For those that might be interested, here is the original outline for Man Wanted.
Much of it is as the story panned out but you'll notice that the outline goes on past the point the story actually ended. Originally I wrote it as a straight transformation story, just exploring the different aspects of the change. As it turned out, Sangeeta became such a magnetic character that the romance between her and Geoff superseded everything else.
I decided to mix things up by introducing Billy and bringing the story to a climax earlier as I felt it would drag on and become repetative as originally planned.
Anyway, here you go. Comment below to let me know if you enjoy seeing this kind of thing.
A Woman in Need of a Man - Outline
Day One – Tuesday
Day Two – Wednesday
Day Three – Thursday
Day Four – Friday
Day Five – Saturday
Day Six – Sunday
Day Seven – Monday
Day Eight – Tuesday
Alison Character Traits
Geoff Character Traits
Alison History
Sangeeta History
Much of it is as the story panned out but you'll notice that the outline goes on past the point the story actually ended. Originally I wrote it as a straight transformation story, just exploring the different aspects of the change. As it turned out, Sangeeta became such a magnetic character that the romance between her and Geoff superseded everything else.
I decided to mix things up by introducing Billy and bringing the story to a climax earlier as I felt it would drag on and become repetative as originally planned.
Anyway, here you go. Comment below to let me know if you enjoy seeing this kind of thing.
A Woman in Need of a Man - Outline
Day One – Tuesday
Establish
femininity of Alison
Establish
doing up house and having difficulty
Out of work
but inherited fixer upper. Can barely afford to do it up
Buys gender
change ring
Initial
change
Short
experimentation (fixes electricity) then changes back
Interacts
with neighbour who is patronising. She is shy and overly compromising
Considers
how she might have stood up to him if she’d been a man
Day Two – Wednesday
Frustration
of not being able to do things
Second
change
Enjoyment of
doing work
Sets record
straight with Mr Crabtree
Other
neighbour, John, notices and congratulates him
Wants to
interact with others
Goes out for
a drink
Runs into John
and they chat about Geoff doing up the house
Geoff leaves
the back way and sees some national front yobs hassling an Indian woman
He
intercedes but realises he’s bitten off more than he can chew
They beat
him up as he fights them off but Sangeeta gets help from inside and a couple of
men come out to chase off the skinheads
Sangeeta
takes Geoff into the pub next door to buy him a drink of thanks
Day Three – Thursday
Wakes up
next morning, shocked to have stayed male
Changes
right back – still sports bra and panties from day before
Doesn’t feel
right being female at first but feels more normal later
Goes out and
has spa but feels impatient
Thinks about
change
Gets nails
done in Sangeeta’s beauty parlour
Goes
shopping for clothes but ends up in men’s department
Buys double
extra large clothes just in case she decides to change again
Goes home
determined not to change again
Does work
but finds it too difficult
Changes
“just for a bit” and ends up staying that way for the rest of the day
Neighbour
sees him working and offers him paid work following day
Invites him
to pub to watch rugby
Gets changed
and watches Six Nations rugby game at the pub with John and some other friends then
sees Sangeeta again
She comments
on his shirt
In the break
she tells him that her business isn’t doing too well and that the Indian bloke,
Rasheed, has come to Nockton Vale to stay with her
She’s told
him she’s not interested but he just wants to be “friends”
Rasheed turns
up
Geoff has a
friendlyish talk with him
Sangeeta is
flattered that she has Geoff to stand up for her
Geoff ends
up snogging her
Feeling a
crisis, Geoff changes back in the toilet but is trapped when she comes in
looking for him – has to turn into a man again
Sangeeta
recognises that he is tense and reassures him that she’s not expecting them to
get married or anything. She just wants a bit of fun for now
Geoff uses
that as a justification
They kiss
again, more sweetly and it becomes a long and passionate snog
They leave
together
Sangeeta
stops at a convenience store on the way to get some secret things
They go back
to the house
Sangeeta
shaves Geoff, leaving a goatee
They shag
Day Four – Friday
Geoff wakes
up from a deep sleep
Sangeeta has
gone early, leaving a note.
She doesn’t
have her uniform and has a meeting with the Tower Gates manager that morning
Geoff
justifies staying a man because of the job today
Looks at
documentation that has both his names down as owners
In the mail
there is a bank statement with his male name but other stuff for Alison
There are
some men’s clothes
Remembers
the hair cream
There are
now loads of men’s things in the bathroom cabinet
Does the
plastering
They have a
game of rugby
Gets another
job offer from friend of neighbour
Talks over a
beer and decides to set up business as a workman to keep the cash flowing in
Trades in
car for a masculine van
Worries that
it is going too far and changes back to Alison for the evening
Feels very
uncomfortable as a woman
Rasheed
comes round (followed them home the night before) to confront Geoff
He
intimidates Alison
Alison wants
to change but resists
Sangeeta
calls round and is suspicious of her, wanting to see Geoff
Alison says
she’s Geoff’s sister
Rasheed says
he’s been talking to Jasper Konig, the landlord of Sangeeta’s flat and shop. He
has a couple lined up who he can charge more for so he’ll be happy if Sangeeta
moves out right away. She could move back to London – her business is failing
anyway
Angry he
stuck his nose in, Sangeeta kicks out Rasheed who says he is going to tell her
father
Alison is
attracted to her but resists changing into Geoff
She tells Sangeeta
to leave, saying Geoff has told her he’s not interested
Sangeeta is
very upset but leaves mentioning something really bad happened to her today and
she wanted to talk to Geoff about it
Alison is
worried that she’s changing too much and decides not to wear the ring again
She feels
awful about Sangeeta
Just before
bed she desperately wants to put the ring on and have a wank. She misses her
cock and knows it would make her feel better. Also things don’t bother her as
much when she’s a man (and she thinks
she might go after Sangeeta and get her back – secretly wanting to)
She thinks
about just putting it on for that but it afraid she won’t want to take it off
if she does
Day Five – Saturday
Next day, Alison
feels mostly feminine again apart from a brief missing of her penis when going
to the loo
Realises
she’s made a terrible mistake of the hair
Dresses as
femininely as possible
Drives van,
finding it weird
Goes into
town and gravitates to Sangeeta’s parlour, wanting to apologise
Sangeeta is
closing for lunch
Alison
apologises and Sangeeta invites her to lunch
They have a
lovely time together
They talk
about her failing business and Rasheed
Sangeeta
says she’s falling for Geoff but doesn’t know why he keeps pulling away
Alison is
falling for Sangeeta too
Alison
empties her handbag to find purse and puts ring on table
Near miss
with ring – Sangeeta recognises it and almost puts it on – gets tingle
Rasheed
turns up and puts the pressure on
Alison
sticks up for Sangeeta
Sangeeta
tells him to get lost
Rasheed
refuses to go.
Her father
is on his way to London by plane
Sangeeta has
to go back to work
Alison goes
home and fantasises about sex with Sangeeta as Geoff. It becomes sex with
Sangeeta with her as Geoff
Realises she
just wants to be with her. She doesn’t have a long term plan but she wants to
see her again – as Geoff
Geoff calls Sangeeta
to come round
She is angry
about being messed around
He says he
just wants to see her
Goes and
works on Steve’s boiler, doing a great job
Cooks Sangeeta
dinner
Geoff tells
her he can’t commit but does really like her
Sangeeta
tells him the manager of Tower Gates has upped the rent and she can’t stay
afloat. She told him to go and fuck himself and hasn’t had a customer since.
She thinks the business is over with. She might not bother opening again
Could Geoff
stand up for her or suggest an alternative?
Sangeeta
asks if she can stay over to avoid Rasheed
Shags her
Day Six – Sunday
Invites Sangeeta
to spend the day while he is working on the house, knowing it will stop him
changing back
Spends time
doing up car with money from plastering
Really
enjoys being waited on
Takes Sangeeta
out dancing
The dad’s
still on his way. He will be in Nocton Vale tomorrow
Takes Sangeeta
home, planning to drop her off but can’t resist going in
Shags her
Wonders if
he’s doing the right thing
Changes back
to Alison in the bathroom
Realises she
still has her dick
Has to
change back when Sangeeta knocks on the door
Tries to get
away, afraid of how much more she’ll change but Sangeeta tries to persuade her
to stay
She resists
and leaves, changing back outside
Rasheed
confronts her saying he thought he saw Geoff come out
He bullies
her because he says she’s encouraging Sangeeta to reject him
Alison
changes back to Geoff and beats him up
Sangeeta
catches them and is angry at both of them
Geoff storms
off
He doesn’t
change back at home because he didn’t like feeling weak
Worries
about keeping the cock but is afraid to take the ring off
Day Seven – Monday
Wakes up as
a man (surprised – he’d planned to change back) and wants to change back but
has to do job
Goes home at
lunch and takes off ring
Still has
cock and hairy belly
Phone rings –
job related – guy pissed off he’s left half way through the day
Still talks
like a man
Pretends to
be Geoff
Gets off
phone and realises it has to stop
Turns round
– Rasheed is there
He says he
knew it but didn’t believe it. Now he does
She begs him
not to tell anyone but he sneers and leaves
She waits to
see if she will change back to a woman but hours later she still hasn’t
She wants
comfort and wants to call Sangeeta and see her but is afraid what might happen
if she changes again
In the end
she calls Sangeeta and talks with her man’s voice, pretending to be Geoff
Sangeeta’s
dad has arrived in England. He wants her to meet him at the station next day at
noon
She wants
Geoff to come
Alison is
evasive, not wanting to risk changing again
Sangeeta
realises something is wrong and suspects the worst, getting angry
Sangeeta
demands to see Geoff that night but he has to refuse
Sangeeta
bursts into tears and puts the phone down, saying she is really confused
She really
wants to put the ring back on and at least feel normal – go to Sangeeta – but
she manages to resist
Sangeeta
turns up – with Rasheed. She knows
Alison
confirms it
They
reconcile with the magic
Alison shows
her cock to confirm
Rasheed
sneers but Sangeeta tells him to piss off
(Rasheed
needs to get some comeuppance later)
She asks if
Alison still loves her
Alison says
she wants to but she can’t
She really
likes Sangeeta but she isn’t sure she can give up being a woman for her
Sangeeta
leaves
Alison goes
to bed, terrified she is going to be a freak or a man for the rest of her life
Day Eight – Tuesday
Next morning
she is back to her normal self but still feels wrong being a woman
She’s
tempted to put the ring back on but fears she will never want to change back to
a woman if she does.
She goes
through a thought process about that
There is
little in the house of Alison’s now. She is clearly being erased from existence
Sangeeta
calls and leaves a message saying she is leaving town with her dad at noon
Alison can’t
pick up the phone because she will talk like a woman
She does
anyway but makes it worse
She goes to
throw the ring in the river but sees the train coming into the station and
can’t go through with it
She realises
she’s a much better person as a man with a good job and a loving girlfriend –
that’s who she wants to be
She runs
toward the train but realises she isn’t going to make it
She gets
onto the station and races to climb aboard but can’t open the doors
The train
leaves
It turns out
Sangeeta got off and is on the platform
Alison says
she wants to be with Sangeeta
Sangeeta
says “Who’s asking?”
Alison
changes into Geoff. “Me.”
They embrace
and kiss
Alison Character Traits
Very flouncy
Feminine
clothes
Always wears
heels
Geoff Character Traits
Believes
women are weaker and need protecting and aren’t as good as men
Slightly
racist
Alison History
Grew up in
Chauncy but grew to hate the town because there was something creepy about it –
something insidious she couldn’t put her finger on
Moved to
Peterborough to go to university and stayed there
Had a series
of bad relationships where she felt used
She didn’t
fall in love with any of them but really wanted to
Started
dress-making business but struggled to get it going
Recession
made it crumble
Was relieved
when it stopped making money and she had to give it up because of the release
of pressure
Sangeeta History
Sent to
England as a teenager to stay with uncle and aunt because she “fell in love”
with a boy from a lower caste
She actually
went with him as a rejection of her parents’ culture
They gave
her what she wanted
Moved out
when she turned eighteen and worked her way through a beauty course
Decided to
stand on her own no matter what
Her dad, via
the uncle started putting pressure on her to marry an Indian man
She moved to
Nockton Vale to avoid this
Since then
they have put more and more pressure on her through her family and friends
Had a love
affair with an English man who really messed her around, taking a lot of the
shine off her adventure
Her business
has been starting to fail and she’s been considering giving in and going back
to London – maybe even back to India
I like it. it is still at heart a romance. I guess the Alison/Geoff-Sangeeta connection was even more magnetic than you thought. :)
ReplyDeleteYeah. This version laboured the point of whether she should swap back or not a bit too much. I didn't like the way she was blowing hot and cold so much with Sangeeta.
DeleteDid you write all this before you wrote the story itself? I've tried to do the same but in some cases the characters seem to go off at a tangent without my permission :)
ReplyDeleteRobi
Yes I did pretty much. I added a bit of extra detail as I went on. The characters did take it in new directions. Billy didn't exist initially and Sangeeta ended up being bigger than planned.
DeleteI would recommend reading How to Write the Blockbuster Novel by Al Zimmerman for advice on Outlining. It can't be beaten.