bearing scenes that anchor everything else. Once your pillars are standing, you’ve got the basic skeleton of your book…and you know exactly how all the smaller scenes connect to them.
This week, we’re focusing on five of them.
Your five pillar scenes
If you did the 30-Day Challenge, now is the moment to pull out your blueprint. Reacquaint yourself with your story. Remind yourself of your major beats.
Then have a look for these five scenes. They’re the ones you’ll be mapping onto today’s worksheet:
The destabilizing moment. The scene that knocks your hero’s world off balance and gets everything moving.
Crossing the threshold. The moment your hero leaves the ordinary world behind and commits to the journey.
The midpoint. The height of your tests and trials, right in the middle of the story.
The collision. The “everything is awful” scene, where it all crashes together and your hero is convinced they can’t go any further.
The ordeal (the big boss). The scene where your hero faces the final challenge, just before we reach the resolution.
Your worksheet
Down below, you’ll find a worksheet…and that’s your homework for today.
When you open it, you’ll see a little map, almost like a graph, with the five pillar scenes marked out so you can see where each one sits in your story. Underneath, there are boxes to fill in, describing what each scene looks like for you.
So today, all I’d like you to do is:
1. Pull out your blueprint and re-read it.
2. Make yourself a copy of the worksheet below.
3. Have a think about which of your scenes fit into each of the five categories, and fill them in.
That’s it for today. The actual scene-writing begins tomorrow.
How to get my feedback
Here’s the part I’m most excited about. Today, you get your very first chance at feedback from me, written right inside your own document.
I know this can feel like a lot if you’ve never done it this way before, so let me walk you through it slowly.
Here’s exactly what to do:
1. Create a Google folder just for this challenge and make the permissions for it open.
2. Make your own copy of the worksheet, put it in that folder.
3. Fill in your worksheet, and also upload your Blueprint (if you want) from the 30-Day Challenge so that I can see them together.
4. Click the “Submit for feedback” button below. It takes you to a private Google form that nobody sees but me. Add your name and the link to your folder.
5. Submit it by midnight tonight.
6. Come back to this post and leave a comment telling me you’ve submitted your work.
7. Then close your document, walk away, and leave it be.
Once you’ve submitted, I’ll have your feedback back to you by 8 o’clock tomorrow morning. When it’s ready, I’ll like your comment…and the moment you see that little notification pop up, you’re free to go back in and read what I’ve left you.
A couple of things to keep in mind:
Feedback is same-day only. If you’re watching this on Tuesday, Wednesday, or Thursday instead of today, I’m really sorry, but I won’t be able to give feedback on this one. With everyone’s documents floating around, it just gets too hectic to work backwards. So to get feedback, please submit by midnight tonight.
Early birds, this is for you: If you get up before 8am to write and you’d need your feedback sooner, just email me at shelly@academyofstory.com and we’ll work out how to get it to you in time.
A quick word on time
One thing I forgot to mention in yesterday’s video…for this challenge, you’re going to need around 45 minutes to an hour a day.
That’s a little more than the 30-Day Challenge asked of you, and that’s simply because this time, you’re actually writing. So it might be worth having a look at your schedule and working out where that hour is going to come from. Maybe you wake up a touch earlier. Maybe you use your lunch break. Whatever works for you…just try to carve out the time, because this is where the real progress happens.
And please…send me your messy stuff
Please know: your scenes do not need to be good!
In fact, I’d rather they weren’t polished. The way I think about writing a book is that you have to get the clay on the wheel first. It can be muddy, it can be messy, it can be that gross, icky-brown clay…but we can’t shape anything until it’s actually there on the wheel.
So send me your messiest, roughest work. I’m not looking for perfect. I just want to see how you’re thinking, and how you’re putting the scene together, so we can have a proper conversation about it and make the next one even stronger.
And remember, nobody sees this but me. I do this for a living, I’ve seen every kind of writing under the sun, and I promise…I am not judging. Just throw it on the wheel, and we’ll mould it together.
What’s coming tomorrow
Tomorrow, we’re off to the races!
Your first lesson is all about the destabilizing moment: what it is, what needs to be in it, and exactly how to write that scene.
You’ll get a lesson just like that every single day, for every single scene. So you’ll always sit down knowing exactly what you’re doing, and why.
Your Day Zero checklist
Before midnight tonight, here’s everything on your plate:
1. Like this post, so I know you’ve watched and I can keep track of everyone I’m working with live.
2. Make your own copy of the worksheet, pull out your blueprint, and work out your five scenes.
3. Pop it all into a Google folder…and make sure the permissions are open so I can get in.
4. Click “Submit for feedback” and send me your link.
5. Come back here and leave a comment telling me you’ve submitted.
6. Then close your document, walk away, and leave it be. I’ll like your comment as soon as your feedback is in.
I’m so excited to read your writing!
See you tomorrow at 5am for Lesson One,
Xx Shelly
