A Coming of Age Story or Rediscovering a Lost Skill?

She's confused about how best to begin her middle-grade historical novel.

After  many drafts, she's perfected the plot and structure of her story and seamlessly incorporated a fascinating historical character and event into a contemporary story. Now, as we consider only the first quarter of her story, it becomes clear that the writer has not yet completely determined the depth of who her protagonist truly is.

She tells me the young male protagonist use to be brave and then lost his courage due to the backstory wound inflicted by the sudden death of his father. Yet, as she conveys her scenes to me, it becomes clear that there is confusion between whether he has always been small and scared versus having once been brave and then lost his courage.

As she decides which traits he embodies at the beginning of the story, she then must decide whether those traits will change and develop over the course of the entire story and lead to his ultimate transformation or whether old strengths that have been lost due to his backstory will be rediscovered along the way. This is a subtle yet pivotal difference that affects the tone and emotion of the entire story.

The Halfway Point of Your Novel, Memoir, Screenplay

The second major turning point hits exactly halfway through your story. Something happens to force the protagonist's willing and conscious commitment to the successful completion of her goal.

Throughout all the drama in the middle beams a bright and steady light at the second energetic marker. When the protagonist most wants to run the other way, this is the precise moment for her and for you to forge ahead instead.

 After recommitting to her goal(s) at the halfway point, or for the reluctant hero committing for the first time, the protagonist feels the energy in her life turn and rise in significance. This energetic surge is a warning to the reader. Wake up. Be alert. A crisis is coming.

Writing prompt:
Show your protagonist on a teeter-totter, sliding between the fear of going forward into the unknown and the urge to go back and start again. Faced with the potential of loss and failure, rather than give up, show her reconnect and recommit to her goal, her desire, her dream through the actions she takes.

Personal prompt:
These photos celebrate spring turning to summer as the year approaches the halfway mark. Perfect time to recommit to your writing and plotting goal(s).

For an in-depth resource to all the questions to ask about conflict when writing a novel, memoir, screeplay, refer to  The Plot Whisperer Workbook: Step-by-Step Exercises to Help You Create Compelling Stories.

*****SPECIALS*******

1) Track Your Plot at the Scene Level Webinar
Learn to Maximize the 7 essential plot elements in every scene (one of 7 essential plot elements in every scene is CONFLICT) from the comfort of your own home.

*****

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 inThe 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

How Character Emotional Development Merges with Thematic Significance

A character's belief system directly influences the choices she makes.

The following are three different reactions to the same experience based on three different belief systems or three different character emotional developments. Each example offers its own thematic significance or deeper meaning.

The protagonist is a single mother. With children to feed, she is grateful to be hired on as a night watchman. Once on the job, the woman hears screams and pleads come from the warehouse on the property she is responsible for.

She witnesses the boss zap the workers with a cattle prod. Workers beg for mercy as they are held against their will. The boss instructs the woman to throw the switch to electrical fence if any of the workers try to escape over barbed wire. They will be electrocuted. The boss leaves.

Up until this point, the woman has shown disbelief on her face and discomfort in her body language. Even so, she does as she is told. With the electric fence in play, the character must make a decision when the workers plead for mercy as they try to escape.

3 Different Emotional Development Reflecting 3 Different Meanings to the Story
The workers pleads with her:
1) If the protagonist believes that to keep your job, you do what you are told, no matter how inhumane you believe it is, she throws the switch.

2) If protagonist believes that when someone is down kick him, she not only throws switch, she also kicks the workers as they wither on the ground in panic and pain.

3) If the theme of the story is that there comes a time in everyone’s life when you have to take a stand, the protagonist refuses to throw the switch and restrains the boss from using the cattle prod, frees the workers and quits the job.

In each segment, the protagonist’s emotional development based on her belief system and developed directly from her backstory wound, plays directly into the deeper meaning of your story.

(Excerpt taken from:  Blockbuster Plots Pure & Simple: Take the Panic Out of Plot.)

For an in-depth resource to all the questions to ask about conflict when writing a novel, memoir, screeplay, refer to  The Plot Whisperer Workbook: Step-by-Step Exercises to Help You Create Compelling Stories.

*****SPECIALS*******

1) Track Your Plot at the Scene Level Webinar
Learn to Maximize the 7 essential plot elements in every scene (one of 7 essential plot elements in every scene is CONFLICT) from the comfort of your own home.

*****

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 inThe 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

Now Trending: 8 Plot Tips for a Mythical Middle

Online Free Dictionary defines trend, trending, trends as a) The general direction in which something tends to move, b) A general tendency or inclination, c) Current style; vogue

Whatever its true definition, I delight in the term as I imagine experts in the field gleaning all sorts of valuable information by tracking what's trending at any particular moment. My method of gathering information is more random and haphazard. A Plot Whisperer tweet is retweeted numerous times. The "total reach" is double or triple the usual on Facebook.

Based on those indicators, I make the assumption that writers are eager for that particular plot support.

One such post that recently trended on FB:

Eight plot tips for a mythical middle:

1) call in the antagonists
2) create an exotic world
3) begin middle with overarching conflict or suspense plot point
4) ask yourself: because that happens, what happens next?
5) add a great subplot
6) know the crisis
7) know the climax
8) begin filling in and deepening character flaw

For an in-depth resource to all the questions to ask about conflict when writing a novel, memoir, screeplay, refer to  The Plot Whisperer Workbook: Step-by-Step Exercises to Help You Create Compelling Stories.

*****SPECIALS*******

1) Track Your Plot at the Scene Level Webinar
Learn to Maximize the 7 essential plot elements in every scene (one of 7 essential plot elements in every scene is CONFLICT) from the comfort of your own home.

*****

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 inThe 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

How to Develop a High Concept in Novels, Memoirs, Screenplays

We had a plot consultation a couple of years ago. At the time, I worried her story wasn't High Concept -- you know, that something special, exotic, unexpected. Without a high concept, a story may never find an agent, publisher, audience.

Prior to our recent consultation, I read her current synopsis and worry I've lost my ability to remember writers' stories. I do not recognize any of the character, action or thematic elements. The writing and content in her synopsis give me goosebumps. Intrigue, mystery, romance, secrets and lies, wrongful arrest and sentencing, provocative themes = high concept elements, for sure.

She starts the consultation by saying she's never stopped thinking about our original consultation and never stopped digging deeper. As we discuss her story, I continue to struggle to remember her story only to find that during the time since we last spoke and while laid up with a broken ankle, she stumbled across a compelling news story she subsequently integrated into her original ideas.

With this new layer and major plot line the story comes alive.

With this new layer and major plot line the writer's excitement and energy and enthusiasm also come alive.

She successfully integrated the new plot line which involves a second POV into the beginning and middle of her original story and then stalled out when coming up with a crisis and climax for each POV.

I'll share that process later. For now, I just want to revel in the thrill of seeing what can come with an open mind and a willingness to move out of one's comfort zone to the razor's edge of not knowing...

For an in-depth resource to all the questions to ask about conflict when writing a novel, memoir, screeplay, refer to  The Plot Whisperer Workbook: Step-by-Step Exercises to Help You Create Compelling Stories.

*****SPECIALS*******

1) Track Your Plot at the Scene Level Webinar
Learn to Maximize the 7 essential plot elements in every scene (one of 7 essential plot elements in every scene is CONFLICT) from the comfort of your own home.

*****

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 inThe 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

How to Show Character Transformation

At the beginning of the plot consultation, the writer expresses a desire / need to deepen the relationships between the three major characters in her science fiction novel and create a satisfying character transformation at the end.

With the dramatic action plot firmly in place, the writer is better able to concentrate on those elements more challenging for her -- everything that has to do with character emotional development. Together, we plot out the primary relationships in much the same way as we plotted out the dramatic action -- analyzing each scene for openings to introduce, develop and transform each of the relationships.

When it comes to the character emotional development transformation, we focus solely on the final quarter of the story. Though the pace of the action and conflict and intrigue and excitement builds incrementally, the protagonist stays essentially flat, preforming the same actions as she has throughout the story and reacting to the final challenges in a similar manner as she did in every other scene in the story.

As soon as the writer understands how transformation works, she immediately comes up with innovative ideas how to show character change and come into her own personal power.  And, there, smack dab in the middle of the climax scene and patiently waiting all along is the perfect opportunity to show the protagonist in her crowning glory.

For an in-depth resource to all the questions to ask about conflict when writing a novel, memoir, screeplay, refer to  The Plot Whisperer Workbook: Step-by-Step Exercises to Help You Create Compelling Stories.

*****SPECIALS*******

1) PW BOOK AND WORKBOOK GIVEAWAY!
Sue Bradford Edwards of WOW! Women on Writing Blog has written a wonderful review of the PW book and workbook by showing how she used the resources with her own story. We are giving away 3 The Plot Whisperer: Secrets of Story Structure Any Writer Can Master and 3 The Plot Whisperer Book of Writing Prompts: Easy Exercises to Get You Writing

2) Track Your Plot at the Scene Level Webinar
Learn to Maximize the 7 essential plot elements in every scene (one of 7 essential plot elements in every scene is CONFLICT) from the comfort of your own home.

*****

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 inThe 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

How to Create Conflict in Your Novel, Memoir, Screenplay?

Conflict intensifies in the Middle of a story. Having left the relative safety of the shallow world of the Beginning the protagonist finds the old rules and help and guidance and belief systems of the past no longer protect her from harm -- physical and/or emotional.

The Middle strips her of all that is familiar and gives her the space in which to discover who she was born to be / truly is and let go of who she was raised and molded into being. Every mistake she makes in the middle and every conflict she is exposed to will cause the protagonist suffer.

Conflict for conflict's sake alone is not enough.

The conflict she faces must both be thematically true to her transformation at the end and provide her the knowledge and skills needed to prevail at the Climax.

She may resist having to suffer until she slowly comes to understand that suffering brings about change and transmutation.

For an in-depth resource to all the questions to ask about conflict when writing a novel, memoir, screeplay, refer to  The Plot Whisperer Workbook: Step-by-Step Exercises to Help You Create Compelling Stories.

*****SPECIALS*******

1) PW BOOK AND WORKBOOK GIVEAWAY!
Sue Bradford Edwards of WOW! Women on Writing Blog has written a wonderful review of the PW book and workbook by showing how she used the resources with her own story. We are giving away 3 The Plot Whisperer: Secrets of Story Structure Any Writer Can Master and 3 The Plot Whisperer Book of Writing Prompts: Easy Exercises to Get You Writing

2) Track Your Plot at the Scene Level Webinar
Learn to Maximize the 7 essential plot elements in every scene (one of 7 essential plot elements in every scene is CONFLICT) from the comfort of your own home.

*****

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 inThe 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

To Cut a Subplot or Not to Cut a Subplot

The action at the Climax is big and external and life or death and... well, it's great. The scene sounds like the culmination of exciting action in a truly exotic setting. We move from the dramatic action plot to the character emotional development plot -- or, in other words, why the protagonist does what she does at the climax and what her actions mean to the story overall. By the gaps and questions she has, I understand she's written the first draft primarily from the dramatic action and the correct historical point of view.

With probing and support, she establishes the character emotional development arc. In doing so, she knows who the character is throughout the story and how to begin incrementally showing her true transformation as she enters the final quarter of the story.

We establish the other key scenes and begin plotting out scenes from beginning to end. As we do, the writer throws out a subplot, entirely. Later she throws out another. Granted she is a bit nervous about having too many subplots. Still, before she cuts for cutting's sake, I'd like her to consider the subplots for what they contribute to the story thematically. I'd like her to consider all her plotlines for what they contribute to the story thematically.

She's written an entire draft and ended up with the bones of a fantastic story. Her first rewrite is a terrific time to begin searching for themes and how plots and subplots help tie the themes together and bring meaning to the story overall.

For an in-depth resource to all the questions to ask about theme when writing a novel, memoir, screeplay, refer to  The Plot Whisperer Workbook: Step-by-Step Exercises to Help You Create Compelling Stories.

AND

Watch Thematic Significance Playlist at How Do I Plot a Novel, Memoir, Screenplay?

*****

PW BOOK AND WORKBOOK GIVEAWAY!
Sue Bradford Edwards of WOW! Women on Writing Blog has written a wonderful review of the PW book and workbook by showing how she used the resources with her own story. We are giving away 3 The Plot Whisperer: Secrets of Story Structure Any Writer Can Master and 3 The Plot Whisperer Book of Writing Prompts: Easy Exercises to Get You Writing

*****

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 inThe 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 and Otherwise

By Prompt 47 in The Plot Whisperer Book of Writing Prompts: Easy Exercises to Get You Writing you have are firmly in the middle of the middle of your novel, memoir, screenplay. Perhaps you felt resistance upon entering the middle and gave yourself time to consider your story and even give into your doubts.

Each time you found your way back to the PWBook of Prompts you moved yet one scene nearer to your goal of finishing.

Many of the prompts you've worked through have guided you to continually re-define the protagonist's goals and what is driving her forward to persevere against all odds and to create formidable antagonist to prevent her from reaching her goals.

By Prompt 47, you are asked to re-establish her character flaw-- that internal belief pattern that limits her and keeps her from reaching her goals.

Now, if you haven't discovered the exact right flaw for her, is the time to do so. Search the traits she's displayed thus far and the actions she's taken. Dig through her beliefs about life and people and her place in the world.

When you've found the flaw(s) do not succumb to the desire to go back into earlier scenes to develop this flaw. You'll slow yourself down. Don't believe me? Try it one day and then assess your word count for the day. Once should be enough to show you how going back slows down your forward progress. Rather, write notes to yourself on your plot planner to include in the first major rewrite. As you write forward, watch how that same flaw of hers pops up and how deep her flaw runs.

For an in-depth resource to all the questions to ask about theme when writing a novel, memoir, screeplay, refer to  The Plot Whisperer Workbook: Step-by-Step Exercises to Help You Create Compelling Stories.

AND

Watch, at How Do I Plot the Character Emotional Development Plot in a Novel, Memoir, Screenplay?

*****

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 inThe 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

Writer Hates Questions of Theme

The writer sends very little about theme in the pre-plot consultation material. The first time we talk about theme during the actual consultation I feel her shutdown and a bit of her blazing passion about her story fade. She doesn't give up. She keeps trying. Each success renews the fire.

Even so, during our last session, she cries out in response to yet another thematic question.

"I hate those questions!" she exclaims.

She prefers questions about the fascinating world she has researched and created. She loves explaining more about all the plot points that spin the energy of the story ever higher.

Her resistance and frustration about theme is not uncommon. We all want our stories to resonate with meaning and emotion and lasting connection with the reader and our audience. We just want that connective impact to happen by magic, all on its own through our writing without having to consider something as abstract as theme.

I persist. She continues to try. Whether or not she comes up with the exact right thematic significance statement doesn't matter. Knowing what questions to ask does. She knows those questions now. She'll continue to find the answers in the deeper meaning of her stories.

For an in-depth resource to all the questions to ask about theme when writing a novel, memoir, screeplay, refer to  The Plot Whisperer Workbook: Step-by-Step Exercises to Help You Create Compelling Stories.

AND

Visit our Thematic Significance How-tos, a series of 4 videos, at How Do I Plot a Novel, Memoir, Screenplay?

*****

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 inThe 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