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