Resistance to Maximizing Crisis

Not just sweet SCBWI writers experience resistance to putting their protagonists in true peril. At last Sunday's CWC Blockbuster Plots Intensive, writers of adult fiction and memoirs balked in an effort to prevent loss and trauma, disappointment and rejection, hurt and betrayal from befalling their beloved protagonists. Then today, I heard from a writer of a very successful memoir, wail about the same feelings about her character, too.

Nearly every single one of the 21 writers who opted to pay extra for a 15 minute private plot consultation with me during the retreat weekend showed the same weakness when probed about the Crisis scene. Thanks for the luxury of time spent together, I was able to reinforce the need for a powerful crisis, especially in character-driven stories, along with providing a variety of examples of a crisis in novels, memoirs, screenplays. On the final day, writers confessed to nightmares where the perfect crisis was revealed, while others wore bragging rights to ideas that came when pushed to dig deeper.

One-by-one writers shared an added angle or focus they'd come up with for their stories' crisis. One writer in front, shed tears as she described a dramatic loss her protagonist suffers. The writer next to her followed by exclaiming she was going to throw-up. Worried she'd picked up the flu that was going around, she surprised me instead by crying out: "the pig has to die!"

 Wedged between the retreat and the all-day plot intensive was the release party for The Plot Whisperer Book of Writing Prompts: Easy Exercises to Get You Writing. Thanks to the request at the retreat for an example of a prompt, I integrated reading Writing Prompts into the Plot Tips I shared at the bookstore.

At last Saturday's plot workshop, I found that after explaining the nuances of the Energetic Markers, reading the prompts for each turning point gave concrete direction where the writers might find their Crisis and how to develop the scene with more intensity. An added bonus to writing the book to help writers write a story with a plot from beginning to end is in finding how helpful and useful the prompts are as a teaching tool, too.

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

SCBWI Plot Retreat Notes

Today is my mother's 93rd birthday and, as family and friends assemble, I steal this moment, desperate to imprint a lasting record of the love and learning that took place at last weekend's Perfect Your Plot Retreat hosted by SCBWI-Central Coastal California at the Mission in Santa Barbara. Already, the book launch for The Plot Whisperer Book of Writing Prompts: Easy Exercises to Get You Writing has blurred the edges.

Lasting impressions:
The event was unique for a multitude of reasons, mostly created by each individual writer who took part -- the exact right combination.

A personal first was thanks to Alexis O'Neill's wisdom and generosity in making recommended reading  The Plot Whisperer: Secrets of Story Structure Any Writer Can Master and then providing each writer at registration a copy of  The Plot Whisperer Workbook: Step-by-Step Exercises to Help You Create Compelling Stories.

I strive never to forget the pure joy of pushing off from a shared foundation of plot concepts and an acceptance of my point of view into a deeper understanding of plot and structure. Lots of the writers had watched the free tutorial on Plot Whisperer Youtube channel and seemed to feel safe with me and my approach. That most everyone was a SCBWI member, the writers also felt safe with each other.

Everyone was so darned earnest and eager to give the plot concepts and templates a try. Watching writers complete the assigned exercises directly into their new PWWorkbooks was a dream manifest. One writer confessed to not feeling as rebellious as she normally would when presented with such a linear and organized approach because of the consistent reassurance that there are no rules or passing or failing. Simply the attempt of viewing one's story at the plot and structure level alone is enough.

The praise and kindnesses choke me even now and come at a critical time as I open to receive the vision of where I go with my teaching and writing now in Lucky '13.

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

Character Flaw: Fatal?

You decide or rather the protagonist decides whether her flaw is fatal. Perhaps her flaw has already killed off something important to her. She doesn't yet admit that to herself and isn't conscious of her part in her own demise. That's coming much later. For now, simply identifying her flaw itself can be difficult to pin down.

Prompt #8 provides an opportunity to revisit what you may have already started --a Character Emotional Development Profile. On pages 33 and 34 in the PWWorkbook I've dedicated  to this new story, I've stuck a tab for easy reference. Now, out of the scribbles I jotted down when I started the story,  the character begins to emerge. I knew what she loved as she started the story. Only now do I discover a deeper love, the love she had before inflicted with a backstory wound. Same thing happens with her flaw. Earlier, I'd identified an overt, obvious flaw. Only now do I discover the flaw that developed out of her backstory wound. It's become a mantra to her, a belief that runs her life and is out to destroy her. What has your character revealed? So far....

Today is Prompt #9 for me.

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.

If you're following along and wish to comment or ask questions, please use Twitter and be sure to include @plotwhisperer and #pwprompt to catch my attention.

The Plot Whisperer Book of Writing Prompts: Easy Exercises to Get You Writing gives you the inspiration and motivation you need to finish every one of your writing projects. This book guides you through each stage of the writing process, from constructing compelling characters to establishing an unforgettable ending. The book also helps you get into the habit of writing creatively every day, with brand-new imaginative prompts for how to write a novel, memoir, screenplay with a plot. 

Join me here everyday as together we write our stories from page one and through all the prompts to the very end.

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

Conflict, Tension, Suspense and / or Curiosity

You introduced a broad view of the setting of your story in Prompt #2. In response to the first six prompts you created conflict, tension, suspense and / or curiosity in action scene(s) that involve an antagonist and a romance character, no backstory, and shows what the protagonist does when blocked from her short term goal. A bit of mystery draws the reader to want to know what's up. Without revealing answers and keeping the action moving forward now you can ground the story on a deeper and more intimate level in Prompt #7 without slowing down the story or losing the interest of your reader.

Today, I write.

The survey results from Twitter and Facebook are in. The confidence exudes from the many writers who love to write unabashedly and proudly, quietly and fiercely fills me with hope. The admission by other writers that they feel all three about writing feels real and raw and often tortured. 

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

If you're following along and wish to comment or ask questions, please use Twitter and be sure to include @plotwhisperer and #pwprompt to catch my attention.

The Plot Whisperer Book of Writing Prompts: Easy Exercises to Get You Writing gives you the inspiration and motivation you need to finish every one of your writing projects. This book guides you through each stage of the writing process, from constructing compelling characters to establishing an unforgettable ending. The book also helps you get into the habit of writing creatively every day, with brand-new imaginative prompts for how to write a novel, memoir, screenplay with a plot. 

Join me here everyday as together we write our stories from page one and through all the prompts to the very end.

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

Creating Relationship in Stories

Two common queries when a story starts out too slowly and drags.

"When is something going to happen?"
"When do we get to the good part?"

Something happens and the good part are when the protagonist reacts or acts in relationship to another. Prompt #4 begins the protagonist's relationship with conflict. Prompt #5 begins the romance plot. Something happens and the good part start in the story.

Today, I write.

I'm taking a survey on Twitter and Facebook  (my apologies for not opening the comments section here, too. I get too much spam and don't have the time to monitor the responses).

Fiction Writers Survey
Do you:
1) love
2) like
3) hate to write? (not the rest of a writers life editing, submitting, etc. Simply your relationship with your writing)

Knowing what to write where in a story with a plot allows for a lively relationship with your writing. If you falter, wondering what comes next or what to write next in your story, follow the prompts in The Plot Whisperer Book of Writing Prompts: Easy Exercises to Get You Writing for that spot in a story with a plot.

Today, I write.

If you're following along and wish to comment or ask questions, please use Twitter and be sure to include @plotwhisperer and #pwprompt to catch my attention.

The Plot Whisperer Book of Writing Prompts: Easy Exercises to Get You Writing gives you the inspiration and motivation you need to finish every one of your writing projects. This book guides you through each stage of the writing process, from constructing compelling characters to establishing an unforgettable ending. The book also helps you get into the habit of writing creatively every day, with brand-new imaginative prompts for how to write a novel, memoir, screenplay with a plot. 

Join me here everyday as together we write our stories from page one and through all the prompts to the very end.

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

The Joy of Writing a First Draft

My hope in providing you the prompts in The Plot Whisperer Book of Writing Prompts: Easy Exercises to Get You Writing is that you'll have an incentive everyday to write forward without going back. Following one prompt at a time is meant to eliminate the need to run back to the beginning rather than face a blank page and instead to fill that page with words.

The joy of writing a first draft is that you don't have to worry if your scenes are too long or not long enough, if the character is likable, the action compelling. For now, your task is to show up everyday and generate words on the page. This is the generative stage when you're most closely linked to the muse unlike subsequent drafts when the critic and editor come into play. Have fun with this first draft.

You may find that the first 4 prompts all contribute to one scene or perhaps have stimulated your imagination to write three separate scenes. Don't judge what you've done as right or wrong. Don't judge your writing as superficial or cliched. For now, simply write.

Today, I write.

If you're following along and wish to comment or ask questions, please use Twitter and be sure to include @plotwhisperer and #pwprompt to catch my attention.

The Plot Whisperer Book of Writing Prompts: Easy Exercises to Get You Writing gives you the inspiration and motivation you need to finish every one of your writing projects. This book guides you through each stage of the writing process, from constructing compelling characters to establishing an unforgettable ending. The book also helps you get into the habit of writing creatively every day, with brand-new imaginative prompts for how to write a novel, memoir, screenplay with a plot. 

Join me here everyday as together we write our stories from page one and through all the prompts to the very end.

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

The Power of Antagonists

In Prompt #3 of The Plot Whisperer Book of Writing Prompts: Easy Exercises to Get You Writing, you're asked to develop a new character, one that will serve as an antagonist to your protagonist in your novel, memoir, screenplay.

Keep in mind, however, not all stories rely on a person(s) to serve as an antagonist(s). This point is driven home in the memoir Wild by Cheryl Strayed. Nearly every single person Cheryl comes in contact along the Pacific Crest Trail is supportive and friendly and helpful and mostly kind (with the dramatic exception of the 2 hunters she is confronted by). The antagonists Cheryl has to deal with and overcome are the weather and conditions along the trail, her too-small boots, lack of money, overloaded backpack, bears and raccoons, and her own fear as she journey's towards healing. These antagonists of nature and society, her beliefs and circumstances deepen and expand the readers' understanding of the protagonist as she is challenged and forced to deal with her own personal demons. Even without antagonists in the form of other characters, the author is able to infuse the story with excitement, tension, conflict, suspense and curiosity with the use of these other sorts of antagonists.

Or, using another favorite memoir of mine (please do not get the wrong idea that these ideas apply only to memoirs because I am using two memoir examples. they work for all novels and screenplays, too), Shreve Stockton is thwarted by a coyote in the Daily Coyote.

Use whatever you can to trip up the protagonist on her way toward her goal and make them count.

If you're following along and wish to comment or ask questions, please use Twitter and be sure to include @plotwhisperer and #pwprompt to catch my attention.

The Plot Whisperer Book of Writing Prompts: Easy Exercises to Get You Writing gives you the inspiration and motivation you need to finish every one of your writing projects. This book guides you through each stage of the writing process, from constructing compelling characters to establishing an unforgettable ending. The book also helps you get into the habit of writing creatively every day, with brand-new imaginative prompts for how to write a novel, memoir, screenplay with a plot. 

Join me here everyday as together we write our stories from page one and through all the prompts to the very end.

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

Had a Great Start -- Back on Track Tomorrow

Well, now I'm completely flummoxed. Having contracted the flu or some other evil kind of yuk that knocked me under for a few days, I am behind. Behind, not only with my writing but, of course, also with this day-by-day idea of following together with you the plot prompts in The Plot Whisperer Book of Writing Prompts: Easy Exercises to Get You Writing. So, what to do now? If I start up from where I left off at Prompt #2, I'm way behind any of you who were following and have continued on your own.

Oh well, we do what we can.

My plan is to start up again tomorrow with Prompt #3 and hope for the best.

Thank you for your patience and understanding.

See you here tomorrow.

If you're following along and wish to comment or ask questions, please use Twitter and be sure to include @plotwhisperer and #pwprompt to catch my attention.

The Plot Whisperer Book of Writing Prompts: Easy Exercises to Get You Writing gives you the inspiration and motivation you need to finish every one of your writing projects. This book guides you through each stage of the writing process, from constructing compelling characters to establishing an unforgettable ending. The book also helps you get into the habit of writing creatively every day, with brand-new imaginative prompts for how to write a novel, memoir, screenplay with a plot. 

Join me here everyday as together we write our stories from page one and through all the prompts to the very end.

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

Writing Forward without Going Back

Writing Prompt #2 in The Plot Whisperer Book of Writing Prompts: Easy Exercises to Get You Writing allows you to return to what you wrote from Writing Prompt #1. I generally frown upon writers going back over what you've previously written because all too often writers get ensnared in that loop of going back to the beginning rather than forging forward and securing the plot and structure in place.

In this case and in appreciation of the nearly universal urge to read what you've written before moving on, you have this day to deepen the scene from Writing Prompt #1. You'll have further chances -- heck there are 120 prompts in the new book and that many scenes in a book could be a problem so you'll be given other opportunities to build on what you started the day before.

Tips for both PlotWriMo writers turned rewriters and PWPrompt writers how to write the beinnings scenes of your novel, memoir, screenplay, watch the Playlsit: Plot the Beginning

If you're following along and wish to comment or ask questions, please use Twitter and be sure to include @plotwhisperer and #pwprompt to catch my attention.

The Plot Whisperer Book of Writing Prompts: Easy Exercises to Get You Writing gives you the inspiration and motivation you need to finish every one of your writing projects. This book guides you through each stage of the writing process, from constructing compelling characters to establishing an unforgettable ending. The book also helps you get into the habit of writing creatively every day, with brand-new imaginative prompts for how to write a novel, memoir, screenplay with a plot. 

Join me here everyday as together we write our stories from page one and through all the prompts to the very end.

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

2013: Your Year to Write a Story with a Plot

In honor of my new book, The Plot Whisperer Book of Writing Prompts: Easy Exercises to Get You Writing, I invite you to join me in writing a new story, one prompt at a time.

Today is all about beginnings.

"Beginnings form the foundations upon which everything else rests. Beginnings, through fragile, emody great heart and great hope."

Beginnings can also be scary, especially when you step out without much of a pre-plot plan about what you're writing.

Tips for both PlotWriMo writers turned rewriters and PWPrompt writers how to write first scene of your novel, memoir, screenplay, watch: Plot Tip: First Sentence / Paragraph of a Story

If you're following along and wish to comment or ask questions, please use Twitter and be sure to include @plotwhisperer and #pwprompt to catch my attention.

The Plot Whisperer Book of Writing Prompts: Easy Exercises to Get You Writing gives you the inspiration and motivation you need to finish every one of your writing projects. This book guides you through each stage of the writing process, from constructing compelling characters to establishing an unforgettable ending. The book also helps you get into the habit of writing creatively every day, with brand-new imaginative prompts for how to write a novel, memoir, screenplay with a plot. 

Join me here everyday as together we write our stories from page one and through all the prompts to the very end.

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