4th Annual Plot Writing Month ~~ Day Thirty

4th Annual International Plot Writing Month and 2011 are nearly spent.

6 Steps to complete today:

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 where you do your daily writing.

4) Create your writing schedule for the new year. Take out the 2012 calendar you bought.

Think long and hard about your daily life and obligations, and your personal best and most productive times of the day. Decide how many days a week you are willing to devote to your writing. Add an extra day to that.

Now mark on your calendar the days and time you will devote to your writing. If you have to, wake up an hour early or stay up an hour later than you are used to.

By scheduling in your writing time, you'll be more apt to stick to the schedule. Plus, when friends or family or work request/demand your time, you'll more easily be able to tell them the truth:
I have a pre-arranged appointment at that time. We'll have to come up with another time.

Without the pre-scheduled time, chances are much greater that you'll put yourself and your writing last, which invariably means you'll not get to it.

Don't despair if you find that honoring yourself and your writing time difficult at first. With practice, however, you'll find yourself joyfully committed to your writing time. An added bonus is that when the muse finds you consistently showing up, creativity will more readily be available to you. The habit itself creates miracles and mysteries.

5) 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 what I am up to and responds in kind.

6) 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.

(***Click on the highlighted plot concepts for novel, memoir and screenplay examples and further explanations via video. Each time a concept is referenced you are directed to new information about the Universal Story and plotting a novel, memoir or screenplay.)

To familiarize yourself with the Universal Story and the basic plot terms we use throughout December:

1) Read The Plot Whisperer: Secrets of Story Structure Any Writer Can Master (Now also as a Kindle edition)

2) 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

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 and plotting a novel, memoir or screenplay, visit:
Blockbuster Plots for Writers
Plot Whisperer on Facebook
Plot Whisperer on Twitter