Five days and counting...
We're halfway through December -- International Plot Writing Month. I trust the time you've spent reading the posts and exploring the exercises has given you a new angle, passion, and energy for your writing, and has deepened the meaning of your story.
The Beginning
What do you think so far? Is plot and structure what you thought it would be?
Today is two-pronged:
For those of you more literary minded, 3rd Annual International Plot Writing Month is not an attempt to establish literary rules and regulations. Far from it. Nor, do we want to rob you of the riches of your minds and souls. Quite the opposite.
In completing the first draft of your screenplay, memoir, or novel, you likely encountered countless ambiguous and difficult elements, all of which, no doubt, spurred you yet closer to finding your true voice of creativity and expression. Yet, even within the catalyst for creative production that we all desire, some structure and guidelines often prove helpful.
THE END: TRANSFORMATION
The End (final 1/4 of the story) is made up of more than the Climax (which we covered Day Nine). When you followed the assignment for Day Eight, I trust you were able to remember and plot out scenes from this final section besides just the Climax.
By: Martha Alderson, M.A.,
on 12/8/2010
Blog: Plot Whisperer for Writers and Readers
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What we are doing here at the 3rd Annual International Plot Writing Month is dry and analytical compared to the magical and mystical process of writing the first draft. However, processing your story through your intellect and analyzing it wipes away befuddlement and leads to clarity of character goals and motivation which in turn helps to create convincing expression and emotion.
The work we do here, like the plot workshops I teach, is divided between explanation and time for development of the THREE MAJOR PLOT LINES for your individual project. For the sake of convenience, the explanation here gives independent consideration to the dramatic (action), emotional (character development), and thematic aspects of story, but keep in mind that all aspects of a successful writing project must become integrated into the total structure to create its unity, and that achieving this unity is the goal of every writer.
Today is two-pronged:
By: Martha Alderson, M.A.,
on 12/21/2009
Blog: Plot Whisperer for Writers and Readers
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The Middle
Now it's time for the Middle (1/2) of your Plot Planner.
I want you to create the Middle portion of your Plot Planner similar to how you created the other two parts of your Plot Planner. To review, so far, you have an index card or piece of 8 1/2 X 11 piece of paper or whatever works best for you as the Plot Planner of the Beginning and one for the End of your story AND a smaller version for the Middle where you had plotted at least one or possibly two scenes from the Middle section.
By: Martha Alderson, M.A.,
on 12/8/2009
Blog: Plot Whisperer for Writers and Readers
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Martha Alderson, Blockbuster Plots for Writers, International Plot Writing Month, crafting the End of a story, holiday plot guide for writers, Add a tagIf you are joining us for the first time, please scroll down to Day One. The reason I do not provide a "hot" link to the post is because doing so will only take you to that day's post and you want to work your way through all past seven posts to catch up.
What we are doing here at the 2nd Annual International Plot Writing Month is dry and analytical compared to the magical and mystical process of writing the first draft. However, processing your story through your intellect and analyzing it wipes away befuddlement and leads to clarity of character goals and motivation which in turn helps to create convincing expression and emotion.
The work we do here, like the plot workshops I teach, is divided between explanation and time for development of the three major plotlines for your individual project. For the sake of convenience, the explanation here gives independent consideration to the dramatic (action), emotional (character development), and thematic aspects of story, but keep in mind that all aspects of a successful writing project must become integrated into the total structure to create its unity, and that achieving this unity is the goal of every writer.
Today is two-pronged:
By: Martha Alderson, M.A.,
on 12/5/2009
Blog: Plot Whisperer for Writers and Readers
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End of the Beginning, revision techniques, Plot tips, International Plot Writing Month, National Plot Writing Month rewriting tips, NaNoWriMo, Dramatic Action, Crisis, Climax, character development, Add a tagIf you do not have a draft of a story written, follow the steps outlined this month to generate ideas for one now. (You'll have to use your imagination and fill in the missing blanks, but you're good at that, right? After all, you're a writer.....
By: Martha Alderson, M.A.,
on 12/27/2008
Blog: Plot Whisperer for Writers and Readers
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If you are just joining us, begin on Day One and move forward to today.
By: Martha Alderson, M.A.,
on 12/15/2008
Blog: Plot Whisperer for Writers and Readers
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So much of writing is by feel. The suggestions here are simply ways to help support your groping...
The Climax decides the Beginning. Examine the Climax you've written for insights into what is being revealed about the protagonist. Think of the protagonist's flaw as the weakest link in her growth -- I'd like to write: spiritual growth but am afraid the word spiritual will be misunderstood. What I'm referring to has nothing at all to do with religion -- it's the part of you that is beyond the physical body. Oops... I was talking about your protagonist, not you...
What does the protagonist have to overcome in herself in order to do what she does at the Climax???
A story is a spiritual quest. Once the character has taken the challenge and entered the story world itself -- Middle, she is knocked around, shaken up, challenged, and tested. In order for the quest to have meaning, the protagonist must share the gifts she has learned with the "tribe".
This is why so many stories are circular -- the protagonist must return home with the elixir -- the End circles back the Beginning...
Any character/person brave enough to step outside her comfort zone is being invited on a quest. Sharing the gifts completes the circle.
What is your protagonist's flaw? What does she do to sabotage herself from achieving her goals? What does she do to get in her own way of attaining her dreams? What is she doing to herself unconsciously that the story forces her to become conscious of and, once she aware of herself, is able to do things differently and thus, reach that which she longs for in life AND helps make the world around her a better place??? The answers to these questions will help determine what belongs in the Beginning of your story.
By: Martha Alderson, M.A.,
on 12/13/2008
Blog: Plot Whisperer for Writers and Readers
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By: Martha Alderson, M.A.,
on 12/12/2008
Blog: Plot Whisperer for Writers and Readers
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Stories have at least four big scenes.
By the time the counselors, kids, volunteers, and I all huddle inside the Shelter classroom, there is no place to escape. I break down stories to seventeen year-old boys who loom large and twelve-year-old girls who are already women.
2) The Crisis
In stories, the event that marks the End of the Beginning thrusts the character out of their old world and into a new one. Thus, begins the Middle, which is 1/2 of the story. In real life, when one door closes, we, too, enter a new world, be it a new physical place or a new psychological state. This new world is where you have the chance to evolve and ultimately be transformed.
3) The Climax
In all great fiction, the main character undergoes a transformation. The dramatic action in the Middle and what happens at the Crisis changes everything. Once unconscious of whom they are, the character now becomes conscious.
4) The Resolution
When someone real or imagined is transformed, the experience means something. Consider what you would like your life to stand for so far. Write that.
By: Martha Alderson, M.A.,
on 12/8/2008
Blog: Plot Whisperer for Writers and Readers
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Martha Alderson, Blockbuster Plots for Writers, International Plot Writing Month, crafting the End of a story, holiday plot guide for writers, Add a tagWrite in the Climax and Resolution you came up with in your first draft. Plot any other scenes you can remember in the final 1/4 of your draft. Write in pencil.
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By: Martha Alderson, M.A.,
on 12/10/2010
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By: Martha Alderson, M.A.,
on 12/10/2010
Blog: Plot Whisperer for Writers and Readers (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
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Yes, the Climax is the crowning glory and it really deserves more than one day, but it is time to move along.
Steve Jobs, co-founder of Apple, said at a commencement speech: "You can't connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future."
Your job as writer is to connect the dots. And, because you know the future -- the Climax -- you do not need to rely on trust. You can actually connect the dots.
Work backwards from the Climax -- which is the moment when the protagonist finally stands firmly in her power, stands up to her greatest fear or confronts the thing that has beat her up spiritually. The scenes in the final 1/4 of the project lead up to the Climax.
As you see, the line ascends quickly. The scenes you plot here serve primarily to advance the protagonist to the Climax. Nothing new can be introduced, no pontification or philosophizing. The reader does not want the story to end, but they can not stop reading. They have to know what happens. Keep things moving.
Yes, the Climax spotlights the character in full transformation as she demonstrates the necessary new skill or personality, gift or action, but the scenes that build up to the Climax show us the transformation unfolding step-by-step. The reader lives the experience with her. Together the protagonist and reader moves closer and closer to her goal, firmly aware that she had to experience everything she did throughout the entire book to get to this final stage --
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1) Organize
If you haven't already, print out your manuscript. Do NOT read it. Be sure to include a header on every page with your title in caps / name on the upper left and the page # on the upper right.
Don't worry about spell checking or chapter breaks. just make sure the pages are numbered.
Insert your project into a binder. [Warning: printing manuscript is a snap compared to hole-punching the pages. However, it's important to have the manuscript bound and in one place.]
Divide the total number of pages in the binder by 4. Stick a post-it note at the 1/4 mark and another one at the 3/4 mark.
Put the binder away, for now.
Gather all the extraneous notes you may have generated during the writing of the rough draft that you have not yet integrated into the piece and the notes you have generated thus far during PlotWriMo. Divide the notes and stick them into file folders labeled Beginning (1/4), Middle (1/2), End (1/4). Straighten up your desk. Purge everything you can that you accumulated while writing the rough draft. Put things in order.
You're entering a new phase. Time to cleanse and prepare to step into the next draft.
2) Plot THE END: PART ONE
Pull out your index cards or paper or whatever works for you. Keep the BEGINNING and�
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You created the Beginning (1/4) of your Plot Planner on Day Thirteen and the End (1/4) of your Plot Planner on Day Eight.
Today, expand the Middle portion to its own index card. Simply draw a line similar to below:
Write in the Crisis scene you came up with in your first draft. Plot any other scenes you remember in the middle 1/2 of your draft. Don't refer to the draft itself. Just write what comes to you. Don't push to remember.
Give each scene/event a title.
Write the scenes above the line in the order of appearance in the story.
Write in pencil.
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1) Organize
If you haven't already, print out your manuscript. Do NOT read it. Be sure to include a header on every page with your title in caps / name on the upper left and the page # on the upper right.
Don't worry about spell checking or chapter breaks. just make sure the pages are numbered.
Insert your project into a binder. [Warning: printing manuscript is a snap compared to hole-punching the pages. However, it's important to have the manuscript bound and in one place.]
Divide the total number of pages in the binder by 4. Stick a post-it note at the 1/4 mark and another one at the 3/4 mark.
Put the binder away, for now.
Gather all the extraneous notes you may have generated during the writing of the rough draft that you have not yet integrated into the piece and the notes you have generated thus far during PlotWriMo. Divide the notes and stick them into file folders labeled Beginning (1/4), Middle (1/2), End (1/4). Straighten up your desk. Purge everything you can that you accumulated while writing the rough draft. Put things in order.
You're entering a new phase. Time to cleanse and prepare to step into the next draft.
2) Plot the End
Pull out your index cards or paper or whatever works for you. Keep the Beginning and Middle sections of the Plot Planner you drew earlier. Cut off the End. Using an entire index card turned horizontal for the End this time, draw a line that travels from nearly the bottom edge steeply to nearly the top edge of the index card and then down.
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I appreciate how we each desire to be heard and at the same time fear that what we have to say has no meaning. Desire and fear drown out the muse. Do what you must to silence your ego. Listen to your story instead.
Every story has its own unique energy. At the same time, everything around us follows a similar path. We are born, challenged, come to fullness, and die to who we were. Within the greater pattern, a similar version repeats itself innumerable times throughout our lives.
Today, using the scenes/events you generated on Day Three, let the energy of your story alight on the pattern itself with the help of the Universal Story Form (below is the template. On the site is further info)
Plot:
Try for all 7 of the following
or
3 scenes/events At the Least (*)
(Do NOT refer to your manuscript. Use the scenes you generated yesterday. No more than 7.)
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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.
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Every story involves a quest. The problem is that the quest generally does not begin until the beginning of the Middle or 1/4 of the way into the story, which begs the question -- what do you do with the Beginning 1/4 of your story?
The first quarter of the book, the Beginning, has to hook the reader. But, how?
I'll offer you a few suggestion tomorrow and on Monday. For now, I want you to create the Beginning portion of your Plot Planner similar to how you created the End of your Plot Planner on Day Eight.
To review, so far, you have an index card or piece of 8 1/2 X 11 piece of paper or whatever works best for you as the Plot Planner of the End of your story AND a smaller version for the Beginning and Middle where you had plotted at least one or possibly two scenes from the Beginning section and at least one or three at the most from Day Five.
Today, you are to expand the Beginning portion to its own index card. Simply draw a line that travels from the left to the right with a gradual ascent that ends at the End of the Beginning.
Write in the End of the Beginning scene you came up with in your first draft. Plot any other scenes you remember in the first 1/4 of your draft. Don't refer to the draft itself. Just write what comes to you. Don't push to remember. Give each scene/event a title. Write the scenes above the line in the order of appearance in the story. Write in pencil.
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My hope is that as you analyze your story inspiration flows...When I’m not helping writers with their plots, I volunteer at the local Children’s Shelter. Rather than let pain and betrayal sit and fester, I invite the kids to explore the universal story form as it plays out in their lives.
When asked what was the most important element in her novels, Barbara Taylor Bradford said, "The character is the plot of the novel. Character is destiny. Your character is your destiny. My character is my destiny. And, with that, I knew how to write a novel."
In honor of anyone with energy waning, I congratulate you on what you've accomplished and offer the following as yet anyway to look at the Universal Story Form.
Birth sets us on a journey. Beginnings and endings, conflicts and challenges, friends and foes, crises and climaxes are all part of that journey.
Start with where you are right now. Write your way to where you wish to be.
1) The End of the Beginning
I start with a focus on the Beginning. The beginning 1/4 of the story leads to a moment of no return, a moment when life shifts, when good turns bad or bad to worse, the end of all that has been—the End of the Beginning.
After the kids write the beginning of their stories, a girl with clear brown eyes writes that she wants more time with her dad. She dreams of playing baseball like him. At the End of the Beginning, her dad dies.
Another girl shows a mom in heaven remembering her beautiful little girls. The End of the Beginning is when the girls go live with an uncle with a belt.
Now, try it for yourself. Think about your life. Are you feeling frustrated? Bored? Challenged? Dissatisfied? Has an event taken place recently that makes what you want feel impossible to attain? What is the moment when things went wrong?
Focus as closely as you can to the now.
Now that you cannot go back to the way things were before that moment hit—write that. Describe what you want that you now think is out of your reach.
Unfamiliar with our new surroundings, we venture forth feeling like a fish out of water. Often afraid, we encounter obstacles that trip us up and cause us to falter. We stumble over hurdles.
Our resistance causes pain.
The kids write down three bumps that shake their main character to their core. Three things that stop them and interfere with their dreams. I advise the kids that we only find out whom we truly are when we are challenged. Adversity does not build character. Adversity reveals character.
Who and what have you gone up against lately? Who or what stands in the way of your happiness? Friends and family? Societal norms, handicaps, or you yourself? Do your fears and prejudices and flaws prevent you from achieving that which you long for? How do you sabotage yourself? Write that.
The challenges in the middle rise in intensity until something explodes at the Crisis.
The Crisis may have already happened in your life. The Crisis may be something you can see happening if you don’t take control of your own life. A Crisis is a deep disappointment, a blow that sends you to your knees, the dark night of the soul. The Crisis is a breakdown that has the potential to cause a break-through.
Write about something you are unable to do now. Consider what Crisis you must experience first to force you to move on, let go, detach, surrender, do things differently, believe in yourself.
What does the Crisis represent to you getting control of your own life? What you write about now, you may not have to experience later.
After her father’s death, the girl with liquid eyes writes about feelings of denial. She falls into depression. Next comes rage. She turns violent and is placed in a group home. Separated from all she knows and understands, she experiences a Crisis.
Character transformation is a form of alchemy. Rather than metal turned into gold, challenges and disappointments transform into gifts and opportunities. The victim becomes the victor.
You, too, have the opportunity to be transformed by what happens in your life.
At the Shelter, I give examples of characters overcoming tremendous odds and showing, at the Climax, their transformed self. At the end of all great stories, the main character is able to do something they were unable to do at the beginning of the story. The same applies in life.
You have written about where you are. Consider where you would like to be. What must you shed to get there? What must you learn? As you move toward your ideal, you carry with you all you have learned. Your old self dissolves.
The Climax at the end of the story shows an action taken that demonstrates your new awareness, skill, strength, belief, and/or personal power. At the Climax, the new self is now able to confront antagonists and conquer challenges that the old self could not.
At the end of her story, the girl with the brown eyes faces the pain of losing her father. She learns to control her anger. This prepares her to confront her mother whom she blames for her father’s death.
Write a Climax that shows you facing your greatest fears. Imagine what that moment will feel like, taste and smell like, look and sound like. Describe yourself as a victor, a champion, a survivor, a body transformed and living the life you dream of. Dream big. Write that.
At the end of the day at the Shelter, the kids barely have time to explore what they want in life. Many of them will soon be too old for the system. The place that protects abandoned, abused and neglected kids will release them on their own. Will the glimpse they have in writing their stories help shape what comes next? One can only hope.
We talk about what stories mean overall: Good triumphs over evil (the girl with the belt). Self-control leads to happiness (the girl with the liquid brown eyes. In her story, her main character is ultimately reunited with her family. She joins a baseball team.)
Stories reflect the heartbeat of the universe. All of us pulse to this universal rhythm. The more integrated the hero’s journey in our psyches, the more satisfying the act of writing and the more meaningful life becomes.
The paradigm of endings causing new beginnings causing discomfort that builds to a crisis happens over and over again in stories. Our lives revolve in much the same way on both grand and minute scales.
Open your eyes after a Crisis. Wake up to the deeper meaning of life around you. Let go of attachments. Break free from anxiety. Determine what you really want. Rise up out of depression. Locate opportunities for transformation. Let go of disappointment. Expose your fear to the light.
Shine a light on your life through your writing. Awareness leads to the possibility of transformation.
Dream big.
Write that
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1) Organize
If you haven't already, print out your manuscript. Do NOT read it. Be sure to include a header on every page with your title in caps/name on the upper left and the page # on the upper right.
Don't worry about spell checking or chapter breaks. just make sure the pages are numbered.
Insert in a binder.
[Warning: printing manuscript is a snap compared to hole-punching the pages. However, it's important to have the manuscript stable and in one place.]
Divide the total number of pages in the binder by 4. Stick a post-it note at the 1/4 mark and another one at the 3/4 mark.
Put the binder away, for now.
Gather all your extraneous notes. Divide them into file folders labeled Beginning (1/4), Middle (1/2), End (1/4). Straighten up your desk. Purge everything you can that you accumulated while writing the draft. Put things in order.
You're entering a new phase. Time to cleanse and prepare to step into the next draft.
2) Plot the End
Pull out your index cards or paper or whatever works for you. Keep the Beginning and Middle sections of the Plot Planner you drew earlier. Cut off the End. Using an entire index card turned horizontal for the End this time, draw a line that travels from nearly the bottom edge steeply to nearly the top edge of the index card and then down.
Often in fulfilling either/both assignments, writers find disaster hits. Coffee spills on the manuscript or the index card rips. Perhaps, you stub your toe, break the pencil lead, or yell at the dog for tracking muddy paws across your Plot Planner. If this happens, note the resistance.
Accidents are a rebellion against authority.
Ask yourself: to whom have I given my authority?
Perhaps you've given your power over to the belief that this stuff is too hard or that you've always hated getting organized and plotting, that you aren't smart enough to get this, or that your story is no good and who is ever going to want read your work anyway? Or, your story is so great you don't need all this added work. Could be, you're racing to get the assignment completed because there are so many other things to get done.
You have the choice to buck up and do the work or grovel in the muck.
I vote that you get back into your body and reclaim your power. The work you are doing is important. You deserve the time it takes to get this right.
Hey, it's the holidays. This is suppose to be fun. You're shaking things up. Doing things differently. Or, like one of the few commenters commented earlier -- it can't hurt. Right?
Your story is amazing. You are amazing. Being an artist takes discipline. You are an artist. You can do this....
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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...