HOW TO OUTLINE MY NOVEL CHAPTER BY CHAPTER Copyright ©

2019 by Sussu Leclerc.

All rights reserved. Printed in the United States of America. No part

of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever
without written permission except in the case of brief quotations
embodied in critical articles or reviews.

This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses,

organizations, places, events and incidents either are the product of
the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to
actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely
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ISBN:

First Edition: November 2019

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 Dedication

Sometimes you need one person to believe in you.

I am forever grateful for Fay Pantera’s constant support

over the years. She has been my student, beta reader, and digital
friend from the beginning of my non-fiction adventures.

Thank you for your wonderful presence and insights.

I would like to acknowledge and warmly thank cover artist,

author, and teacher Derek Murphy, who has been a huge
inspiration for this book.
 Table of Content

DEDICATION .................................................................................................. IV

INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................... 9

ACT I .............................................................................................................. 16

CHAPTER 1 ..................................................................................................... 20

SETUP: WANTS-NEEDS-GOAL-PROBLEM.................................................................31
Notes 1 ............................................................................................................. 45
Exercise1a: Witness or Actor............................................................................ 47
Exercise 1b: Unique Voice ................................................................................ 48

CHAPTER 2 ..................................................................................................... 50

ODD INCIDENT-GOOD DEED-TO SCHOOL ..................................................................56

Notes 2 ............................................................................................................. 61
Exercise 2: True Details .................................................................................... 63

CHAPTER 3 ..................................................................................................... 65

IMMEDIATE REACTION-THEME ..............................................................................70

Notes 3 ............................................................................................................. 73
Exercise 3: Inciting Incident .............................................................................. 74

CHAPTER 4 ..................................................................................................... 75

CALL TO ADVENTURE-CATALYST ............................................................................78

Notes 4 ............................................................................................................. 81
Exercise 4: Changed Protagonist ...................................................................... 82

CHAPTER 5 ..................................................................................................... 83

REACTION-DISTRACTION OR PREPARATION ..............................................................86

Notes 5 ............................................................................................................. 90
Exercise 5: The Goal ......................................................................................... 91

CHAPTER 6 ..................................................................................................... 92
 ACTION-LIFE CHANGING DECISION ........................................................................ 95
Notes 6 ............................................................................................................ 97
Exercise 6: Time of 1st Plot Point ..................................................................... 98

ACT II ........................................................................................................... 100

CHAPTER 7 ................................................................................................... 111

CONSEQUENCE-NEW RULES & ROLES .................................................................. 118

Notes 7 .......................................................................................................... 126
Exercise7: Absentee Parents ......................................................................... 128

CHAPTER 8 ................................................................................................... 129

PREMISE- GAMES & TRIALS................................................................................ 133

Notes 8 .......................................................................................................... 137
Exercise 8: Subplot......................................................................................... 138

CHAPTER 9 ................................................................................................... 139

RAISING THE STAKES ......................................................................................... 141

Notes 9 .......................................................................................................... 144
Exercise 9: Hero’s Strengths .......................................................................... 145

CHAPTER 10 ................................................................................................. 147

PINCH POINT-FORESHADOWING ......................................................................... 153

Notes 10 ........................................................................................................ 161
Exercise10: Foreshadowing ........................................................................... 162

CHAPTER 11 ................................................................................................. 163

SECRETS-NEW WORLD ...................................................................................... 166

Notes 11 ........................................................................................................ 168
Exercise11 ...................................................................................................... 169

CHAPTER 12 ................................................................................................. 170

PLOT TWIST-MIDPOINT ..................................................................................... 173

Notes 12 ........................................................................................................ 176
Exercise12: Hero’s Motivations ..................................................................... 177

ACT III .......................................................................................................... 179

CHAPTER 13 ................................................................................................. 185

 MIDPOINT- WANT VS. NEED...............................................................................191
Notes 13 ......................................................................................................... 195
Exercise13: Tragedy ....................................................................................... 196

CHAPTER 14 ................................................................................................. 198

“PET THE DOG”/’SAVE THE CAT” MOMENT ...........................................................200

Notes 14 ......................................................................................................... 202
Exercise14: Subplot 2 ..................................................................................... 203

CHAPTER 15 ................................................................................................. 205

SYMBOL-USEFUL SEARCH ...................................................................................208

Notes 15 ......................................................................................................... 210
Exercise15: Symbols, Motifs ........................................................................... 211

CHAPTER 16 ................................................................................................. 212

MAJOR CRISIS-SECOND PINCH.............................................................................215

Notes 16 ......................................................................................................... 217
Exercise16: Mini-Climax ................................................................................. 219

CHAPTER 17 ................................................................................................. 220

ALLY’S DEATH OR INJURY ...................................................................................222

Notes 17 ......................................................................................................... 224
Exercise 17: Defeat ......................................................................................... 225

CHAPTER 18 ................................................................................................. 226

FALSE VICTORY - FALSE DEFEAT ...........................................................................229

Notes 18 ......................................................................................................... 231
Exercise 18: Theme Revision .......................................................................... 232

ACT IV ........................................................................................................... 234

CHAPTER 19 ................................................................................................. 239

DARK NIGHT-THIRD PLOT POINT..........................................................................245

Notes 19 .......................................................................................................... 249
Exercise 19 : Psychology ................................................................................. 250

CHAPTER 20 ................................................................................................. 252

DEDICATION-CHANGE & MATURITY .....................................................................256

Notes 20 ......................................................................................................... 262
 Exercise 20 : Double-Reversal ........................................................................ 264

CHAPTER 21 ................................................................................................. 265

GEARING UP-READYING FOR BATTLE .................................................................... 267

Notes 21 ........................................................................................................ 273
Exercise 21: Antagonists ................................................................................ 274

CHAPTER 22 ................................................................................................. 275

CLIMAX .......................................................................................................... 279

Notes 22 ........................................................................................................ 283
Exercise 22: Fight Scene................................................................................. 284

CHAPTER 23 ................................................................................................. 285

REFLECTION AFTER FINAL BATTLE ........................................................................ 287

Notes 23 ........................................................................................................ 291
Exercise 23: The Lie........................................................................................ 292

CHAPTER 24 ................................................................................................. 293

BITTERSWEET VICTORY ...................................................................................... 295

Notes 24 ........................................................................................................ 296
Exercise 24: Pain .............................................................................................. 297

CHAPTER 25 ................................................................................................. 298

FINALE ........................................................................................................... 301

Notes 25 ........................................................................................................ 302
Exercise 25: Next Book .................................................................................. 303

CONCLUSION ............................................................................................... 305

FURTHER READING LIST ............................................................................... 307

Introduction
In Holly Black’s The Coldest Girl in Coldtwown, knowing
how “quarantine” works in this world is important to
comprehend and fear where the heroes might end up. An
additional chapter explains the role of the quarantine in
the world unless we get stumped and fail to understand
what the hero’s decision will entail. There is also the
backstory relating the fate of the heroine’s mother after
she was infected by vampires. It is essential to know that
the heroine has confronted death in her youth before we
can understand her reaction to death several years later.
Act I
In the movie “Avatar”, Jake is hungry for freedom of
movement. Not only he is given the chance to walk again,
but his body is stronger, more flexible, and more agile. His
feeling of freedom will increase as he is sent to another
planet, given legs, taught how to mount horses and birds,
and given a place of choice in a world where he can make
a difference. Allies become enemies because allies are a
symbol of restriction, order he no longer wants to follow,
and rules he no longer wants to obey.
Chapter 1
 ―
―
In Laini Taylor’s Daughter of Smoke and Bones, Karou has
just broken up with her boyfriend because he has cheated
on her. We see him trying to get her back.
In Dhonielle Clayton’s The Belles, Camelia turns sixteen
and it’s her debut. We learn that people are ready to pay
her handsomely to make them look good. She is a Belle
and she creates beauty.

In Cassandra Clare’s City of Bones, Clary enters the

Pandemonium Club in New York City, where she follows a
boy with blue hair. There, she is the witness of a murder
and meet with “invisible” people.

In Alyson Noel’s Evermore, Ever knows everything about

people because she is a psychic. So, her best friend does
not need to tell her about things because she already
knows. Ever explains how this happened. After the
accident she had with her family, a stranger stood over her
and her life changed radically. In this novel, the main
character tells the reader (rather than show) about the
change. It is a little unorthodox, but it works here because
it is dramatic and explains why she is now psychic, which is
an intriguing point.
In Rachel Hawkins’s Hex Hall, on arrival to her new school,
Sophie shows how ignorant she is about supernaturals.
She cannot help to feel vulnerable and weak compared to
the other kids in school who, unlike her, were raised by
supernaturals. We sense how awkward she is and how
hard it will be for her to feel like she belongs. It’s painful to
watch. Making friends will be a challenge. We see the tip
of the iceberg. We understand that right away through her
behavior.

In Holly Black’s The Coldest Girl in Coldtown, Tana wakes

up with a hangover in a bathtub in a strange house. When
she exits the bathroom, she finds that almost everyone at
the party, except for a vampire and a human, was
murdered. The boys are tied up. Tana forces herself not to
scream. Instead of running away, she investigates. Not
only we know she parties hard, but we also understand
she will not back up from danger. She is brave and maybe
a little careless. We cannot help wonder about the world
and what happened. The first scene shows the tip of the
iceberg and what the main character is made of. It also
shows her need to care more about her own life.

In Justine Ireland’s Dread Nation, Jane is learning to be an

Attendant, a warrior who protects white people against
shamblers (zombies). She is summoned to Miss Anderson
and Miss Preston’s office because she is not taking her
etiquette lessons seriously, plus she lies and she sneaks
around, which are her weaknesses. However, she is one
the best fighters in the school, which is her strength.
Nonetheless, she is warned to follow the rules or she will
be expulsed from the academy. Worse, she has to attend a
boring lecture about shamblers. There is a hint that her life
is about to change. Also, her voice is unique. We
understand right away that we are facing a character that
has to act a certain way to survive. She is a rebel by default,
being a product of slavery. We also understand that she
has to hide what she is really feeling inside and she is
highly deceptive. All the things we learn in chapter one
about her will come to play a major role and depth in the
story.

In Celia Thomson’s The Nine Lives of Chloe King, Chloe

celebrates her sixteenth birthday by blowing off school.
Her day should have been fun, but instead it is boring, and
the foggy weather depresses her. She can only think about
how her mom is watching her every step and how her
birthday is not what she wanted it to look like. Even her
friends annoy her. Chloe shows right away that she is
impatient and needs some action to deal with her
disappointing life. And boy, she reminds us to be careful
what we wish for. Today, Chloe tries a little experiment
and ends up falling off a tower.
In Angie Thomas’s The Hate U Give, Starr hides from
people who want to use her voice (to denounce police
brutality against the black community) and those who
want to prevent her from speaking (the drug dealers and
the police). Starr’s main weakness is that she is too afraid
to speak up. She is afraid because she has seen a 10-year
old being gunned down and ever since she has kept the
law of the street: Keep your mouth shut. The story deals
with her fighting her weakness as it becomes harder and
harder to remain silent. At the end of the story, she finally
finds her voice by confronting her fears.

Starr believes she should not talk unless she loses the
benefits she obtained by attending a white school. Code-
switching is an act of survival for her as it allows her to
stay away from the street and from danger.
Starr has witnessed two of her friends, Natasha and Khalil,
being killed in the streets of her black neighborhood. She
is ashamed not to be brave enough to tell others what
happened to Natasha and Khalil. She is haunted.

Starr code switches. She acts one way in the white school
and another way in the streets.

In Emily Brontë’s Wuthering Heights, Catherine believes

that wealth and position are more important than love.
She hears that marrying Heathcliff would degrade her, so
her prejudices against his kind take hold of her. She will
have to learn the hard way that she made a mistake when
she fights against herself and her false beliefs.
 It could be an enchantment as in Gail Carson Levine’s Ella
Enchanted. Ella’s curses were supposed to be a gift from a
fairy, but they end up spoiling Ella’s happiness.

ntegrity, honesty, bravery,

self-sacrifice, inspirational, protective, loving, altruistic, smart,
bold, clever or cunning, charismatic, wise, etc. He must amaze or
enchant the reader with one of those positive traits.

Finish the chapter with a killer cliffhanger!

Setup: Wants-Needs-Goal-
Problem
For example, in Richelle Mead’s Vampire Academy, the
first chapter shows Rose failing to protect Lissa, but still
showing outstanding courage and cunning.

In Rachel Hawkins’s Hex Hall, Sophie fails to understand

how using magic endangers a whole school. She also fails
to make a good impression. Yet, she is sarcastic and she
shows she has a powerful personality. She acts
unapologetically and goes full force into what hails her.
These traits will reappear and be reinforced throughout
the novel and will force her into more and more
dangerous situations.
In Brandon Sanderson’s The Rithmatist, Joel is a passionate
and curious boy. Joel fails to get his classmates excited
about the Rithmatists, but he demonstrates his
enthusiasm despite all the rejections. There is a double fail
in this chapter. He loses face himself. Plus, his favorite
teacher fails to win a duel and Joel helplessly witnesses the
man’s demotion. This will bear great consequences on the
rest of the novel. A milder incident shows a character trait
that will lead to an entire character arc and further
problems, impulses or discoveries.
Sophie in Hex Hall is shamed on arrival at her new school
because she is not able to master her magic and her
temper. She is not ready to admit she needs to work on
her magical skills and her social skills. She finds excuses to
make herself look good. Proving herself will be at the heart
of the novel.

In Mead’s Vampire Academy, Rose needs to prepare

physically for the challenges to come. The subplot shows
her being personally trained by Dimitri, one of the top
teachers.
In the first chapter, she hides with Lissa as they try to live
away from the academy. Too bad Dimitri finds them. Rose
meets and fights with him for the first time. She fails to
win despite the fact that she wants to believe she is strong
enough to take him down. She will have to prove herself
as a good dhampir (a vampires’ guard) after much training.
This is going to be key in the future chapters and for the
series. Her inner warrior needs to be awakened. Her
wisdom compass needs to be activated.

In Brandon Sanderson’s The Rhitmatist, Joel wants to be a

rithmatist and rise socially (his father was only a
chalkmaker), but no one wants to give him a chance. He
will have to fight and be smart to get the opportunities he
needs to become what he wants to become. He will have
to prove himself.
In Dostoyevsky’s Crime and Punishment, the hero decides
to kill a woman to get out of his debts. He is torn between
the desire to help those he thinks are taken advantage of
and the people he judges as greedy and inhumane like his
debtor.

Shakespeare’s Othello shows Othello in conflict with Iago.

That’s the external conflict. There is also an interior
conflict: Othello against self. Othello is a man struggling
with the image he has of himself and a feeling of inferiority
he cannot quite shrug off due to his race. Iago makes
Othello doubt himself by introducing him to the idea of
discrimination and racism. Othello at first has no reason to
self-doubt because he is a prince and was born into
privilege. He has the admiration of everyone, but jealousy
will lead him to his demise. It all starts when Othello is
being accused of bewitching Desdemona.

Robert Luis Stevenson’s Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde is an

example of a character against his doppleganger who
happens to be an evil version of himself.

“Iron Man” needs to overcome his self-serving ego.

In Oscar Wilde’s The Picture of Dorian Gray, Dorian fights

his own vices.

In J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter Series, Harry has an

unfinished business with the villain: Voldemort.

In L.J. Smith’s The Vampire Diaries, vampires fight against

other vampires.
 Both Batman and Joker are outlaws and have brutal
personalities. However, Batman seeks justice while Joker is
a criminal mastermind. Batman respects life; Joker
doesn’t.

Hero vs. fate: The hero is controlled by fate or gods. Often the
hero is trapped either in a prison or in a place where he has no
power to escape such as in the TV Series called “The Prisoner”.
There is nowhere to go. There is no one who can help. The hero is
helpless.

In Collin’s The Hunger Games, Katniss cannot escape her

fate. No one in her world can escape their fate. Katniss
defies her destiny and escapes death by a trick, or rather
by gambling her life. She is called back to the game
because the makers of the games think they have
unfinished business with her. She is inexorably called back
by fate and condemned to relive the same fate over and
over again.

In James Dashmer’s The Maze Runner, Thomas lands in a

glade with no memory of his former life. In front of him, a
maze separates him from vital answers. It’s time to face
the maze and vanquish its booby traps.
In Stevenson’s The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde,
the doctor cannot control his invention anymore and
becomes the prey of his potion and his alter-ego.
In Lois Lowry’s The Giver, technology is used to keep
people from knowledge and to keep them from feeling.

In the TV series “Continuum”, a time traveling device

becomes the center of the conflict as well as the evil use of
technology that turns people into puppets.

For example, in Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451, Montag

slowly realizes that destroying books are detrimental to
people, despite the fact that he is a fireman himself and
his job is to destroy art.
With Kathryn Stockett’s The Help, Skeeter faces her
friends’ racism during the Civil Rights movement.

In the movie “Jerry Maguire”, Jerry writes a manifesto

against a sports agency, exposing corruption. He happens
to work for the agency and gets fired from it. Clients do
not want to be represented by him anymore. He has to
fight his way through the system.

Remy in the animated movie “Ratatouille” fights prejudice

from his side (the rat side) and the human side.

In Richelle Mead’s Vampire Academy, Rose’s life purpose

is to protect Lissa. Not only Rose and Lissa are best friends,
but Rose is also sired to (or ‘shadow kissed’ by) Lissa. Rose
has been raised and educated to protect. She is a dhampir,
a guardian of Moroi. Her main goal goes beyond
protecting someone she loves or beyond a job. Yet, her
goal (the person she seeks to defend) is always highly
personal and highly focused in every book.

In Rachel Hawkins’s Hex Hall, Sophie’s goal is to master the

demon magic inside of her. As the Series evolves, she
discovers secrets that will heighten the stakes. She learns
that her ancestors are demons and an organization wants
to use demons as weapons and raise a demon army. Her
main goal is still to deal with her demon blood, but the
stakes get higher and higher.

In Brandon Sanderson’s Steelheart, the first chapter is

dedicated to showing the world where David lives. The
world is important because it is a world changed by
Steelheart. The city was transformed to steel and
Steelheart hurt it. David is there to change that.

In Vampire Academy, the first chapter is dedicated to

showing how Rose and Lissa’s relationship works and to
show that despite Rose and Lissa being best friends, Rose
is foremost the Guardian and Lissa is the Princess. Their
social roles or responsibilities might even be more
important than their friendship or their personal feelings.

In Stephanie Garber’s Caraval, the rules of Carnival are

introduced right away through a letter.
Notes 1
Exercise1a: Witness or Actor
Exercise 1b: Unique Voice
Chapter 2
In Cassandra Clare’s City of Bones, Clary stretches in her
room and spends most of the time talking to Simon on the
phone. Simon tells her that Clary’s mom has scars all over
her arms and back, but Clary dismisses it because she has
never noticed. Also, she gets mad at her mom because she
wants Clary to drop her summer art class to go on a trip.
At the end of the chapter, Clary notices a man that does
not seem too human, but she dismisses this again. This
chapter mostly reflects her home life. She tries to ignore
the unusual things happening around her because she is
not ready for them.
This chapter allows the reader to figure out what is
unusual in Clary’s world and what is regular.

In Laini Taylor’s Daughter of Smoke & Bones, in chapter 2

Karou goes to her art class. She shows her drawings of
familiar characters to her classmates. The thing is, the
fantasy characters really exist, but no one believes her.
Despite chapter 1 recounting a not so ordinary day
after a major break up, chapter 2 is the direct
consequence of chapter 1. Karou broke up with Vladimir.
He promised her an “unveiling” of some sort, and there he
is, posing for the art class, unveiling himself. Karou then
takes her revenge on him by using one of her wishes. The
wishes are in the form of pearls she is wearing around her
neck.
At the end of chapter 2, she reaches for the necklace.
Chapter 2 is used to introduce Karou’s peculiarities such as
her naturally blue hair or the tattoo over her heart that
magically disappeared.
In chapter 3, Karou takes her revenge on Vladimir
and gives him an itch. End of the first episode.
Odd Incident-good deed-to
school

In Justine Ireland’s Dread Nation, Jane lavishes the reader

with details about why she does not wear the
conventional corset, her views on conventions, and why
she finds ridiculous to think shamblers (zombies) will not
come to town.

•
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•
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•
•
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•

Ron and Hermione in J.K. Rowling’s “Harry Potter” Series

are there to challenge him and complement him.
Hermione is the know-it-all of the bunch who guides them
toward victory. She is the mastermind behind a few
discoveries. She is also the driving force behind many of
Harry’s decisions and actions. She opens up parts of the
world. Ron contrasts with Harry and is a source of conflict
at times. Ron is poor while Harry is wealthy. Ron has a
large family while Harry has a small family. Sometimes
Ron’s family acts like a surrogate family. Ron lives in a
loving family while Harry is hated. For this reason, Harry is
jealous of Ron. Ron is ordinary while Harry is a quiddich
champion and a hero. In one of the books, it is Ron’s turn
to be jealous of Harry’s popularity.
In Celia Thomson’s (aka Liz Braswell) The Nine Lives of
Chloe King, Amy is impulsive, energetic and bold. She adds
light humor to the story. Her love story with one their
common friend adds tension to their relationship, showing
another of Chloe’s character traits.

In Laini Taylor’s “Daughter of Smoke and Bone” Series,

Karou’s best friend Zuzana is a playful character who
teases Karou all the time. In the Series, we realize that she
is in fact a rabid fairy who watches over Karou.

In Cecily von Ziegesar’s Gossip Girls, the best friends are

actually frenemies, which adds heat to the mix.
Notes 2
Exercise 2: True Details
Chapter 3
In Mindee Arnett’s The Nightmare Affair, in chapter 1,
Dusty breaks into the bedroom of a classmate, Eli. She
does that in order to invade his dreams. In Eli’s nightmare,
she sees the dead body of a fairy she knows from school.
Then Eli wakes up and finds her on top of him. Dusty is
caught by the campus police before escaping his room.
In chapter 2, the dream happens to be real, and
Dusty is brought onto the scene of the crime to be
interrogated about what she saw in Eli’s nightmare. She is
terrified and curious at the same time, but she hopes they
will forget about her.
Chapter 3 will show her new assignment: work with
Eli to unravel parts of the clues concerning the fairy’s
death. She is at the same time excited and angry. New
roles have been assigned. The story is well on its way by
chapter 4.

In Cassandra Clare’s City of Bones, Clary meets Jace one

more time. He tells her about the world of shadowhunters.
Part of chapter 2 is used to tell us more about the
shadowhunters’ world.
At the end of chapter 3, Clary receives a call from her
mother telling her not to go back home. She hears
something breaking in the house over the phone. She
rushes to her mom’s help.

Holly Black’s The Coldest Girl in Coldtown, Tana closes the

door to protect herself and two other boys against a
vampire attack. She partially unties the boys and keeps
them at bay because one of them is a vampire and the
other one is infected. She saves them both because she
will be alone if she let them go and that would make her a
murderer by default.
The vampire attack has a significance that will only be
revealed at the end of the story.
In Rachel Hawkins’s Hex Hall, Sophie gets to her dorm
room and realizes her roommate is a vampire. It happens
that someone just got bitten and drained of their blood in
the school and died. The school is suspicious of Sophie’s
roommate. Yikes! Nothing she can do now.

In Celia Thomson’s The Nine Lives of Chloe King, Chloe

goes to a nightclub the night she died for the first time just
to relax her nerves. There, she almost jumps a stranger’s
bones. She realizes she is out of control, but she dismisses
it as teen hormones. She misses a crucial cue.

In Cathy Hopkins’s The Kicking the Bucket List, before they

are eligible for their inheritance, three sisters must
complete the dying mom’s bucket list. In this chapter, they
go through the list.
Immediate Reaction-Theme
In the animation “How To Train Your Dragon”, Stoick
(father, chief, elder) and Hiccup (son, apprentice, youth)
both share the same goal (save the village against dragons)
and the same strategy (study the dragons’ habits). Stoick
wants the new generation to learn the tricks that will allow
them to destroy the dragons that he considers a nuisance.
Hiccup wants to learn what makes one of the dragons tick.
To his amazement, he becomes friends with Toothless.
Hiccup therefore decides to tame the dragons and use
them to defend the village. The Protagonist (Hiccup) and
the Antagonist (Stoick) are both good guys who care about
the village. However, they fight over how to do it. The
theme here is: “With patience, we can turn something bad
into something good.” Stoick argues against it. Hiccup
argues for it. The whole story will consist in Hiccup trying
to prove he was right all along.
Notes 3
 Exercise 3: Inciting Incident

•
 Chapter 4

In Rachel Hawkins’s Hex Hall, Sophie meets three witches

who want to invite her to be part of their coven. She has
to admit shamefully that, being raised by a human mom,
she knows nothing about witches. She is called to become
a full-fledge witch, but she argues against it. She is not
ready to jump into the unknown. It is a turning point
because joining the witches will be a catastrophic move, a
move that will get the ball rolling.
In Celia Thomson’s The Nine Lives of Chloe King, Chloe
walks to Xavier’s (the stranger she kissed the day before at
the club) apartment. There, she finds him in agony and at
the threshold of death. She realizes she is the one who
caused that. Her world goes to shambles.
Call to Adventure-Catalyst
In Amie Kaufman & Meagan Spooner’s These Broken Stars,
the dust jacket says, “It’s a night like any other on board of
the Icarus. Then, catastrophe strikes: the massive luxury
spaceliner is yanked out of hyperspace and plummets into
the nearest planet.”
Notes 4