The Middle
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.
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.
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.
If 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.....
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.)
- Scene, moment, conflict, dilemma, loss, fear, etc. that forces protagonist to take immediate action -- Inciting Incident
- Scene or event that symbolizes the end of what was. The protagonist's goal shifts or takes on greater meaning and turns the story in a new direction, launching the character into the actual story world itself -- End of the Beginning (*)
- The moment the protagonist consciously make
The Middle
