Writing Camp Sparrow

WEEK 1: How to create an initial outline?/Sparrow

Step One: Random Ideas

1. The Crown Prince learns he's adopted, being switched at birth.   

2. Wants to find the true heir to the throne. 

Step Two: Draw the Plot

Prince Nikolas' mother admits with her dying breath that he is not her son. The king was cruel and threatened to kill the queen if she didn't bear him an heir to the throne. When she gave birth to a daughter, she traded the child with a servant's newborn son. 

Ronnie, as far as she knows, is a farmer's daughter. She's a bit of a wild child and has lived with relative freedom despite being a commoner. All of that changes when Nikolas shows up and forces her to return to the castle. 

Step Three: Scenes  

Nikolas rushes to his mother's bed chambers. The sickly woman is little more than a corpse at this point, moments away from death. Nikolas asks the doctor where his father is. He replies that the king is too busy to visit his wife. The doctor steps out to give them a few moments alone with each other. 

Nikolas kneels beside the bed, apologizing for his father's absence. The queen admits that she's glad he's not his real father. She explains that the king threatened to kill her if she didn't have a son. When she gave birth to a girl, she coerced a servant into trading the child for his newborn son. The queen dies soon after, leaving Nikolas stunned. 

He begins investigating behind his father's back, trying to find the girl. For years the King drilled into him the importance of his birthright. Now he's determined to give it to the rightful heir.