Tick Tock

By: Joana Coelho

The Story (a BRIEF summary)

A psychological thriller, Tick Tock is the story of Jaclyn Cunningham, a contradictory, sarcastic, insightful, and somewhat ridiculous woman, whose life's ambition is to bring her community together – by being a serial killer of course. Straight from the shores of the fictional Greek

island of Koinonia, this female protagonist strives to show her point of view to her interrogator, Officer John Pedesto. In over 200 pages and 24 hours of dialogue, these two individuals form a tight bond in the confines of the gray interrogation room. Drawing from the ideas of

Plato, John Locke, and Stephen King, this tale stresses the importance of community, trust, understanding, and finding one’s place in the

world.

Inception

• Modernity & Carrie Clark• Lucas Merat’s Presentation• Wise words of Hayden Aldredge • Paris & Renee Hirt• Isabelle Turits’s Novella• ALL OF THE ABOVE

Goals

• Product Goal– Write a novella from the first person perspective that

is over 50 pages long.• Content Goal– Chart the development of a character with the use of

his or her relationships and philosophical opinions.• Skill/Process Goal– Become a writer with my own voice and learn to

work with the characters to tell a story.

MOST IMPORTANT GOAL OF ALL:-Write a novella about a female serial killer

Pre-Writing: Summer Reading

Pre-Writing: Outline

Writing

Speed Bump 1

Post-Writing/Pre-Editing

• Initial Meeting with Mrs. Wolfe

• ERROR ERROR

Speed Bump 2: 100 Hours

• Ms. Wolfe’s resignation• Panic Ensued • Ms. Lichtenstein & Dale Scott to the rescue!• Conclusion:– Mentor: Ms. Lichtenstein– Outside Consultant: Ms. Wolfe

New Beginning: Four Stages of Edits1) Self Editing

2) Ms. Lichtenstein’s Grammar Edits

3) Ms. Lichtenstein’s Content Edits

4) Formatting

Speed Bump 3

T-5 Days for Portugal

• Formatting 90 pages a night

• Book Sent Out• Final Word Count– 42,907 words

• Arrived December 13th – The Day I arrived in

Portugal

Speed Bump 4

NEW SCENE

Final Word Count: 44,773 words

Covers

Clark Hamilton Aiyana Jaffe

Back Cover

What I Discovered• A Proof from Blurb = Ordering 1 Copy of the

Book BEFORE ordering all of them• Relish in this experience• Do something you might never have time to

work on again• Prematurely Gray Hairs

Lessons Learned

• Characters are as real as you let them be.• Interpretation > Description• Don’t work towards your word limit; work in

spite of it.• Trust Your Editor. He/She is your friend.• Leave Plenty of Time for Formatting.• Don’t Jump the Gun.

In Conclusion

Thank you

• My Parents• Ms. Lichtenstein• Dale Scott• Mrs. Wolfe• Carrie Clark• Courtney Wingate• Alexandra Cromwell• Clark Hamilton and Aiyana Jaffe• My Friends• Ross School• All of you for coming!

Questions?