Internal Goals versus External Goals

Every character wants something. You (and your character) must decide what she is willing to give up to achieve her goal. This begins the character’s emotional development plot.

The specific actions the character takes to realize her goal comprise the dramatic action plot. Tie the character’s private passion to a bigger, more transformative universal subject, and a thematic plot is launched.

When the dramatic action changes the character over time, the story becomes thematically significant. Think of the action, character, and thematic plot lines as parts of the whole. Then separate them and assign each plot a different color sticky note on your Plot Planner.

For now, let’s concentrate on getting the front story going. The plot of a story is about a character faced with a series of conflicts and obstacles while in pursuit of a goal, which, over time, inspire her to change her choices. In the end, she is transformed, and her ultimate transformation creates her anew with a different understanding of herself and her existence.

For you to write about a character pursuing her goal, you first need to know what her goals are. Before you know how her choices will change, you must discover what motivates her choices to begin with. To write about a character’s transformation, you first must appreciate how she views herself and the world around her now, at the beginning of the story.

 The thread that keeps the reader hooked is the tension in not knowing what the protagonist will do (her choices) when confronted with the next impossible scenario. The reader thinks she knows and reads on to learn if she is right or if the story will shift into a new, though foreshadowed, direction.
(Excerpt from The Plot Whisperer Workbook: Step-by-Step Exercises to Help You Create Compelling Stories.)

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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.

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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 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
Plot Whisperer on Pinterest

How to Create More Dramatic Action in Your Novel, Memoir, Screenplay

Prompt 11 in The Plot Whisperer Book of Writing Prompts: Easy Exercises to Get You Writing prompts you to introduce and develop a major antagonist for your novel, memoir, screenplay.

In many character-driven stories, the antagonist that most interferes with the protagonist reaching her goal is herself -- an internal antagonist. However, by always or whenever possible, creating a secondary character or even a major viewpoint character who acts as an external antagonist allows for external action rather than internal monologue. With an external antagonist on the page facing the protagonist, the action you write will always be dramatic and, so long as the antagonist is in control, those scenes always belong above the Plot Planner line.

Finding that exact right character is not always easy. The difficulty likely stems from the same issue I wrote about in the previous two blog posts as it has to do with maximizing the crisis. Women writers often resist, fear, shy away from and avoid having to create a dark side to their stories.

My advice: As in all other aspects of writing a story from beginning to end:

• Face the fear
• Challenge yourself to dig deep
• Write what comes.

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 in The 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

1st Writers Plot Retreat -- Photos

Writers Plot Retreat took place in the Santa Cruz Mountains in Northern California
Easy access to San Jose airport

Click for information on the next Plot Retreat, this time for 5 days: November 3 - 7, 2010

Gorgeous private home on 25 acres of redwood forest

Ten writers worked on Plot and Structure

Our canine companions

We ate food worthy of a 5-Star Resort

A spot with your name is waiting for you

Testimonials, and more photos of the 1st ever Writers Plot Retreat

Click for information on the next Plot Retreat, this time for 5 days: November 3 - 7, 2010