5th Annual PlotWriMo Contest

For four years I've offered PlotWriMo as my gift to writers everywhere for fearlessly writing stories w/ plots. Let your friends know about to the event where I provide daily revision prompts, taking into consideration the time of year. 

As my thanks to you for spreading the word, I'm awarding:

• The Plot Whisperer Workbook: Step-by-step Exercises to Help You Create Compelling Stories 

or 

• The Plot Whisperer Book of Writing Prompts: Easy Exercises to Get You Writing 

Every week, the writer with the most Tweets & RTs (there's also MT, I believe, though I have no idea what it means) using #plotwrimo and @plotwhisperer that week is awarded your choice of any one of the three plot books in the Plot Whisperer series.

(Note: I just now realize that for an accurate count, you must include @plotwhisperer along with #plotwrimo)

One winner is awarded each of the following weeks:

Saturday, Dec. 1st -- Friday, Dec. 7th 

Saturday, Dec. 8th -- Friday, Dec. 14th 

Saturday, Dec. 15th -- Friday, Dec. 21st 

Saturday, Dec. 22nd -- Friday, Dec. 28th 

Note:
The Plot Whisperer Book of Writing Prompts: Easy Exercises to Get You Writing isn't officially due out until January. However, if the other two plots books in the Plot Whisperer series are any indication, PW Book of Writing Prompts will begin shipping in Dec. If PW Book of Prompts is your choice, you may have to wait for a week or two or so.

Tomorrow begins International Plot Writing Month and you are joyfully invited! Visit the Plot Whisperer blog here everyday beginning the 1st and throughout December.

To familiarize yourself with the Universal Story and the basic plot terms we'll be using throughout December:

Coming Soon! 
The Plot Whisperer Book of Writing Prompts: Easy Exercises to Get You Writing

Available for pre-order now. Ships 12/12.

1) Plot your story step-by-step with the help of

The Plot Whisperer Workbook: Step-by-step Exercises to Help You Create Compelling Stories

2) Read The Plot Whisperer: Secrets of Story Structure Any Writer Can Master

3) 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

4) 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

Benefits of a Plot Planner

With a sheet of banner paper unfurled in front of me, I begin asking questions of a writer with a very successful first book who needs help with her second. Her problem? Not uncommon ~ years and years of working on the first book, layer upon layer, input, changes, rewrites, drafts and drafts, enough to make a writer wonder:

"How did I do it? And how will I ever be able to do it again? Only faster this time?"

Ideas rolling around in her head begin to tumble out.

Characters emerge, flaws and all. Setting is established. Some of the middle of the middle "new world" ideas provide stimulus for scenes. Anatgonists appear. The Crisis comes into view. The Climax is a bit murkier but enough of a promise to get her started.

By the end of a couple of hours, the Plot Planner reveals a linear sequencing of scenes for the writer to write and, with luck, end the Beginning with a bang. Even enough to trot into the MIddle and perhaps to finish a rough, rough first draft, providing she does not fall prey to the monsterous going-back-to-the-beginning syndrome.

The Plot Planner provides form and structure enough to tame chaos and bring meaning to all the ideas rolling around in a writer's head. I'll be curious to learn how far she gets with what we were able to do in a couple of hours.

To learn step-by-step how to build a Plot Planner for your own novel, memoir, screenplay, refer to The Plot Whisperer: Secrets of Story Structure Any Writer Can Master (Also available as a Kindle and Nook edition).

For an idea of what you'll find in the book:

Table of Contents:
Introduction
Chapter One: Sitting Down to Write

Part I: The Outline of the Plot: Starting Is Half the Battle
Chapter Two: The Universal Story
Chapter Three: The Basics of Plotting
Chapter Four: Developing Themes

Part II: Create the Characters and Setting: Who’s Part of This World and Why?
Chapter Five: Who Inhabits the Plot?
Chapter Six: Who Opposes the Protagonist?
Chapter Seven: The Devil’s in the Details

Part II : The Journey
Chapter Eight: Opening the Door
Chapter Nine: The Middle of the Journey
Chapter Ten: Transformation
Chapter Eleven: The Climax
Chapter Twelve Denouement: The End and a New Beginning
Chapter Thirteen: Some Parting Advice
Chapter Fourteen: Some Final Thoughts

P.S. Send me a photo of the Plot Planner you create so I can share it with other writers. (To see a couple of working Plot Planners, go to my Twitter page.)

2011 PlotWriMo ~~ Think Different

Tomorrow begins International Plot Writing Month and you are joyfully invited! Visit the Plot Whisperer blog here everyday beginning Thursday the 1st and throughout December.

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...

See you tomorrow!

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

PlotWriMo: A Gift a Day throughout December

I learned about a family oversight from my niece Shreve Stockton, founder and author of The Daily Coyote. My 91-year-old mother never had her own advent calendar. When I was a kid, she cut and decorated advent boards for my three siblings and me and hung tiny gifts from hooks, one for each day until Christmas. When my sisters grew up and had their own families, they made and decorated advent boards for their children every year but never one for my mom... until this year. The delight in her voice is like a warm hug as she describes the gifts dangling in front of her and tempting her these last couple of days before the big day -- December 1st and start of the fun.

Imagine this blog during December as an advent board I cut and decorated just for you and ladened with an everyday shiny new gift taking you deeper into your story and yourself.

No peeking until the big day -- December 1st and PlotWriMo begins.

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

Monday Morning Plot Book Group -- the Climax Scene

How 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?

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 is

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.

For more support about the Climax scene:
1) Check out Chapter 11 of:

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

2) Watch:

The Beginning of the End

Thematic Significance

Develop the Scene Sequence to Climax

How to Write the Climax

Resolution

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, read: The Plot Whisperer: Secrets of Story Structure Any Writer Can Master
and visit:
Blockbuster Plots for Writers
Plot Whisperer on Facebook (we hope you "like" it)
Plot Whisperer on Twitter

See the Crisis for What it is and Keep Writing

I'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.

(P.S. -- A big reason I'm talking about the Crisis today is because it's that time in November for Nanowrimo writers to be writing the Crisis.

In order to have a solid beginning, middle and end by November's end, write the Crisis today and tomorrow...)

For more support about the Crisis and highest point in the entire story so far:

1) Check out Chapter 10 of: The Plot Whisperer: Secrets of Story Structure Any Writer Can Master (Available as a Kindle edition)

2) Watch:

• How to Write a Crisis scene

For more about writing the Middle of your novel, memoir, screenplay:
• Rediscovered Skills and Knowledge in the MIddle
• Cause and Effect in the Middle (using The Help by Kathryn Stockett)
• Character Emotion and Thematic Significance
• Creating Conflict & Tension in Preparation for Crisis
• Developing Threshold Scene after Crisis

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:
Blockbuster Plots for Writers
Plot Whisperer on Facebook (we hope you "like" it)
Plot Whisperer on Twitter

Monday Morning Plot Book Group -- End of the Beginning Scene

If 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...)

November's book selection for Monday Morning Plot Book Group for Writers is

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.

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.

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.

For more support about the End of the Beginning scene:
1) Check out Chapter 8 of:

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

2) Watch:

Plotting the Beginning
Energy Anatomy of Stories

***I am giving away 4 free autographed copies of the book AND

and a Scene Tracker Kit.

To enter, simply comment on each of fourteen blogs that took part in the mega-blog book tour

and listed on the Master Schedule. As one writer says of the experience: "I feel like I just took in a 2 hour writing workshop in a few minutes."

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, read: The Plot Whisperer: Secrets of Story Structure Any Writer Can Master
and visit:
Blockbuster Plots for Writers
Plot Whisperer on Facebook (we hope you "like" it)
Plot Whisperer on Twitter