If you're joining 4th Annual PlotWriMo for the 1st time, we're entering the analyzation phase.
Time to make a mini-plot planner for your story. Grab a few 3 X 5 white index cards and colored pens, and transfer the themes you jotted down at the top of the index card. In the main body of the card, draw a tiny PP -- tiny because it only has to fit 7 scenes maximum for now.
Using the scenes/events you generated on Day Three, transfer to the index card with the tiny Plot Planner the scenes that best represent the 4 Energetic Markers. Continue exploring the themes as they appear.
By: Martha Alderson, M.A.,
on 12/4/2011
Blog: Plot Whisperer for Writers and Readers
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character development, dramatic action plot, Martha Alderson founder of PlotWriMo PlotWrMo, 4th Annual Plot Writing Month, Add a tagFour days have passed since the end of NaNoWriMo.
In the Native American tradition, mouse medicine focuses on the attention to detail and runs in about 5- to 6-week cycles. NaNoWriMo writers devote fastidious attention to writing at highly concentrated levels. Like the mouse, when we are in the flow of getting the words on paper, we often neglect other areas.
Hawks embody visionary powers and guardianship. I invite you to enter into the realm of expressing a higher vision of your story beyond the word level itself. Stand back. See the bigger picture and allow for new ideas.
Today:
Examples of themes like:
Poverty
Trust
Family
Prejudice
Forgiveness
Carry your lists and a pencil or pen with you everywhere.
I see you standing in line at the post office and the grocery store serenely grateful for the wait because it allows you more time to ponder your story. You wait in parking lines at the mall and in thick traffic with your eyes up and to the left glazed over as inspiration fills you. You unplug from negative thoughts about not getting enough done and plug into your story instead.
Story is all about character transformation.
By: Martha Alderson, M.A.,
on 12/3/2011
Blog: Plot Whisperer for Writers and Readers
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character development, dramatic action plot, Martha Alderson founder of PlotWriMo PlotWrMo, 4th Annual Plot Writing Month, Add a tagIf you are just joining us, welcome! Begin at Day One (you have to scroll down) and work your way here.
Today, make a list in order of all the major scenes or events you wrote (do not go back into the manuscript to locate scenes and/or events. Remember: no reading yet).
That is it for today. We are complying the materials we need for the rest of the month.
By: Martha Alderson, M.A.,
on 12/2/2011
Blog: Plot Whisperer for Writers and Readers
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character development, dramatic action plot, Martha Alderson founder of PlotWriMo PlotWrMo, 4th Annual Plot Writing Month, Add a tagFor those of you NaNoWriMo writers who have not finished the draft of your story, keep writing. I encourage you to reach the end. Having written the Climax helps with the work you do here. While you write, follow the steps. One should not interfere with the other but rather compliment each other. (If you haven't started writing and only have an idea for a story, ignore today's prompt and adapt all future suggestions to fit your needs.)
Today is easy. Print out a hard copy of your manuscript. That's it.
As tempting as it is with the manuscript sitting right there in front of you, remember, no reading. Not yet. Let the story sit. Let yourself unplug from the writing side. You are now entering the analytical side.
For those of you who shudder at the thought of structure and run from the idea of plot, I'd like to share Joseph Campbell's words:
"It is by going down into the abyss that we recover the treasures of life.
Where you stumble, there lies your treasure.
The very cave you are afraid to enter turns out to the the source of what you are looking for. The damned thing in the cave that was so dreaded has become the center."
Plot and structure are the jewels. You'll see. Trust the process.
**If you're just joining us today, please read the last couple of posts to catch up.
By: Martha Alderson, M.A.,
on 11/30/2011
Blog: Plot Whisperer for Writers and Readers
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The Plot Whisperer: Secrets of Story Structure Any Writer Can Master, Martha Alderson founder of PlotWriMo PlotWrMo, 2011 International Plot Writing Month, Add a tagTomorrow begins International Plot Writing Month and you are joyfully invited! Visit the Plot Whisperer blog here everyday beginning Thursday the 1st and throughout December.
By: Martha Alderson, M.A.,
on 11/27/2011
Blog: Plot Whisperer for Writers and Readers
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Plot Book Group for Writers, The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho, Martha Alderson founder of PlotWriMo PlotWrMo, Add a tagHow do you do endings? Do you put forth effort all the way to the very end? Do you give up before you reach the end? Do you throw something together just to have an end? Do you push yourself even harder to finish with a flourish? Do you stay in the moment of writing your story all the way to the end?
1) Check out Chapter 11 of:
2) Watch:
By: Martha Alderson, M.A.,
on 11/21/2011
Blog: Plot Whisperer for Writers and Readers
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screenplay, how do I write a novel memoir screenplay? Universal Story, Martha Alderson founder of PlotWriMo PlotWrMo, crisis scene in a novel, Memoir, Add a tagI'm trying something new today -- embedding the new video in the Plot Book Group Series in this blog post. It's a first for me. We'll see how it works.
1) Check out Chapter 10 of: The Plot Whisperer: Secrets of Story Structure Any Writer Can Master (Available as a Kindle edition)
2) Watch:
For more about writing the Middle of your novel, memoir, screenplay:
For more about the Universal Story and writing a novel, memoir or screenplay, visit Plot Series: How Do I Plot a Novel, Memoir, Screenplay? on YouTube. A directory of all the steps to the series is to the right of this post.
For more tips about how to use plot and the Universal Story in your novel, memoir or screenplay, visit:
By: Martha Alderson, M.A.,
on 11/6/2011
Blog: Plot Whisperer for Writers and Readers
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Plot Book Group for Writers, The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho, Martha Alderson founder of PlotWriMo PlotWrMo, Add a tagIf you are participating in NaNoWriMo, this blog post is of special interest to you because it falls on the day you need to be writing the End of the Beginning scene in your story to stay on schedule and complete your entire novel, memoir, screenplay by the last day of November. (To learn how to pre-plot your writing time and ensure you end the month of November with a solid beginning, middle and end to your story. To read more...)
Last week -- 1G you are asked to: Insert on your story's Plot Planner a post-it note that represents the Climax of your story.
1) Check out Chapter 8 of:
2) Watch:
new posts in all blogs
By: Martha Alderson, M.A.,
on 12/5/2011
Blog: Plot Whisperer for Writers and Readers (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
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By: Martha Alderson, M.A.,
on 12/5/2011
Blog: Plot Whisperer for Writers and Readers (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
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Wait... before you click away, I admit what we're doing here is not very romantic, especially if you've just emerged from under the spell of creating a new story. Still, what you do here for this month, rather than strip away, actually strengthens and builds your story's vital essence and clears a path for a dynamic rewrite.
PlotWriMo works best if you start at the beginning. Scroll down to Day One and work your way back.
If you've followed my blog or the plot series on Youtube or read my new plot book,
you are familiar with the idea of the Universal Story. 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.
A Plot Planner replicates the rhythm of the Universal Story.
4 Comments on 4th Annual Plot Writing Month -- Day Five, last added: 12/8/2011
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You begin to wind down. Words subside. Your body return to rest. (I had a comment from a writer last year who had a tough time getting back to her regular writing routine in January after stopping for this month of reflection. If that is you and you want to continue writing, terrific! Start something new. Go back to something old. Just let the words of this current work-in-progress go... for now.)
1 Comments on 4th Annual Plot Writing Month -- Day Four, last added: 12/5/2011
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2 Comments on 4th Annual Plot Writing Month -- Day Three, last added: 12/3/2011
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For those of you who have recently resurrected an old manuscript to re"vision", don't reread your old work... not yet, anyway. When needed to complete the exercises, rely on your memory.
To familiarize yourself with the Universal Story and the basic plot terms we'll be using throughout December:
1) Watch the Plot Series: How Do I Plot a Novel, Memoir, Screenplay? on YouTube. A directory of all the steps to the series is to the right of this post. 27-step tutorial on Youtube
2) Read The Plot Whisperer: Secrets of Story Structure Any Writer Can Master (Now also sold as a Kindle edition)
3 Watch the Monday Morning Plot Book Group Series on YouTube. A directory the book examples and plot elements discussed is to the left of this post.
For additional tips and information about the Universal Story an
1 Comments on 4th Annual Plot Writing Month -- Day Two, last added: 12/2/2011
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PlotWriMo, also affectionally known as PostNaNoPlotPerfection, came about three years thanks to friend and short story writer Mary Eastham who had successfully completed NaNoWriMo and was left with -- what do I do now?
Every December for the past three years the Plot Whisperer blog has been dedicated to answering that question for NaNoWriMo writers everywhere.
This year is a bit different.
Feedback from writers about the The Plot Whisperer: Secrets of Story Structure Any Writer Can Master has inspired me to dedicate 2011 PlotWriMo to women writers everywhere resurrecting her dreams. Seems the book not only guides writers through creating a compelling plot for novels, memoirs and screenplays, the Plot Whisperer book also acts as a catalyst to women who have stopped writing though never forgotten the dream.
I am passionate about women's voices coming to the fore. Our left-brained, logical and linear world of today deserves the balance that can only come when paired equally with a right-brained, holistic and intuitive approach. Women hold that key.
While going through the steps during PlotWriMo, remember that most of the major works that have influenced your thinking have come primarily from a patriarchal point of view about women and our roles and expectations. Therefore, dig deep. Think different.
All this likely sounds like challenging work to the very writers I hope to inspire. Many women writers find plot and structure counter-intuitive... until seen through the Universal Story.
I get ahead of myself here.
All that for December...
1 Comments on 2011 PlotWriMo ~~ Think Different, last added: 12/1/2011
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The countdown to the end of NaNoWriMo has started. Soon you'll have to remember your life before nanowrimo but for now, you've still got time to write a lot more words. Every word nearer you write to the end, the better off you'll be next month when we start in on PlotWriMo.
Because of PlotWriMo, there will be no Monday Morning Plot Book Group during December. We will reconvene in January. (NOTE: I did say in today's video that we'd likely make The Secret Garden the January selection. Read the POST for an explanation why we are NOT using The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett... what fails as a climax scene, and why I gave a novel I remember as a favorite when I was a kid a 1-star out of a possible 5 on Goodreads)
November's book selection for Monday Morning Plot Book Group for Writers isFor more support about the Climax scene:The Plot Whisperer: Secrets of Story Structure Any Writer Can Master (Now also sold as a Kindle edition)
The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho.The Alchemist has sold more than 65 million copies in 150 countries and been translated into 60 languages. I use Coelho's story to demonstrate some of the plot techniques from the Universal Story he used so effectively that his novel continues after nearly 30 years as an international bestselling phenomenon.
I chose Coelho's novel because his story inspires me and had a direct impact on The Plot Whisperer book. Watch how he creates the Climax of his novel.
The Beginning of t
3 Comments on Monday Morning Plot Book Group -- the Climax Scene, last added: 11/29/2011
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For more support about the Crisis and highest point in the entire story so far:
8 Comments on See the Crisis for What it is and Keep Writing, last added: 11/25/2011
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November's book selection for Monday Morning Plot Book Group for Writers isFor more support about the End of the Beginning scene:The Plot Whisperer: Secrets of Story Structure Any Writer Can Master (Now also sold as a Kindle edition)
The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho.The Alchemist has sold more than 65 million copies in 150 countries and been translated into 60 languages. I use Coelho's story to demonstrate some of the plot techniques from the Universal Story he used so effectively that his novel continues after nearly 30 years as an international bestselling phenomenon.
I chose Coelho's novel because his story inspires me and had a direct impact on The Plot Whisperer book.
This week -- 1H, you are asked to: Insert on your story's Plot Planner a post-it note that represents the End of the Beginning scene of your story.
***I am giving away 4 free autographed copies of th
1 Comments on Monday Morning Plot Book Group -- End of the Beginning Scene, last added: 11/9/2011
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Really interesting and nice thanks!
Nice kind story!
hello) very good post! thank you
I'm onboard for the whole month, and it's already paying off: My plot is clearer, I can tell which scenes I need that don't yet exist... Very inspiring! Thanks for creating this structure!
Thank you, Ruth, for your kind words!
Glad you're following along.
fondly,
martha
aka
plot whisperer