In last week’s update, “Snare’s foundations are finished,” I shared the completed foundation work, selected character concept references, and finished regional map. The romance’s six key events were defined and connected to the wider conflict. This week, I built out the route between those major turns.
With previous stories, this phase has taken me weeks. So how did I get through it in one? I chose two films as structural comparisons—Stardust first, then 10,000 BC—and reverse-engineered their plots using the Save the Cat beat sheet. Then I worked through how those structures could serve Snare.
Whenever I reached a plotting question I already knew the answer to, I followed Snare’s needs. When I didn’t, I trusted the corresponding scene’s function in the films as a starting point. That gave me something concrete to adapt instead of another blank space to solve from scratch.
All 67 numbered scene cards now have their place in the story, along with the prologue and epilogue. I’ve reviewed the whole route—from the opening through the ending—and reconciled the changes made along the way. The next creative step is outlining: working through how each scene unfolds.
A large part of this week went into checking that the ending earns its resolution. I traced 18 important story elements through their introductions, development, and payoffs, looking for missing connections. The magic, the external conflict, and the romance all need to support one another. A solution has to follow from what came before; a romantic choice has to cost something the story has taught us to value.
That matters especially for Snare. Tarem begins with a future he wants to secure. Falling for Ephrela puts that future in conflict with someone he cannot bear to lose. The plot needs to make that choice increasingly difficult—and give him room to become someone who can make it.
I also completed focused development passes for two supporting characters: Zoethra, the goddess of Life, and Elenari, a wandering scholar with an explorer’s delight in magic. Both now have updated introductions in the wiki and places in the book’s cast. Their visual directions are ready for further design work; finished character artwork is still ahead.
Meanwhile, the website has had some attention too. The Sojourn banners now share a layered visual system, and the page layouts and typography are more consistent across the site.
The milestone this week is a complete, reviewed plot ready for detailed outlining. There’s plenty of work between that and a manuscript, but I now have a connected story to carry into that work.
Next week, I’ll share how outlining is progressing, beginning with the prologue and first act. The focus will be on developing how individual scenes unfold and carry the story forward, with the story’s discoveries kept for the book.