Five days and counting...
As you continue to arrange the scene Post-it notes from yesterday, don't fret about your manuscript's chapter numbers or formatting. You can address those issues in January when you undertake writing the next draft.
For now, concentrate on the plot and structure for the overall book.
Move scenes around in anyway that best serves the manuscript. Be creative. Switch the Crisis to the End of the Beginning. The Climax to the Crisis. Be brutal. Make broad cuts and assess results.
Line things up. Organize. Think of the work you're doing like packing before undertaking a long trip. Plan ahead now so you can let go and have fun during January's rewrite.
Two steps for today:
1) At the top or bottom of each of the three parts of your Plot Planner, write the protagonist's goal. The protagonist starts the story with a specific goal in mind. That goal usually shifts, either subtly or radically, when the protagonist moves from the Beginning to the Middle, after the Crisis, and as she faces the End.
2) Buy yourself a '09 calendar - day-to-day at-a-glance or monthly or one of those big hanging ones for the entire year.
If you are just joining us, begin on Day One and move forward to today.
2 Comments on International Plot Writing Month -- Day Twenty-Seven, last added: 12/30/2008
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Martha,
What I'm loving about this plot month you set up is that, in December, right when we need things to be baby steps, you're giving us those. With so much celebrating and traveling and family visits, we find ourselves scrabbling for small amounts of time. And you're giving us tasks that will fit. Thanks!
Thanks Becky -- you caught on to my method. Crazy time to work on one's plot and structure, but I thought why not??
Any work a writer does this month goes a long way to starting out the new year ready to write...