novel in november

Happy Friday, Geekly Gang! I haven’t shared a Writing Brain Dump in a month. Today looks like a good day for a Writing Brain Dump. I’m about halfway through my most recent edit for Rustbucket Riots (working title). And the biggest step I made was reformating the story’s arc.

The Three-Act Structure May Need Tweaking for a Novel

I found Julian Maylett’s YouTube channel a short while ago. Maylett has a great AuthorTube channel, and I like his six-pillar structure. But I adapted this structure so it works better for me. I’ll paraphrase something I said in the previous Writing Brain Dump. What works for someone else’s writing practice may not work for yours. Everyone is unique. So, it made sense that I adapt Julian Maylett’s method to better suit mine. Feel free to do the same.

I boiled down Maylett’s method to a novel’s storyline resembling a heartbeat. The Three-Act Structure (pictured above) begins with an inciting incident, followed by rising action (complications), a crisis, a climax, and falling action (or denouement if you want to be fancy). Maylett claims that (except for a novel’s prelude, which is different from a prologue) each segment within a novel includes its own version of a Three-Act Structure. After mapping out the four segments following the prelude (Trigger Event, Trailer Moments, Journey to Hell, and the Grand Finale), the novel’s shape resembled a heartbeat.

We’re looking at four Three-Act Structures occurring consecutively.

See what I mean. Each segment contains an inciting incident, rising action, a climax, and falling action. But, paraphrasing Maylett, segments will morph what constitutes an inciting incident, rising action, etc., each time, depending on when in the story the segment occurs. One of the examples Maylett gave (for the Trigger Event) was The Hunger Games. We’re talking the first novel (or movie) here. And viewing this novel through Maylett’s lens can be eye-opening. If we view The Hunger Games in the classic three-act structure, one would most likely cite Katniss offering herself as tribute as the story’s inciting incident, but that isn’t the inciting incident when using what I’m going to call the heartbeat method.

The Reaping itself is the inciting incident for The Hunger Games’ Trigger Event (the first full segment). Prim being old enough to participate in the Reaping is a complication (rising action), as is Katniss placing her name into the Reaping multiple times to feed her family. Katniss has a brief moment of doubt when Prim’s name is drawn (the crisis), and she must choose to save her sister by offering herself as tribute or let Prim participate and most likely die. Katniss choosing to offer herself as tribute is the Trigger Event’s climax.

Then, we see the fallout of Katniss’s decision (the resolution or falling action), before the next segment (Trailer Moments) begins with another inciting incident and the process starts anew. I love Maylett’s approach. I took the bones of this approach and applied it to my manuscript.

I’ll press pause on the rest of the segments, so I can edit those and share my thoughts after editing each segment, but there is an odd segment before these four: The Prelude.

The Prelude is Not a Prologue

A prologue’s events occur separately from the rest of the novel, while the prelude sets the novel’s tone. If you’re talking about speculative fiction, the prelude introduces the reader to your novel’s world, while hopefully not inundating them in exposition. Unlike the other segments, the prelude has only three parts: an opening image, a flawed action, and the theme whispered.

Let’s go back to The Hunger Games as an example for the prelude. The novel (and movie) opens with Katniss illegally hunting game. We’re introduced to Katniss’s world through the simple act of survival. Katniss bags a kill. Her family can eat. This hunt is The Hunger Games’ opening image. It’s a concrete image. Then, The Hunger Games progresses to the Flawed Action. In the novel, Katniss shares that she spoke out against injustice, and it got her in trouble, so now, she protects herself and her family by keeping her opinions to herself. All this does is close off Katniss. It’s a flawed action Katniss needs to unlearn, but she isn’t yet ready to learn.

Finally, The Hunger Games reaches its Theme Whispered. Katniss’s friend (and love interest) Gale suggests the two of them should head to the forest, live off the grid, and effectively leave the country. Gale implies Katniss’s crime of hunting isn’t wrong. The government is wrong. By the end of three books, Katniss takes on the government head-on, but she isn’t ready to hear this yet. According to Maylett, the Theme Whispered should be spoken aloud by a character who doesn’t have too much relevance to the story (at least not yet), and the whispered theme should be memorable enough to stick in the back of the reader’s head.

The Hunger Games does this well. If you’ve read (or watched) The Hunger Games, you may not have noticed the Theme Whispered in the first chapter (or opening sequence), but now that I’ve mentioned it, you can’t help but see it. Lovely foreshadowing.

Echoing Heartbeats

And that’s why I like the heartbeat system. Since readers get repeating beats, they can’t help but notice patterns. Maylett’s system includes some specifics, the deeper into the story we journey, but I’ll save those for later.

I hope you’re having a wonderful Novel in November (formerly NaNoWriMo). Where are you with your progress this month? Are you editing or writing something new? Let me know in the comments. Thank you for reading, and wherever you are, I hope you’re having a great day.

Happy Wednesday, Geekly Gang! Today is the rare fifth Wednesday of a month, so our writers will be sharing personal updates over the past few months. I’ll kick things off for this month’s Personal Updates.

Kyra’s Games

I’ve been sick (with the crud) over the past few weeks, but before getting sick, I was featured in a board game design panel at Nuke-Con early this month. While the panel went well, I’d like to expand on it for next year. Be on the look out for Nuke-Con 2026. I also playtested Rustbucket Riots and Whirligig Pets several times during this same convention.

Monthly Update: Whistlestop Pets Title Card

Whirligig Pets (formerly Whistlestop Pets–I need to change the above image) is ready for submission. I still need to find a better way to ramp up the tension in Rustbucket Riots. I think I found a way to tweak the enemy/time cards, so players experience a steadier upward ramp. Before this recent change, evening cards were brutal. I like the new balance, but higher player counts are where balance can get tricky. We’ll see if this new balance sticks.

I won’t go into too much detail with Rustbucket Riots. I already did some of that with this month’s Game Design Brain Dump. If you’re interested, you can see Rustbucket Riots’ origin.

One last important note I discovered during the con: I need to figure out the best way to teach this game. Rustbucket Riots has a lot of odd game mechanisms that many players find unfamiliar, and the spatial puzzle can be overwhelming. I know many of you haven’t played, but here’s a quick rundown on how a round plays:

1) Enemy Turn (Draw Time Cards Equal to Number of Players)
2) Players play one card from their hand
3) Roll and Lock Dice
4) Place Dice (on gears)
5) Spend Dice (by removing dice from gears)

I’ll begin with this and then get into the weeds as the game progresses. Maybe this will help. I hope to see some of you at the gaming table soon.

Kyra’s Writing

Similar to board game design, I posted a writing brain dump earlier this month. I’ll try not to recap too much of what I posted there. I’m still viewing my work in progress through a macro lens. Characters have merged. I combined some characters who could be considered fridged (the character’s sole purpose was to motivate the protagonist) with another character with a larger role. I’m finding character arcs for each major character, and I’ve found I don’t have as many characters as I did prior. This may be an easier editing pass than I first thought. Famous last words.

Novel in November (formerly National Novel Writing Month or NaNoWriMo) begins in a handful of days, and I’ll be attending as many Omaha Writers’ League (OWL) events as I can. Above is a calendar of OWL events. All locations are in Omaha. Events are subject to change. (I believe November 11th is left blank in observance of Veterans’ Day.) If you’re in the local area, I look forward to seeing you at one of these events. I’ll be at many of these events, trying to make sense of my nonsense. There’s a reason I call my updates writing brain dumps.

That’s all I have for this month. Let’s see what Skye’s been doing.

Skye’s Update

I’ve done some interesting things over the past quarter. I became a member of my local library’s board-game community, attended Metropolitan Community College’s annual Inter-Tribal Powwow, and protested the protection of the United States’ founding ideals of “liberty and justice for all,” among other things.

My greatest achievement–in my opinion–in the past quarter was scheduling a date with my surgeon to undergo the final part of my medical transition. I’m scheduled for November of next year (2026), and words can’t describe my immense satisfaction. Advanced warning to y’all: I suspect I’ll be in recovery during that time next year. I’ll do my best to post, but I might be hopped-up on pain meds.

Overall, I would consider the past quarter (Aug-Oct) a productive one. Despite personal obligations, I’ve still enjoyed posting and offering my opinions on JKGeekly with the rest of the Geekly writers. Posting my thoughts online is one of my greatest joys, and I thank everyone for welcoming me into the Geekly Gang.

Here’s to another three months of Geek with y’all. Happy Halloween!

Season’s Update

Hi, Geekly Gang! It’s been a while since I gave an update. I’ve recently started a new full-time job, so I’ve been adjusting to my new schedule. I’ve also been sick with the crud this past week. It’s a good thing I’m writing this update, because my voice is shot. Blegh!

As for writing, I’ve tried to get a couple of pieces published, but no luck yet. They’re a couple of short flash fiction pieces. Maybe I’ll share them here someday. I’m going to keep submitting until I get some bites. Fingers crossed! I’ve also been enjoying writing monthly plushie reviews for you, Geekly Gang. If you have a favorite plushie, please let me know. I’m always down for new plushie recs.

Hey, hey! Kyra Kyle here again. Those are our writers’ updates for the past few months. Feel free to share what you’ve been up to over the past month or three, Geekly Gang. Thank you for reading, and wherever you are, I hope you’re having a great day.

Tag: novel in november

Writing Brain Dump: November 14, 2025