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The original The 27-Step Tutorial: How Do I Plot a Novel, Memoir, Screenplay?, viewed over 160,000 times, sprang out my passion for teaching plot, my first book Blockbuster Plots Pure and Simple  and all the workshops and retreats and conferences I've taught.

I was offered a contract to write The Plot Whisperer: Secrets of Story Structure Any Writer Can Master mid-way through filming that series and the tutorial helped shaped that book. As one 5-Star reviewer commented on Amazon: An understanding of the plot development trajectory of classic and award-winning stories reveals an "undeniably consistent pattern - the bones that make up the skeleton of virtually every irresistible tale." 

The reviewer goes on to say: "As a former educator [Alderson] is adept at moving students beyond abstract concept to the tangible and concrete. For me it was like the plotting lightbulb flickered from 15 incandescent watts to 200 halogen. Amazing and totally exhilarating!

Because of the series popularity, I felt you deserved less external distractions and a cleaner presentation.

I'm re-filming the series now. If you'd like to follow along as I film all 27 steps to plotting a novel, memoir, screenplay, I'm offering a beta-membership in mid-January.

COMING SOON!
All Inclusive Special Offer
$9.99 
2015 Plot Whisperer Beta-Membership includes BOTH: 

• 27-Step Tutorial: How Do I Plot a Novel, Memoir, Screenplay Video Program

• The Spiritual Guide for Writers Video Program (NOTE: The same reviewer from above also writes: "Alderson's insight into the "universal story" taught me not only the trajectory of a good plot; it put into perspective the peaks and valleys of my own life." The Spiritual Guide for Writers frames that perspective in its own unique program.)

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For plot help and resources throughout the year:
1) The Plot Whisperer Workbook: Step-by-step Exercises to Help You Create Compelling Stories
2)  The Plot Whisperer: Secrets of Story Structure Any Writer Can Master
3)  The Plot Whisperer Book of Writing Prompts: Easy Exercises to Get You Writing

Click for the New and Improved version PlotWriMo

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When: Starting today and running daily through Friday, Dec. 5th

What: Blog Tour for PlotWriMo: Revise Your Novel in a Month offers tips and ideas for revising your story. Visit new blogs and meet new writers (we'd love you to tweet about your experience on the tour and use the hashtag #PlotWriMo).

Who: All writers interested in or needing help revising your stories, including writers word-drunk from NaNoWriMo.

Where: Today's 2 participating blogs, please visit and comment to enter to win an observation spot in an upcoming Office Hours.

Writing Classes for Kids and Adults
Ink and Angst Writers of Nefarious Plots

Why: Revising a novel, memoir, screenplay can be a daunting prospect. PlotWriMo: Revise Your Novel in a Month offers tried and true methods that have worked for hundreds of writers (for more about PlotWriMo AND "ah ha" moments from writers who have or are currently viewing the video series, click HERE).

For plot help and resources throughout the year: 

1)  The Plot Whisperer Workbook: Step-by-step Exercises to Help You Create Compelling Stories
2)  The Plot Whisperer: Secrets of Story Structure Any Writer Can Master
3)  The Plot Whisperer Book of Writing Prompts: Easy Exercises to Get You Writing.
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For as little as $10 a month, watch the videos as often as you wish for an entire year (and, lots of writers are finding PlotWriMo the exact right resource to help pre-plot for a powerful first draft. Knowing what to look for in a revision helps create a tighter first draft):

•  
• PlotWriMo: Revise Your Novel in a Month

 ~~ View your story in an entirely new light. Recharge your energy and enthusiasm for your writing. 8 videos (5.5 hours)+ 30 exercises

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BY DREW TURNEY

Author Joe Hill worked as a writer for nearly a decade before revealing his relationship to legendary horror author Stephen King. (For the uninitiated, Hill is King’s son.) Hill has stated that he wanted to prove himself on his own terms, and so chose to work under a semi-pseudonym. His three novels—Heart-Shaped Box, Horns and NOS4A2 (pronounced Nosferatu)—are all bestsellers, and his collection of short fiction, 20th Century Ghosts, won the Bram Stoker Award for Best Fiction Collection in 2005. And now his novel Horns is a movie starring Daniel Radcliffe, and his latest release is his bestselling book yet.

Here, Hill talks about his family, his writing, and what it’s like to step back and let someone make a film from your book.

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Are you ready to write an engrossing thriller that readers can’t put down? In this series, bestselling authors share their firsthand experience and techniques both in writing thrillers and in getting their careers established. Get the inside scoop on the changing publishing industry, explore strategies for portraying point of view and pacing your story appropriately, examine the ins and outs of writing villainous characters, authenticating your story with psychological details and using forensic evidence. With help from these experienced authors, you’ll be ready to create edge-of-your-seat suspense and complete a thriller novel that agents can’t resist.

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DT: How involved were you with writing the screenplay for Horns?
JH: I spent about three years writing Horns, and after that length of time I was ready to be done with it. Mandalay optioned it and wanted to make a film, and they asked if I had any interest in writing the script. I said ‘Not really,’ so they passed it onto Keith Bunin, who did a wonderful, wonderful job.

In terms of my contributions, we had a lot of great conversations when Keith was working on the script including Keith and I, Cathy Schulman who is a producer at Mandalay, and Adam Stone who’s also a producer on the film. And eventually Alexandre Aja when he came onboard.

We had lively arguments and broke the story down a dozen times and built it back up. It was a lot of fun. When Alex actually began filming, I viewed my role as to not get under foot and not to create trouble so I showed up on set for a couple of days to goof off and watch what people were doing and then I made myself scarce again. I came back in on the end to talk about editing, as they put the film together and I had some suggestions and some ideas. But at the end of the day, I felt like the film could only work if it was Alexandra Aja’s version of the story.

I told my version; it was time for him to tell his. I hoped that he would be true to the spirit of the characters and he was. Daniel Radcliffe and Juno Temple made sure of that. But beyond that I wanted Alex to feel free to have fun and to make a movie that lived on the screen, not something that was trying so hard to be faithful it just kind of plods along. I think he found a nice balance.

You know the thing about the film and about Alexandre Aja, he has a very light touch. And I know that’s a strange thing to say about the guy who directed The Hills Have Eyes, but he does have a very light touch. The film has this kind of lush romanticism to it. You know, I think that Alex has a romantic heart, and that’s sort of wonderful. It comes through in the film even in the most painful scenes.

DT: Do you have the distance yourself from it to some extent because it’s someone else’s baby?
JH: Yes, this is why I didn’t write the screenplay, too. I have written screenplays and I have fun doing that but I’ve never tried to adapt my own work. I don’t think I’d be a good collaborator if I were the screenwriter of something I spent three or four or five years writing as a novel because after I’ve spent three or four years meditating on a set of characters and on the situation, I’ve really got to have it my way. I just don’t think I could be flexible. I don’t think I could adapt.

I can do that if that’s my starting point. I wrote a pilot for a TV show called “Dark Side,” which is a reboot of an 80s TV show, “Tales from the Dark Side.” My version’s pretty different. But I had no trouble taking notes and collaborating and working with the network on that. It was fun and exciting. And I liked the challenge—if something’s not working, coming up with a fresh set of ideas. But there my starting point was the screenplay; however, with Horns I [had] just spent so much time with those characters and situations. Best to stay out of the way in a situation like that.

DT: Is it tricky to keep that distance?
JH: Yeah, it is. I always feel uncomfortable saying this. I was in so much pain when I wrote it. And you always find people like that annoying, right? Because it’s like they sound so self-important, so full of themselves and so full of their own sense of drama, you just want to smack them up the side of the head. But I kind of understand. I was in a really bad place mentally when I wrote Horns.

It’s a really unhappy and paranoid book by a really unhappy and paranoid man. That’s not to say I’m not very proud of the book—I think it’s a lot of fun, I think readers enjoy it. But I have a hard time revisiting it. And so for me, it’s actually easier to enjoy it as a film than it is to enjoy it as a book. I just don’t like thinking about where I was mentally when I wrote the story. … But it all turned out okay at the end.

My first novel was Heart-Shaped Box and it was a tremendous success. And I know it’s a cliché, but fell into that second-book trap and at one point I had 400 pages of a novel called The Surrealist Glass and every scene was terrible. Everything about it was bad. I was 50 pages from the ending and I threw the whole thing away. I just couldn’t stand it and I remember thinking, Forget it, I’m done. If there’s never another book, there’s never another book. I don’t want to be a guy who wrote a crappy book just to have a follow up. I’d rather just be a one-book writer. 

And so I stopped the writing for a little while. And then at some point after I stopped writing, the mental fist came unclenched. I started thinking about what I needed to make a story work. I decided that what I needed was the devil. Stories always come to life when the devil walks on stage, a character to tempt people into sin and to reveal secrets and that was sort of the starting point of Horns.

DT: Were you afraid that the rich inner lives of your characters wouldn’t translate to the screen?
JH: Well, it is hard, but that’s the challenge—that’s an actor’s challenge. One of the things I’ve said over and over again is that, in the course of the story, Perrish (the hero) covers this enormous emotional terrain. He experiences grief and loss and rage and madness and delirious joy. He goes from innocence to experience, and a lot of that is internal. Daniel Radcliffe was able to bring all those emotions to the screen and make it look easy, make it look effortless. I always think that whenever you see an artist do something that’s difficult and make it look easy, you’re seeing someone who’s worked incredibly hard. I do think that Dan is a really remarkable young actor, and with every role he shows more range and an almost athletic range of skills. We were just so lucky that he wanted to play the part.

DT: So do you have any plans or action on movies of any of your other books?
JH: Some good things have happened with a short story called “Best New Horror.” Some interesting things have happened with my novel NOS4A2 that I’m not allowed to talk about yet, but they’re sort of trucking along in an interesting way. Universal is waist-deep in the preliminary work on adapting Locke & Key as a film trilogy. My understanding is they have a pretty big chunk of the script that they’re all really happy with. My tendency is not to say too much about any possible film or TV stuff until the cameras are actually rolling because until then I don’t really believe in it.

DT: Have you ever thought about acting?
JH: Well, I’m a former child actor. I was in Creepshow. I was the little kid with the voodoo doll. My feeling is that that particular performance was gold, and so perfect that there’s really no reason to return.

I explored everything there is to explore in the field of acting with that film and there’s no reason to tarnish the greatness of that initial performance with another role. I view myself as very much like Daniel Day-Lewis, you know—years and years between parts. Daniel Day-Lewis and I are almost exactly the same guy.

DT: You definitely showed some incredible range in that role.
JH: I think so. It was right there. Way better, way better than those, way better than those second-rate child actors who worked on Harry Potter. Oh my God, blew that right out of the water!

DT: That Daniel Day-Lewis guy, what’s he got on you really?
JH: Nothing. He’s got longer hair.

DT: You and your father seem happy for the worlds of your books to cross paths a little. So it seems that you don’t want to be too disconnected from his work.
Well, not so much anymore. When I was a younger guy, I was really insecure. I was afraid if I wrote as Joseph King that publishers would publish a lousy work because they saw a chance to make a quick buck in the last name. I was afraid of that. So I decided to write as Joe Hill. I was able to keep it a secret for about a decade.

In the course of that time, I made my mistakes in private—which is where you’re supposed to make them. I worked my craft and learned the things I needed to learn and, eventually, when I did sell my first book of stories, I sold it to a small press in England. I felt like it sold for the right reasons because the publisher didn’t know anything about my dad. He didn’t know anything about my family. He just really liked those stories. Each of the short stories sold individually for the same reason, in little magazines where the editor said ‘This is great, we really like this story. We’d be happy to publish it.’

I desperately needed that encouragement. I needed to feel like I was succeeding on my own merits, not because my dad was someone famous. I’m a little bit more secure now, and in many ways NOS4R2 has a lot of joking references to Stephen King novels in it. In some ways, NOS4R2 is a book about Stephen King novels. It is a kind of response to my dad’s book It, which I loved as a kid. If you scratch the surface, it’s possible to see that NOS4R2 and It share the same underlying structure.

A brain isn’t very big. It’s just a few pounds of gray matter stuck in a very small living space. You’ve only got so much space to move around in, and so you are stuck writing about the facts of your own life. You may be inventing fiction, but you’re stuck using your own childhood and your own experiences and your own emotional responses to things. So it’s really impossible to have a lifelong career as a novelist and not write stuff that is occasionally reflective on my parents.

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Far off lands set among the stars. Creatures that go thump-bump-crash in the night. Stories you can’t wait to sink your teeth into. With this exclusive collection from Writer’s Digest, you will be on your way to being the next Isaac Asimov, Stephen King or Charlaine Harris.

 

 

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Drew Turney is a filmgoer, movie industry watcher, technology expert and books and publishing reporter with more than ten years experience. He writes about everything from the latest mobile phones to special effects to book reviews to author profiles, and everything in between. Find more at drewturney.com and filmism.net.

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Every writer I know, it seems, is either preparing now to write a fast draft during NaNoWriMo, has a jump-start on November by speed-writing now to finish by the end of the year or has given up.

With novels anywhere from 50,000 (slight) to over 100,000 words, writing a fast draft gets you to the end faster. Problem at that point is knowing you're not finished -- not by a long-shot.

One of the biggest shocks for novelists just starting out is the realization they may have to write more than one draft -- several even. You get the end of draft 1 euphoric, only to understand how much work is still left to be done. You want it to be over. You want your story perfect in the next rewrite. You even work through all 30 exercises and 5.5 hours of video instruction during PlotWriMo, revision your entire story, only to rewrite again. And perhaps again and again.

Begin now by accepting that the fast draft you write now, you may have to rewrite all those thousands of words again later. Then put your head down and get to writing. Finish by the end of the year.

Writing a fast draft demands consistent and powerful writing.

Consistent writing is a tough one to achieve for writers who insist they can only write when they’re inspired to write. Consistent writing means showing up  to write whether you're inspired or dull, frightened or brave, energetic or lazy. You show up and write anyway.

A consistent writing regime is helpful, especially so writing a fast draft. A tight deadline of a month facilitates fast writing -- no time for procrastination, no time to wait for inspiration. Every spare moment must be devoted to writing or pre-plotting to succeed at completing a fast draft in a month.

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When thinking / pre-plotting your story for NaNoWriMo, keep in mind that the middle is more than an exotic world of the antagonists and to create conflicts and challenges for the protagonist. Yes, the dilemmas and setbacks she endures in the middle provide drama and page-turnability.

The struggles to survive and go forward also hold the gifts of new skills and abilities that will serve her well at the climax as she begins to adapt her thinking to the demands of her new reality.

In resisting the changes required of her in the middle to succeed, she struggles. After the crisis / dark night around the 3/4 mark of the story, she becomes conscious of all that has come before. In that new light, she understands the strength and courage she's gained in her suffering and the freedom afforded her.

That way, in the middle of next month, when you're floundering for depth in your writing, you'll find these notes for scene expansion opportunities. And, by the end of the month, when you're exhausted and spent, you'll have scene ideas how best to show the integration of these new skills and beliefs.

For more tips and tricks to pre-plotting and writing a novel in a month, check out my Plot Whisperer books: 
1)  The Plot Whisperer Workbook: Step-by-step Exercises to Help You Create Compelling Stories
2)  The Plot Whisperer: Secrets of Story Structure Any Writer Can Master
3)  The Plot Whisperer Book of Writing Prompts: Easy Exercises to Get You Writing.

Today I write! Rather, today I pre-plot for NaNo!
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To continue writing and revising:

• PlotWriMo: Revise Your Novel in a Month ~~ View your story in an entirely new light. Recharge your energy and enthusiasm for your writing. 8 videos (5.5 hours)+ 30 exercises
• How to Write a Sell a Picture Book with a Plot ~~ Picture books are without subplots allowing the primary plot lines to shine through. 7 videos + 28 exercises
 

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I talk about the Middle of a novel, memoir, screenplay as an exotic world ruled by the antagonists. Both an exotic world and antagonists provide lots of scene opportunities while also creating and building rising tension, suspense, excitement and curiosity to replicate the energy of the Universal Story and keep the reader engaged.

A couple of years ago, based on novels, memoirs and screenplays I've deconstructed, I posted the following 8 tips how to keep the story moving forward and create page-turnability throughout the middle of your story.

1) call in the antagonists
2) create an exotic world
3) begin middle with overarching conflict or suspense plot point
4) ask yourself: because that happens, what happens next?
5) add a great subplot(s)
6) know the crisis
7) know the climax
8) begin filling in and deepening character flaw

Many of these tips rely on tension to create an energetic forward momentum.

Then, I delighted in watching Chef, a comedy-drama film written, produced and directed by Jon Favreau, create the same rising energy of the Universal Story without any or rather with only one antagonist.

The music, the pacing, the crowds, the dialogue, the love kept amping up the energy of the middle as effectively albeit more light-heartedly than all the usual negativity created by antagonists interfering with the protagonist's forward movement to her goal.

The overarching dramatic question developed at the beginning of the middle of the film pulls us forward though the external dramatic action in each scene keeps us connected, engaged and enchanted.

For an in-depth resource to all the questions to ask about how to write the middle of your story, refer to The Plot Whisperer Workbook: Step-by-Step Exercises to Help You Create Compelling Stories.

Today I write!

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For pre-plotting ideas and how to write a fast first draft:

1) Re-read the The Plot Whisperer: Secrets of Story Structure Any Writer Can Master book and follow the instructions how to pre-plot your story

3) Complete all the exercises and fill in all the templates (plot planners included) in The Plot Whisperer Workbook: Step-by-Step Exercises to Help You Create Compelling Stories 

4) Forget next month for now and enjoy this month writing or revising what you're currently working on and take with you into next month The Plot Whisperer Book of Writing Prompts: Easy Exercises to Get You Writing for daily prompts to guide you how to write a story with a plot from beginning to end.

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If you simply wish to continue writing and revising and are looking for plot help:
Read my Plot Whisperer books for writers

Watch Plot Video Workshops Series:

• PlotWriMo: Revise Your Novel in a Month ~~ View your story in an entirely new light. Recharge your energy and enthusiasm for your writing. 8 videos (5.5 hours)+ 30 exercises
• How to Write a Sell a Picture Book with a Plot ~~ Picture books are without subplots allowing the primary plot lines to shine through. 7 videos + 28 exercises
 

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When I'm not required to take notes in a Plot Consultation, I often create a mini-Plot Planner for myself to better "see" a writer's story and visually plot and follow along as she recounts scenes.

I cringe when I find the 2nd scene takes place around the dinner table with no conflict, tension, suspense or curiosity and the protagonist in control. Hating to write a scene under the Plot Planner line so early in the story, I celebrate when instead, I'm able to pop that same scene above the line because of what happens toward the end of the action.

The slow dinner scene ends with an object foreshadowed in a prior scene falling and threatening to expose the protagonist's secret, lie, irresponsibility, thus showing the protagonist no longer in control. His fear takes over thus moving this scene from quiet and safe to fraught with tension which earns the scene a place above the Plot Planner line. The short sense of normalcy (how the family interacts provides a glimpse into his backstory) offers us plenty of opportunities to compare who he projects himself when feeling safe and supported versus who he shows himself to be when stressed and uncertain.

Drawing a line by cause and effect, connecting one scene neatly to the next, I find nearly every scene is above the line in the first quarter of her story, proving to me that her promise to her reader is true -- this story is filled with external dramatic action and lots of ensuing chaos and mayhem, a page-turner, on the edge-of-your-seat-with-excitement sort of story, one any middle grade boy would be left clamoring for more.

Test your scenes by placing them one-by-one on a Plot Planner either above or below the line. Stand back and objectively assess the number and placement of slower, quieter scenes in relationship to more tension-filled, exciting scenes.

Today I write.
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For plot help:
Read my Plot Whisperer books for writers

Watch Plot Video Workshops Series:

• PlotWriMo: Revise Your Novel in a Month ~~ View your story in an entirely new light. Recharge your energy and enthusiasm for your writing. 8 videos (5.5 hours)+ 30 exercises
• How to Write a Sell a Picture Book with a Plot ~~ Picture books are without subplots allowing the primary plot lines to shine through. 7 videos + 28 exercises

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Often in real life and news reports, we witness spontaneous and raw emotion. Not something we're privy to much in our everyday lives, having been taught to control our emotions as demonstrated by our show of emotional development and maturity.

Many shy away from bearing witness to some of the most raw and painful shows of emotion -- rage, sorrow, jealousy, aggression, grief. Some judge shows of spontaneous and raw emotion childish / dangerous / uncomfortable. Buck up, we're taught. Everyone feels pain. Grow up. Get over it.

Yet, in those shared moments of emotional truth rather than skimming along on the surface of life, the spontaneous and raw emotion pulls us deeper and connects us primally and universally to all of life.

Convey that universality through the truth of your  character's emotional reaction in such a way as to elicit the shared emotion in your reader and move your audience and you've create fans for life.

Plot Tip:
Feel what you need to feel.

Let your characters feel what they need to feel.

Remove the mask. Feel. Identify what and why and how that feeling shows itself in you and in others. When you're in the throes of true emotion, jot down the physical and emotional and spiritual reactions the emotion draws up in you. With your findings, create your own emotional notebook. Search beyond the cliched emotional reactions to the truth of what you see and feel and hear and touch and taste and know to be true when experiencing real emotion.

Today I write!
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For more: Read my Plot Whisperer and Blockbuster Plots books for writers.
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• Looking for tips to prop up your middle with excitement? 
• Wish you understood how to show don't tell what your character is feeling? 
• Are even you sometimes bored with your own story?
• Long to form your concept into words? 

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A writer asks about what concept to bring forward in the Concept, Logline, Pitch Workshop this weekend (8/9/14). She has several novels in-progress and complete (are our stories ever really complete? The longer we take to finish, the more time we have to grow and change which ultimately servers to deepen and enrich our work).

Her heart's desire speaks of something else entirely.

I explain about Saturday's workshop, you'll have 5 minutes in the morning and 5 minutes in the afternoon. You want to have a concept ready to go (watch the free Video #1 and also helpful is Video #3 in PlotWriMo: Revise Your Novel in a Month video series) so you can spend as much of the time allotted to you listening to Jill's feedback without feeling the need to defend yourself -- simply to listen and absorb what she says. She's really quite amazing at this. 

You'll be listening to so many other pitches that you'll begin to glean the method to creating them. So, I don't think it matters which story you pick as much as really perfecting your concept before pitching it to Jill Saturday.

About choosing which story to pitch, I share a painful learning experience from some pretty nasty reviews on Amazon for the Plot Whisperer: Secrets of Story Structure Any Writer Can Master book. You have to buck up and take it when you write outside the norm. I actually wasn't prepared for some of the more personal attacks and the lesson has been a tough one and very valuable for me to learn.

If we let our fear of exposure limit us and we back down, new ideas can't take flight. If not by you, the story goes unwritten.

A compelling concept elicits from your friends, readers, agents, editors, reviewers, audiences and fans: Tell me more!

Today I write.
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For more: Read my Plot Whisperer and Blockbuster Plots books for writers.

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October 17, 1989, at 5:04:15 p.m. (PDT), the epicenter of a magnitude 6.9 earthquake hit nearly smack in my garden. The doorframe I clutched shifted erratically, the floor beneath me shook, the house creaked and moaned and all water in the little neighborhood pool rose up into the air and broke over the side. As Robert Page, U.S. Geological Survey writes of the event:

"It was a wakeup call to prepare for the potentially even more devastating shocks that are inevitable in the future."

That's sort of like what happens to the protagonist when hit by the Crisis around the three quarter mark of your story. The ground shakes, uncovering all illusions about herself and the world around her, leaving her blinded by the truth of her own insignificance.

What truly defines the protagonist is what she does after the crisis. From one extreme of intense vulnerability to another of shame and discomfort WHILE also knowing she had a part to play in her own demise AND that the crisis is merely a wakeup call to prepare her for the potentially even more devastating shocks that are inevitable in the future.

Her motivation must be strong and meaningful to go forward in the face of such torment. So much easier to get lost in the haze of addictions and self-loathing… oh, that's the human condition. For your protagonist, there is no stopping beyond a spell of reflection, gathering resources and allies and letting go of everything that no longer serves her.

At the point she steps over into the last quarter of the story to gain her true freedom, the End begins. 

Along the way on her ascent to the Climax, quake your story with some of those inevitable and more devastating aftershocks. Entering the End she's wobbly, uncertain, and highly vulnerable. Her emotions are at their peak. The hits give her chances to stretch beyond who she was beforethe crisis, come into mastery or at least a firm grip of all the lessons and knowledge she's gained and prepare her for the Climax where she demonstrates who she is becoming.

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You started 2014 with the best intentions to write / finish your novel, memoir, screenplay. Now you're faltering with serious doubts that all this time and effort is going to "pay off" (add your own personal pay off here). Rather than write, which makes you feel good about yourself and life at large when you do, you beat yourself up instead with words and a tone you'd never sling at anyone other than yourself.

Forget all that.  Instead, dig out that old story you threw in the bottom drawer of your filing cabinet, resuscitate an old story you never quite wrote all the way to the end or simply recommit to the one right in front of you you've been working on all year. Fast write. Finish up the draft you're writing now… in one week.

You can do this -- finish writing your story in a week. Slap words and ideas on the page. Forget perfection. That comes later. For now, all we're looking for is a draft from the beginning all the way through to the end.

Every December for the past six years, I've dedicated the Plot Whisperer blog to helping writers ready for a major revision and for those who simply wish to improve the plot of their stories. I am thrilled about the unveiling of the new and improved PlotWriMo next week. Now, rather than ask you to follow daily exercises to re"vision" and redefine the plot arc, character and meaning of your story, plus story concept and every word perfect during the busiest time of the year, you'll soon be able to revise your story anytime you wish. More about all that later. For now?

Write. Everyday. Not sure what comes next? Write anyway. Feeling so bored by your own story you can't bear the thought of sitting down and writing it? Twist the story in an entirely new direction. Be audacious. Have fun. Write. And finish. All the way to the end.

I'll talk you though this. For now, write.

I cut and paste below a blog post from last year with tips how to write in the zone.

When you’re in the flow of your writing, words and ideas come to you effortlessly. You don’t second-guess yourself. You’re not timid and paranoid about your ability to persevere.

Writing fast encourages writing in the zone. Lose yourself for one week and then you’re free to revision all you've written and shape all those thousands of words into a story your readers will love.

Being in the zone means your ego-driven mind disappears, your mind quiets and your imagination is free to flow onto the page. Your awareness shifts from your fears and worries, your to-do lists and the who-do-I-think-I-am-to-take-all-this-time-to-write-a-story? stories in your mind and your negative beliefs about your writing. No longer in the cramped and squeezed space under a heavy burden, lift yourself up by giving your story your complete and full concentration and attention to finish in one week.

The more challenging your writing, the more energized and focused and emotionally gratified by your writing you become. When you’re in the zone whether for hours or for minutes, the quality and intensity of the writing are at their greatest and you write mostly by feel and intuition and heart.

17 Tips for Slipping into and Staying in the Zone
1) Regular exercise
2) Good diet
3) Plenty of sleep
4) Drink lots of water
5) Establish a daily writing routine
6) Clear this week on your calendar -- no appointments or errands or outside demands (as much as possible)
6) Give yourself a clear and realistic daily writing goal -- push yourself to write longer every day
7) Decide where and when you’ll write daily with a minimum of distractions and interruptions.
7) Every thirty minutes stand up and stretch and breath deeply. Then sit down to write again
8) Give yourself at least a half an hour to get into the flow. Then, if you find your energy slipping switch to writing the next scene (If you’re stumped about what scene to write next, refer to The Plot Whisperer Book of Writing Prompts: Easy Exercises to Get You Writing (all the way to the end).
9) Keep your pre-plot Plot Planner in sight and often refer to the handy guide.
10) Take risks with your writing. Be bold. Stretch yourself in your daily practice and continue studying the craft of writing.
11) Acknowledge when a limiting belief swamps your mind and ask yourself what you are most afraid of. Ask yourself what your writing would be like unconstrained by insecurity, anxiousness and fear Continually and intentionally direct your thoughts back to your writing in a one-pointed focus of attention to the scene in front of you
12) Write regularly to create a writing habit
13) Rather than concentrate on what isn’t working in your story or look too far into the future with the story, direct your attention to what you have just written. Ask yourself, because that happens, what does your character do next?
14) Each day, focus on one or two scenes and up to four scenes only and no further.
15) Write each day with no judgment. Your goal is to get the first draft written.
16) Acknowledge that, as the habit of daily writing solidifies, as the month proceeds the challenges of writing a first draft from beginning to end intensifies.
17) Stay with writing every day until you have achieved your daily word count. Congratulate yourself daily for your productivity.

You know you’re in the zone when time stops and you’re completely immersed in your story with full concentration. 
One week.
Today I write.
  ~~~~~

Take the PLOTWRIMO Pre-Challenge:


 ~~~~~~~~
PLOT WORKSHOPS and RETREATS

A PATH to PUBLISHING
Pre-orders now available for an entirely new support system based on PlotWriMo for writers ready to Revise Your Novel in a Month.
WRITER PATH PLOT and SCENE RETREATS in the heart of the Santa Cruz Mountains. May 30 – June 1 Your story deserves to be told. Your writer’s soul needs to be nourished. Learn to identify and write the key scenes that build a page-turning story, master crucial scene types and go deeper into your plot by applying the three key layers that run through all great fiction: action, emotion and theme. Reserve your spot now for the 1st Annual Writer Path Retreat Spring 2014. WriterPath.com

For more: Read my Plot Whisperer and Blockbuster Plots books for writers.

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Dear Ms. Alderson:

I've been reading your "Blockbuster Plots" and loving it, but I have a question about the plot planner (examples of what Plot Planners and how different writers use the plotting method.). As I understand it, we're to draw the lines for an ideal plot on a piece of banner paper and then we write in our scenes above and below the lines, depending on whether our protagonist is in challenged/in control in the scene or not. So far, so good.

From a diagnostic point of view, though, wouldn't it make more sense if we "graphed" the plot we've actually created (showing the various rises and falls in our plot action and tension), and then compared our graph to the ideal pattern? In other words, when we place our scenes along a line that shows rising action, we may not notice that our our conflicts are not actually escalating as they should.

For example, our own scenes may be too static or may actually decline (God forbid), but we might be fooled by the contrary visual cues of our Plot Planner, with its nicely rising lines. Maybe you discuss this elsewhere, but it seems like a good intermediate step would be for the writer to evaluate each scene for its level of tension or conflict (maybe using a 1-to-10 scale), and then show this on a "graph" (i.e., a plot planner that shows the pattern of our actual scenes, rather than an ideal pattern).

Once we've created this graph, we could then tweak the pattern (by rearranging the order of the scenes, by deleting static scenes or by ramping up the tension in existing scenes) so that our story more nearly matches the ideal plot pattern. I'd love to hear your thoughts on this.

Many thanks again for writing "Blockbuster Plots" and for making all those terrific Youtube videos . 

Your teaching is amazingly clear and helpful!
Sincerely,
Kate
Salt Lake City, Utah

*****Thank you, Kate, for your thoughtful email query. I applaud your understanding of the Plot Planner concept of rising action perfectly! I agree with everything you say and believe you've come up with an excellent suggestion for writers creating a Plot Planner for their own novel, memoir, screenplay.

~~~~~Take the PlotWriMo Pre-Challenge




6) Watch the Monday Morning Plot Book Group Series on YouTube. Scroll down on the right of this post for a directory the book examples and plot elements discussed.

For more tips about how to use plot and the Universal Story in your novel, memoir or screenplay, visit:
Plot Whisperer on Pinterest

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Upon entering the Middle of your novel, memoir, screenplay, if you have a time jump, this is where to make the jump.

The end of the beginning scene you wrote based on Prompt 30 in The Plot Whisperer Book of Writing Prompts: Easy Exercises to Get You Writing moves your protagonist from the relative safety of the beginning into the exotic world the antagonists in the middle.

 In satisfying the reader's expectations for conflict and plot twists early-on in your story, the reader moves forward into the story with trust. The beginning quarter of the story operates as a plot within a plot and ends on a high note of anticipate -- what happens next?

Jumping now in time, creates more curiosity and wonder in the reader as she moves into the great unknown of the middle. Now the story develops around the contrast between the world where the character started and where she is now.

SPECIAL EVENTS:
Book Giveaway: Next week, a couple of awesome websites are hosting a book give-away and party in celebration of The Plot Whisperer Book of Writing Prompts: Easy Exercises to Get You Writing release last month. Stay tuned for more information.

Plot Webinar: Join me virtually on March 6th to Track Your Plot at the Scene Level, webinar hosted by the Writers Store.

Knowing what to write where in a story with a plot allows for a more loving relationship with your writing. Whether writing a first draft or revising, if you falter wondering what comes next in a story with a plot, follow the prompts in The Plot Whisperer Book of Writing Prompts: Easy Exercises to Get You Writing.

Today, I write.

To familiarize yourself with the basic plot terms used here and in the PW Book of Prompts:
1) Watch the plot playlists on the Plot Whisperer Youtube channel.
2) Read The Plot Whisperer: Secrets of Story Structure Any Writer Can Master
3) Fill out the exercises in The Plot Whisperer Workbook: Step-by-Step Exercises to Help You Create Compelling Stories
4) Visit:
Blockbuster Plots for Writers
Plot Whisperer on Facebook
Plot Whisperer on Twitter

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By Prompt 32 in The Plot Whisperer Book of Writing Prompts: Easy Exercises to Get You Writing you are beginning to better understand your story. You also understand how many holes you've created and you often feel like you're floating without a net. By now, you also appreciate the discipline it takes to write a story with a plot from beginning to end.

Now you know or at least are beginning to suspect that the reason you procrastinate about writing has nothing to do with being blocked or not knowing what to write next. The daily prompts in PWBook of Prompts do that for you.

The reason you procrastinate is because you're afraid. You're afraid what you write isn't good enough or clever enough or witty enough. You worry you'll never capture the brilliance you see in your head and translate it to the page and, even if you do, you know it won't be perfect so why bother. Or this, you delight in your own writing and still, you resist, it all seems like such hard work.

Replace your belief in scarcity with the belief that so long as you sit down, read the next prompt, open yourself to inspiration and write your intended daily word count, you have enough, you are enough. You always have been. You always will be... enough.

SPECIAL EVENTS:
Book Giveaway: Next week, a couple of awesome websites are hosting a book give-away and party in celebration of The Plot Whisperer Book of Writing Prompts: Easy Exercises to Get You Writing release last month. Stay tuned for more information.

Plot Webinar: Join me virtually on March 6th to Track Your Plot at the Scene Level, webinar hosted by the Writers Store.

Knowing what to write where in a story with a plot allows for a more loving relationship with your writing. Whether writing a first draft or revising, if you falter wondering what comes next in a story with a plot, follow the prompts in The Plot Whisperer Book of Writing Prompts: Easy Exercises to Get You Writing.

Today, I write.

To familiarize yourself with the basic plot terms used here and in the PW Book of Prompts:
1) Watch the plot playlists on the Plot Whisperer Youtube channel.
2) Read The Plot Whisperer: Secrets of Story Structure Any Writer Can Master
3) Fill out the exercises in The Plot Whisperer Workbook: Step-by-Step Exercises to Help You Create Compelling Stories
4) Visit:
Blockbuster Plots for Writers
Plot Whisperer on Facebook
Plot Whisperer on Twitter

Add a Comment

Prompt 30 in The Plot Whisperer Book of Writing Prompts: Easy Exercises to Get You Writing prompts you develop a scene showing the end of what has been in your novel, memoir, screenplay thus far. Next comes the middle where the real struggle begins.

For some writers, you couldn't get to the end of the beginning scene quickly enough. You followed prompts 1- 6, creating scenes and developing characters and relationships, conflict and dramatic action, setting and theme. Then, about halfway through the beginning section of the prompts book, you found yourself flipping ahead, combining more than one prompt in a scene, skipping prompts and struggling to develop meaningful characters goals and create enough tension and find the exact right secondary characters and becoming more and more impatient to get to the exotic world of the middle.

Other writers found the beginning prompts wondrous places to linger as you introduced things as they are in the story world starting out. The nearer and nearer you came to Prompt 30 and this final beginning scene, the slower you wrote. You took time to research authentic details rather than write, you filled out the exercises in for the beginning section The Plot Whisperer Workbook: Step-by-Step Exercises to Help You Create Compelling Stories.

However you find yourself here, celebrate your achievement. You have written an entire quarter of your story.

Knowing what to write where in a story with a plot allows for a more loving relationship with your writing. Whether writing a first draft or revising, if you falter wondering what comes next in a story with a plot, follow the prompts in The Plot Whisperer Book of Writing Prompts: Easy Exercises to Get You Writing.

Today, I write.

To familiarize yourself with the basic plot terms used here and in the PW Book of Prompts:
1) Watch the plot playlists on the Plot Whisperer Youtube channel.
2) Read The Plot Whisperer: Secrets of Story Structure Any Writer Can Master
3) Fill out the exercises in The Plot Whisperer Workbook: Step-by-Step Exercises to Help You Create Compelling Stories
4) Visit:
Blockbuster Plots for Writers
Plot Whisperer on Facebook
Plot Whisperer on Twitter

Add a Comment

Beginning with Prompt 6 in The Plot Whisperer Book of Writing Prompts: Easy Exercises to Get You Writing, you're asked to plot the scenes you write above or below the line on a Plot Planner for your own individual novel, memoir, screenplay.

In an attempt to write purely from the Writing Prompts and without relying on the visual aide for as long as I could hold out, I kept delaying plotting out my scenes on a Plot Planner. The very rough and messy Plot Planner I'd sketched out when deciding to undertake the challenge to write a novel from beginning to end using the PW Book of Prompts no longer served me -- rather than keeping my mind organized, the rough plot planner confused and cluttered my imagination.

Finally, unable to calm the chaos, I took out time to create a plot planner using the smallest post-it notes to plot out the scenes I'd written from the prompts and added the vague ideas I had for each of the 4 Energetic Markers.

One color for the front story, a different color for the backstory wound, another for the romance plot, one for theme introductions, the Plot Planner quickly turned into a fluttering display of vibrant colors, gave me a sense of order and control, for now.

Today, I write.

Knowing what to write where in a story with a plot allows for a more loving relationship with your writing. Whether writing a first draft or revising, if you falter wondering what comes next in a story with a plot, follow the prompts in The Plot Whisperer Book of Writing Prompts: Easy Exercises to Get You Writing.

To familiarize yourself with the basic plot terms used here and in the PW Book of Prompts:
1) Watch the plot playlists on the Plot Whisperer Youtube channel.
2) Read The Plot Whisperer: Secrets of Story Structure Any Writer Can Master
3) Fill out the exercises in The Plot Whisperer Workbook: Step-by-Step Exercises to Help You Create Compelling Stories
4) Visit:
Blockbuster Plots for Writers
Plot Whisperer on Facebook
Plot Whisperer on Twitter

Add a Comment

The latest video up on the Plot Tips Youtube channel is all about the difference between a crisis in a story and the climax of a story.

I write up a summary here for those of you who have not yet discovered the wonder of youtube.

Crisis and Climax are often confused.

Basically:
1) Crisis
At the Crisis (around the 3/4 mark of a novel, memoir, screenplay), the energy of the story is at its highest so far and the protagonist is at her very worst, both internally and externally.

The crisis forces the protagonist to see herself and her situation in a completely new light. She has been living her live thematically one way. After what happens at the crisis, she must re-evaluate everything.

2) Climax
At the Climax (the chapter or scene before the last one at the very end), the energy is at the very highest of the entire story and the protagonist is at her very best and acting in her true power.

Crisis = disaster (both for the protagonist and the action)
Climax = success

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What's everyone chasing, doing, after? What's all the action about? 

The answers to these questions may feel murky to you, even in the second and third drafts. Every time you stand back from the words and ask yourself these big picture questions, the clearer your story becomes to you. The clearer your story is to you, the more clearly you can convey the story to your readers.

The writer is writing a geo-political thriller from three points of view. Each point-of-view character represents the sensibilities of his/her own country of origin. When the end of the beginning scene explodes from a bomb, the reader is shown the carnage and impressions of the dastardly deed from each point of view, providing individual insight into the three different customs, beliefs, rules and regulations, politics, and reactions based on the influence of each individual country on each character.

Because of this presentation, the nations and politics take on characteristics of actual characters in the story and contributes to the bigger picture coming into view.

Giving input from different points of view allows for a much broader sense of a much bigger picture beyond the moment-by-moment scene and links the scenes beyond the actual setting into the psyche of the world around the characters. This adds a depth and richness to the piece and is, of course, vitally important to this particular writer and her geo-political thriller story.

What's New!
You're invited to the book launch party on 8/28 -- the PWWorkbook coming out party. Bookshop Santa Cruz 7:30p.m.

Blog tour with a mega-book giveaway. Tour the week of August 20th with us and travel to some awesome sites. Juicy plot posts.

Another mega-workbook give-away, using FaceBook and Twitter coming soon. More later...

Plot your story step-by-step with the help of The Plot Whisperer Workbook: Step-by-step Exercises to Help You Create Compelling Stories

More Plot Tips:
1) Read The Plot Whisperer: Secrets of Story Structure Any Writer Can Master

2) Watch the Plot Series: How Do I Plot a Novel, Memoir, Screenplay? on YouTube. Scroll down on the left of this post for a directory of all the steps to the series. 27-step tutorial on Youtube

3) Watch the Monday Morning Plot Book Group Series on YouTube. Scroll down on the right of this post for a directory the book examples and plot elements discussed.

For additional tips and information about the Universal Story and plotting a novel, memoir or screenplay, visit:
Blockbuster Plots for Writers
Plot Whisperer on Facebook
Plot Whisperer on Twitter

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Buy at Amazon

IT’S  NEVER TOO LATE


  A screenplay by Marsha Casper Cook

Noah is miserable.  Noah runs a party planning business called Party Time left to him by his father. His mother, Rosalind Meyers, would do anything and go to any length, even coming to town in bad weather to get him married. After all, his mother believes that’s what will bring him true happiness.
The bright spot in his life is being a part-time coach of a Special Olympics team of pre-teen boys hoping to play basketball like everyone else.  They look to Noah to help them fulfill that.
Noah’s only salvation is the person who understands him most and fixes everything for him is his office administrator and jacqueline of all trades, Annie.
When the school Noah coaches at is threatened with closure, his mother comes to town, and a mysterious man joins the staff at Party Time, Annie begins to manage more than Noah’s personal life.
It’s only a matter of time with  the perfect woman is right there beside Noah that a budding romance takes shape.
Marsha Casper Cook is a talented author and storyteller. Written as a screenplay, It’s Never Too Late is witty, charming and an enjoyable read. You can imagine yourself backstage and watching the performance, seeing the characters come alive. I can’t wait to see is It’s Never Too Late on the ‘big' screen.
~Author J.D. Holiday

Marsha Casper Cook is also the author of six published books and 11 feature-length screenplays. Her screenplay 
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I went to upload the first video in a new Youtube plot series -- Plot Tips -- only to discover 3 videos I had filmed for a different new plot series -- Plot Glossary -- never uploaded and had completely forgotten about.

So... I'm happy to share with you two new plot series for your viewing pleasure.

My plan is to upload a new video for each of the two plot series every Monday.

Next week:

• Plot Tips Series covers Plotting Out Your Writing Time 
• Plot Glossary Series gives the definition of plot

Until then, check out the new plot series.

Plot Tip Series:

• First Sentence / Paragraph of a Novel, Memoir, Screenplay

Plot Glossary Series:

• Forehadowing
• Rough Draft
• Revision versus Rewrite

(NOTE: For those of you who had trouble masking out the background noise in the How Do I Plot a Novel, Memoir, Screenplay Series and Monday Morning Plot Book Group Series, the Plot Tips series has been filmed in a quiet, indoor location. Though the first three videos in the Plot Glossary Series that are up now were filmed outside, from now on that series, too, will also be filmed indoors.)


For additional help and inspiration in turning lackluster plots into irresistible stories:
1) Read The Plot Whisperer: Secrets of Story Structure Any Writer Can Master 

2) Fill in the companion workbook: The Plot Whisperer Workbook: Step-by-step Exercises to Help You Create Compelling Stories

2) Watch the Plot Series: How Do I Plot a Novel, M

0 Comments on Two New Plot Series Up on Vlog as of 1/1/1900

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On our way out from the Desert Rose RWA conference, a writer asks for help with her story. Using the plot planner she created in the workshop, she points to the key scenes in her story, her face filled with joy and confidence in the layout of the dramatic action scenes. Her face turns serious as she expresses concern about her character's likability in the beginning first quarter of the novel. Then she slices the edge of her hand, cutting off the first quarter and looks up beaming as she declares she likes her story from that point on to the end.

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Some writers start out writing a story knowing exactly who and what they are writing about and stay true to that vision from beginning to the end. Others write about one character doing one thing, then switch to another character doing something else, and then switch back to the first character or switch to an entirely new person with different action. Switching viewpoints reveals a multitude of sides to a story. Switching too many times leads to a tangled mess.

A writer works on the same historical novel for 5 years. She writes a completed draft from beginning to end in 3rd person omniscient. The time she takes researching and writing the first draft serves her well; she knows all the angles of her exotic and mysterious world and all the nuances of her major characters.

Unsatisfied with the distance created by the omniscient pov, she undertakes writing the story from beginning to end from the pov of a major male character in the clergy who is a true historic figure. Quickly, the writer knows he is the wrong choice to carry the story. She comes to me when she decided to write the story from the pov of view of the Grand Empress of her story -- a true historical figure.

Thanks to her broad and deep understanding of her story and the time and place in which the story takes place and a firm understanding of the craft of plotting, she plots out the entire story from the new viewpoint character's pov.

As she relates the scenes of the story, the writer struggles to surrender the story to the empress and release or push into the background some of the major elements that developed while writing the first draft and a half.