BONUS COMPANION BOOKLET

First Draft Outline

3D Fiction Fundamentals Collection, Volume 1

BONUS COMPANION BOOKLET

by Karen S. Wiesner

Writers Exchange E-Publishing
http://www.writers-exchange.com

3D Fiction Fundamentals Collection, Volume 1: First Draft Outline Bonus Companion Booklet 
Copyright 2025 Karen S. Wiesner
Writers Exchange E-Publishing
PO Box 372
ATHERTON QLD 4883

Cover Art by: GermanCreative and Sandy Cummins
 
Published by Writers Exchange E-Publishing
http://www.writers-exchange.com 

The unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this copyrighted work is illegal. Criminal copyright infringement, including infringement without monetary gain, is investigated by the FBI and is punishable by up to 5 (five) years in federal prison and a fine of $250,000.

Names, characters and incidents depicted in this book are products of the author's imagination and are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, organizations, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental and beyond the intent of the author.

No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission from the publisher.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Note from the Author

First Draft Outline Method Worksheets

First Draft Outline Method Goal Sheets

First Draft Outline Examples
 
3D Fiction Fundamentals Collection

About the Author

Note from the Author

Dear Reader, 

Frequently I'm asked whether the worksheets, checklists, charts, examples, exercises, and/or other aids from my writing reference titles are available in a usable download format. While the original publisher of the main book did offer free copies of some of these in PDF format on their website, naturally these were only "usable" if they were printed out and written on by hand. 

My publisher and I wanted to offer a download of all of these that were in a usable format, which allows for cross-platform document exchange that most word processors are able to read or write to. In other words, the file allows you to type right into the document and use it over and over as needed. 

First Draft Outline Bonus Companion Booklet contains all the blank worksheets from the main book along with in-depth examples. These are free to download from the Writers Exchange E-Publishing website. Follow the link to the collection in the back of this booklet. Please be aware that this file is provided as a supplemental to First Draft Outline. The assumption is that you purchased a copy of that book and therefore have a working knowledge of the methods discussed in that book. For those who prefer print, a paperback equivalent is available for purchase. 

Remember that this material is copyrighted. It is illegal to distribute, share, or put it on your website for any reason. The material is strictly for individual use by the purchaser.  

Happy writing!

Karen S. Wiesner

First Draft Outline Method Worksheets

Worksheet 1: Character Sketch	
Worksheet 2A: General Setting Sketch	
Worksheet 2B: Character Setting Sketch	
Worksheet 3: Research List	
Worksheet 4: Plot Sketch	
Worksheet 5: Summary Outline	
Worksheet 6: Miscellaneous Scene Notes	
Worksheet 7: Closing Scene Notes	
Worksheet 8: Interview Questions	
Worksheet 9: Dialogue	
Worksheet 10: Facts	
Worksheet 11: Background Timelines	
Worksheet 12: Miscellaneous Timelines	
Worksheet 13: Crime Timelines	
Worksheet 14: Motives and Alibis	
Worksheet 15: Story Evolution	
Worksheet 16: Formatted Outline Capsule	
Worksheet 17: Day Sheet	
Worksheet 18: Supplemental Outline	
Worksheet 19: Final Editing	
 
Keep in mind throughout this process that you only need to complete what helps you in developing your first draft outline.

 Worksheet 1: Character Sketch

Title:

Character Name:  

Nickname:

Birth date/place:

Physical Descriptions:

Age:  

Race:  

Eye color:  

Hair color/style:  

Build (height/weight):  

Skin tone:  

Style of Dress (matching the time period and setting):  

Characteristics or mannerisms:  

Personality Traits:

Background:

Internal Conflicts:

External Conflicts:

Occupation/Education:

Miscellaneous Notes:

Worksheet 2A: General Setting Sketch

Title:

Name of Setting:  

Characters Living in Region/Time Period:

Year or Time Period:

Season:

City and State:

Miscellaneous Notes:

Worksheet 2B: Character Setting Sketch

Title:

Character Name:

General Settings for This Character:

Character's Home Surroundings:

City or Town:

Neighborhood:

Street:

Neighbors:

Home:

Home Interior:

Character's Workplace:

City or Town of Business:

Business Name:

Type of Business:

Neighborhood:

Street:

Individual Workspace:

Co-Workers:

Miscellaneous Notes:

Worksheet 3:  Research List

Title: 

Material to research for the book:

1.

2. 

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

8.

9.

10.

Worksheet 4: Plot Sketch

Title:

Story Goal (#1 Plot Thread)

Romance Thread (optional):

Subplot Threads:
	#2

	
	#3

	
	#4

	
	#5

	#6

	#7

	
Plot Tension:

Romantic/Sexual Tension (optional):

Release:

Downtime:

Black Moment:

Resolution:

Aftereffects of Resolution (optional):

  Worksheet 5: Summary Outline 

Title:

A free-form chronological summary of all introductory scenes for the book.

Worksheet 6: Miscellaneous Scene Notes

Title:

A free-form summary of scenes that may fit in the middle of the book.

Worksheet 7:  Closing Scene Notes 

Title:

A free-form summary of scenes that may fit in the closing portion of the book.

Worksheet 8:  Interview Questions

Interviewee: 

Question 1:

Chapter(s) and/or page #(s) where answer is needed:

Facts or information I may need during the interview for this question:

Answer:

Question 2:

Chapter(s) and/or page #(s) where answer is needed:

Facts or information I may need during the interview for this question:

Answer:

Question 3:

Chapter(s) and/or page #(s) where answer is needed:

Facts or information I may need during the interview for this question:

Answer:

 Worksheet 9: Dialogue 

Title:

1.  Character name:

Dialogue specifics:

Other mannerisms or “character tags”:

2.  Character name:

Dialogue specifics:

Other mannerisms or “character tags”:

3.  Character name:

Dialogue specifics:

Other mannerisms or “character tags”:

4.  Character name:

Dialogue specifics:

Other mannerisms or “character tags”:

 Worksheet 10: Facts 

Title:

Page or Chapter 	Character	Location	Fact	

				

				

				

				

				

				

				

				

				

				

 Worksheet 11:  Background Timelines

Title:

Page  or Chapter 	Character	Age/Year(s)	Background Facts	

		

				

				

 Worksheet 12:  Miscellaneous Timelines 

Title:

Page or Chapter 	Character	Location	Timeline Fact	

				

				

				

				

				

				

				

				

				

				

 Worksheet 13: Crime Timelines

Title:

Page Chapter 	Character/
Suspect	Location at the Time of the Crime	Day and Time	Specific Information	

					

				

				

				

				

				

				

				

			

 Worksheet 14:  Motives and Alibis 

Title:

Suspect	Motive 	Alibi 	

		

			

			

			

			

			

			

			

			

			

 Worksheet 15: Story Evolution 

Title:

PART I: THE BEGINNING

1. Conflict is introduced

Detail the major conflict:

2. Story Goal (#1 Plot Thread) is introduced

Detail the story goal:

3. Characters are outfitted for their tasks

List and briefly describe the characters who will be involved in reaching the story goal and defeating the conflict. Detail each character's strengths and weaknesses:

1. 

2.

Additional:

PART II: THE MIDDLE

1. Characters design short-term goals to reach the Story Goal

Character 1:

Briefly describe first short-term goal and how the character will reach it:

Character 2 (optional):

Briefly describe first short-term goal and how the character will reach it:

Additional character (optional):

Briefly describe first short-term goal and how the character will reach it:

2. Quest to reach the Story Goal begins

Briefly detail the events that take place:

3. First short-term goals are thwarted

Briefly detail the events that take place:

4. Characters react with disappointment

Character 1:

Briefly describe reaction:

Character 2 (optional):

Briefly describe reaction:

Additional character (optional):

Briefly describe reaction:

5. Stakes of the conflict are raised

Detail new stakes of the conflict and how they affect all subplots:

6. Characters react to the conflict

Character 1:

Briefly describe reaction:

Character 2 (optional):

Briefly describe reaction:

Additional character (optional):

Briefly describe reaction:

7. Characters revise old or design new short-term goals

Character 1:

Briefly describe new short-term goal and how the character will reach it:

Character 2 (optional):

Briefly describe new short-term goal and how the character will reach it:

Additional character (optional):

Briefly describe new short-term goal and how the character will reach it:

8. Quest to reach the Story Goal is continued

Briefly detail the events that take place:

9. Short-term goals are again thwarted

Briefly detail the events that take place:

10. Characters react with disappointment

Character 1:

Briefly describe reaction:

Character 2 (optional):

Briefly describe reaction:

Additional character (optional):

Briefly describe reaction:

11. Stakes of the Conflict are raised

Detail new stakes and how they affect all subplots:

12. Characters react to the conflict

Character 1:

Briefly describe reaction:

Character 2 (optional):

Briefly describe reaction:

Additional character (optional):

Briefly describe reaction:

*Items 7 through 10 can repeat here, depending on the length and complexity of your story. This section of the cycle may repeat several times throughout the course of your story as your characters readjust their short-term goals in order to meet their objectives.

13. Downtime begins

Detail the events that lead to downtime:

Character 1:

Briefly describe reaction:

Character 2 (optional):

Briefly describe reaction:

Additional character (optional):

Briefly describe reaction:

14. Characters revise old or design new short-term goals
Character 1:

Briefly describe new short-term goal and how the character will reach it:

Character 2 (optional):

Briefly describe new short-term goal and how the character will reach it:

Additional character (optional):

Briefly describe new short-term goal and how the character will reach it:

15. Quest to reach the Story Goal continues, but instability abounds

Briefly detail the events that take place:

16. The Black Moment Begins

Briefly detail the events and how they affect all subplots:

17. Characters react to the Black Moment

Character 1:
Briefly describe reaction:

Character 2 (optional):

Briefly describe reaction:

Additional character (optional):

Briefly describe reaction:

PART III: THE END

1. A pivotal, life-changing event occurs

Detail this event and how it affects all subplots:

2. Characters modify short-term goals one last time

Character 1:

Briefly describe the final short-term goal and how the character will reach it:

Character 2 (optional):

Briefly describe the final short-term goal and how the character will reach it:

Additional character (optional):

Briefly describe the final short-term goal and how the character will reach it:

3. The Showdown Begins

Showdown details (including all main characters who are involved):

4. The opposition is vanquished and the conflict ends

Details:

5. The Story Goal is achieved

Detail resolution plot and all subplots:

A.

B.

C.

Additional:

6. Characters react to the resolution of the plot and subplots

Character 1:

Briefly describe reaction to the end of the conflict:

Character 2 (optional):

Briefly describe reaction to the end of the conflict:

Additional character (optional):

Briefly describe reaction to the end of the conflict:

7. The Relationship Black Moment is addressed (romance stories only)

Character 1:

Briefly describe reaction:

Character 2 (optional):

Briefly describe reaction:

8. Characters revise their life goals

Character 1:

Briefly describe life goal:

Character 2 (optional):

Briefly describe life goal:

Additional character (optional):

Briefly describe life goal:

9. Possible reemergence of the conflict or opposition (optional)

	Describe:

Worksheet 16:  Formatted Outline Capsule

Note: Use one sheet for every scene in your book.

Title:

Chapter and Scene:

POV Character:

Additional Characters in scene:

Day/Time:

Facts Necessary:

Notes:

Questions:

Draft of Scene:

 Worksheet 17:  Day Sheet 

Title:

Day	Chapter and Scene	POV Character	Total POVs for Character	High-Concept Blurb	

	

	

	

	

	

	

	

Worksheet 18:  Supplemental Outline 

Title:

Chapter and Scene	POV Change	Scene Detail Changes	What to Fix/Additional Comments	

	

	

	

	

	

	

	

Worksheet 19:  Final Editing 

Title:

Areas that need to be added, reworked, or deleted when the first draft of the manuscript is complete.

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

8.

9.

10.

First Draft Outline Method Goals Sheets

Goal Sheet 1: Yearly Goals	
Goal Sheet 2: Multiyear Goals	
Goal Sheet 3: Promotional Goals	
Goal Sheet 4: Writing Goals	
Goal Sheet 5: Editing Goals	
 
Keep in mind throughout this process that you only need to complete what helps you in developing your goals.

Goal Sheet 1:  Yearly Goals

Year:

What to Accomplish	When to Accomplish	Accomplished	

		•		

			

			

			

			

			

			

			

			

			

Goal Sheet 2:  Multiyear Goals 

Year:

Contracted Releases:

Publisher:

Title:  

Editor Deadline:

Release Date:

Outline: from ______ to ______

Shelf-Time: from ______ to ______

Full Draft: from ______ to ______

Shelf-Time: from ______ to ______

Editor Revisions: from ______ to ______
	
Uncontracted Projects:

Title:

Genre:

Intended Completion Date:

Intended Submission Deadline:

Submit To:

Outline: from ______ to ______
Shelf-Time: from ______ to ______

Full Draft: from ______ to ______

Shelf-Time: from ______ to ______

Editor Revisions: from ______ to ______
	
Uncontracted Projects (Optional):

Title:

Genre:

Intended Completion Date:

Intended Submission Deadline:

Submit To:

Outline: from ______ to ______

Shelf-Time: from ______ to ______

Full Draft: from ______ to ______

Shelf-Time: from ______ to ______

Editor Revisions: from ______ to ______

Goal Sheet 3:  Promotional Goals 

Month of _________________, 20_______

Day/Time	What	Where	Benefit	Cost	

					

					

					

					

					

					

					

					

					

Time spent _____________			       Total cost _____________

Goal Sheet 4:  Writing Goals 

Title: 

Date	Scene(s) or Pages	Accomplished	

		•		

			

			

			

			

			

			

			

			

			

Goal Sheet 5:  Editing Goals 

Title:

Page Count of Final Manuscript:

Time Allotted for Editing:

Days for Computer Corrections:

Days for Final Polish:

Days for Critiques from Partners:

Days for Corrections from Critique and Preparing Proposal:

Deadline for Submission:

First Draft Outline Examples

Characters Sketches Example from Sweet Dreams
Setting Sketches Example from Sweet Dreams
Research List Example from Sweet Dreams
Plot Sketch Example from Sweet Dreams 
Preliminary Outline Example from Sweet Dreams
Miscellaneous Notes Example from Sweet Dreams
Closing Scene Notes Example from Sweet Dreams
Story Evolution Beginning Example from Sweet Dreams 
Story Evolution Middle Example from Sweet Dreams 
Story Evolution End Example from Sweet Dreams 
Incorporating the Preliminary Outline into the Formatted Outline Example from Sweet Dreams
Incorporating Miscellaneous Scene Notes into the Formatted Outline Example from Sweet Dreams
Incorporating Closing Scene Notes into the Formatted Outline Example from Sweet Dreams
Incorporating Story Evolution Elements into the Formatted Outline Example from Sweet Dreams
Incorporating Character Sketches into the Formatted Outline Example from Sweet Dreams
Incorporating Setting Sketches into the Formatted Outline Example from Sweet Dreams
Incorporating Research into the Formatted Outline Example from Sweet Dreams
Day Sheet Example from Sweet Dreams
Turning the Day Sheet into a Table of Contents Example (Partial) from Sweet Dreams
Tagging and Tracing Plot Threads Throughout the Formatted Outline Example from Sweet Dreams
Isolating Plot Threads Example from Sweet Dreams
Excerpt Example from Sweet Dreams 

In First Draft Outline, I use a wide variety of examples to demonstrate each step of the method. Using examples from bestselling stories in the main book from a variety of genres, you can see just how versatile this process is. You can use it for every single genre of fiction, no matter how short or long your work is.
However, it’s equally important that you see the method used on a single book, the way you’ll start out using it yourself. To this end, I've included examples of each step in the process taken from a single book. Here, you'll see the worksheets, errors and all, as I completed them for my paranormal romance novel Sweet Dreams (only my third book--so be kind concerning my novice efforts). You’ll also find an excerpt to show you how the bones took on flesh in this section. Viewing a cohesive picture of how the method works through every stage of my book will help you visualize how it works as you use it for your book. 

Sweet Dreams by Karen Wiesner

Paranormal Romance

Someone has unleashed an ancient evil bent on destroying Cassidy Christopher by eradicating the women he loves, one by one…

Just one year earlier, Cassidy’s daughter, Maddie, was attacked by a creature who was unleashed by human hands from its chains beneath The Protector, an ancient oak on the Christopher property. In the dead of the night, Maddie calls her best friend, Robyn Warren. Robyn hastens to be with the only family she’s ever known.

In the wake of newfound surrender to a love they can no longer fight, Robyn and Cass find they have everything they’ve ever wanted…except time.

http://www.writers-exchange.com/sweet-dreams/ 

Character Sketch Example from Sweet Dreams

Character Name: Cassidy "Cass" Christopher

Physical Descriptions: 
Age: 46 years old
Race: Caucasian 
Eye Color: Green
Hair Color/Style: Ebony black, short, feathered back but strands fall forward through the course of the day.
Build (Height/Weight): Lean, 6'2, 190 lbs. He's spent a lifetime doing manual labor. His muscles are not from bodybuilding but actual work.
Skin Tone: Lightly tanned.
Style of Dress: Either jeans or chinos with sweater. Prefers blue, black and green colors.
Characteristics or Mannerisms: He's attractive to women his age and half his age.

Personality Traits/Background (Hero):

Cass is the quiet type, mostly because he has very few friends and he's out of practice. He enjoys listening to people talk more than talking himself. He's brooding, melancholy, very dedicated to his work. He worked alone for many, many years and this fit his personality. He's a good boss though, and he feels most comfortable down in the factory rather than in his office, behind a desk. He's extremely intelligent. In school and college, he was the quiet one who tended to protect those being bullied. His wife, Evie, was his first girlfriend. She was shy, sweet and the type always in need of protection. She never had a career. She went from her parents to marriage at 18. His parents put him through college while he worked nights full-time in a furniture factory. That was where he gained a love of furniture and began making his own in his spare time. Evie got pregnant almost immediately. Cass loved his wife, but felt a dissatisfaction he never admitted to anyone. Didn't even like admitting it to himself. Evie was so frail and dependent on him for happiness. Cass never felt he could give her what she needed. She was unhappy most of the time until she had Maddie. Evie's death devastated him, more so because of his own guilt. Their daughter, Maddie, was only five and he had to be there for her. He was a good father, Maddie never lacked for love, but his feeling of being unable to give what was needed increased. He withdrew from the idea of dating until Maddie went to college and brought Robyn home that first time. In thirteen years, he'd had no desire for a relationship. Being attracted to a woman who went to school with his daughter, even one older than Maddie, embarrassed and made him realize he needed to start dating again. He convinced himself his attraction to Robyn was based on that.
	A year later, he met Gabrielle. It quickly became an exclusive relationship. Gabrielle was a complete daredevil. (Her occupation: Manager at a local restaurant.) She liked skydiving, mountain climbing, bungee jumping, Australian rappelling, etc.--activities Cass was afraid she'd kill herself doing. He cared about her deeply, but every time Robyn came home with his daughter, he withdrew from Gabrielle and felt confused. Although he would never admit it to himself until much, much later, Gabrielle resembled Robyn in many ways--physically and in her vibrancy for life. His feelings for Robyn (which he tried to tamp down and explain away too many times to count) were too strong to allow him to make an ultimate commitment to Gabrielle. (He now believes Gabrielle knew he had feelings for Robyn.)
	After a year, Gabrielle settled down although Cass never asked her to-outside of expressing concern that she might hurt herself being such a daredevil. She changed and became more like his wife had been--shy, unsure and totally dependent on him for happiness. Whenever Cass convinced himself he had a moral obligation (because he did care for her deeply) to either tell Gabrielle it was over or to ask her to marry him, Robyn would come home with Maddie and he would realize he wasn't ready for marriage with Gabrielle. And yet he needed her to create a buffer between him and Robyn.
	Unbeknownst to him, Gabrielle had begun taking mood elevators and became addicted to them. She overdosed. She tried to call him and tell him but he had one of his headaches and didn't get to her in time.
	His guilt crushed him again and his feeling that he couldn't give any of the women in his life what they needed and he couldn't protect them made him vow to avoid romantic relationships.

Internal conflicts (Hero):

	Cass' internal conflict at the start of the book is the above. He can't reconcile his feelings for Robyn any way he turns. She's 8 years older than his daughter and she's always seemed so much older and...yes, wiser, but he's still convinced she's too young for him. Over the years, Robyn has become his best friend too. He talked to her (whenever she calls--he doesn't initiate) the way he's never been able to with any other person. She's smart, beautiful, full of life and hope. He loves to hear her voice, her laughter, see her smile. He simply loves watching her move when she's around. She's also completely independent and comfortable that way. He can't imagine her ever giving that up to rest all her needs on a single man. Yet he knows she would give everything for love.
	She's like him--she's a protector, someone who takes care of those in need. She's like a mother to Maddie. Evie and Gabrielle were both dependent-on parents (Evie) and adventures (Gabrielle). Take those away and they put everything on him. He feels a connection with Robyn-mentally, physically, telepathically, timelessly.

External Conflicts (Hero):

His external conflict through the course of the book is to protect Robyn and his daughter against Nathan Seville's evil desire to destroy everyone he (Cass) loves. His headaches are debilitating and he feels he may be physically unable to be there when they need him.

Occupation/Education (Hero):

Cass started out hand-making furniture. He made a lot of money on this, but not as much as he could have because he had a limited number he could make at a time. He asked Robyn's advice and she encouraged him to go into mass production. He did and his business is booming. He lives very comfortably.

~*~
Character Name: Robyn Warren

Physical Descriptions: 
Age: 36 years old
Race: Probably a mix of German and Italian or Mexican.
Eye Color: "Blue denim", narrow shape with long, thick lashes.
Hair Color/Style: Long (mid-back), thick hair the color of highly polished cherry wood.
Build (Height/Weight): 5'11, 130 lbs. She's on the thin side because she's so tall. (She's a good eater though.) She exercises regularly. She "hides" her figure beneath oversized sweaters, not because she's embarrassed, but because that's her style of dress.
Skin Tone: Golden tan, more so than Cass, from her heritage.
Style of Dress: Oversized, long, fuzzy sweaters. Beneath, shape-hugging stirrup pants or comfortably tight jeans. Rarely, long, narrow, flower-print skirts with her sweaters. Prefers blue, white, plum-darker rather than bright-colors.
Characteristics or Mannerisms: Robyn is attractive, comfortable with herself, but feels most men don't find her attractive because she's so tall. She also has very full, curvaceous lips and a long, aquiline nose that complements her and lends to the intelligence in her face. She frequently folds her legs up to her chest and rests her chin on her knees.

Personality Traits/Background (Heroine):

Robyn is intelligent, confident, very comfortable with herself and extremely loyal to those she loves. Her adoptive parents brought her up to be independent and to make her own happiness, not to rely on anyone but herself and the Lord for it. She had a very happy childhood, but she grew up quickly because she frequently had to care for her older parents. She was always more mature and "future" thinking than the other kids she knew. By 14, she had a part-time job and got straight A's in school. She had very few friends (mostly computer geeks) until she met Maddie. Robyn felt an immediate connection to her. Maddie was a wild one and seemed to need a mother as well as a best friend. Robyn loves Maddie as a mother and a best friend.
	The very first time she met Cass, she was blown away. She fell in love almost immediately. She felt as though someone had shown her a piece of herself, the one she'd never be whole without. Despite the fact that she's a grown woman then, she knows Cass sees the 8-year age difference as a huge obstacle. She set her heart on him and vowed to exercise patience.
	She was devastated when she found out he had a steady girlfriend. (Maddie never liked Gabrielle.) Robyn had tried to be friendly despite her own feelings, but she'd been hurt and jealous. She never acted on her jealousy in any way, although Gabrielle had been very unfriendly to her because she knew Robyn had feelings for Cass.
	Strangely, Robyn and Cass' friendship increased after he started dating Gabrielle-at least whenever they were together (Robyn hadn't yet started calling him on a weekly basis at this time.) Maddie had had a steady boyfriend during that time, one who lived in Plover, near her father, and Maddie went home to see him at every opportunity. Robyn went with her at Maddie's insistence. Maddie had left her alone with Cass often, something neither of them minded. Gabrielle of course did.
	While Robyn had been sad about Gabrielle's death, she couldn't help hoping the Lord was working to bring her and Cass together, as she believed they were meant to be.
	Her senior year in college, Christmas, she decided age couldn't possibly be a factor any longer. She was ?? years old, a grown woman by all standards. She told Cass her feelings. She kissed him and felt his mutual feelings for her. Yet he rejected her. Despite that, their friendship grew to the point that she was calling him at least once a week just to talk and catch up. (She'd encouraged him to expand his business when he asked her advice during one of these conversations.)
	Her love for him was almost intolerable. She had her job, which she loved, and a life of her own but she wants to be with Cass more than anything. Infrequently, men asked her out and she was never tempted to say yes. Cass was the only man for her and she couldn't shake the conviction that someday they'd be together. James (a minor secondary character) has asked her out before, but she's never sure whether or not his flirtatious bantering is serious. She views him as a close friend, nothing romantic. While her boss is extremely attractive, she also feels no attraction to him either (and he's never shown any toward her.)

Internal Conflicts (Heroine):

Robyn's internal conflict is her need to convince Cass they're meant to be together. She'll do whatever it takes. She's never tried to forget or ignore her declaration of love for him, despite his rejection. Each time they're together, she makes it clear (in a subtle, understated way) that she belongs to him and all he has to do is take what they both want.
	Their psychic connection is very strong, even though they're at opposite sides of the country. Cass realizes that their communication is "real", but Robyn doesn't. She often feels he's right there with her. Believing it's not real, she indulges in the secret relationship happening between them. Cass believes it's the only way he'll ever be able to be with her, and since she doesn't realize it's real he allows himself to have it. Their "mind" conversations soothe and compel them to talk for real. Cass had realized it was real when all he would have to do is think "I want to hear your voice" and a second later the phone rang. He's also indirectly asked her some questions about one of their stolen moments and she'd taken the bait without realizing it.
	The psychic connection began full-force after his rejection of her feelings.

External Conflicts (Heroine):

Robyn's external conflict is her fear for Maddie and the psychic connection she's suddenly developed with Nathan Seville. A part of her realizes she's in danger because of it. That this evil force wants to destroy her.

Occupation/Education (Heroine):

Robyn is Mac's assistant. She occasionally travels with him. She loves her job and makes a good living.
~*~
Secondary character: Madeline "Maddie" Christopher

Physical Descriptions: 
Age: 27 years old
Race: same as Cass
Eye Color: Green
Hair Color/Style: Blond hair like her mother. Used to wear it down in long, spiral curls. Now wears it up most of the time. Her curls have gone slack.
Build (Height/Weight): 5'6, on the curvaceous side
Skin Tone: White
Style of Dress: Used to wear short, tight clothes. Now wears long, "hiding" dark clothes.
Characteristics or Mannerisms: Maddie is very attractive, was never without a slew of admirers, but after the attack she tried to hide her beauty.

Personality Traits/Background (Maddie):

Maddie, though a Christian by choice like her father and Robyn, has always had a wild streak in her. Like her mother, she needs to be with someone, needs a man to protect her and make her happy. The men she's gotten serious with have ended up rejecting her because she's too needy, clingy and marriage-minded.
	She loves her father, has always felt he gave her everything she needed in life, yet as soon as she met Robyn she knew she'd been missing a mother figure too.
	Her attack: While she was waiting for her dad at a restaurant, she met Nathan Seville. He was the man of her dreams. She was completely under his sway. He promised her everything she ever wanted--love, protection, care, happiness. She agreed immediately when he suggested they go to her apartment.
	Since the attack, she's been terrified because she knows how evil Nathan is and yet a part of her is still infatuated with him. She can still hear him in her head and he still seduces her. She lives in terror but won't talk to anyone about it. Feels she's become evil and has fallen from grace. Her conflicted terror leads to her suicide attempt when she hears he's escaped custody.

Occupation/Education (Maddie):

After college, Maddie opened her own daycare center in Plover, called Guardian Angel Daycare Center. The children are all that makes her happy anymore.

~*~
Villain: Nathan Seville

Physical Descriptions: 
Age: ageless
He's a demon that can take the form of humans or animals (wolf, specifically)
Eye Color: preternaturally glowing, yellow eyes
Hair Color/Style: Has orangish red tufts over his ears, nearly bald
Build (Height/Weight): 5'4, medium
Style of Dress: Prison issue
Characteristics or Mannerisms: He's an unattractive man, yet he holds power over every woman he sets his eyes on. They see the man of their dreams.

Personality Traits/Background (Villain): 

The villain is the embodiment of evil and his goal is to destroy. In particular, he wants to destroy Cass, who is a protector of the women he loves. Cass has defenses against him and evil wants to triumph over good. Cass thwarted Seville's effort to destroy Maddie. Unbeknownst to Cass, Nathan had been trying to lure both Evie and Gabrielle to him. They killed themselves to escape him.

Setting Sketch Example from Sweet Dreams

Name of Setting: Cass' home

Year or Time Period: Present day

Season: Winter (around Christmas-time)

State: Wisconsin

City or Town: Plover 

Description: It's a small, but fast-growing town in the heart of Wisconsin.

Miscellaneous Notes:  n/a

Description of hero's house: Cass lives on Hwy 54, in his parents' house (left to him after their deaths.) The barn no longer holds animals, but his workshop. He owns ?? acres. The property is surrounded by numerous types of trees. ?? feet from the house is a clearing. Cass' special oak tree--The Protector--that once grew in this clearing is now a stump. Cass' house resembles a "deluxe" log cabin (two story). Inside, handmade furniture. Warm and cozy. High ceilings, exposed beams, clear-finished wood. Wood-burning fireplace in the center with a bear rug in front of it. Kitchen is exposed so that it and the living room, where the fireplace is located, is one huge room.

Research List Example from Sweet Dreams

1. Hero’s career (woodworking-tools, techniques, wood types and uses, specifically how to carve the outer shell of a music box).

2. Heroine’s career. Note: The heroine’s boss is actually the hero in another of my books, so the research for her field has already been mostly done.
3. Trees (i.e., type of tree The Protector is).

4. Plover, Wisconsin. Note: I lived in Plover, Wisconsin at one point, so my research on the area came through that. The heroine lives in California, so I may need to do some research on that area.

5. Since this was my first paranormal, I may want to read many books by the masters of the genre to get a feel for how they create, build and effectively employ suspense and terror.

6. Will probably need to do some research on police procedural.

7. For my Sweet Dreams soundtrack, put together "scary" songs, Christmas tunes since the book happens around that holiday, religious standards, as well as romantic and sexy numbers.

8. If I’d had no experience with the internet, I would need to research how to surf the 'net, as the heroine does that in this book.
9. Massage/reflexology.

10. Wisconsin wildlife (particularly wolves in Wisconsin and specifically in Plover).

11. Patron saints, to make sure "Christopher" is the patron saint of protection. Note: I later dropped this angle.

Plot Sketch Example from Sweet Dreams

Story Goal (#1 Plot Thread)
Nathan Seville, a demon who can take the form of man or animal (specifically, a wolf), is determined to destroy Cassidy Christopher by killing the women he loves.

Romance Thread
Relationship between Robyn Warren and Cass. Specifically Cass' fear of failing to protect and meet the needs of the women he loves, which keeps him from giving in to the love between him and Robyn. And Robyn's determination to make him believe, like she does, that their love is destined.

Subplot Threads
#2
Robyn and Cass' telepathic connection

#3
Maddie's attack and her emotional state because of it, including her suicide attempt

#4
Cass' headaches and his hair turning white

#5
Maddie and Robyn's relationship, history and in the past year. Robyn's need for a family of her own

#6
Robyn's computer/internet genius friend James. The research they do together on the "Sweet Dreams" killer

 #7
Connection between The Protector, the music box with "Nearer My God to Thee", the acorns and the albino dove

#8
The mystery of who Seville's "master" is, the one who unburied him and set him free
#9
Cass' friendship/rivalry with Kevin Sheridan

#10 
Sheridan's brother Jimmy, whom Cass rescued when they were children, and Jimmy's problems as a direct result of that event

#11
Maddie's shrink, Dr. Blomberg, and Robyn's suspicions that he doesn't have Maddie's best interests at heart

#12
Cass' strained relationship with his neighbor McKee

Plot Tension
Any form of tension in the book because of story goal and subplot threads.

Romantic/Sexual Tension
Romantic/sexual tension between Robyn and Cass.

Release
Temporary easement of either romantic/sexual tension between Robyn and Cass or plot tension because of story goal and subplot threads.

Downtime
A glimpse of what happily-ever-after would be for Robyn and Cass if not for all the obstacles standing in the way.

Black Moment (one for Story Goal, one for Romance Thread) 
Reader is lead to believe happily-ever-after may never be attained because the obstacles now appear monumental.

Resolution 
Tying up of story goal, romance thread, and subplot threads.

Aftereffects of Resolution (optional): 
Recurrence of conflict

Preliminary Outline Example from Sweet Dreams

Someone has unleashed an ancient evil bent on destroying Cassidy Christopher by eradicating the women he loves, one by one…

Hero: Cassidy Christopher, 48 years old, owns his own business, Christopher Classic Furniture, in Plover, Wisconsin, has one daughter, Maddie.

Heroine: Robyn Warren, 36 years old, assistant at Mackenzie Environment & Infrastructure, headquarters located in Los Angeles, California.

Cass and Robyn were introduced by his daughter Maddie. She and Robyn met in college. Since Robyn had no family of her own, Maddie brought her best friend home whenever she went herself. Robyn fell in love with Maddie's father immediately. Cass resisted, despite his own immediate attraction, for obvious reasons then. Over the years, the mutual attraction and friendship grew...as did Cass' reasons why he couldn't involve himself with this woman or any woman.
	Eight years later, unexplainably, Cass and Robyn share a telepathic connection that she hasn't yet accepted is real. A mutual meeting of their minds is as vividly genuine as if they've met in the flesh. They can hear each other, see each other, feel each other. Over two thousand miles between them, this seems harmless enough to Cass-a corporeal fantasy, the only way he'll ever allow himself to be with this woman who captivates him like no other ever has. In this shared, stolen time, he can love her in any and all ways; he can share himself and allow himself to be whole.
	In the middle of a telepathic rendezvous, Robyn "wakes" suddenly to find her phone ringing. It's Maddie and she's hysterical with terror. She says "He's coming for me. I feel him. I hear him. He wants me."
	A year ago, Maddie was attacked by a man named Nathan Seville. Her father has saved her from certain death, but she's been on shaky ground ever since, despite aggressive therapy.
	Fearing Maddie may do something desperate, Robyn tries to keep her on the phone while she calls Cass on her other line. The line goes dead before she can dial. After attempting to get hold of Maddie again, she calls Cass and tells him something's wrong with Maddie, he needs to get over there right away.
	Cass had felt Robyn pull away abruptly in his mind, but the blizzard raging outside his window took out the phone lines. Until Robyn called, he'd gotten nothing but dead air. It isn't until his headache comes back-something that's been gone for a year--that he knows something is wrong.
	Driving through the blizzard that's dumped nine inches on Plover, he's overwhelmed with the memories of finding Maddie a year ago, fearing the same has happened again. Then too, the static in his head had been enough to split his skull wide open. He'd opened her apartment door to see black wind swirling all around. The cold in the room had been well below one of Wisconsin's hard freezes. The feeling of pure evil had repulsed him, but he'd seen Maddie in the center of the malevolence and he'd gone to her and taken her out of there with the heat from the demon's eyes at his back and its shriek in his ears.
	The police had arrived on the scene immediately after, after a neighbor called the police because of the horrible screaming. What they lead out hadn't been a demon. It'd been a short man of medium build, with orangish-red tufts on his nearly bald head. And yet when Cass met his eyes, he'd known this was a creature that had almost killed his daughter. Nathan Seville had been taken to the Marathon County Jail in Wausau, where he'd killed a woman guard. His captors had been found, asleep like babies while the woman's bones had been crushed from the inside out with no visible outer wounds. Seville has become known as the "Sweet Dreams" killer. He'd been recaptured that time.
	Cass finds Maddie across her bed. She's taken an overdose of pills, but she still has a pulse. As he's calling 911, he sees she's written something on her mirror in blood red lipstick: 
Nathan Seville
satan lives
	While waiting and worrying about Maddie and Cass, Robyn decides she has to go to them, in case they need her. Previously, in anticipation of the holidays, she'd booked a flight to Plover. She can't wait that long though. She e-mails her friend James Schultz, a computer/internet "enthusiast" and tells him goodbye. James contacts their boss, Wings Mackenzie, before Robyn gets a chance to and he shows up at her door. Mac offers her the company jet. Robyn tells him she's not sure when she'll be back. When she promises she will be back, she feels like she's lying. As she packs, she's drawn to the music box Cass carved for her out of his special oak tree. Inside is the acorn from that tree. She feels compelled to bring it along.
	At the Plover Medical Center, Maddie is out of danger, but had to be sedated when she woke hysterical. Cass calls his life-long neighbor, Officer Kevin Sheridan. Cass and Sheridan are not enemies, not friends. They're amiable rivals. When they were teenagers, Sheridan's three-year-old brother Jimmy climbed the white oak tree on the Christopher property. The tree was one of the largest in Wisconsin and known to everyone in the area as "The Protector" because of the way its branches seem to be waiting to cradle someone. Although Cass had never dared climbed the tree before, he did to save Jimmy. That day, Sheridan vowed to repay Cass.
	Sheridan reveals that Nathan Seville was being transferred from Wausau to Milwaukee that morning. The armored van stopped in Plover, at a fast food restaurant. The guards were found, still clutching their guns, fast asleep. The woman who served them through the drive-thru window was found in the back parking lot. All the bones in her body had been crushed, no visible outside wounds. Seville has escaped custody. Due to the storm, no tracks were found. It's believed he escaped on foot on Highway 54, which is a road that leads both to Maddie's apartment and Cass' cabin. Witnesses reported seeing something through the blizzard that resembled a wolf, but upon getting closer saw it was a man.
	Sheridan was the first on the scene after Maddie's attack. Since then, Sheridan has ridiculed Cass for his belief in "hocus pocus." The police don't believe that Seville isn't human, despite his unexplainable murder modus operandi.
	Cass calls in Sheridan's vow when he asks him to protect Maddie. Sheridan agrees he'll do whatever he can to make sure Maddie is protected.
	When Cass calls Robyn to fill her in on what's happening, she tells him she's coming there. Cass agrees to pick her up from the airport. He has doubts about allowing her to come, for personal reasons, but deep down something tells him she has to be here.
	Robyn's feelings for Cass haven't abated at all, she immediately realizes when she sees him waiting for her at the airport. They go to Maddie's bedside without detour.
	As a newborn, Robyn had been left in a church pew with a note that said "Keeping you, precious Robyn, would be an even greater sin than the one I've already committed." The pastor of the church and his wife, well past childbearing age, had longed for a child throughout their marriage. They adopted Robyn and loved her as their own. They died when she was eighteen, leaving Robyn completely without family. In college, she met Maddie, who became her best friend and, in many ways, her child. Maddie's own mother had died when she was five. Maddie was wild and needed the gentle love and mothering Robyn gave her. Seeing Maddie lay so motionlessly now breaks Robyn's heart.
	Maddie's psychiatrist, Dr. Blomberg, tells them the coma is induced by fear; Maddie's subconscious mind is protecting her from further harm. He believes she'll come out of it soon.
	Robyn's has disliked Maddie's shrink from the first time Maddie mentioned him. He's diagnosed Maddie as having paranoid delusions. Robyn believed Maddie and Cass when they said they encountered a demon. Beyond her spiritual belief in such things, she knows Cass is a practical man. He's not given to flights of fantasy or paranoid delusions.
	When they arrive at Cass' cabin a few miles off Highway 54, Robyn suggests they walk around first before going in. They find the padlock to the barn Cass had converted into his
Wood-working workshop broken into and footprints in the snow. Cass assumes it was one of the McKee boys (Cass' neighbor to the west) because they'd broken in before.
	Once inside the cabin, Robyn notices his headache is worse. He'd seen doctors when they first started in his 20's but they never did him any good. She touches him and he says "Don't." In his mind, he says to her: When you touch me, honey...I want you.
	What had seemed harmless over the distance between them now seems inescapably dangerous. With their telepathic connection, they've gone beyond the bounds of close friendship. He's used to reaching for her whenever he needs her. Now he has to push her away to maintain the distance of friendship.

Miscellaneous Scene Notes Example from Sweet Dreams

Robyn is a Christian, so is Cass. They went to church together often while Maddie was off doing other things with her friends.
	Maddie has settled down after Nathan' first attack. She lives alone, doesn't date, goes to church regularly, owns a daycare center and that seems to be the only thing that brings her out of her fear. Whenever Robyn visited her since college and the attack, Maddie had seemed like she just wanted to lock her door and never face the world again. Before, Maddie always loved life, adventures, taking chances. Whenever Robyn tries to talk about it with her, Maddie says she's OK and not to worry. Robyn does anyway.
	Book is titled Sweet Dreams because the villain is called the "Sweet Dreams Killer." He preys strictly on females, lulls men to sleep, then kills the women by breaking their bones from the inside out with no visible wounds on the outside. (He's not human but can take the form of a human or animal.) He crushes them in a death hug.
	Villain's name is Nathan Seville. He was supposedly born in Russia. No birth date is found for him. Robyn later finds dates throughout history of a killer who crushed women from the inside out with no visible wounds. Called The Crusher, LadyKiller. Every ?? years, the sleep comes over him, sleeps for ?? years, then he's reborn for ?? more.
	Cass is an insomniac and has intense headaches. He hasn't had them in years, but they're coming back recently.
	Cass has a special tree he grew up with. When it died, he kept the 2 seeds (acorns). He gave one to Robyn, in the music box. He doesn't know why he did this. He tells her they're magic. He keeps the other acorn himself. This is really special to Robyn.
	When Nathan is going into his ?? year sleep, he starts to lose form, becomes a "spirit" and sinks into the ground with a woman to sustain him during his years of sleep.
	The music in the music box lulls Nathan to sleep. Then they lock the music box so he can't get out of it (though, if he's not in it, he'll rise again). They bury it, then they have to plant the acorns over the top of the box to keep the demon caged. The tree that forms out of the acorns grows overnight. The tree is called The Protector by everyone in town. It's protected the Christopher men through the ages.
	Robyn does a lot of research on the internet and reads biographies of serial killers. On the internet, she finds an expert on Nathan Seville. He tells them how to bury it so it can't rise again.

Closing Scene Notes Example from Sweet Dreams

Once, when Cass' headache is really bad, Robyn tells him to lie down and she strokes his temples. His headache disappears when she touches him and when they kiss he feels better than he's felt in years.
	Nathan is in the hay mow of Cass' barn, waiting for his chance. If he can't get to Maddie, this woman (Robyn--whom he saw in Chapter Three, scene 2) will do just as well. He wants to punish Christopher-it was what he was created to do. He doesn't have much time. The ?? year sleep is coming. He's almost at the end of his ?? years. With Cass around, he can't even get near Robyn. Cass blocks his power to mesmerize Robyn.
	When Cass goes out, Robyn wakes in a trance state and starts to leave the house in just her pjs. She's halfway across the yard to the barn when Cass comes home and stops her.
	When Cass starts to doubt slightly whether he should break his vow to love, the room turns icy cold. They both feel very strongly that they're being watched and that some evil presence is nearby. When he stops, he says "Do you feel that?" She says "Yes. Don't change your mind." The evil backs off, the room gets warmer and warmer. She says "I always knew I belonged to one man. You." A dove is in the window.
	One night, she feels something in the room with her. She prays. First a dove appears, then Cass does. He can't sleep. He takes her downstairs, makes her hot chocolate when all she wants is him. She falls asleep next to him, in the crook of his arm. He carries her upstairs. She asks him not to leave. He ends up falling asleep beside her.
	Cass and Robyn decorate the Christmas tree together, cook dinner, both missing Maddie. When Robyn tells Cass about her job, Cass comments on how close she seems to be to her boss. Robyn says "Yes, we're close friends." Cass realizes he's jealous.
	Very last chapter, 100 years later. It's been a Christopher family tradition to tell their children about the demon buried beneath The Protector. This ancestor doesn't believe it. Walking with Golden Retriever. Dog stars to whimper and dig beneath the tree. He hears music playing beneath the ground and starts to dig.

Story Evolution The Beginning from Sweet Dreams

Part I: The Beginning (plots, subplots and conflicts are introduced)

1. Conflict is Introduced 
Detail the major conflict: Nathan Seville, a demon who can take the form of man or animal (specifically, a wolf), is determined to destroy Cassidy Christopher by killing the women he loves.
2. Story Goal is Introduced 
Detail the major story goal: To trap the demon back in the music box, and bury it beneath The Protector. To do that, the relationship between Robyn Warren and Cassidy Christopher must be established. Cass' fear of failing to protect and meet the needs of the women he loves keeps him from giving in to the love between him and Robyn.

3. Characters Are Outfitted With the Story Goal 
List and briefly describe the characters who will be involved in reaching the story goal and defeating the conflict, along with their strengths and weaknesses:

	Cassidy Christopher. Cass has lost two women to the demon Nathan Seville, and he almost lost his daughter Maddie a year ago when the demon attempted to take her. He rescued her just in time, but Maddie hasn't been the same since. Unknown to Cass, he has an enemy driven by jealousy. That enemy unburied the music box, causing The Protector (a special tree that acts as a "cage" to the box) to die, years ago. This act caused the death of Cass's wife (and Maddie's mother), Evie, and the woman he was involved with years afterward, Gabrielle. He's afraid to give in to love, especially with Robyn, whom he already has deep feelings for because of their telepathic connection and knows she feels the same. He's afraid he'll be unable to protect and meet the needs of the women he loves. For that reason, he's vulnerable to the fresh attack when Seville escapes on what was supposed to be a routine prison transfer. Love makes him a target, but without opening himself to love, he can't vanquish the evil stalking him.
	
Robyn Warren. Robyn is determined to make Cass believe, like she does, that their love is destined. When Maddie attempts suicide after the demon escapes and warns her that he's coming for her, Robyn knows she has to go to Cass and Maddie, her only family. She can't escape the feeling that she's meant to be with them during this time, and, given that leading, she packs the music box Cass gave her years ago (after The Protector died, using the wood from the tree) with the acorn from the tree inside.

Story Evolution Middle from Sweet Dreams

Part II: The Middle (plots, subplots and conflicts are working together to create a tug-of-war between the story goal and the conflict)

1. Characters Design Short-Term Goals to Reach the Story Goal
	Character 1: Cass 
	Briefly describe his first short-term goal and how he'll go about reaching it: After getting Maddie to the hospital after her suicide attempt, Cass calls his neighbor of all his life (a cop), Kevin Sheridan, to find out what's happening--why Maddie attempted suicide and wrote "Nathan Seville/satan lives" on her mirror. Cass & Sheridan's background: Cass saved Sheridan's brother Jimmy when he was 3 years old. The little boy climbed Cass' white oak tree (known in Portage County as The Protector) and then couldn't get down. Cass went up and got him. Sheridan now feels he "owes" Cass for this. Their relationship is not friends/not enemies. Sheridan takes care of Jimmy now. Cass knows something happened to cause Maddie to go over the edge, and Sheridan tells him Nathan Seville was being transferred from Wausau to Milwaukee. The van stopped in Plover at a fast food restaurant. The guards were found, with their guns, in heavy sleep. The woman who served them through the drive-through window was found dead in the back parking lot, all the bones in her body crushed but with no visible outside wounds. The winter snow covered all tracks. It's believed Seville escaped on foot on Hwy 54, which is where Cass lives. The police have witnesses who saw something through the blizzard that looked like a wolf, but getting closer saw it was a man. Sheridan has always ridiculed Cass because of his belief in "hocus pocus". Sheridan was the first on the scene after Seville's attack on Maddie a year ago. When Seville was taken to the Marathon County Jail that time, he killed a female guard after lulling the male guards to sleep.
	Character 2: Robyn
 	Briefly describe her first short-term goal and how she'll go about reaching it: When Cass calls Robyn to tell her about Maddie, Robyn tells him she's coming there. She knows he has doubts about it, because he's always resisted her--*their*--feelings, but he insists she stay with him. He tells her he'll pick her up from the airport.

2. Quest to Reach the Story Goal Begins
Briefly detail the events that take place: Robyn arrives in Plover, and the sense of destiny--that she's a necessary piece of the puzzle that's about to take place--falls in place as soon as Cass and Robyn see each other. 

3. First Short-Term Goals Are Thwarted
Briefly detail the events that take place: Cass has to steel himself even harder against his feelings for Robyn, since he alone realizes at this point that the telepathic connection they've shared for years is real.

Maddie is in a coma. Maddie's shrink, Dr. Blomberg, tells them the coma is induced by her fear. Her psychological mind is protecting her from further harm, but he tells them there's no reason to believe she won't come out of it soon. Robin knows he's trying to pacify them. She doesn't trust Dr. Blomberg. He never believed Maddie (that Seville isn't human.) He believes that Maddie's been having paranoid delusions.

4. Characters React With Disappointment
	Characters: Cass and Robyn
	Briefly describe their reactions: Robyn is heart-broken, seeing Maddie at the hospital.
Cass is terrified that he'll lose his daughter through his own failures, and he doesn't know how to keep himself in check around Robyn at the same time he tries to protect her. On the ride to Cass' house, Cass tries to pacify Robyn too, by telling her Maddie is strong-willed. They both know that's true, but after the past year since Maddie's attack everything has changed about Maddie.

5. Stakes of the Conflict Are Raised
Detail new stakes of the conflict and how they affect all subplots: They go back to Cass' house and walk out to his workshop. They find (human) footsteps outside and the padlock is broken. Cass says sometimes the McKee boys (Cass' neighbor on the other side) play in there. He's told them countless times not to; some of his equipment could be dangerous. Unexplainably, not 30 minutes later, when the police arrive to search Cass' property in an effort to locate Seville, the footprints Cass and Robyn had seen by the workshop are gone. The snow hasn't drifted, there's no wind, and it hasn't snowed since they went inside a half hour ago. Around the south side of the barn are prints, but these look like they're made by a dog, not a human. Sheridan says the prints don't belong to his dog. When they go inside the barn, a dove flies at them, and Sheridan is utterly terrified at seeing it. Even after he realizes it's just a harmless dove, he seems afraid. Cass wonders if he really does believe in the hocus pocus he likes to ridicule.
	Cass' headaches--which have recently returned--are excruciating for him.
	A furious Dick McKee (Cass' neighbor to the other side) and his 2 sons come after Sheridan told McKee what Cass said about the break-in of his barn.

6. Characters React to the Conflict 
	Character 1: Cass
	Briefly describe his reaction to the conflict: The animosity between the McKees' and
Christophers' goes back quite a few generations. Cass points out that the boys have broken into his workshop before. He doesn't want them to get hurt. He doesn't know why McKee is his enemy--Cass tries to keep to himself and not make trouble, yet McKee seems to hate him.
	Cass wonders why Sheridan was so spooked by the dove (the dove is pure white, an albino--WI has only mourning and rock doves). This dove has been around a long time (over 20 years) and never migrates. Cass had seen it often on the property, and he's soothed by its presence, just at The Protector soothed him when it was alive.
	When they visit Maddie, Cass sees how shaken Robyn is, and it bothers him to see her faith wavering. He unconsciously realizes that he has to protect Robyn because Seville is out there somewhere. He can't leave her alone.

	Character 2: Robyn 
	Briefly describe her reaction to the conflict: Robyn's feelings for Cass are stronger than ever. She considers him and Maddie her family, but Maddie had been pushing her away for the past year. Robyn knows she wouldn't have invited her for Christmas this year. Would Cass have? When Cass says he would have, and that Maddie's situation during the past year has made him feel like he's failed as a father, because he couldn't save her, Robyn soothes him. The telepathic connection between the two of them seems unbearably strong--and real. Robyn wonders if it could be real. And if it is...that means the encounters she's believed were only dreams really happened.
	Unknown to Robyn, Seville has seen her, and because Maddie is well-protected where she is and because he doesn't have much time (the 25 year sleep is coming upon him and he'll have to go to it; needs a woman to sustain him during the years he'll sleep before rising again to do as he'd been created to do). Robyn becomes his target, if Seville can just lure her away from Christopher by sending the static (which results in headaches). At this point, it's not clear why he's getting the headaches.

7. Characters Revise Old or Design New Short-Term Goals
	Character 1: Cass
	Briefly describe his new second short-term goal and how he'll go about reaching it: Knowing Maddie would want them to carry on, Cass and Robyn go through the motions of their usual family Christmas traditions. Spending time with Robyn makes him ache for her the way he's only been able to salve through their mind connection. Realizing that if Robyn found out that the connection is real, he may be able to protect her through it, Cass let's her know that their telepathic connection is real. 

	Character 2: Robyn
	Briefly describe her new second short-term goal and how she'll go about reaching it: Their telepathic connection is real, yet Cass is determined to keep his feelings for her in check. He unconsciously believes if he doesn't allow himself to give in to his love for her, he won't lose her. And Robyn resolves to make him realize he'll never lose her no matter what.

 8. Quest to Reach the Story Goal Is Continued
Briefly detail the events that take place: For the past year, Robyn (with the help of her "internet enthusiast" friend James) has been trying to find out more information on Nathan Seville, the Sweet Dreams killer. Now she knows she has to find out something to help her and Cass save Maddie from this demon. 

9. Short-Term Goals Are Again Thwarted
Briefly detail the events that take place: Cass has tried blocking Robyn out all day because his emotions are so strong, he'd ended up kissing her. In his mind, he realizes she's not with him anymore and calls for her. He realizes that Seville is calling for her, trying to lure her to him. In his mind, Cass shouts for her to stay with him. He hears a creak on the steps, then she's back with him.
	While in the clearing near The Protector, Robyn feels completely disconnected from herself for a moment. Cold, ice cold...darkness...waiting... A few lines from "Nearer my God to Thee" come to her--this is the melody the music box Cass made for Robyn plays.

10. Characters React With Disappointment
	Character 1: Cass
	Briefly describe his reaction: Cass now knows the only way he can protect Robyn is to go to her fully in his mind, lay down with her the way he has in their telepathic encounters and hold her to him.

	Character 2: Robyn
	Briefly describe her reaction: Robyn is terrified. She doesn't know what happened to her in the clearing, but she knows she's in danger too. Robyn tells Cass she brought the music box with the acorn with her, and he agrees that it's good she did that, but neither of them understands why.

11. Stakes of the Conflict Are Raised
Detail new stakes of the conflict and how they affect all subplots: The hospital calls, saying Maddie is awake. She's hysterical, and Cass has to get down there right away so they don't have to sedate her again.

12. Characters React to the Conflict
Character 1: Cass and Robyn
Briefly describe their reaction to the conflict: Cass and Robyn rush to the hospital.

13. Characters Revise Old or Design New Short-Term Goals
	Character 1: Cass
	Briefly describe his new short-term goal and how he'll go about reaching it: When they get to the hospital, the doctor says they had to sedate her. She was hurting herself, but the sedative was extremely mild. She should wake soon this time. The doctor wants to try hypnotizing Maddie just before she wakes fully next time. Cass agrees finally because there's not much else they can do. 

	Character 2: Robyn
	Briefly describe her new short-term goal and how she'll go about reaching it: Robyn asks Cass about his relationships with Evie and Gabrielle, the women he'd loved and lost. He tells her, revealing that he feels he can't protect the women in his life. He's never there for them. Fails them. Can't give them what they need. Robyn tells him she loves him, that will never change, she's not like Evie or Gabrielle. He knows they're meant to be together. They kiss, but Cass stops them, saying he can't love her, can't give her anything she wants and needs. Both frustrated and afraid, Robyn knows she has to convince him otherwise.

	14. Quest to Reach the Story Goal Is Continued
Briefly detail the events that take place: Maddie's doctor hypnotizes her. She opens her eyes--her eyes are glowing preternaturally. She says, "He's still here. He's waiting to hurt... to punish..." The doctor asks, "Where is he?" Maddie says, "I am it. It is me." The doctor asks again, "Where is he?" Maddie says, "Cold, ice cold...darkness...waiting... The sleep is coming. I can hear the music." She starts to sing "Nearer my God to Thee", swaying. Robyn is terrified. This is what happened to her in the clearing by Cass' tree. Is it simply coincidence that it's the same song as the one in the music box? The demon releases Maddie. Maddie says to her father, "Take care of Robyn. Don't let her out of your sight. That's what he wants. She needs your protection." 

	15. Short-Term Goals Are Again Thwarted
Briefly detail the events that take place: From the hospital, Cass calls Sheridan. The search for Seville has been officially called off. They believe he has an accomplice hiding him. He could be anywhere. They've issued a press release for citizens to be on guard. Cass thinks, "That won't do any good." Sheridan sounds unhappy about this too. He assures Cass he'll make sure Maddie is protected. Sheridan asks Cass to check on his brother Jimmy on his way home, since he'll be home late. Cass does this, but just before he leaves, Jimmy says, "He's after your girlfriend, Christy. He's a wolf. I want to protect her too. She's so pretty, almost as pretty as Maddie." Cass asks, "When did you see her?" Jimmy says he sneaked out yesterday and saw her while his brother was over there with the rest of the cops. Jimmy says, "I want to protect her too, but I don't want the wolf to rip my heart out with his teeth."
	Cass' headaches become increasingly worse. Only Robyn's touch sooths them now, but he knows this can't continue. Maddie was right. Robyn is in danger. He doesn't dare leave her alone for a moment. He's afraid he'll fail to protect her just like he had his daughter and all the women he's ever cared about. But each time they're together, their need for each other is stronger and harder to deny.

16. Characters React With Disappointment
	Character 1: Cass
	Briefly describe his reaction: In an effort to protect Robyn, Cass separates from her for the day, giving her his pager and a car.

	Character 2: Robyn 
	Briefly describe her reaction: The car breaks down barely 2 miles past Cass' property.
McKee gives her a jump, and they talk. McKee suggests that she go back to CA, saying that there are forces at work here--worshippers of the Ancient One have loosed the demon, which is why The Protector died. McKee doesn't sound sane. Robyn wonders if Cass put him up to saying it, and thinks, "He can't get rid of me that easily." Robyn is frustrated. What can she do to prove to Cass that he's not a curse to women?
	She goes to the library, and researches Nathan Seville, Sweet Dreams killer. She finds newspaper article in town archives about a cult called the Sweet Dreams Worshippers. They worship "the Ancient One." The police arrested them on Christopher property (when Cass was a teenager) around the tree commonly known as The Protector. A young woman was offered up as a ritual sacrifice. Her bones were crushed on the inside but no external wounds.
	She meets up with Kevin Sheridan in the mall and he asks her to have dinner with him. She goes, and he tells her about his brother Jimmy--that he hasn't been right since he climbed The Protector, and he needs someone to take care of him. He does strange things and has hallucinations. He doesn't seem to remember or realize what he's doing. Kevin says, "I've found him out in the middle of the woods in the dead of night and in winter, dressed in his shorts, pawing at the ground and crying, "Put it back! You did this to me." (Kevin is talking now as if he's in a trance, tears are in his eyes.) Jimmy never knows how he got there.
	Kevin also tells her he had a thing for Evie throughout high school. She only had eyes for Cass. And he dated Gabrielle just before she met Cass. She dropped him for Cass.

17. Stakes of the Conflict Are Raised
Detail new stakes of the conflict and how they affect all subplots: Just as Robyn is drifting off to sleep that night, she hears a voice in her head, telling her to come to him. In a trance, she rises out of bed. Cass knows something is wrong when he can't contact Robyn through her telepathic connection, and he rushes home to find her walking toward the barn as though in a trance. He arrived just in time.
	Later, when all the power goes off in the cabin and they go out to start the generator together, they're chased by a wolf--which is impossible. There are no wolf packs in Plover. Yet they both know whatever it was wasn't natural. 
	Maddie is well again, and she'll be coming home on December 27th.

18. Characters React to the Conflict
	Character 1: Cass
	Briefly describe his reaction to the conflict: He realizes how close he was to losing her, and his conflict is even more heightened. He doesn't know where to turn, but he knows he can't leave her and he can't block their telepathic connection. He feels Seville nearby, just like he did before he rescued Maddie a year ago. Back then he'd just felt. . .static in his head and a pervasive feeling of pure evil. One that wants Robyn this time. His feelings for her are too
strong. The sense of destiny with her is impossible to ignore. It's as if they'd been lead to each other for some unknown reason. Another voice in his head tells him to hold onto Robyn. That he's chosen, destined and only together can he and Robyn defeat it.

	Character 2: Robyn
	Briefly describe her reaction to the conflict: Robyn is terrified of what's happening to her. They attend the Christmas service at Cass' church. When they sing "Nearer my God to Thee", she feels like she's not there again, like she had in the clearing that day. She gets a chill down her spine and rushes out of the church. She won't say anything until they get home, then she says to Cass, "You feel it too. He's not after Maddie anymore. You know I'd give my life for her. But he wants me now. He doesn't have much time and you. . . You can't protect me if you keep your precious distance."

19. Downtime Begins (proceeds the black moment; the characters are close to giving up
For good because the story goal seems impossible to reach)
Detail the events that lead to downtime: Cass tells her he loves her.

20. Characters React to the Downtime
	Character 1: Cass 
	Briefly describe his reaction to these events: Happiness and fear

	Character 2: Robyn 
	Briefly describe her reaction to these events: Happiness, fulfillment, as if destiny has been satisfied as well
21. Characters Revise Old or Design New Short-Term Goals With Renewed Vigor 
	Character 1: Cass
	Briefly describe his desperate short-term goal and how he'll go about reaching it: Feeling desperate, feeling he can't win any way he turns, drives him almost as much as his love for Robyn does. He believes he can't turn back from this course, even though he still fears losing this woman he loves more than life itself.

	Character 2: Robyn
	Briefly describe her desperate short-term goal and how she'll go about reaching it: Robyn has always known she belonged to one man--Cass. They belong together. The dove in the window in confirmation to her that they're doing what they must.

 22. The Quest to Reach the Story Goal Continues, But Instability Abounds
Briefly detail the events that take place: Cass and Robyn hear the wolf outside the door again, and they try to lose themselves in the love they've waited a lifetime for.

23. The Black Moment Begins--Story Goal (Just as all feared, short-term goals made in desperation are thwarted and the stakes are raised to fever-pitch with this--the worst of all possible conflicts) Briefly detail the events that take place and how they affect all subplots: Sheridan shows up early in the morning; he can't find his brother. Cass and Robyn get dressed, and they go out to search. They find Jimmy dead in the woods, in the clearing where The Protector was. Jimmy's heart has been ripped out. Robyn hears Cass say in his mind. He said something... "I want to protect her, Christy, but I don't want the wolf to rip my heart out with his teeth." They'd heard the wolf howl last night and ignored it desperately. At what price?
	Robyn hears another voice in her head: Soon, my sweet, soon you'll be in my arms and we'll be together in the beautiful darkness. 

24. The Characters React to the Black Moment (Characters react to this major conflict with a sense of finality--the quest stands on the edge of a knife)

	Character 1: Cass 
	Briefly describe his reaction: He realizes there's no turning back now. Something is going to happen, something he feels utterly powerless to stop, especially with Maddie coming home the next morning.

	Character 2: Robyn 
	Briefly describe her reaction: She's being lured, and she knows when the demon calls to her she has no will but to obey.

Story Evolution End from Sweet Dreams

Part III: The End (all plots, subplots and conflicts are resolved)

1. A Pivotal, Life-Changing Event Occurs 
Detail this event and how it affects all subplots: Robyn finds her laptop set up in her room at Cass' cabin, and Cass wasn't the one who set it up. There's an e-mail from her friend James.
	Seville has a cult following in Plover. They've got a website. James found a message on the website put there with special software--only those who have it can read the message. James found that the leader had left (leader used to live in Plover, WI), denounced his faith in the cult because Seville killed his mother (the woman guard at the Wausau prison). James talked to him online. He said someone dug him up. He was trapped in the music box under The Protector and someone unburied him and let him loose. If he's not recaptured in the music box, he'll go into the sleep and rise again in 25 years and it'll start all over again. The only way to lure him to the magic oak tree is with bait--a woman. They have to dig a hole near The Protector (otherwise the spirit can rise again). The music from the box will lure him to sleep, lure him into the music box. Then they have to lock the box and bury it again with the acorns on top. Cass is unwilling to believe it because it means risking Robyn. Robyn says they have to do it. Maddie comes home tomorrow, and they can't allow the demon to go after her again.

2. Characters Modify Short-Term Goals One Last Time 

	Character 1: Cass
	Briefly describe his final short-term goal and how he'll go about reaching it: Cass will go and dig the hole. They'll stay together through their mind connection.

	Character 2: Robyn
	Briefly describe her final short-term goal and how she'll go about reaching it: Robyn will lure the demon to the tree once the hole is dug, then they'll lock him in the music box and bury him with the acorns.

 3. The Showdown Begins (Story goal and opposition to that goal come face to face, no hiding as in the middle of the book) 
Showdown details (including all main characters who are involved): Robyn is in the house, listening to Cass' voice. About 8 minutes go by. She hears a noise upstairs. The connection with Cass is broken. She hears another voice in her head. She's helpless to ignore it. Cass realizes Robyn is no longer with him and shouts in his head and out loud. When that doesn't work, he drops the shovel and starts to run back toward the house. But the pain in his head suddenly becomes blinding. It rips through his brain. He cries out and falls to the ground. Robyn is moving up the stairs, toward the voice biding her to come. She reaches the landing and hears another voice in the back of her mind--I love you, Robyn. Robyn!
Listen to me! With his head still splitting, Cass forces himself to his feet and into a dead run, calling Robyn's name, begging her to hear him. He can't lose her.
	She suddenly breaks through the trees. She's running, panting and weeping in fear. She tells Cass he's after her. Cass grabs her arm, turns and they both run in the direction of the oak stump. He knows he didn't dig a hole anywhere near 3 feet deep. But when he turns, Kevin Sheridan is there. He dug the hole. Sheridan shouts, "Get the box!" Cass wonders how he knows, but there isn't time. As he removes the music box from his jacket pocket, he looks back to see something...inhuman closing in on them. He drops the key to the music box as he's trying to insert it into the music box. The three of them drop down, trying to search the dark ground for it. Robyn finds it, and Cass winds the box all the way up. "Nearer my God to Thee" starts to play. He sets the open box in the hole just as Robyn screams and the thing leaps at her. Cass pushes her out of the way. The air around them suddenly changes. Icy wind picks up. The creature starts to whirl slowly, obviously listening to the lulling music in ecstasy. The creature is losing shape and the wind is growing even stronger, howling. The sky has never been so black. Cass feels himself being pulled into the whirlwind until Robyn screams his name in his head, says, No, Cass! Hold me! Hold onto me!

 2. The Opposition Is Vanquished and the Conflict Ends
Details: They watch as the creature slowly loses shape, becomes the wind drawn into the music box. The lid snaps closed and the night is suddenly dead quiet. They look at each other in surprise, relief, and then Sheridan says, "The seeds." They both take out their acorn and drop it in the hole with the music box. Cass buries the box with the acorns. While he shovels the dirt, snow and ice in, the stars come out again. As they're all walking back to the
house, they look back to see the dove sitting on the filled hole. When they go to the tree the next morning, a full grown oak tree stands there.

3. The Story Goal Is Achieved
Detail resolution plot and all subplots:

A. Cass and Robyn kiss when it's done. Cass says he thought he'd lost her. Thought he'd lost her when she wouldn't answer. She says his love was stronger than Nathan' hate.

B. Sheridan tells them he was in love with Evie, but she fell for Cass. His granddad used to tell him about a special music box buried under The Protector (the music box was carved from the wood of the same tree). The box was hundreds of years old. If anyone unburied it and opened the box, they would unleash a demon that would destroy whoever owned the property The Protector is on. Once the demon was loose, the tree would die. Sheridan unburied it after Cass married Evie, but he didn't open it. He kept it in the house, somewhere Jimmy wouldn't find it. Sheridan believes it affected Jimmy adversely all those years, and the demon killed him. Sheridan was afraid to open it after he dug it up. He didn't really believe his granddad's tales when he unburied it, but he wanted to hurt Cass. He couldn't believe it when he found it. Sheridan says, "And that albino dove did everything it could to stop me. It nearly pecked my eyes out. I didn't unlock it, but it didn't matter. The demon inside still drove Evie insane. Her only escape from him was to kill herself. When Gabrielle dropped me for you, I was committed to seeing you suffer for once. I unlocked it. I swear to you, Cass, I've regretted it from the minute I let it out. I wanted to turn back time. I wanted to tell you somehow. It was furious when Gabrielle killed herself before it could. I thought maybe I could control it. But it had no other motive than to destroy. Then he tried to get to Maddie. And then Robyn. Everybody you love. I'm sorry. Tell your children. Tell your children's children about this. I'll do the same. Make sure no one ever releases it again."

C. Maddie back to her old self, completely recovered without the evil hovering over her.

4. Characters React to the Resolution of the Plot and Subplots

	Character 1: Cass
	Briefly describe his reaction to the end of the conflict: It's over. His headache--the static is completely gone. He's shocked that anyone could hate him so much, especially since he had no idea about any of it. 

	Character 2: Robyn
 	Briefly describe her reaction to the end of the conflict: Robyn feels everything that happened was meant to be. It's what brought her and Cass together finally.

 5. Black Relationship Black Moment Is Addressed

	Character 1: Cass
	Briefly detail his reaction: His fear over loving Robyn isn't completely over. He remembers how much Evie and Gabrielle relied on him. They expected him to provide every bit of their happiness, and he failed them by not being able to give them what they needed. They became different people because of that, and so did he. He never wants to stop Robyn from being who she is and doing what she needs to do. He tells her that, if living in CA, working where she works and seeing him whenever they've both got time is what they have to do, then that's what they'll do. He doesn't want her to change from the woman he's in love with. He wants to give her whatever she needs, make her happy, but he can't be everything. He can't do everything for her. She has to have other things that fulfill her.

	Character 2: Robyn
	Briefly describe her reaction: She's devastated by Cass' willingness to let her go after all they've been through. How can he love her if he doesn't want them to be together? When he voices his fears that she'll change and become like Evie and Gabrielle--completely dependent on him--she says she has other things. She'll always need to be productive and independent, but she loves him and needs to be with him every day.
6. Characters Revise Their Life Goals (They've learned what they're capable of, they've gained that which is most precious to them, and their life goals are revised or made anew; in a romance, the hero and heroine break through the final barrier and accept their love and a lifetime together)

	Character 1: Cass 
	Briefly describe his life goal: Cass wants everything she wants--a life together, growing and loving together, living their lives as whole individuals.

 	Character 2: Robyn 
	Briefly describe her life goal: She wants to get married and have children with Cass. She wants a happily ever after. Finally, she'll have the family she's always wanted. When their minds link later and Cass asks her if she's there, she tells him she'll always be there for him.

7. Possible Re-Emergence of the Conflict or Opposition 
Details: A hundred years later, an ancestor of Kevin Sheridan's is walking with his dog in the woods between the Sheridan and Christopher properties. Jay is thinking about the hot young beauty his rival and neighbor, Joseph Christopher, has living with him. Christopher has all the luck; it's like God Himself is on his side. What Jay wouldn't do to one-up Christopher, take him down a notch or two. Dog starts to whimper and dig beneath the tree called The Protector. Jay hears music coming from beneath the ground. An albino dove flies in his face. He waves it away in annoyance and starts to dig...

Incorporating the Preliminary Outline into the Formatted Outline Example from Sweet Dreams

Chapter and Scene #: Prologue
Day and Time: A week or two before Christmas; very early morning
POV Character: Maddie Christopher
Additional Characters: The demon, Nathan Seville, through their telepathic connection
Location: Maddie's apartment in Plover, WI
Facts Necessary: Seville is being transferred from the prison in Milwaukee to a prison in the lower part of the state
Notes:
Questions: 
Draft of Scene: Seville warns Maddie through their telepathic connection that he's coming for her.

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Day: December 12th 
Chapter and Scene #: Scene 2
POV Character: Robyn Warren 
Additional Characters: Cassidy Christopher and Maddie
Location: Robyn's apartment in Los Angeles, California
Approximate Time: Very early morning
Facts Necessary: 
Notes:
Questions: 
Draft of Scene: Robyn is having a dream about Cass (she doesn't realize they have a telepathic connection, and that this is really happening). Something malevolent is watching them, and she's somehow losing herself in Cass yet she's still aware of this malevolent force nearby. Robyn wakes with the phone ringing. It's Cass' daughter Maddie. Maddie is a wreck, talking gibberish. Maddie asks Robyn to come to Plover, saying her father will need her. Robyn is terrified after Maddie hangs up. She calls Cass.

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Day: December 12th 
Chapter and Scene #: Scene 3
POV Character: Cass
Additional Characters: Robyn and Maddie
Location: Cass' cabin in Plover, WI
Approximate Time: Very early morning
Facts Necessary: 
Notes:
Questions: 
Draft of Scene: Cass woke about 5-10 minutes ago. Now he's contending with a headache and an unsatisfied longing after his telepathic connection with Robyn. When the phone rings, he immediately knows it's Robyn. Feels like she's next to him. When he picks up the phone, he says "Robyn." She doesn't ask how he knew, but there's a pause, before she asks in a terrified voice, "Something's happened. I think your daughter is going to do something drastic. You'd better get to her right away. She just called me and she's in a terrible state."

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Day: December 12th 
Chapter and Scene #: Scene 4
POV Character: Cass
Additional Characters: Maddie
Location: Driving to Maddie's apartment
Approximate Time: Very early morning
Facts Necessary: 
Notes:
Questions: 
Draft of Scene: Cass tries calling his daughter in his car as he drives to her apartment. No answer. A year ago, Maddie was attacked by the demon, Nathan Seville. Include Cass's memories of that. He finds his daughter on her bed. She tried to commit suicide with pills. She wrote "satan lives Nathan Seville" on the mirror in lipstick. Cass calls the ambulance in fear he'll lose his daughter this time. 

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Day: December 12th 
Chapter and Scene #: Scene 5
POV Character: Robyn
Additional Characters: her co-worker James (internet connection) and her boss Wings "Mac"
Mackenzie
Location: Robyn's apartment
Approximate Time: later that morning
Facts Necessary: 
Notes:
Questions: 
Draft of Scene: Robyn talks to her co-worker, James, telling him she's taking a vacation, doesn't know when she'll be back. She makes flight plans. Her boss comes to her apartment calls, and Robyn says she has to take an undefined amount of time off. It's an emergency. She almost never takes a vacation or even a day off. He's arranged for the company jet to take her to Plover. He tells her to take all the time she needs, just make sure she comes back. What would he do without her? Robyn tells him she'll be back but feels like she's lying. She packs-adding the music box with the acorn inside Cass gave her years ago. She feels compelled to bring it along, but isn't sure why.
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Day: December 12th 
Chapter and Scene #: Scene 
POV Character: Cass 
Additional Characters: 
Location: Hospital
Approximate Time: later that morning
Facts Necessary: 
Notes:
Questions: 
Draft of Scene: Cass calls his neighbor, Kevin Sheridan, who tells him that Nathan Seville escaped during a routine prison transfer that morning. It happened in Plover. They're looking for them, and Kevin tells him he'll personally see to it that Maddie is protected. Kevin has an "obligation" to Cass. When they were kids, Cass rescued his little brother Jimmy when he climbed The Protector.
	Cass calls Robyn. Maddie is going to be OK. She's sleeping very heavily though, guards are posted outside her hospital room. Robyn tells him she's coming there, her flight is already booked. He has doubts about it, for personal reasons, but he insists she stay with him.
Incorporating Miscellaneous Scene Notes into the Formatted Outline Example from Sweet Dreams

Day: December 13th; just after Robyn arrives in Plover and they've seen Maddie at the hospital
Chapter and Scene #: ? 
POV Character: Cass
Additional Characters: Robyn
Location: Cass' cabin
Approximate Time: ?
Facts Necessary: 
Notes:
Questions: 
Draft of Scene: When they arrive at Cass' cabin a few miles off Highway 54, Robyn suggests they walk around first before going in. They find the padlock to the barn Cass had converted into his woodworking workshop broken into and footprints in the snow. Cass assumes it was one of the McKee boys (Cass' neighbor to the west) because they'd broken in before.
	Once inside the cabin, Robyn notices his headache is worse. He'd seen doctors when they first started in his 20's but they never did him any good. She touches him and he says, "Don't." In his mind, he says to her. When you touch me, honey. . .I want you.
	What had seemed harmless over the distance between them now seems inescapably dangerous. With their telepathic connection--something that's real and Robyn has no idea that the things they've shared this way are real, they've gone beyond the bounds of close friendship. He's used to reaching for her whenever he needs her. Now he has to push her away to maintain the distance of friendship. 

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Day: December 13th 
Chapter and Scene #: ? 
POV Character: Robyn 
Additional Characters: Cass
Location: Cass' cabin
Approximate Time: Evening
Facts Necessary: 
Notes:
Questions: 
Draft of Scene: Robyn and Cass talk about the fact that Maddie has settled down after Nathan' attack a year ago. She lives alone, doesn't date, goes to church regularly, owns a daycare center and that seems to be the only thing that brings her out of her fear.  Whenever Robyn visited her since the attack, Maddie had seemed like she just wanted to lock her door and never face the world again. Before, Maddie always loved life, adventures, taking chances. Whenever Robyn tries to talk about it with her, Maddie says she's OK and not to worry. Robyn does anyway. Cass feels like he's failed his daughter by not helping her through this. 

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Day: December 23rd 
Chapter and Scene #: ? 
POV Character: Robyn 
Additional Characters: 
Location: Plover 
Approximate Time: ?
Facts Necessary: 
Notes:
Questions: 
Draft of Scene: Robyn does a lot of research on the internet and reads biographies of serial killers. On the internet, she finds an expert on Nathan Seville. He tells them how to bury him so he can't rise again. He tells her that when Nathan is going into his ?? year sleep, he starts to lose form, becomes a "spirit" and sinks into the ground with a woman to sustain him during his years of sleep. The music in the music box that Cass made from the wood from his special tree, The Protector, lulls Nathan to sleep. Once he's inside, they have to lock the music box so he can't get out of it (if he's not caged, he'll rise again). Once the music box is buried, they have to plant the acorns (Cass kept two from The Protector when it died--he gave one to Robyn and kept one himself) over the top of the box. The tree that forms out of the acorns grows overnight. This tree is another cage. It's protected the Christopher men through the ages. 

Incorporating Closing Scene Notes into the Formatted Outline Example from Sweet Dreams

Day: December 23rd
Chapter and Scene #: ?
POV Character: Cass 
Additional Characters: Robyn 
Location: On the way to his cabin
Approximate Time: Night
Facts Necessary: Robyn now knows that the telepathic connection between her and Cass is
real
Notes:
Questions: 
Draft of Scene: Cass and Robyn had a fight earlier about his unwillingness to accept their feelings for each other. Robyn is alone at his cabin when a voice calls for her. Believing it's Cass, she follows the voice. Cass attempts to establish a telepathic connection with Robyn, but there's resistance and he knows why. The demon is calling for her. When he gets home, he sees Robyn walking toward the barn in a seeming trance. 

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Day: ?
Chapter and Scene #: ?
POV Character: ?
Additional Characters: ?
Location:? 
Approximate Time: ? 
Facts Necessary: 
Notes:
Questions: 
Draft of Scene: 
Note to myself: More scenes are needed here to fill out the story to the length and complexity necessary. 

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Day: ? (a hundred years later) 
Chapter and Scene #: Epilogue
POV Character: Jay Sheridan, an ancestor of Kevin Sheridan 
Additional Characters: Jay's dog, a golden retriever
Location: The woods between the Sheridan and Christopher properties, where The Protector stands
Approximate Time: Day-time
Facts Necessary: 
Notes:
Questions: 
Draft of Scene: It's been both a Sheridan and a Christopher family tradition to tell their children about the demon buried beneath The Protector, to warn them not to dig it up. This ancestor, Jay, doesn't believe the stories he's been told. He's walking along with his dog, hating his neighbor, Christopher, and jealous of him. Suddenly, his dog stars to whimper and dig beneath a tree. As Jay gets closer, he hears music playing beneath the ground and starts to dig.

Incorporating Story Evolution Elements into the Formatted Outline Example from Sweet Dreams

Taken from Middle Story Evolution: 
#17. Stakes of the Conflict Are Raised
Detail new stakes of the conflict and how they affect all subplots: Just as Robyn is drifting off to sleep that night, she hears a voice in her head, telling her to come to him. In a trance, she rises out of bed. Cass knows something is wrong when he can't contact Robyn through her telepathic connection, and he rushes home to find her walking toward the barn as though in a trance. He arrived just in time.

Day: December 23rd 
Chapter and Scene #: Chapter Eleven, Scene 2
POV Character: Robyn
Additional Characters: Kevin 
Location: Mall, restaurant 
Approximate Time: evening
Facts Necessary: 
Notes:
Questions: 
Draft of Scene: She meets up with Sheridan in the mall and he asks her to have dinner with him. She tells him her heart belongs to Cass but if he still wants to go as friends, she'll go. He agrees.
	Sheridan tells her about how Cass saved his brother Jimmy. Robyn is endeared to Sheridan, despite the obvious rivalry between them. Sheridan seems to hold Cass in esteem for how he saved his brother. Sheridan tells her Jimmy has never recovered from it anyway. He's a narcoleptic, not retarded, but his brain never grew with the rest of him. He drops off without warning wherever he is. He's never been able to go to school, hold a job or be productive. Kevin has taken care of him since his parents died. (Show how much he cares for his brother throughout this) Jimmy needs someone to take care of him. He does strange things. Has hallucinations. Doesn't seem to remember or realize what he's doing. Kevin says, "I've found him out in the middle of the woods in the dead of night and in winter, dressed in his shorts, pawing at the ground and crying, "Put it back! You did this to me." (Kevin is talking now as if he's in a trance, tears are in his eyes.) Jimmy never knows how he got there.
	Robyn asks if there are medications to help, and Sheridan says, "They just make it worse." She says it must be hard for him, Sheridan says with a sad laugh, "He ain't heavy, he's my brother." Sheridan says some nights he doesn't want to go home. Or at least he wants to go home to some beautiful woman who can make everything go away. He asks her out again, and Robyn says, "I love Cass. That will never change." Sheridan says angrily, "He's a lucky guy. He always has been." He tells her he had a thing for Evie throughout high school. She only had eyes for Cass. And he dated Gabrielle just before she met Cass. She dropped him for Cass. 
	Robyn goes back to Cass' house alone, it's snowing, she's still a little angry at Cass. She's tired anyway. Checks her e-mail, gets a letter from James with this information: The Sweet Dreams killer preys strictly on females, lulls men to sleep, then kills the women by breaking their bones from the inside out with no visible wounds on the outside. He crushes them in a death hug. James says he'll keep checking. Robyn logs off and gets ready for bed, wondering when Cass will come home and if she should have called him. Just as she's drifting off, she hears a voice in her head, thinks, Cass? Is that you? The voice answers, Yes. Come to me. Will you come to me? In a trance, feeling lethargic, she rises out of bed, thinking, Yes, Cass, I'm yours. 

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Day: December 23rd 
Chapter and Scene #: Chapter Twelve, Scene 1
POV Character: Cass 
Additional Characters: Kevin (phone), Robyn
Location: Cass' factory, his cabin
Approximate Time: Evening
Facts Necessary: 
Notes:
Questions: 
Draft of Scene: Cass is at work, worried sick about Robyn. Tried paging her, called Maddie. Sheridan calls, says he saw Robyn today. She seemed weird. Is everything OK? Kevin says, "Shouldn't you go to her? I'd never leave a sweet thing like that alone." Cass asks where she is; Sheridan says she went home. 
	Cass is angry at himself. He should have known. Races out to his truck. Just as he gets on 54, he hears Robyn in his head: Cass, is that you? He feels no connection to Robyn, the way he usually does, even when he answers her. She's not hearing him. So who is she hearing?
	Despite the slippery road, he speeds up, calling to Robyn in his head. He'd been so afraid to be near her today, he'd lost his senses. He cares about her too much, wants her too much, and doesn't know how he can deny either of them when they're together. He hears the rest of her words, but can't hear who's talking to her. He drives up to his house. Robyn is in his headlights. She looks like she's in a trance until he gets out and shouts her name. She comes out of it, looking confused. He rushes to her. "What are you doing?" he demands. Robyn says, "I don't know. I thought I heard you calling to me, telling me to come to you." She sounds unsure and embarrassed now. Her cheeks are red, not simply because of the cold air. "Let's get you inside," Cass says. He picks her up and carries her inside. He sits her in front of the fireplace, starts the fire, then puts her on his lap. She's shivering, cuddles up to him, and he sees tears in her eyes. She's terrified at what almost happened. He'd called her. Seville. And she'd gone as though powerless to fight him. What if Cass hadn't been nearly home? She would have frozen to death, trying to get to a killer. Obviously Seville has a long reach.
	I almost lost you, he thinks in fear and knows she heard him. She turns and puts her arms around him. They kiss desperately. He tells her to go home. The tears fill her eyes again, wounded, wide-open-for-attack tears. He'd meant "Go home because I can't protect you here." She flees upstairs. He wants to follow her, take away the pain his own fear of losing her caused, but knows he'd make everything worse. 

Incorporating Character Sketches into the Formatted Outline Example from Sweet Dreams

Day: December 13th
Chapter and Scene #: Scene 9
POV Character: Robyn
Additional Characters:
Location: Cass' cabin (her bedroom there)
Approximate Time: Night 
Facts Necessary: 
Notes:
Questions: 
Draft of Scene: Robyn can't sleep that night.
	Her past: Robyn was left in a church pew as a newborn baby with a note from her mother "I know I sinned getting pregnant with this baby and keeping her would only add to my list of grievances." Her "parents" became the pastor and Mrs. of the church. They're old, never able to have their own children and died when Robyn was ??, leaving her a small inheritance she was able to put herself through college with, along with a full-time night job. These people named her, adopted her legally, loved her and made her long for a family of her own. 
	Maddie and Cass filled that need. Robyn came home with Maddie for every holiday during college. They met in freshman year. (Robyn was 26, Maddie was 18.) Robyn is from CA, they went to college in CA. Maddie was very popular, wild, always seemed to need a mother. Robyn became that mother. Robyn needed a family. Maddie and Cass became that to her. Whenever they'd go to Plover on holidays, Maddie would usually end up running off with her old friends at every opportunity while Robyn cooked, cleaned and spent time with Cass. 
	He never seemed to mind her company. Seemed to enjoy it. Seemed to like her frequent phone calls too. A few years ago, at Christmas, they kissed. He responded. Just before Maddie interrupted, Robyn told him she loved him. Later, Cass gave her the intrically carved, music box. Then they visited The Protector, a special tree he grew up with. There was a dove near the tree. The tree was dead. 
	Cass gave Robyn one of the acorns from it-and told her they couldn't be together, the way he knew she wanted with her first kiss earlier that day. He thought she was too young, he was no good in this situation. She kissed him again and said, "That won't change my mind about you, Cass. We're meant for each other." 

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Day: December 14th 
Chapter and Scene #: Scene 11
POV Character: Nathan Seville
Additional Characters:
Location: Cass' barn
Approximate Time: ?
Facts Necessary: 
Notes:
Questions: 
Draft of Scene: Dark...cold...waiting for his chance. If he can't get to Maddie, this woman with Cass (Robyn-whom he saw in the scene when Robyn and Cass just arrived and went to the barn to see the broken padlock) will do just as well.
	Description of Robyn: "Blue denim" colored eyes in narrow shape with long, thick lashes.  Hair long and thick, the color of highly polished cherry wood. Golden tan skin. She also has very full, curvaceous lips and a long, aquiline nose that complements her and lends to the intelligence in her face. She's 5'11, 130 lbs, on the thin side because she's so tall. (She's a good eater though.) She exercises regularly. She "hides" her figure beneath over-sized sweaters, not because she's embarrassed, but because that's her style of dress, with shape-hugging stirrup pants or comfortably tight jeans. Prefers blue, white, plum-darker rather than bright-colors.
	The demon was sent to destroy Christopher. He doesn't have much time. The ?? year sleep is coming. He can hear the music (give a few lines of "Nearer My God to Thee"). With Cass around, he can't even get near Robyn. Cass blocks his power to mesmerize Robyn when he's there. In the past, Nathan has been able to prevent Cass from coming near with the static. Somehow he came anyway and saved his daughter. He won't save this woman.

Incorporating Setting Sketches into the Formatted Outline Example from Sweet Dreams

Day: December 13th 
Chapter and Scene #: Scene 6
POV Character: Cass 
Additional Characters: Robyn, Kevin Sheridan and other cops
Location: Cass' property 
Approximate Time: Late afternoon
Facts Necessary: 
Notes:
Questions: 
Draft of Scene: Robyn and Cass come into the house from finding the padlock broken on the barn door.
	Description of the inside of the cabin: Handmade furniture. Warm and cozy. High ceilings, exposed beams, clear-finished wood. Wood-burning fireplace in the center with a bear rug in front of it. Kitchen is exposed so that it and the living room, where the fireplace is located, is one huge room.
	Cass starts to make some hot chocolate, suggests dinner. She says she's not hungry. There's a knock at the door. Cass goes to it, and Robin follows. It's Sheridan, who asks if they can take a look around the property. They're searching for Seville. Cass and Robyn put on their coats and go out with him. Three cop cars are in the yard.
	Description of Cass' property: Cass lives on Hwy 54, in his parents' house (left to him after their deaths). Cass' house resembles a "deluxe" log cabin (two-story). The barn no longer holds animals, but his workshop. He owns ?? acres. The property is surrounded by numerous types of trees. ?? feet from the house is a clearing. Cass' special oak tree-The Protector--that once grew in this clearing is now a stump. This tree was his special, private place as a kid, where he came to think and read. One of the largest in WI, its branches bow as if to cradle someone. When it died he carved the outer music box from it (the one he gave to Robyn).
	Cass sees Sheridan looking at Robyn, introduces them, says Robyn is Maddie's best friend from CA. Sheridan is a known womanizer. Cass tells Sheridan about the padlock broken on the workshop/barn (which he replaced right after), that he suspects it's the McKee kids again. When they get to the barn, they find that the footprints they saw are gone. The snow hasn't drifted, there's no wind and it hasn't snowed since they went inside a half hour ago. Around the south side of the barn are prints, but they look like they're made by a dog. Sheridan says they're not his dog 's prints. Sheridan says he says he'll check to see if the McKee kids were playing around here again. Robyn asks if they believe the escaped killer is still in the area. Sheridan says, "No. His best bet was to get out ASAP. With the blizzard yesterday, we have no way of knowing for sure. We can't be too careful with any of the fine ladies in the area." Cass wants to deck him. Finds himself putting his arm around Robyn when she shivers and looks afraid. 
	They go inside the barn. A dove lands in front of them, and she shrieks. But Sheridan is utterly terrified. Even after he realizes it's just a harmless dove, he seems afraid. Cass wonders if he really does believe in the hocus pocus he likes to ridicule. 
	Robyn excuses herself, says she's tired and on-edge, goes in the house. When Sheridan says he's a lucky guy, Cass wants to deck him again, but feels compelled to explain that Robyn isn't his; Sheridan says, "Good." 

Incorporating Research into the Formatted Outline Example from Sweet Dreams

Day: December 24th 
Chapter and Scene #: Scene 27
POV Character: Robyn's 
Additional Characters: Cass
Location: Cass' cabin
Approximate Time: Night
Facts Necessary: 
Notes: There are no wolf packs in the Plover area (which is in Portage County). The nearest wolf pack is in Jackson County. 
Questions: 
Draft of Scene: All the power goes out in the cabin. Cass tells Robyn she's coming with him. First they check the fuses. Then they go outside. The blizzard is blinding. The generator is near the barn. A dove flutters around them, almost like it wants to stop them from reaching the shelter. Cass pulls on the cord (like a lawnmower), then switches the power over to the generator. Robyn watches him, freezing, asks him why he has a generator. He tells her that during summer, the thunderstorms around here frequently cause power outages. And, in winter, the blizzards do. When he used to work out of his barn, he couldn't afford to stop work because of a storm, so he bought the generator. Even as they talk, they both feel unease, like they're out here in the open. A wolf howls, and Cass assures her it's the neighbors' German Shepherd, not a wolf.
	They see the lights come back on in the house. Robyn starts to breathe a sigh of relief, but then the dog howls, much closer this time, so close Cass doesn't attempt to try pacifying her again. A low growl comes. It's not a dog. They can't see in the dark but they both know it. They feel the heat of its eyes bearing down on them. Cass whispers, "Run toward the house." Robyn asks, "Where will you be?" Cass says, "Right behind you. Now go." Instead of obeying, she grabs his hand. They both run together toward the house. The ground is slippery and whatever is after them is so close. They can hear its menacing panting as it chases them. She looks back and sees the glowing, preternatural eyes. They make it to the basement garage, just barely. Cass hits the button for the automatic garage door to close and they run upstairs and lock the door behind them. They hear the thing trying to get in, throwing its weight at the garage door. Robyn's fear so overwhelms her, she starts crying wildly. Cass holds her. She holds him tightly, saying over and over, "Don't leave me."
He assures her he won't. 

Day Sheet Example from Sweet Dreams

December 12
Prologue - Maddie 1 - demon warns her he's coming for her 
Chapter One (Scene 1) - Robyn 1 - telepathic dream interrupted by a call from Maddie 
Chapter One (Scene 2) - Cass 1- Maddie's in trouble 
Chapter Two (Scene 1) - Robyn 2 - packs the music box and acorn in preparation for going to Maddie and Cass
Chapter Two (Scene 2) - Cass 2 - Cass calls Kevin Sheridan, cop and neighbor; discovers Seville has escaped

December 13
Chapter Three (Scene 1) - Robyn 3 - Cass picks Robyn up from the airport 
Chapter Three (Scene 2) - Cass 3 - is their mind connection real? 
Chapter Four (Scene 1) - Cass 4 - Dick McKee drops by
Chapter Four (Scene 2) - Robyn 4 - Robyn's feelings for Cass

December 14
Chapter Five (Scene 1) - Nathan Seville 1 - wants Robyn 
Chapter Five (Scene 2) - Cass 5 - visiting Maddie in the hospital
Chapter Six (Scene 1) - Robyn 5 - The Protector
Chapter Six (Scene 2) - Robyn 6 - Cass erects a telepathic wall between him and Robyn

December 15
Chapter Seven (Scene 1) - Cass 6 - the demon tries to lure Robyn away from Cass
Chapter Seven (Scene 2) - Robyn 7 - details of Cass' wife/Maddie's mother, Evie's death; Cass' girlfriend, Gabrielle, and her death
Chapter Eight (Scene 1) - Robyn 8 - Maddie is hypnotized
Chapter Eight (Scene 2) - Cass 7 - the search for Seville has been called off; Jimmy introduced

December 21
Chapter Nine (Scene 1) - Robyn 9 - Cass admits their psychic connection is real

December 22
Chapter Nine (Scene 2) - Cass 8 - a date leads to a kiss
Chapter Ten (Scene 1) - Nathan Seville 2 - asks for his master to lure Robyn away from Cass

December 23 
Chapter Ten (Scene 2) - Robyn 10 - Cass pulls away, physically and telepathically; research on the Sweet Dreams killer
Chapter Eleven (Scene 1) - Robyn 11- Robyn visits Maddie alone
Chapter Eleven (Scene 2) - Robyn 12 - Robyn meets up with Sheridan at the mall; the story of Jimmy and his connection with Evie and Gabrielle
Chapter Twelve (Scene 1) - Cass 9 - Cass realizes the demon is luring Robyn away from him
Chapter Twelve (Scene 2) - Robyn 13 - Cass' fear of losing another woman he loves

December 24
Chapter Thirteen (Scene 1) - Robyn 14 - the electricity goes out during a storm
Chapter Thirteen (Scene 2) - Robyn 15 - the wolf chases them
Chapter Fourteen (Scene 1) - Cass 10 - the music box and the acorns; destiny is closing in

December 25 
Chapter Fourteen (Scene 2) - Robyn 16 - demon is luring her; Cass and Robyn get close
Chapter Fifteen (Scene 1) - Nathan Seville 3 - needs blood to stay strong before the sleep claims him and he takes Robyn with him to his rest
Chapter Fifteen (Scene 2) - Cass 11 - the wolf is outside the door
December 26 
Chapter Sixteen (Scene 1) - Robyn 17 - Jimmy is dead; wolf ripped out his heart
Chapter Sixteen (Scene 2) - Cass 12 - how to trap the demon using the music box and the acorns
Chapter Seventeen (Scene 1) - Robyn 18 - trap must be laid tonight, before Maddie gets home from the hospital; they'll stay in touch telepathically
Chapter Seventeen (Scene 2) - Cass 13 - Cass digs the hole
Chapter Eighteen (Scene 1) - Robyn 19 - connection between Cass and Robyn is broken
Chapter Eighteen (Scene 2) - Cass 14 - pain rips through his head when he tries to run to Robyn
Chapter Nineteen (Scene 1) - Nathan Seville 4 - luring Robyn
Chapter Nineteen (Scene 2) - Robyn 20 - Cass brings her back telepathically
Chapter Twenty (Scene 1) - Cass 15 - demon is trapped; acorns are planted
Chapter Twenty (Scene 2) - Robyn 21 - Sheridan set the demon free out of jealousy of Cass

December 27 
Chapter Twenty-one (Scene 1) - Cass 16 - old fears; The Protector is alive 
Chapter Twenty-one (Scene 2) - Robyn 22 - Robyn planning to return to CA, no argument from Cass

December 28 
Chapter Twenty-two (Scene 1) - Cass 17 - Maddie scolds her father
Chapter Twenty-two (Scene 2) - Robyn 23 - happily ever after?

100 years later 
Epilogue - Jay Sheridan 1 - unburies the demon 

Turning the Day Sheet into a Table of Contents Example (Partial) from Sweet Dreams

December 12                                                                                                    23
Prologue - Maddie 1- demon is coming for her                                     24
Chapter One (Scene 1) - Robyn 1 - telepathic dream interrupted by a call from Maddie                                                                                             	           25 
Chapter One (Scene 2) - Cass 1- Maddie's in trouble                          26
Chapter Two (Scene 1) - Robyn 2 - packs music box and acorn in preparation for going to Maddie and Cass                                             		           27 
Chapter Two (Scene 2) - Cass 2 - Cass calls Kevin Sheridan, cop and neighbor; discovers Seville has escaped                                                                     29 

Tagging and Tracing Plot Threads Throughout the Formatted Outline Example from Sweet Dreams

Day: December 12th 
Chapter and Scene #: Prologue
POV Character: Maddie Christopher
Additional Characters: The demon, Nathan Seville, through their telepathic connection
Location: Maddie's apartment in Plover, WI
Approximate Time: Very early morning
Facts Necessary: Seville is being transferred from the prison in Milwaukee to a prison in the lower part of the state
Notes:
Questions: 
Draft of Scene: Seville warns Maddie through their telepathic connection that he's coming for her. [STORY GOAL] [SUBPLOT THREAD #3] {PLOT TENSION}

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Day: December 12th 
Chapter and Scene #: Scene 2
POV Character: Robyn Warren 
Additional Characters: Cassidy Christopher and Maddie
Location: Robyn's apartment in Los Angeles, California
Approximate Time: Very early morning
Facts Necessary: 
Notes:
Questions: 
Draft of Scene: Robyn is having a dream about Cass (she doesn't realize they have a telepathic connection, and that this is really happening). [ROMANCE THREAD] [SUBPLOT THREAD #2] {ROMANTIC/SEXUAL TENSION} {PLOT TENSION} Something malevolent is watching them, and she's somehow losing herself in Cass yet she's still aware of this malevolent force nearby. [STORY GOAL] {PLOT TENSION} Robyn wakes with the phone ringing. It's Cass' daughter Maddie. Maddie is a wreck, talking gibberish. Maddie asks Robyn to come to Plover, saying her father will need her. Robyn is terrified after Maddie hangs up. She calls Cass. [STORY GOAL] [SUBPLOT THREADS #3 & #5] {PLOT TENSION} 

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Day: December 12th 
Chapter and Scene #: Scene 3
POV Character: Cass
Additional Characters: Robyn and Maddie
Location: Cass' cabin in Plover, WI
Approximate Time: Very early morning
Facts Necessary: 
Notes:
Questions: 
Draft of Scene: Cass woke about 5-10 minutes ago. Now he's contending with a headache [SUBPLOT THREAD #4] and an unsatisfied longing after his telepathic connection with Robyn. [ROMANCE THREAD] [SUBPLOT THREAD #2] {R/S TENSION} When the phone rings, he immediately knows it's Robyn. Feels like she's next to him. When he picks up the phone, he says, "Robyn." She doesn't ask how he knew, [SUBPLOT THREAD #2] {PLOT TENSION} but there's a pause, before she says in a terrified voice, "Something's happened. I think your daughter is going to do something drastic. You'd better get to her right away. She just called me and she's in a terrible state." [STORY GOAL] [SUBPLOT THREAD #3] {PLOT TENSION} 

Isolating Plot Threads Example from Sweet Dreams

Subplot Thread #2 (Robyn and Cass' telepathic connection)

Chapter One
She's having an "telepathic" dream about Cass. Phone rings and he immediately knows it's Robyn. When he picks up the phone, he says, "Robyn." She doesn't ask how he knew. [SUBPLOT THREAD #2] {ROMANTIC/SEXUAL TENSION} {PLOT TENSION}

Chapter Three
Her feelings for him are stronger than ever. He's warm and friendly toward her, but won't let on that he's affected by her presence too. Her touch eases the pain in his head. His need for her is fierce. She starts to say something about a kind of massage she's been reading about that might help, he says, "Don't." In his mind, he says to her. You know it doesn't matter what either of us intends, honey. When you touch me. . .I want you. Their mind connection is real. Cass realized it about a year ago. She doesn't realize it, although he suspects she wonders often whether or not it is real. He allows this because it's the only way he'll ever be able to have her. [SUBPLOT THREAD #2] {R/S TENSION}

Chapter Four
Robyn is asleep, he can feel how deeply in his mind. [SUBPLOT THREAD #2] {R/S TENSION}

Chapter Five
They're both up early, coffee instead of breakfast, they're silent except the communication in their minds. She seems a little on-edge because of it, can't help believing that they can really hear each other this way but knows it can't be true. At work, from his office, Cass watches Robyn below, thinking, Thank God she's home. Realizes he's not just thinking of for Maddie. Wonders how much time Robyn took off work. She'll have to go back-long before he's ready to let her go. He thinks, I don't want you to leave me, honey. She looks up to see him. [SUBPLOT THREAD #2] {R/S TENSION} 

Chapter Six
The connection between them is stronger than ever before, if possible. She thinks she's losing her mind, this can't be real, if it was it would mean everything she and Cass had done had been real. She's surprised he doesn't kiss her. She hears the jumble of his thoughts as he stalks outside on some pretense, he doesn't want to lose her so he can't love her. She tells him in her mind, You'll never lose me. Later that night, in her bedroom. The day was tense and uncomfortable. He'd placed a wall between them telepathically. She goes to bed, in her mind asks Cass if he's there. He answers, he still has the wall there, but he'll be on-guard. [SUBPLOT THREAD #2] {R/S TENSION}

Chapter Seven
Cass tried blocking Robyn out all day. He answers her now because he knows he has to keep her safe, but he's determined to keep on-guard about his feelings for her. In his mind, realizes she's not with him anymore and calls for her. Realizes Seville is calling for her. It happens again, and he shouts for her to stay with him. Hears a creak on the steps, then she's back with him. He now knows the only way he can protect her is to go to her fully in his mind, lay down with her the way he did the night before and hold her to him. She's so deeply asleep, she doesn't seem to realize what's happening The phone rings. Cass hangs up. Dresses. When he's opens the door, Robyn's there in the hall, dressed, her face is drawn in worry. He realizes she didn't hear the phone ring. She felt him move away from her. [SUBPLOT THREAD #2] {R/S TENSION} {PLOT TENSION}

Chapter Nine
Robyn thinks of Cass. She sometimes thinks she can hear him and he hears her. That feeling is getting stronger and stronger, but why wouldn't Cass tell her? She wouldn't be embarrassed of anything they'd done. Maybe he doesn't want to admit how he feels for her and she knows those stolen moments are about love. In the car, Robyn thinks, Cass, can you hear me? Immediately, he turns toward her, thinks, Always, and she knows. She knows he knows. But they don't talk about it. He let Robyn know their telepathic communication is real to protect her (if she knows all she has to do is call to him in her mind and he'll hear her, she'll be safer). [SUBPLOT THREAD #2] {R/S TENSION} 

Chapter Eleven
Just as she's drifting off, she hears a voice in her head and she thinks, Cass? Is that you?
The response is: Yes. Come to me. Will you come to me? In a trance, feeling lethargic, she rises out of bed, thinking, Yes, , Cass. I'm yours. [SUBPLOT THREAD #2] {R/S TENSION} {PLOT TENSION}

Chapter Twelve 
Cass is angry at himself. Should have known. Races out to his truck. Just as he gets on 54, he hears Robyn in his head, Cass, is that you? But he feels no connection to Robyn, the way he usually does, even when he answers her. She's not hearing him. So who is she hearing?
	Despite the slippery road, he speeds up, calling to Robyn in his head. He'd been so afraid to be near her today, he'd lost his senses. He cares about her too much, wants her too much, and doesn't know how he can deny either of them when they're together. He hears the rest of her words now, but he can't hear who's talking to her. He drives up to his house. Robyn is in his headlights. She looks like she's in a trance until he gets out and shouts her name. She comes out of it, looking confused. He rushes to her. "What are you doing?" he asks. Robyn says, "I don't know. I thought I heard you calling to me, telling me to come to you."
	"Let's get you inside," Cass says. He picks her up and carries her inside. Sits her in front of the fireplace, starts the fire, then puts her on his lap. She's shivering, cuddles up to him, and he sees tears in her eyes. She's terrified at what almost happened. He'd called her. Seville. And she'd gone as though powerless to fight him. What if Cass hadn't been nearly home? She would have frozen to death, trying to get to a killer. Obviously Seville has a long reach. I almost lost you, he thinks in fear and knows she hears him. He tells her to go home. She flees upstairs. He wants to follow her, connect with her telepathically, take away the pain his own fear of losing her caused, but knows he'd make everything worse. [SUBPLOT THREAD #2] {R/S TENSION} {PLOT TENSION}

Chapter Thirteen 
Cass looks at her for a long time, surprised at how point blank she'd said she loves him. When he leans close, she remembers how they connected telepathically, over the 2000 mile distance. And that was real. [SUBPLOT THREAD #2] {R/S TENSION} 

Chapter Fourteen 
She goes upstairs and closes herself in her room. Cass follows, knocks on the door, says, Honey, I love you in his head. [SUBPLOT THREAD #2] {R/S TENSION} {RELEASE}

Chapter Fifteen
They surrender to their love. [ROMANCE THREAD]

Chapter Sixteen
He shakes his head. Hears another voice in his head repeating what Robyn said-they have to do bury Seville, and they have to do it together. [SUBPLOT THREAD #2] {R/S TENSION} {PLOT TENSION}

Chapter Seventeen 
Robyn says, "You can't. You know that too. I have to be the bait-I'm what he wants. You have to dig the hole under your tree. We'll protect each other by staying together in our minds. You know he can't get to me when we're together like that. He won't be able to lure me. I'll lure him to the tree, and then we'll capture him in the box." He and Robyn promise they'll keep their mind connection constantly during the ten minutes. Hopefully that'll keep Nathan from mesmerizing and luring her. He and Robyn keep in contact the entire time it takes for him to jog to the tree (quarter of a mile away-3 minutes). He starts digging. [SUBPLOT THREAD #2] {R/S TENSION} {PLOT TENSION}

Chapter Eighteen 
She's in the house, listening to Cass' voice. She hears a noise upstairs. The connection with Cass is broken. She hears another voice in her head. She's helpless to ignore it. Cass realizes she's no longer with him. [SUBPLOT THREAD #2] {R/S TENSION} {PLOT TENSION} 

Chapter Nineteen
Robyn reaches the landing and hears another voice in the back of her mind--I love you, Robyn. Robyn! Listen to me! [SUBPLOT THREAD #2] {R/S TENSION} {PLOT TENSION}

Chapter Twenty
Wrap up of Story Goal with conversation between Cass and Sheridan--what happened in the past to bring about this situation. The future is secure with The Protector. [STORY GOAL] What will happen to the newfound love between Cass and Robyn? Neither is sure. They have lives on opposite sides of the country. {R/S TENSION} [ROMANCE THREAD]

Chapter Twenty-one
In his head, Cass thinks, I can't ask you to stay with me, Robyn. I won't ask that. He doesn't intend for Robyn to hear him, but she heard Cass' thoughts. How can he love her if he doesn't want them to be together? But love won't be denied. Robyn knows she needs to be near Cass and Maddy. She plans to wrap up her old life and come here to stay. [ROMANCE THREAD] [SUBPLOT THREAD #2] {R/S TENSION} 

Chapter Twenty-two 
After she's on the plane, they come together telepathically. Cass: Are you there? Robyn smiles, leans her head back on her seat. I'm here, darling. Always for you. [SUBPLOT THREAD #2] {RESOLUTION OF SUBPLOT THREAD #2} [RELEASE] 

Excerpt from Sweet Dreams
© Karen Wiesner

Prologue
 
Her eyes burned. He was inside them like a fire but not a purifying one. Maddie Christopher opened her eyes to darkness, to the sound of snow driving forcefully against her apartment windows. Her heartbeat filled the room.
His heartbeat was loud enough to make her feel she could drown in it.
No. Not again. Please not again…
No, not Jesus, the voice whispered through her mind tauntingly, as clear as if someone had stolen soundlessly into the room with her. You know me, my sweet. I‘m coming for you. Soon we’ll be together forever. Soon you’ll be in my arms.
With a cry of terror, Maddie flew out of the bed and across the room. When she flipped the light switch on, nothing happened. The room remained shrouded in darkness–heavy, ominous darkness that was far too familiar. His darkness. Just as he’d reminded her, she knew him.
She could feel him all around her, a prison impossible to escape. And she had tried to escape. He’d been here from the first time she’d met him. He’d never left. No matter where she tried to hide, she couldn’t conceal herself from him. She couldn’t wash away the dirty feeling or purge it with prayers.
As she’d acknowledged each time the darkness had descended, she acknowledged the truth now: God had abandoned her to this creature. This demon. This lover who breathed his magic, stole her senses, came inside her and seduced her into his perfect embrace.
I’m coming, my love. I’m coming…
Maddie slid down the wall beneath the light switch, wrapping her arms around herself tightly. The room was ice cold with his presence. No, I can’t fight him, she thought, shivering violently. She was so tired of fighting.
Remember your loneliness? Remember your pain and your fear, Maddie? You revealed all of it to me. It’ll all go away, my love. I promise. Only I will love you. Only I will take you in my arms.
Maddie closed her eyes, giving herself over to the irresistible seduction. The thought, Daddy, you can’t save your precious princess this time evaporated before it could complete.
Sweet dreams, my love. You’re so soft. You smell like the most delicate flower. Silky skin. Ahh, so perfect. So very delicate…
His arms tightened, even as she felt the feather-lightness of his breath over her body. She shuddered breathlessly in overwhelming defeat and fear of what was to come. No air. No resistance. No will.
My love, bones fragile as a butterfly, ready to fly me to my sweet slumber…
A scream tore from Maddie’s throat, almost seeming to become a separate entity. Crushed…like a butterfly. Sobs racked her body hard enough to rob her of consciousness.
Ahh, Maddie, my bride. I’m coming. Until death do us part, my sweet…

Read more of Sweet Dreams at the publisher's website:
http://www.writers-exchange.com/sweet-dreams/

If you enjoyed this author's book, then please place a review up at the site of purchase and any social media sites you frequent!

Collection
by award-winning author Karen S. Wiesner 
covers the A to Z's of crafting the highest quality fiction including how to:

•	Brainstorm and work productively to ensure that each stage in the writing process from prewriting to polishing produces masterful results the first time around.
•	Create an outline so complete it actually qualifies as the first draft of your book, allowing your first written draft to be final-draft quality.
•	Develop realistically three-dimensional and cohesive characters, plots, settings, relationships, and scenes so life-like and memorable your readers will be diehard fans.
•	Effectively prepare for a series in advance to prevent painted-in-a-corner scenarios in order to keep fans coming back eagerly for each and every installment.
•	Learn innovative techniques to write a complex sequence of stories that require overarching series arcs and immense world- and character-building.
•	Craft sizzling back cover, series, and high-concept blurbs for describing, promoting, and selling your books.
•	Maximize your potential and momentum for becoming a career author indefinitely.

With step-by-step guidelines, instructions, and tips throughout that are flexible and clearly written, imparting a layman's ease of understanding and can-do motivation, this collection may be the only writing craft books you'll ever need. Each volume has a bonus companion booklet presented in editable digital format that includes all the aids from the main book you can use in your own writing--and extras! A print edition is also available.
The seven volumes and bonus companion booklets in this collection are:

 1. First Draft Outline and First Draft Outline Bonus Companion Booklet
Publisher: http://www.writers-exchange.com/first-draft-outline/  
Amazon: http://mybook.to/FirstDraftOutline 
	
 2. Cohesive Story Building and Cohesive Story Building Bonus Companion Booklet
Publisher: http://www.writers-exchange.com/cohesive-story-building/  
Amazon: http://mybook.to/CohesiveStoryBuilding  

 3. Writing the Standalone Series and Writing the Standalone Series Bonus Companion Booklet
Publisher: http://www.writers-exchange.com/writing-the-standalone-series/  
Amazon: http://mybook.to/WritingtheStandalone  

 4. Writing the Overarching Series {or How I Sent a Clumsy Girl into Outer Space} and Writing the Overarching Series Bonus Companion Booklet
Publisher: http://www.writers-exchange.com/writing-the-overarching-series/  
Amazon: http://mybook.to/WritingOverarching 

  5. Three-Dimensional Fiction Writing and Three-Dimensional Fiction Writing Bonus Companion Booklet
Publisher: http://www.writers-exchange.com/three-dimensional-fiction-writing/  
Amazon: http://mybook.to/3DWriting 
 	
 6. CPR for Dead or Lifeless Fiction {A Writer's Guide to Deep and Multifaceted Development and Progression of Characters, Plots, and Relationships} and CPR for Dead or Lifeless Fiction Bonus Companion Booklet
Publisher: http://www.writers-exchange.com/cpr/  
Amazon:  http://mybook.to/CPR

  7. Writing Blurbs That Sizzle--And Sell! And Writing Blurbs That Sizzle--And Sell! Bonus Companion Booklet
Publisher: http://www.writers-exchange.com/writing-blurbs-that-sizzle-and-sell/  
Amazon: http://mybook.to/WritingBlurbsThatSizzle

3D Fiction Fundamentals Complete Series Collection (7 books in 1 volume)

Amazon series page: 
http://mybook.to/3dFictionFundamentals

Find out more here:
http://www.writers-exchange.com/3d-fiction-fundamentals-series/ 

You can find ALL our books on our website at:
http://www.writers-exchange.com 

All Karen's Books at Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/author/karenwiesner

 On our website: http://www.writers-exchange.com/karen-wiesner/  

About the Author

	In addition to having been a popular writing reference instructor and writer, professional blurbologist and freelance editor, Karen s. Wiesner is the accomplished author of 156 titles published, which have been nominated/won for over a hundred and thirty awards. The books Karen has edited have won multiple awards, and she's judged numerous writing contests.

	Her nonfiction has included more than a half-dozen writing reference manuals that teach writers story crafting techniques as well specific facets of the book industry, such as author promotional techniques and the ins-and-outs of electronic publishing. 

	Karen is the author of sixteen fiction series which cover such genres as women’s fiction, romance, mystery/police procedural/cozy, suspense/thriller, paranormal/supernatural, futuristic, fantasy, science fiction, gothic, inspirational/Christian, thriller, horror, chick-lit, and action/adventure. She also writes children’s books and poetry. Karen will begin illustrating children's books starting in 2025. 

Visit Karen's website and blog at https://karenwiesner.weebly.com/. Check out her Facebook author page here: http://www.facebook.com/KarenWiesnerAuthor. Visit her Writers Exchange E-Publishing author page at http://www.writers-exchange.com/karen-wiesner/.