15 October 2013

Last 3 Months of the Year is Like the Last 1/4 of a Story

In the final quarter of the year, like your protagonist in the final quarter of your story, you have assessed your past plans and goals for the purpose of creating a right and appropriate future. To succeed, like your protagonist, you must face your greatest fear in order never to fear again. Fear of failing, fear that what you write will be no good, fear that no one will read your story, fear that all the time it takes to write a story with a plot from beginning to end won't be worth it, fear of _________. Fill in the missing blank for yourself.

As the protagonist moves toward the climax, she is focused and filled with purpose. She knows what she needs to do and she knows she is the only one who can do it. In doing what is needed at the climax, she fulfills her unique destiny. This clarity and single-minded focus does not belie the truth of the travail and turbulence she meets along the way. Great risk is required as is great suffering before she reaches the climax.

What started at the beginning of the story when you first set out seems so simple and clear now. In the middle of the story, you often turned ambivalent as the new world’s complexity and challenges unfolded. Still, she never stopped moving nearer and nearer to her crowning glory. In changing the choices she made and sacrificing the familiar, she transformed her life. You know what you're doing. Now your passion is clear and creative.

The climax is what all the other scenes in the story add up to in the end.
(excerpt from The Plot Whisperer Workbook: Step-by-step Exercises to Help You Create Compelling Stories

Need help pre-plotting and writing a fast first draft from beginning to end before the end of 2013?

Join me from the comfort of your own home for my live PLOT WORKSHOP Webinar hosted by Writers Digest on Thursday, October 17, 2013 at 1p.m. ET.

Learn more and sign up: How to Pre-Plot and Complete a Novel or Memoir in a Month: The Benefits of Writing a Fast Draft from Beginning to End.

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Take the PLOTWRIMO Pre-Challenge:

You have 1 Month, 2 weeks and 1 day to get a draft written in time for PlotWriMo. Beginning December 1st, follow the exercises on the Plot Whisperer blog to re"vision" and redefine the plot arc of your story. PlotWriMo is custom designed to ensure your success even during the busiest time of the year.
Begin 2014 ready for a powerful rewrite.

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The following resources support you in your pre-challenge:
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
named BEST BOOKS FOR WRITERS by Poets&Writers. The author provides insight on how to create works of fiction with powerful stories and focuses on how to devise a Universal Plot, plot lines and subplots, compelling scenes, and character transformation.
 
3) Refer to The Plot Whisperer Book of Writing Prompts: Easy Exercises to Get You Writing
for writing prompts for scene #1 to the very The End, one prompt at a time.

4) 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

5) 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 more tips about how to use plot and the Universal Story in your novel, memoir or screenplay, visit:
Plot Whisperer on Pinterest 

 ***** Knowing what to write where in a story with a plot reinforces daily writing practice and allows for more productivity in 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.

Today, I write.
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