Toughest Part of NaNoWriMo… So Far

You're beginning to falter. Tearing your hair out and your story apart. Looking for reasons to procrastinate rather than write. Sighing often. Telling yourself why bother.

Don't worry. It's not you. You're at the Crisis point in the month-long quest to write a story with a plot from beginning to end. Nearly 3 weeks in makes for the 3/4 mark of the month and as you know, the 3/4 mark of anything, according to the Universal Story is the Dark Night -- a time of breakdown for a possible break through.

You're being tested. Writing is not for the faint-hearted. Go for a walk. Meditate. Chant affirmations. Do whatever you need to keep your energy and spirit high. Slog through this time, knowing you're nearly there.

You've heard about people who give up right before something amazing would have happened. Don't let this be you. Persevere! You can do this.

This is also a time filled with great emotion and the need for courage to keep at your passion. Whether you have gathered together with other writers for NaNoWriMo or are persevering alone, the biggest test this month is staying passionately loyal to your goal and not giving up when challenged.

Today I write!

For plot prompts to move your writing everyday and reach each major turning point: The Plot Whisperer Book of Writing Prompts: Easy Exercises to Get You Writing. To complete write your story in a month, complete 4 prompts everyday. (As one writer proclaims: The PW Book of Prompts is my lighted path…)

For plot help and resources during NaNoWriMo: 

1)  The Plot Whisperer Workbook: Step-by-step Exercises to Help You Create Compelling Stories
2)  The Plot Whisperer: Secrets of Story Structure Any Writer Can Master
3)  The Plot Whisperer Book of Writing Prompts: Easy Exercises to Get You Writing.
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To continue writing and revising (and, lots of writers are finding PlotWriMo the exact right resource to help pre-plot for a powerful first draft. Knowing what to look for in a revision helps create a tighter first draft):

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• PlotWriMo: Revise Your Novel in a Month

 ~~ View your story in an entirely new light. Recharge your energy and enthusiasm for your writing. 8 videos (5.5 hours)+ 30 exercises

The Writer's Way

One of my favorite parts of the The Plot Whisperer: Secrets of Story Structure Any Writer Can Master is The Writer's Way one of two breakout sections.

One section, Plot Whisper offers tips and exercises designed to improve your plotting skills. Think of Plot Whisper as an ally supporting your outer goal of writing a novel, memoir, screenplay.

Keep in mind, that story you wish to write is inside of you personally, in your imagination, your muse, in the air you breath. Wherever you believe the story comes from, for you to achieve your outer goal, that story has to flow through you onto the page. The Writer's Way is designed to expand your understanding of the demands when writing a story with a plot from beginning to end.

The Writer's Way is also a guide for the disclosure I make in the book:

"...After using these ideas, you’ll begin to understand yourself better. You’ll see your writing in a different light. The ways you interact with your writing and with the world around you will shift.

"Be forewarned, though. Writing a story can expand your everyday life; it can also destroy the person you are now."

You undertake your own inner journey when your protagonist embarks on hers.

Whether you emerge from the experience better or worse is your choice. The act of writing offers you the possibility of transformation.

In 2014, I plan to continue sharing my impressions after a plot consultation and Plot Whisper tips and tricks and this year also to include The Writer's Way posts.
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If you'd like more, read my plot books.