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05 February 2013

Time Out to Create a Plot Planner

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