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

5th Annual Plot Writing Month ~~ Day Thirty

5th Annual International Plot Writing Month and 2012 are nearly spent.

5 Steps to complete today:

1) If you don't have one already, create a space devoted to your writing.

2) Organize your space. Purge and cleanse the space of everything but your manuscript and notes. Organize extraneous notes in file folders by chapter or add to your Plot Planner.

3) Hang your Plot Planner for easy viewing. Keep extra sticky notes and a pen nearby.

4) Create your writing schedule for the new year. Take out the 2013 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.

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 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 you'll put yourself and your writing last, which invariably means you'll not get to it.

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

5) If you plan to write during family time, consider creating some sort of signal so family members know you're working and honor your uninterrupted time. Isabel Allende lights a candle and as long as the candle burns her family knows not to bother her. Hang a sign with "office hours" for that day. As long as the sign hangs, no one enter. The more seriously you take your writing time, the more seriously your family and friends honor your writing time, too.

Available Now:
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 1/1/13 and together we'll write our stories from page one and working our way through the prompts all the way to the end.

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

4th Annual Plot Writing Month ~~ Day Thirty-one

Today marks the final day of the 4th Annual International Plot Writing Month also known as PostNaNoPlotPerfection aka PlotWriMo for writers intent on crafting a story that is pleasing to the reader and perhaps on finding a bit of enlightenment along the way.

Thank you for visiting and following along. I'm pleased to hear the information has helped so many of you prepare for your next rewrite and that you're confident and ready to begin writing in the new year.

Tonight after all the festivities of saying goodbye to '11 and greeting '12, before you fall asleep, see yourself tomorrow going through each step of the writing ritual you imagined for yourself during yesterday's assignments. Really see yourself writing, for even longer than the time you scheduled. Ask the "powers that be" to help support your efforts in the morning and to show you in ways that only the great beyond is able to that you have been heard...

If you fell behind on the re"vision" of the overall plot arc of your novel, memoir, screenplay or simply wish to follow along with the International Plot Writing Month anytime of the year you wish, click HERE.

If you wish to deepen your understanding of the Universal Story and learn how it assists you in writing a novel, memoir, screenplay, click HERE.

If you wish to deepen your plot at the scene level, click HERE.

Continue to visit here for inspiration as I unwind from plot consultations and comment on the problems writers confront in their process and offer tips to keep going.

My intention is and always has been to help support writers to keep at the business of writing.

May all your dreams come true next year...

(***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

Keep the Climax in Mind

Three plot consultations with three separate writers, all with similar strengths and the same weakness. Each story has well thought out scenes that draw the reader into the Beginning 1/4 of the project. Each one develops character emotional development through dramatic action in the Middle 1/2. In other words, for these three writers, three quarters of their projects work, at least on a structural plot level.

At the end, these same three projects falter with little or no real Climax to top off the entire work. In each case, the protagonist is reawakened by the Crisis. They are shown struggling to take full ownership of their newly discovered consciousness. This is all good.

What starts as a twinge, in the quick build-up to the Climax, the protagonist more and more recognizes quite painfully each time her actions and speech do not align with her new understanding of herself and the world around her.

Trouble is, in none of the cases does the character show herself fully healing this schism at the Climax.

One writer wrote the Climax as the grandmother in the story dying. In this young adult novel, the protagonist is, necessarily, a young adult person and not the grandmother. The answer presented itself. In the Grandmother dying, the Climax takes on a deeper relevance as the protagonist of this young adult novel is given the opportunity to assist her grandmother's spiritual departure. Such an action demonstrates mastery at the thematic level. That death is looming sends the conflict, tension and suspense higher and the energy of the Universal Story soaring. The clock ticks. The sense of everything coalescing in the final minutes builds.

The Beginning sets up the scene of highest intensity in the story so far ~ the end of the Beginning. This scene shows the shift or reversal outside the character that sends her into the heart of the story world.

The middle sets up the scene of the highest intensity in the story so far ~ the Crisis. This scene shows the character’s consciousness of the shift or reversal inside her.

The End sets up the crowning glory of the entire story ~ the Climax. This scene shows the character fully united with her new self-knowledge, new understanding of the world, new sense of responsibility through her actions and her words.

The Climax is the crowning glory of the entire book. Once you write that most important scene all the other pieces begin to fall into place.

For more support, read Chapter 11 of:

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

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

Backstory versus Front Story

Watch your delivery of backstory ~ the story of what, in the past, made the character who they are today (in story time). 

Writers want to cram everything right up front. 

"I know all their history, why would I want to withhold it from the reader?" 
"I wrote it that way." 
"It's the good part." 

Writers spend lots of time imagining and writing every little detail about a character's past, be it for a child or an adult. So, of course, writers would want to tell everything right away. Perhaps, in the process, even show off a bit how clever they are. Until, one understands how curiosity works. 

Not telling everything makes the reader curious. Curiosity draws the reader deeper into the story world. The reader wants to fill in the "who," "what," "how" (the "where" and "when" have already been clearly established right up front to ground the reader). They keep reading. This is good.

Tell the reader only what they need to know to inform that particular scene. This is especially true in the Beginning (1/4 mark). During the first quarter of the project, the character can have a memory. But, for a full-blown flashback, where you take the reader back in time in scene, wait until the Middle. 

(PLOT TIP: If you're absolutely sure you absolutely have to include the flashback, try using one when you're bogged down in the middle of the middle.)

Click on green highlighted plot concepts for further explanations via video. Each time a concept is referenced you are directed to new information 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. Enjoy!

Order The Plot Whisperer: Secrets of the Universal Story Structure Any Writer Can Master NOW and receive it in time to pre-plot for NaNoWriMo in November!

Step Away from all the Words of Your Novel, Memoir, Screenplay

A writer says her story "tanks around page 25" and bores her even to try to rewrite.

I recommend she spend some time standing back from the words of her story and view the inner workings. In other words, analyze the structure before you worry too much about the details and even the words you write. 

A Plot Planner is a visual line that represents the invisible energy of the Universal Story. It enables you to assess the significance of your characters and the dramatic action of your story by seeing how all the scenes work together against the backdrop of the entire piece. Such a multilayered attentiveness to your story allows for a unique perspective into the deeper meaning of your story.

A plot planner gives a visual accounting of all the scenes in a story. It helps you compare scenes that heighten conflict and suspense to those quieter scenes that show the character in control. Each scene delivers more tension and conflict than the preceding scene and builds with intensity to the story’s climax. Standing back from all the words and viewing the story as a whole allows you to better determine the causality between scenes and the overall coherence of the story. With such an insight, you are able to turn scenes with emotionally rich characters who are experiencing conflict into the driving force behind an exceptional story.

The plot planner is a visual aid to help you write and finish your project in a way that pleases you and ultimately satisfies your readers, too.

Writers report that when they hit a rough patch and lose energy for their stories, merely a switch from writing to filling in a template stimulates their creative juices. Before writers know it, they are back to writing.

The Plot Whisperer: Secrets of the Universal Story Structure Any Writer Can Master released by Adams Media October 2011. NOW available now for pre-order!

For immediate tips 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. Enjoy!

Depicting Character Emotion

To depict character emotion beyond the cliches -- slamming things down and shouting when angry, dancing and singing when joyful -- takes having felt the emotion yourself as a writer or the intuitive ability to detect the subtle exaggeration of common external behaviors that signal deeper emotion.

We are not always encouraged to acknowledge our true emotions -- especially so, women, or so I wonder. Women of a certain generation, mine, were taught to be the peacemakers at all cost, to sweep the raw, edgy emotions out of sight of others which also became more comfortable for ourselves, too.

No wonder many of us have difficulty showing authentic human emotions in our characters in true and fresh ways. 

Subsequent generations have been encouraged to explore feelings and express them more honestly. I wonder if that is true and makes it any easier to conjure up unique shows of emotion??

The little notebook and pencil you carry with you everywhere comes in handy to record people's show of emotion -- both authentic and inauthentic emotions.  

(NOTE: Steps #7 in the Plot Series: How Do I Plot a Novel, Memoir, Screenplay?

should be up later today)

5 Benefits of Writing a Truly Awful, Lousy 1st Draft

1) Rather than stop and start over again and again, when you allow yourself to write a truly awful, lousy first draft from beginning to end, you actually finish a draft all the way through.

2) Until you write the end, you do not have a clear grasp of what comes earlier.

3) You accomplish what you set out to do.

4) Once you have a skeleton in place, a writer is able to stand back and "see" her story in an entirely new light

5) One of the greatest benefits of writing a truly awful, lousy 1st draft is that it's all up from there...

For more on the benefits of writing a truly awful, completely lousy 1st draft:

The End Is the Beginning

Writer Self-Sabotage

First Draft Twitters

First Draft versus Rewrites

First Draft Blues

First Draft Twitters

In my Twitter today I chose the wrong words.

To be sure there is absolutely no confusion = when I say "Keep going back to the key scenes", I do NOT mean go back to rewrite the key scenes. NEVER GO BACK AND REWRITE YOUR FIRST DRAFT UNTIL YOU WRITE ALL THE WAY THROUGH TO THE END. (I apologize for the caps -- my zeal to make my point sort of looks like I'm yelling. Not my intention. I apologize.)

What I meant to Twitter (or is it Tweet??), is that as you make your way through your first draft keep referring to the key scenes. Create a pre-plot visual with the loose ideas you have for the end of the Beginning scene (1/4 mark), the halfway point scene (1/2 mark), the Crisis scene (3/4 mark), the Climax scene (chapter or scene before the last one).

A pre-plotted visual aid like a Plot Planner can serve as your beacon. Put the visual up on your computer so you see it at all times.

Things will get choppy. If not before, then for sure somewhere in the middle of the Middle (1/2). Listen for the fog horn when overtaken by gloom and doom. Hug the coast and keep your eye on the light when the storms hit. You can survive this, I promise.

First draft is the generative draft. There is something truly magical about watching the words fill a page, a scene, a chapter, the book = watching something come out of nothing but a hit of inspiration.

We muck it up by trying to control the uncontrollable.

The first draft is often filled with angst and uncertainty, loneliness and insecurity. It doesn't have to be. Keep your head down and keep faith in yourself and the creative process, and keep writing.

When doubts send you sprialing off track, keep coming back to the key scenes. Write your way toward them one by one. Your job now is to get the inspiration down on paper. There will be plenty of time for fear and doubt later. Wait until you read the first draft for the first time. Moments of brilliance drown in the "vomit". Uncertainty and angst are sure to strike again.

About the loneliness, heck, a writer's life is lonely, but only so long as we look outside ourselves and beyond the inspiration for validation.

One thing I can promise you if you sign up for this writers life for real... Your life will be fraught with uncertainty and angst so long as you attach yourself to the process. Separate yourself / your ego from your task and you'll be fine. Trust the process. Magic happens.