Cause and Effect
Using the master Plot Planner you created on
Day Twenty-Five, now draw a line from one scene to the next when they are linked by cause and effect. In other words, if the action in one scene causes the action in the next scene, draw a line to connect the two of them. Continue that way through every scene.
Where one scene does not cause the action in the next, do not connect the two scenes with a line. Leave them blank.
Three days left and counting...
Welcome to Day Eleven.
In order to achieve the best results from this 2nd Annual International Plot Writing Month, I advise scrolling down to Day One and working your way back to today. As I have explained earlier, this month is completely different in tone and approach to the process you recently used to complete your project's first draft.
Now, rather than give into the mysterious and mystical process of allowing a story to develop, this month is devoted to a more methodical analyzation of the ideas and scenes you have already processed. Whereas the first draft often relies heavily on faith and patience, this month, we ask you to take what you have created and revise it into a form that is satisfying to a reader.
The magic that came in draft one is for you the writer. What comes in subsequent drafts is for the reader.
As for Day Eleven, I am undecided what to cover next: the Beginning (1/4) or the Middle (1/2)?
While I wait for inspiration, I will summarize what we have covered thus far.
Check off what you've accomplished:
1) Managed NOT to read your manuscript --
Day One2) Filled out a Character Plot Profile for your protagonist and major secondary characters and antagonist, if a person --
Day One3) Printed a hard copy of your manuscript and insert in a binder --
Day Two4) Made a list of scenes you remember in your story -- either as plot points or just a list of the events themselves --
Day Three5) Listed themes touched on in your story --
Day Four6) Plotted the major 3 - 7 scenes/event on a Plot Planner --
Day Five7) Considered how the major scenes/events are linked together through Character Emotional Development and Dramatic Action and Thematic Significance --
Today marks the final day of International Plot Writing Month. Thank you for visiting and following along. I'm pleased to know the information has helped so many of you prepare for your next rewrite and that you're confident and ready to begin writing tomorrow.
On this last day:
1) If you don't have one already, create a space devoted for your writing.
2) Organize your space. Purge and cleanse the space of everything but your manuscript and notes.
3) Hang your Plot Planner for easy viewing from where you'll do your daily writing.
4) Create a writing ritual for yourself. For instance, every morning at 4:30AM before I begin writing, I make myself a cup of green tea and drink a glass of water. From having done the same ritual everyday for so many years, my body knows immediately up I'm up to and responds in kind.
5) If you're going to write during family time, consider creating some sort of signal so your family members know you're working and honor your time by not interrupting. Isabel Allende lights a candle and as long as the candle burns her family knows not to bother her. A dear friend hangs a sign indicating her "office hours" that day. So long as it's hanging on her writing studio door, her husband knows not to enter. The more seriously you take your writing time, the more seriously your family and friends will honor your writing time, too.
6) Tonight after all the festivities of saying goodbye to '08 and greeting '09, before you fall asleep, see yourself tomorrow going through each step of your ritual and really see yourself writing, for even longer than the length of time you scheduled. Ask the "powers that be" to help support your efforts in the morning and to show you in ways that only the great beyond is able to that you have been heard...
7) Great good luck!!
I hope you'll continue to visit here for inspiration as I unwind from plot consultations and comment on the problems other writers confront in their process and offer tips to keep going.
My intention is and always has been to help support writers to keep at the business of writing.
Cause and Effect
I like that emphasis that re-vision is creating a new vision for where our work goes. Hard work, but exciting too.
Thank you for guiding us through the re-thinking process, Martha! Great idea to post this list with links to all the daily assignments. It would be nice to have something like this for the grand finale as well!