Rising Star Adventures and Beyond

Day 22 prep 2025 - Plot Rising action

Review your notes from the "Premise" and "Beginning" plot exercises, and tweak the conflict(s) and inciting incident as needed before proceeding with the "Rising Action" plot exercise, as follows:

(1) Describe any initial refusals on the part of your protagonist(s) to face the conflict.
(2) Describe the moment when your protagonist(s) makes the choice to face the conflict.
(3) Describe the moment when your protagonist(s) crosses the point of no return and cannot change their mind.
(4) Fill in some of the blanks: How will your characters get from the point of no return to the climax?

Plot beginning
We are starting out at the reading of Ayah's husband's distant relative's will. It's a mysterious gathering of various family members who don't all get along. Some are filthy rich, and some are not. Some feel they belong there while others like Ayah do not. Yet, they all have some kind of relation to the deceased person. There will even have to be security on the scene. And the reaction to the will isn't all good. Some relatives are very angry, especially the one who were only left $1.

There is a back story that will also be revealed as the story plays out. Ayah's husband died in a car accident that was caused by someone tampering with his car. The deceased is his great uncle, brother of his father. This uncle had owned several properties.

Premise
Setting: Inherited property - A Mansion with beautiful gardens and property surrounding it located in England.

Protagonist: A young woman in her early 20s.
Flaws: a bit naive and too trusting of others and she is a widow who recently lost her husband due to an accident involving suspicious circumstances.
Goal: To discover what she inherited and to solve a multiple murder mystery that unfolds with her discovery.

Conflict: Multiple murders take place while taking inventory of her inheritance. These murders must be solved before she marries this new man who is actually the real murderer.

Antagonist: A new fiancé who ends up being the killer trying to eliminate competition to the inheritance and marrying the young widow in order to claim it all for himself.

Just for fun:
A young lady finds new love after her husband died and receives an inheritance from a rich uncle only to discover that her new love is a ruthless murderer.
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In this story there are several twists and conflicts. It's kind of difficult to map them all out.

You have the gathering at the beginning for the reading of the will. There will be several interesting characters here. Rich and poor relatives and friends alike. The plan is to have everyone assemble in a public courtroom which is large enough to hold this legal gathering. I want to star by describing some of the potential inheritors and their interactions prior to the reading of the will. (the arrival of all those called together) Then I want to go through the said will and reactions its contents.

Once we get through the reading of the will, I will have Ayah get the deed and pertinent information and documents from the lawyer. From here, she will need to take a look at what she has received and check it all out. Her new fiancé will have to be introduced somewhere in here. I'm thinking she can have a meal with him before she goes to check out her new property. Here I will describe him and how they ended up engaged.

Then Ayah will need to move onto the property and begin investigating it and making changes or repairs as needed. This is where a majority of the story will unfold. As she is working on her property, another murder victim is found. An investigation is underway. More information is uncovered later at the town's library via previous newspaper articles. Perhaps a current newspaper headline will catch Ayah's attention making her want to investigate further. When these other articles are found 3 more possible murders are linked to the case. A list of suspects is made and investigated.

At this point, she is also a suspect because the first discovered murder victim was on her property. Now she is also getting subtle threats from the unknown killer because she knows too much. This case needs to be solved quickly. The will is now being contested also. If she is accused and brought to trial for the murder she didn't commit, she could lose everything and gain a prison sentence.

One night she is sick. Her fiancé stays with her in the house to take care of her and nurse her back to health. When she goes to the restroom, she overhears part of a conversation that reveals the possible killer's identity. She needs to be sure of what she thinks she heard, but how does she prove it without giving away what she now knows? She will set up a controlled confrontation to reveal the truth, hoping beyond hope she is wrong.

The killer is revealed. The will is resolved, and I think there just might be a new love interest with the gardener. This is the general gist and plan for the story.