Three plot consultations with three separate writers, all with similar strengths and the same weakness. Each story has well thought out scenes that draw the reader into the Beginning 1/4 of the project. Each one develops character emotional development through dramatic action in the Middle 1/2. In other words, for these three writers, three quarters of their projects work, at least on a structural plot level.
At the end, these same three projects falter with little or no real Climax to top off the entire work. In each case, the protagonist is reawakened by the Crisis. They are shown struggling to take full ownership of their newly discovered consciousness. This is all good.
Trouble is, in none of the cases does the character show herself fully healing this schism at the Climax.
One writer wrote the Climax as the grandmother in the story dying. In this young adult novel, the protagonist is, necessarily, a young adult person and not the grandmother. The answer presented itself. In the Grandmother dying, the Climax takes on a deeper relevance as the protagonist of this young adult novel is given the opportunity to assist her grandmother's spiritual departure. Such an action demonstrates mastery at the thematic level. That death is looming sends the conflict, tension and suspense higher and the energy of the Universal Story soaring. The clock ticks. The sense of everything coalescing in the final minutes builds.
The middle sets up the scene of the highest intensity in the story so far ~ the Crisis. This scene shows the character’s consciousness of the shift or reversal inside her.
The End sets up the crowning glory of the entire story ~ the Climax. This scene shows the character fully united with her new self-knowledge, new understanding of the world, new sense of responsibility through her actions and her words.
The Climax is the crowning glory of the entire book. Once you write that most important scene all the other pieces begin to fall into place.
By: Martha Alderson, M.A.,
on 5/18/2010
Blog: Plot Whisperer for Writers and Readers (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: radio show, plot the major scenes, writers sanctuary, BEA NYC, marketing and publicity strategies for writers, Teresa LeYung Ryan, Kim McMillon, plot consultation, Add a tag
Radio Show today, Tuesday, May 18th at 11AM PST
For the first hour, I plan to do a "mock" 1 hour plot consultation with our host and friend-- Kim McMillon on one of her children's books she's preparing for publication.
Second hour, Teresa LeYung Ryan helps Kim identify the core issues of her story and link her name to mission statements for publicity and marketing purposes.
In case you'd like to see who you'll be listening to, here are the three of us several years ago at BEA in NYC:
Stop by for a listen today at 11AM PST
Writers Sanctuary
By: Martha Alderson, M.A.,
on 1/11/2010
Blog: Plot Whisperer for Writers and Readers (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: character versus plot, goal versus dream, PLot Planner goal setting for protagonist, Character, Dramatic Action, plot consultation, Add a tag
People read stories and go to the movies 70% for the character. We love to peek into other people's lives, even if the other people are mere characters in a book or movie.
This last writer's story is filled with dramatic action, which makes for an exciting story. I find myself anxious to hear what happens next, and what happens after that. The writer masterfully provides more and more compelling action, and does so seamlessly through consistent cause and effect. The Dramatic Action plot line rises quickly and effectively.
Still, the more intriguing the mystery, the scarier the suspense, the more cardboard action figure-like the characters become as they passively allow the dramatic action to happen. The more exciting the action, the more the characters are ignored and the less I find out about how the characters. especially the protagonist, are affected by the dramatic action. Without the help of the character to draw me closer, I find myself separating further and further from the story.
At this point in the consultation, I go over the importance of goal setting for the protagonist ~~ both at the scene level and the overall story level. The better a writer is at establishing concrete goals for her characters, the easier it is for her to keep track of the affects on the character as the character succeeds and fails in achieving her goals.
[Note: At a recent Plot Planner Writers Workshop, one of the writers expressed confusion between a goal and a dream. A goal is quanifiable and under the protagonist's control. In other words, the character is capable of succeeding. Whether they actually do or not is up to them. A dream, on the other hand, requires a bit of magic or help from outside sources. The protagonist cannot fulfill his or her own dreams, but must rely on the help of others.]
In the consultation, I never find out why the protagonist is missing when her husband is nearly killed. Why? Because the writer doesn't know either. A critical door into the character on a deep, personal level is never opened by the author and thus, would have robbed the future readers or movie-goers from the intimate bond of knowing.
The writer uses the protagonist to advance the Dramatic Action plot line, but ignores the Character Emotional Development plot line almost completely.
Still, she has done the hard part. The story is written. The dramatic action propels the story in quick and exciting ways. Once pointed out, the doors are easily opened. By attending to what is behind each door, the writer's chances improve for bringing satisfaction to future fans through knowing the character even better than the character knows herself.
By: Martha Alderson, M.A.,
on 1/23/2009
Blog: Plot Whisperer for Writers and Readers (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: plot consultation, publishing a book, Add a tag
"I believe talking about the story blocks the story."
By: Martha Alderson, M.A.,
on 3/4/2008
Blog: Plot Whisperer for Writers and Readers (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: character transformation, Dramatic Action, critique groups, plot consultation, critique groups, Dramatic Action, character transformation, plot consultation, Add a tag
When writers get stuck, it is usually because one or more of the three plot elements has been ignored by:
• Concentrating on action only, forgetting that character provides interest and is the primary reason that people go to the movies and read books.
• Organizing solely around the character and overlooking the fact that dramatic action provides the excitement every story needs.
• Forgetting to develop the overall meaning or the thematic significance of their stories. When the dramatic action changes the character at depth over time, the story becomes thematically significance.
It's tough to juggle all of these elements at once. We end up trying too hard. Our writing suffers. We become stiff and self-conscious. The joy of writing diminishes.
This isn't such a bad thing, if you're committed to being a writer. Learning the craft of writing is constant. The more you know, the more you appreciate how much you don't know.
In a plot consultation, the omissions slowly become clear to the writer. The more she understands both her strengths and her weaknesses, the faster she is able to identify what isn't working, why, and how to proceed.
The only way to know our strengths and weaknesses is to get feedback -- from a critique group, an editor, a plot consultant, or by individual plot analyzation.
Plot is made up of three intertwining threads:
• Character emotional development
• Dramatic action
• Thematic significance
In other words, the protagonist acts or reacts. In so doing, he or she is changed and something significant is learned.
When you write, do you juggle all three plot lines at once? Or, do you write one plot line a draft? Always curious about other writers' process......
Read the rest of this post
By: Kirsty,
on 12/20/2007
Blog: OUPblog (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: Literature, UK, A-Featured, Prose, kate, publicists, hounding, farquhar, quizzing, thomson, books, pond, favourite, closer, Add a tag
By Kirsty OUP-UK
While Rebecca has been quizzing the publishing world of New York, I have been hounding people a little closer to home: the staff of OUP here in Oxford. Here is what we’ve been reading on this side of the Pond in 2007…
Kate Farquhar-Thomson, Head of Publicity
Wildwood: A Journey Through Trees by Richard Deakin. As an outdoors girl this journey through the woods and forests of both this country and abroad evokes a sense of being at one with nature in all its grandeur. I loved the book and could read it over and over each time discovering something new. (more…)
Blog: Booktopia (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: Family, A-Z, NYC, Non-fiction, favourite, Mafia, Add a tag
Every now and again, some nonfiction comes along that TOTALLY captures me. First it was Devil in the White City, then it was Maximum City, and now it's Sweet and Low, by Rich Cohen.
Like the jacket says, "Millionaires. Mobsters. Power. Corruption. Fraud. Scandal. Saccharin". (And an A-Z Read!)
I love when I learn stuff. Like Canarsie used to be a swamp where the mob dumped bodies. Like the sugar packet wasn't invented until the late 1940s. Like Saccharine isn't a carcinogen (What!)
This is a family tragedy of epic proportions. It's a study of that 3 generation theory. He who is hungry builds the business. Next in line holds the fort. Next in line watches it all float away. While that isn't exactly what happens here, the reader cannot help but feel badly for patriarch Ben, who though quite unlikeable, really built something from nothing. Imagine watching your son screw the whole thing up.
Post war NYC has always fascinated me, and though it sounds cliche, I will say it ... the city is a character in itself. After living here for a decade, I feel an uncomfortable kinship with NYC, and I delight in reading about it.
Cohen's style is incredibly readable. Though I slow down for nonfiction, I was compelled to have at it until it was finished (3 days of commuting). I loved it. My colleagues are probably sick of hearing about it, but Sweet and Low is one of those books that makes me say, "No really...listen to this! You won't believe this!"
Just read it!
very cool post! thanks
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Very nice post! thanks a lot!