11/12/23
The Deep Outline
This is number thirty-six in the blog series, “My Life in Erotica.” I encourage you to join my Patreon community so I can afford to keep writing.
I WRITE MY BLOG POSTS a few weeks in advance, so by the time you read this post about the outline development, I’ve undoubtedly already departed from it in significant ways in actually writing the story. I was told once years ago that if I didn’t understand the rules and went around blithely breaking them, I was an idiot. If, however, I knew and understood the rules but broke them anyway, I was an artist.
I feel the same way about the outline. The more detailed and comprehensive my outline is, the easier it is to see where I should depart from it. The real benefit of having this outline, then, is knowing where the mileposts are and when I have passed one on this long journey. The destination remains the same. I just do a little sightseeing along the way.
Thinking of it as a journey is a good way to look at it. When I wrote Aroslav’s three-volume set “Wonders of My World,” including American Backroads, I had an actual journey to record. I drove my truck and travel trailer around the country, staying off interstate highways and generally feeling my way along. I used that map as a journey to hang my imagined adventures on. American Backroads is available on Bookapy.com.
With The Staircase of Dragon Jerico, I have a little less leeway regarding how far off the main route I can wander. So, the developmental outline looks very different than the top level outline I disclosed just two weeks ago.
Act I
Chapter 1: Who Was the Artist? The story of the staircase in the Jerico household, and who slept with the lady of the house.
- 1. Everyone stops and stares at the staircase.
- 2. Legends abound regarding how Drake Jerico imagined he was descended from a mighty Celtic dragon.
- 3. A hundred years ago, Levi Jerico discovered a burglar in his home and shot him on the stairs.
- 4. A third world queen visited Jerico City and had her portrait painted on the stairs.
- 5. Thirty-five years ago, Jacqueline Jerico married Raymond Carver on the stairs.
- 6. 200 years ago, Isolde LeClerc was seduced on the stairs by Joseph Carver just days after she arrived at the house.
- 7. The line of descendants of the Jerico household are actually descended from Joseph Carver and Isolde LeClerc Jerico, not from Drake Jerico. Now they bear his name.
Chapter 2: An Unhappy Marriage. Happily-ever-after falls apart for Erin and Bruce Silver when Bruce has an affair.
- 1. Erin and Bruce have arrived in Jerico city and are excited to be house-hunting while Bruce starts his new job as an architectural draftsman at JeriCorp.
- 2. Finding the perfect place to raise a family.
- 3. Bruce meeting Shannon Duval and flirting.
- 4. A holiday meeting sends Bruce and Shannon to bed.
- 5. Royce Duval, president of JeriCorp, discovers them and immediately fires Bruce.
- 6. Trying to explain himself, Bruce quickly gives up on his marriage and deserts Erin. She files for divorce.
Chapter 3: The Other Woman. Shannon Duval regrets destroying Bruce’s marriage, even though her own husband, the president of the company, is stepping out on her.
- 1. Shannon and Royce argue and she points out his history of affairs.
- 2. He insists that the rule has always been ‘Not with anyone in the company.’
- 3. Shannon vows to get back at Royce for firing Bruce.
- 4. Shannon begins prowling for the best person with whom to get revenge and arrives at Preston Carver, the Chairman of the Board.
Chapter 4: The Top of the Pyramid. Preston Carver goes to his weekly dinner with mother at Jerico House.
- 1. Jacqueline resumes what is obviously an ongoing diatribe about getting Preston married.
- 2. Preston protests that he likes his life as a bachelor and all women want is his money.
- 3. Jacqueline presents an argument on the benefits of marrying a gold digger, as long as she understands the rules.
- 4. Jacqueline suggests a woman Preston should go out with and then insists she will arrange things.
Chapter 5: Survival of the Fittest. Erin determines to put her life together even if it means taking the lowliest jobs to get her through.
- 1. With Bruce abandoning her, Erin loses the house to the bank and has to file bankruptcy.
- 2. Erin moves into a rooming house and takes a job as a waitress in the local diner.
- 3. A nice and very quiet guy comes in every Thursday for lunch. She likes him.
- 4. Erin gets a response to her job applications and gets her hair done for an interview at JeriCorp.
Act II
Chapter 6: Creative Genius. Preston Carver, Chairman of JeriCorp, has another great idea for his company, but Royce Duval, the CEO, will get the credit, of course.
- 1. Preston puts together a proposal for a new development village, obsessed with the planning and drafting. He stays locked in his office/apartment for weeks.
- 2. Preston yells at his assistant who breaks down crying and quits.
- 3. Jacqueline insists Preston go out on a blind date with a woman she has selected, and “try things out.”
- 4. Preston’s date is disastrous and he returns to his office/apartment to get ready to explain the new development to Royce.
- 5. Preston yells for his assistant and when he gets no response, he calls HR and finds out she really did quit, but they are interviewing for a new assistant. He tells them what was wrong with the last one.
Chapter 7: A Step Up. Banking on her education, Erin takes a job as Assistant to the Chairman and is told that if she can last there six months, she’ll be moved to a position in marketing for the company.
- 1. Erin practices her interview techniques that have been unused for a couple of years.
- 2. She waits on the nice guy again and he wishes her luck on her interview.
- 3. She talks to HR at JeriCorp and is told the list of rules and duties she will need to fulfill the position. HR says he is “special.” Erin decides, “So, I’ll still be a waitress, but a better paid one.”
- 4. Erin accepts the position with the promise that if she can last six months, HR will find her another position in the company.
The Save the Cat structure has three acts. As you can see from what what I’ve written here, there are more chapters already than what had been in the high-level outline. I’m sure that as I write it, there will be even more. But you can see, at this point, everything looks like it is working out just fine. Erin and Preston have established a relationship through the diner and now, unknown to both of them, she is about to become his personal assistant. Everything is set to fall apart in both of their lives!
In reality, as of today, I’ve written 10 chapters and over 30,000 words. I’m just a bit past this point. And here we are, only two weeks and 30,000 words into NaNoWriMo! Next week, “Why did I ever commit to this piece of garbage?”
Please feel free to send comments to the author at devon@devonlayne.com.
