Writers Book by Ellis

Sort	Plot Trigger
G-01-00	Comedy
G-02-00	Tragedy
G-02-01	Self-Sacrificing for an Ideal
G-02-02	Self-Sacrifice for Kindred
G-02-04	Necessity of Sacrificing Loved Ones
G-02-05	Rivalry of Superior and Inferior
G-02-06	Conflict with a God
G-02-07	Mistaken Jealousy
G-02-08	Erroneous Judgement
G-02-09	Remorse
G-02-10	Loss of Loved Ones
G-02-11	Sacrifice
G-02-12	Wretched Excess
G-02-13	Disaster
G-02-14	Madness
G-02-15	Fatal Imprudence
G-02-16	Slaying of a Kinsman Unrecognized
G-02-17	Getting trapped in a dangerous underworld
G-03-00	Battle
G-03-01	Abduction
G-03-02	Underdog
G-03-03	Falling Prey to Cruelty of Misfortune
G-03-04	Temptation
G-03-05	Revolt
G-03-06	Person versus higher power/fate
G-03-07	Person versus self
G-03-08	Person versus person
G-03-09	Person versus society
G-03-10	Person versus nature
G-03-11	Person versus the supernatural
G-03-12	Person versus technology
G-04-00	Quest
G-04-01	Overcoming the Monster
G-04-02	Revenge
G-04-03	The Riddle
G-04-04	Discovery
G-04-05	Pursuit
G-04-06	Daring Enterprise
G-04-07	The Enigma
G-04-08	Obtaining
G-04-09	Recovery of a Lost One
G-04-10	Ascension
G-04-11	All Sacrificed for Passion
G-05-00	Adventure (Quest)
G-05-01	Rags to Riches
G-05-02	Voyage and Return
G-05-04	Rescue
G-05-05	Escape
G-05-06	Individuals have been taken hostage
G-05-07	Someone is stranded behind enemy lines
G-05-08	Finding an object which is dangerous and leads to trouble.
G-05-09	Someone with a violent past gets pulled back into the fray
G-05-10	Enemy Loved
G-06-00	Rivalry
G-06-01	Crime Pursued by Vengeance
G-06-02	Vengeance taken for kindred upon kindred
G-06-03	Enmity of Kinsmen
G-06-04	Rivalry of Kinsmen
G-06-05	Someone has a grudge
G-07-00	Metamorphosis
G-07-01	Rebirth
G-07-02	Transformation
G-07-03	Maturation
G-07-05	Descension
G-07-06	Supplication
G-07-07	Deliverance
G-07-08	Love
G-07-09	Ambition
G-08-00	Adultery
G-08-01	Crimes of Love
G-08-02	Discovery of the Dishonor of a Loved One
G-08-03	Obstacles to Love
G-08-05	Murderous Adultery
G-08-06	Forbidden Love
G-08-07	Involuntary Crimes of Love
G-09-00	Actions by someone
G-09-01	Someone wants to destroy, and must be stopped.
G-09-02	A serial killer on the loose, must be stopped
G-09-03	On the run from the law
G-09-04	Someone finds a magical, cursed or dangerous weapon and dispose of it
G-09-05	Major the if stealing information or money
G-09-06	Voyeur becomes obsessed, shocking results
G-09-07	Someone threatening society with viruses, biological weapons. Must be stopped
G-09-08	Someone wants to overthrow government
G-09-09	Someone is using secret information against others.
G-09-10	Someone is kidnapped, and must be recovered
G-09-11	Someone is trying to murder a character
G-10-00	Special Powers
G-10-01	Ordinary person develops special powers
G-10-02	A person has special powers or secret knowledge which must remain hidden
G-10-03	Discipline and determination to become a soldier, spy, or hero
G-11-00	Situations
G-11-01	A game which turns into reality
G-11-02	Wrongly accused of a crime and searches for the real culprit
G-11-03	Rivals come together to take down another
G-11-04	Several individuals pitted against each other, only one will survive.
G-11-05	Individuals identity has been wiped clean
G-11-06	Spy falls in love with enemy but remains loyal
G-11-07	Damaging information made public, dealing with aftermath
G-11-08	Money drop or death
G-11-09	Major accident, loss of life
G-11-10	Someone in the wrong place at the wrong time
G-11-11	Someone sees the future and can't get anyone to believe
G-11-12	Someone must perform or others will die
G-11-13	Fleeing oppression
G-11-14	Fleeing slavery
G-12-00	Personal Ethics
G-12-01	Someone giving their life for the safety of others
G-12-02	Someone must be killed to save a larger group
G-12-03	Surival of harsh wilderness
G-12-04	Mutiny
G-13-00	Special Situation
G-13-01	Someone mysteriously disappears
G-13-02	Brainwashed individual turned into a killer
G-13-03	Breaking out of confinement
G-13-04	Path takes story to foreign country
G-13-05	Natural disaster physical or biological
G-13-06	Bringing the villlain to justice
G-13-07	Stranger asked to save town or village
G-13-08	Hiring a criminal for their unique knowledge
G-13-09	Assassin decides to help versus kill
G-13-10	Biological transformation becomes a threat
G-13-11	Assassin turns on employeers
G-13-12	Small group defends themselves
G-13-13	Small town hiding big secret
G-13-14	Someone had infiltrated and must be discovered
G-13-15	Someone turned into a human bomb and must be stopped
G-13-16	Cold case murder suddenly becomes hot
UG-001	World wherein employees work nonstop with no vacation—a riot ensues
UG-002	Books are printed in only gibberish, and the only man in the world who can read gibberish just died/is dying
UG-003	The world split in half—right down the middle—and no one knows why The only scientist with answers has been kidnapped
UG-004	The president banned all national holidays
UG-005	America now has a king
UG-006	Someone found the cure for cancer, but the government won’t fund it and wants it kept a secret
UG-007	The world’s richest man is robbed by a 13-year-old girl, and no one can find her
UG-008	Nun is charged with infidelity and exiled
UG-009	Politician wins the hearts of millions, only for his secretary to find out he’s in the middle of an underground human trafficking organization
UG-010	Hunter discovers a new kind of precious stone, its value worth more than that of diamonds—but it has a secret toxin
UG-011	Plague takes over a small town and turns them into geniuses—with one fatal side effect…
UG-012	Schizophrenic man gets Alzheimer’s and forgets his voices
UG-013	Woman receives her inheritance and loses it all in 24 hours
UG-014	At their annual family reunion, the elite Truetts learn they’ve been given truth serum
UG-015	The last man in the world goes on an adventure with his one-eyed cat
UG-016	Love note from her deceased husband forces Wanda to investigate further, especially since Waldo has been dead for thirty years
UG-017	Villains become heroes
UG-018	The door to another world is found by a young boy, only to be locked days later by a mysterious thief
UG-019	People live in a world without light
UG-020	The most detestable man and the most kind woman fall in love
UG-021	Someone infects all the animals in a zoo with a rabid-like disease and lets them loose
UG-022	Thief has one day to get rid of a cursed idol before the love of his life turns to dust
UG-023	Music is banned in the US
UG-024	Toxic perfume is sprayed onto the neck of a prime minister, thereby controlling him like a robot
UG-025	Cats are really aliens and have been watching us since the beginning of time And when they find someone intelligent enough, they steal their souls and reincarnate them into alien cats
UG-026	Tree houses are really wormholes
UG-027	Monsters overtake London in a series of strange events and capture the queen for one purpose
UG-028	Archaeologist finds the remains of a new dinosaur
UG-029	The black market is no more, and people now legally sell off kidneys
UG-030	Deadly virus infiltrates American soil, “kills” others—but is believed to be a hoax created by the government
UG-031	World War I never happened
UG-032	Modern-day Hitler carries out his plan to murder every single person under the age of 22 in the world
UG-033	Rats take over New York City
UG-034	Religion is illegal in one state
UG-035	Killer recreates famous murders from Sherlock Holmes
UG-036	Man on death row holds the key to saving the world
UG-037	Freak accident at Disney World leaves hundreds dead—one sinister teenager is to blame
UG-038	Successful stock broker gives money to a poor man on the streets and eventually develops feelings for him
UG-039	Computer programmer sees information he isn’t supposed to
UG-040	Business executive gives up her millions to become a vagrant and live in the woods
UG-041	Ex-marine finds himself back in combat—twenty years later
UG-042	Dirty cop changes his ways after meeting a woman (who secretly is a dirty cop)
UG-043	Wacky scientist creates a perfect clone of himself; the clone takes over his life until he is forced to consider suicide
UG-044	Superhero gives up his life of valor to become evil
UG-045	Blind man hires a chauffer to take him around the world
UG-046	Unexpected tornado hits Chicago
UG-047	Abused teen escapes her home and finds refuge in India
UG-048	Hundreds of men escape from a prison—but they all travel to the same place: Australia
UG-049	Antarctica is now a ridiculously wonderful place to live and has a population of 23 million
UG-050	Man falls in love with a woman at a funeral—her husband’s funeral
UG-051	11-year-old girl writes a romance novel and wins a writing contest—but she lied about her age
UG-052	Alice meets Willy Wonka, and they go to Wonderland But it was all part of her plan
UG-053	Pharmacist switches around medication for weeks before anyone notices
UG-054	Young man masters lucid dreaming
UG-055	The world’s most beautiful woman marries the world’s ugliest man
UG-056	Lowly janitor is abducted
UG-057	Robot falls in love with his creator—but his maker tries to destroy him
UG-058	Tired of her mundane life, Jenny takes her life savings and spends it all on strangers
UG-059	Excavator befriends a mummy
UG-060	Spoiled but bored housewife orders her mansion to be destroyed and replaced by a theme park
UG-061	Basketball team is kidnapped and thrown into a house of horrors
UG-062	Curious man takes another look at Roswell, only to find overlooked evidence
UG-063	Poor family crash-lands onto an island that bestows upon them all of their wildest dreams
UG-064	Asthmatic woman hikes up a mountain to find her dog
UG-065	All illicit drugs are now legal, but people must pay for them with hard labor
UG-066	Pregnant woman goes to her appointment to be induced, only to find that the baby has completely disappeared from her bulbous tummy
UG-067	Cannibal seeks professional help from an ex-cannibal
UG-068	Grabbing the wrong briefcase, an elderly man inherits a rare jewel that belongs to the mafia
UG-069	Bored in her bed all day, a sick child entertains herself by writing stories about people—but the people are real and experience everything she writes
UG-070	Quadriplegic creates bionic limbs with the help of his mailman
UG-071	Faithful church member commits a heinous crime
UG-072	When their lodge is threatened by a snarky trust-fund kid, a group of elderly men retaliate
UG-073	War ensues, and six teenagers fight to stop it
UG-074	Assassin takes the day off
UG-075	Heroin-addicted teacher inherits a diary
UG-076	Widow adopts four orphans
UG-077	Young cop goes undercover and becomes part of an LA gang
UG-078	Deaf man falls in love with a famous singer
UG-079	After housesitting for a week, Lola feels there is more to her neighbors than she once thought, thanks to some strange utterings from their pet parrot
UG-080	Disfigured child saves a whole town
UG-081	Tax lawyer sells a corpse
UG-082	Investigative reporter falls in love with the criminal she’s investigating
UG-083	Some bored teenagers speed their time researching the moon landing, only to find an interesting secret
UG-084	Retired hit man is summoned for one last job he can’t resist
UG-085	Looking for excitement and maybe just a little bit of trouble, a young woman forms a street gang
UG-086	Explorer finds what he believes to be the remains of Amelia Earhart
UG-087	Going against his family’s wishes, an elderly gentleman goes on a hunt for his lost journal
UG-088	In the future, museums are quite the anomaly, until a certain kind of museum makes headlines with its featured piece: a Bible
UG-089	Nerdy teenager is the victim of blackmail
UG-090	Quiet store manager has three days to set off a bomb in his town, or his family dies
UG-091	Mysterious illness created by an introverted young girl affects an entire town
UG-092	Terminally ill boy saves a restaurant
UG-093	Sister and brother go on a mission trip to China
UG-094	Internet is shut down for an entire year
UG-095	Someone creates a successful drug for obesity
UG-096	Goldfish with a wonderful memory and a forgetful elephant team up
UG-097	People now live on Mars, and it’s going great—until they aren’t allowed to leave
UG-098	Misunderstood old lady is accused of murder
UG-099	Mythical creatures aren’t so mythical anymore after a scientist creates them
UG-100	A grown man has an imaginary friend

Principle: "Every Story Tells Prue Picture" Dianne Ochiltree

PRE-SUBMISSION MANUSCRIPT CHECKLIST: PICTURE BOOKS

By Dianne Ochiltree, children's author, www.ochiltreebooks.com

If you can, check off the following, you've got a winner that ready for submission:

The title is catchy. It tells just enough about the story between the book covers without 'tipping your hand' by revealing any surprise plot twists or the ending itself.

The story 'hits the ground running'. It has a beginning that makes the reader care about the characters and want to read on. It sets up the story's central premise so the plot can flow naturally from it.

The plot makes sense. There are no character inconsistencies or internal logic lapses.

There are no mistakes in punctuation, grammar, or spelling. When a new person talks, it starts on a new line.

The five senses are somewhere in the manuscript at least once: sight, sound, touch, taste, smell.

The basic who, when, what, how, where, and why of this story is answered in the manuscript, either in text or illustration notes.

This story is the correct word/page length for its intended age level. The word count is on the first page of the manuscript, along with my complete contact information and there are identifying page numbers/author name/story title on all subsequent pages.

I've read this aloud numerous times to be certain that the sentences read smoothly.

I've removed all 'flabby' verbs, ambiguous nouns, and unnecessary adverbs and adjectives. All I see on the pages now are active, precise, and fun words!

My characters are the types that my target audience can identify with, and are basically likable. My main character is not perfect. My villain is not all bad. Even if my characters are talking animals, they are REALLY just kids with fur!

There's a good balance of dialogue, action, and narrated in my text. I My story has a beginning, middle and an end.

There's a little humor at appropriate moments in my manuscript. If my story is a funny one, there's a lot of humor! Whatever the amount used, it's humor appropriate to the age of the targeted reader.

I've put a personal imprint on the manuscript either in my approach to the subject, or with my writing style. I've written a story that only I could tell. My passion for the subject and my characters shines through.

My story doesn't preach or teach a lesson. The message is waiting on the story for the reader to discover.

My main character solves his/her problem on his/her own. My character grows in some way as a result of meeting this central challenge.

My book has focus. I can reduce my story to a one-sentence explanation.

My manuscript has built-in 'page turns'. Every single page or double page spread is like a mini-chapter with a cliffhanger or other compelling reason for the reader to turn the page.

I've used the best words in the best order. I've organized each sentence for clarity and 'read aloud'-ability.

My story ending is emotionally satisfying. It's a surprise in some manner.

I've used repetition or refrain or chanting rhythmic lines to encourage listener participation when the book is read aloud.

My words can provide illustrators with plenty of picture potential.

The story takes place in at least a dozen different scenes.

The pacing of my story is lively. Each scene moves into the next in a logical order.

The story is told from a child's point of view.

Each character has his/her own distinctive voice and personality.

My manuscript adheres to the 'show, don't tell' principle.

The story will be one that children, and adults, will want to read again and again.

If you can say yes to all of these ... you're good to go. If not, you may need to revise again. For more writing tips, go to www.ochiltreebooks.com.