POINT OF NO RETURN

Livvy asks:
On your Blog, under the Plot Consultation page, you have an image of your plot planner which shows The Beginning section of the planner to be disconnected from The Middle section. However, in your book, the plot planner is different and is shown as one fluid line.

I know that in one of your DVDs (not in your book), you mentioned that the reason for this is that the end of the Beginning Section is to be considered as the "Point of No Return".

Martha answers:
I usually talk about the end of the Beginning Section as The End of the Beginning. Pretty simplistic, I know. The beginning accomplishes unique goals -- all introductory (I've written more specifically about those goal in other posts. Check below). The End of the Beginning symbolizes that the beginning is over. It's a moment that launches the character into the story world itself.

It's an energetic thing. If a relationship lingers too long in the introductory mode boredom sets in. Same with a story.

Since writing Blockbuster Plots Pure & Simple, I've changed where the line for The Middle begins. Now, I put it at a lower level than the End of the Beginning. In most of the books and movies I've analyzed, The Middle begins energetically lower than the End of the Beginning. If there is to be a time jump in the piece, the beginning of the Middle is generally where that jump occurs. It a spot of least disruption to the reader and moviegoer.

Livvy asks: I'm a little confused. I thought that the "Point of No Return" is considered to be the Crisis, which is the Turning Point right before the ending of The Middle Section of the plot planner.

Isn't it in the Crisis, where you mentioned on page 158:

"you want your protagonist to be confronted with her basic character flaw...that she can no longer remain unconscious of her innerself". Thus, "This creates the key quesiton: in knowing her flaw, will the protagonist remain the same or be changed at her core?"

So wouldn't after that revelation, the protoganist cannot turn back to who she or he was, because she is changed?

Martha answers:
Yes, once she becomes conscious at any level, the protagonist can never go back to being unconscious. The question after the Crisis becomes: Will she change her behavior, or not? The answer is determined in the Climax -- the final 1/4 of the project.

Livvy asks:
I was wondering then, how do you figure that the end of The Beginning Section which is considered to be the inciting incident, the "Point of No Return"?

I believe at this point of juncture (the inciting incident), the protagonist still has options to either accept or refuse the "call of action" because he/she is still being ruled by his/her character flaw. But with the crisis, now there is moment of enlightenment which cannot be ignored. Thus the protagonist must proceed forward.

Martha answers:
I couldn't put it any better. Excellent analysis! I would only add that where the movement forward takes the protagonist has not yet been determined. This destination is revealed in the Climax.

Livvy asks:
Playing devil's advocate here, I suppose it would make more sense to make the Point of No Return as early as possible in the story, because if you don't make it compelling enough for the Main character to HAVE to move forward from the onset of the story, then that means the story goal question is weak.

Or I could possibly look at it under this light instead: The inciting incident is the point of no return for the "dramatic plot line" and the "crisis" is the point of no return for the "Character Emotional Development plot line".

Martha answers:
I love this!! Very well put. Writing is fluid. These are just pointers. Art is difficult to pin down. The Beginning, The Middle, and The End are containers. An understanding of each of these three parts and how they rise to a high point with an expected energetic shift eases a writer's life. Such is my fervent wish.

What do you think when you think plot?

Kids and teens learn in school that plot is a series of events linked by cause and effect.

That definition of makes me think a jewel thief wrote it. Someone dressed in black in a room full of shadows. A lightbulb hangs from the center of the room. She's wearing all black, and chalking out for the others her plot to steal a diamond ring.

Step One:
Get past the guard at the front door

Right off the bat and she is in trouble. HOW does she get by the guard at the door? The character element.

If you're a more intuitive writer, you come at this story from the character first -- A woman dressed in black breezes past the bank guard, her lips pursed in a kiss reserved for friends only.

Either way, a writer asks: because that happened, what happens next? (scenes linked by cause and effect).

Character messes with a straight-forward plot based on the series of events.

I prefer thinking about plot as all three threads intertwined:
Character Emotional Development
Dramatic Action
Thematic Significance

What do you think when you think plot?

DREAMS VERSUS GOALS

I received this question from Livvy a long, long time ago, and am only now answering. My apologies, Livvy. I'll get to your other questions soon......

Hi Martha,

While rereading your book for inspiration, I came across a few points that I would like some clarification on.

The Overall Story Goal; The Protagonist's Personal Goal; and the Protagonist's Dream.

So what is the difference between a Protagonist's personal goal and Dream?

The grand question is if a Dream is not attainable and goals are,
then how can the long-term story goal be more of a dream than a goal? Don't we want to have a story goal that is eventually attainable at the end of the story resulting from the character's internal & physical journey?

If we utilize a "Dream" as "THE STORY GOAL" and the only way to attain it is with a little magic, wouldn't that be more like "deus ex machina"? A writing device that cheats a reader out of a more realistic and natural occurance of events?

Would it make more sense to refer a protagonist's dream as his/her desire instead?? which can be separate from the story goal and not always attainable. So when this desire/dream is attainable, it gets attained or resolved at the resolution, since the climax is reserved for resolving the Major Story Goal.

I look foreward to hearing back from you soon and anyone else who would like to contribute to this posting, to clear this up for me.

Thanks in advance!

My answer:

Excellent analysis, Livvy! Very well put.

Yes, the character's personal goal and the overall story goal needs to be attainable by the character. The character may need help, but he or she must be the initiator of the ultimate action that creates the fulfillment of the story goal at the Climax. This is true even for children's books and young adult novels. The child or teen in the story may need the help of an adult or the police or a teacher or whomever, but the teen or child must initiate the action and/or the call for help.

Often, the story goal that begins the story changes because of the action that happens at the End of the Beginning (the first 1/4 of the page count for the book) and catapults the protagonist into the very heart of the story world -- The Middle (1/2 of the page count).

One technique to creating depth in a story is to create lots of goals throughout the story -- a romantic goal, a mystery goal, a personal goal, a political goal, a dramatic action goal, etc. Goal setting, as I have said before, is easier for Dramatic Action-driven and left-brained writers, and more difficult for Character-driven and right-brained writers. Goals ground the story and allow the reader or movie-goer to know what is at stake for the character and thus root for their success, mourn for their failure.

I recently finished Cara Black's, Murder in Montmartre. In this mystery, Aimee's overall story goal is to prove her friend did not kill her partner and thus absolve her of the crime. Aimee also has a personal goal and that is to solve a mystery about her father. Both of these goals help keep her at the task at hand even when the stakes are at their highest and the most dangerous.

Dreams or desires add yet another layer. Since dreams generally rely on the help of others or a bit of magic, they can create an added twist at the end of the story. For instance, most writers I work with have the specific goal of finishing their WIP (work-in-progress). Beyond that, most first-time writers dream of securing an agent. Published writers with an agent often dream of one of the following: to win the Pulitzer Prize, appear on Oprah, and/or be listed on the New York Times best seller list.

These writers' dreams are usually beyond the writer's direct control. The writer writes the very best product they are capable of writing. They send out queries. But, as in creating any deep connection, the agent figures into the equation. If they have just signed on a new writer, chances are they won't sign on another new writer right away. If they have a stack of manuscripts a mile-high waiting on their desks, they look for excuses to reject. If they have a full list of writers, they may not be willing to add yet another. And so on.......

At the beginning of Black's murder mystery, she shows Aimee's boyfriend breaking up with her. Throughout the story we feel Aimee's loneliness and how much she misses her beau and longs for love. Thus, when she unexpectedly finds a man who excites her passion, the story takes on added depth and excitement. By Aimee finding love and achieving her dream, an added element is created = the reader is excited about the next book in the series coming out in order to learn if the two lovers last as a couple, or not.

What is your character's story goal? What is her dream? How they work together or against each other in the story overall???

Guest Blogging

Tomorrow, Thursday, 4/24th, I'm guest blogging at The Graveyard Shift, Lee Lofland's blog. Lee Lofland is a retired police detective and the author of Police Procedures & Investigations: A Guide for Writers. Please stop by and say hello.

E is for Excellence

Plot Whisperer for Writers and Readers has just won its second award! Dorlana from Supernatural Fairy Tales presented the honors. Please accept my humble gratitude, Dorlana. Thank you!

The Rules: By accepting this Excellent Blog Award, you agree to award it to 10 more people whose blogs you find Excellent Award worthy. You can give it to as many people as you want but please award at least 10. You deserve this! Feel free to recognize blogs that have already received this award. (Just copy the graphic.)

Daily Coyote
Graveyard Shift
Nature Shows and Dreams
Vespa Vagabond
Becky Levine
Susan Writes

That's it for now. I'll add the others when more time opens up.

Thanks again Dorlana.

Adversity

Adversity does not build character.
Adversity reveals it.

The Beginning of a memoir or work of fiction (1/4 of the entire project) for any age group serves -- among other things like the setting, the dramatic question, the mystery - if there is one, the love interest- if there is one, and the like -- to introduce the character's emotional development. This is where the character strengths and flaws, loves and hates, dreams and goals are introduced.

The Middle (1/2 of the entire project) serves to reveal the deeper nuances of the character's emotional development. This is the part of the story where the writer thrusts the protagonist into as much adversity as possible in order to reveal to the reader or movie goer who the character really is. (Plot tip: make a list of all possible antagonists-- other people, nature, society, belief system, and/or machines -- that can help to create conflict, tension and suspense or curiosity and thus reveal who the character is under pressure -- the more pressure the better)

The End (1/4 of the project) is that portion of the project that actually shows how the character's emotional development has been affected by the adversity in the Middle and reveals how the character has been transformed.

These steps in the overall character emotional transformation can be plotted out on a Plot Planner for ease in developing your project.

What is the most revealing adversity you have experienced either through your character or in your own life?

JUGGLING PLOT LINES

When writers get stuck, it is usually because one or more of the three plot elements has been ignored by:
• Concentrating on action only, forgetting that character provides interest and is the primary reason that people go to the movies and read books.
• Organizing solely around the character and overlooking the fact that dramatic action provides the excitement every story needs.
• Forgetting to develop the overall meaning or the thematic significance of their stories. When the dramatic action changes the character at depth over time, the story becomes thematically significance.

It's tough to juggle all of these elements at once. We end up trying too hard. Our writing suffers. We become stiff and self-conscious. The joy of writing diminishes.

This isn't such a bad thing, if you're committed to being a writer. Learning the craft of writing is constant. The more you know, the more you appreciate how much you don't know.

In a plot consultation, the omissions slowly become clear to the writer. The more she understands both her strengths and her weaknesses, the faster she is able to identify what isn't working, why, and how to proceed.

The only way to know our strengths and weaknesses is to get feedback -- from a critique group, an editor, a plot consultant, or by individual plot analyzation.

Plot is made up of three intertwining threads:
• Character emotional development
• Dramatic action
• Thematic significance
In other words, the protagonist acts or reacts. In so doing, he or she is changed and something significant is learned.

When you write, do you juggle all three plot lines at once? Or, do you write one plot line a draft? Always curious about other writers' process......

Do Characters Talk to You?

Hi Martha,

Here's a question that I'm almost too embarrassed to ask.

My SceneTracker is strong from Chapter 1 Scene 1 through Chapter 3 Scene 7.

I have the big scene for Chapter 5 Scene 15.

It's the empty 7 scenes between that is making me anxious and doubt myself. I could develop characters in each scene and provide their POVs but I feel like I should know the flow and what will happen next "because she did this ...."

Does this happen to others?

And what would be the best way to prime the muse to have the characters tell me the rest of the story?

Do your characters "talk" to you? I've heard writers say this.

What do you honestly think?

Writing in North Carolina


Dear Writing in North Carolina,

One technique would be to leave the scenes empty for now and forge ahead.

If you believe that the Climax -- the final big scene before the Resolution at the End -- determines what comes before, the sooner you reach the Climax the better.

Sounds like creating Dramatic Action filled with conflict, tension, suspense and curiosity is intuitive for you and Character Emotional Development less so. Why do I say that? You wrote first that "I could develop characters in each scene" and followed with your gut feeling: "I feel like I should know the flow and what will happen next "because she did this ...."

Stay in your strength while keeping the goal of writing your first draft all the way through. The important thing is whatever keeps you writing.

My characters seem to take up residency in every aspect of my life for as long as it takes me to finish a project, which can be a long time. I usually know the end before I begin. I take it draft by draft by draft, knowing each draft will deepen my vision of the project as I sink deeper into the story and spend more and more time with my characters.

Look to research to help dream up and develop scenes. Once you know:
1) what the character wants
2) what stands in her way
3( What she stands to lose
4) The character's flaw

Find inspiration and ideas in researching the unusual world you'll develop in the Middle, any major historical, political, spiritual, scientific events during the time period including contemporary.

I'll put the word out for input from other writers.

Good luck.

Sincerely,
Martha

Plot Tip ~~ THE END

Writing scenes for The End can be more uplifting than writing scenes in The Middle.

Think of the Middle as the tunnel of darkness, fraught with antagonists of all sorts. The Crisis, the high-point of the Middle, is the dark night of the soul, hitting bottom, when the protagonist becomes conscious of who she really is, or what she has been avoiding or denying. A light snaps on, and thus begins the process of transformation.

In the End, the protagonist still has foes to confront and overcome. Only now, she is armed with a new understanding of herself. For the first time, her goal comes into focus.

The Climax at the End (1/4) serves as the light at the end of the tunnel. The protagonist moves toward the light -- one step forward toward the ultimate transformation, three steps back, a fight for a couple of steps, being beat backwards.

The Climax spotlights the character in full transformation demonstrating the necessary new skill or personality, gift or action.

The Climax is the crowning glory of the entire project. The Climax is where protagonist "shows" in scene her acting in a transformed way -- in a way she could not have acted in any other part of the story because she first needed to experience everything she does in the book to get to the final stage.

Ask yourself what scene will most dramatically show her demonstrating her transformed self?

The Resolution ties everything up. If the story resonates with thematic significance the reader is left to ponder the deeper meaning.

Flashback versus Prologue

Question:
HI Martha!

I've been reading all the information available on Flashback and why it may not be the recommended route to begin a novel. Then I suddenly realized, by golly, this isn't a flashback, it's a prologue! My story starts back in history to provide a backdrop for the current story. My question ... how to you plot a prologue when it's the first "scene" in your book? Is it a chapter unto itself called Prologue? Can it be scene 1 in Chapter 1?

Thanks so very much!

Writing in North Carolina,
Nancy


Answer:
Dear Nancy,

The Prologue is a chapter unto itself, comes first, and is generally very short -- 2 to 3 pages. Chapter One follows the Prologue.

Or, you could make it scene 1 in Chapter 1.

The pros of one are the cons of the other, and visa versa.

For instance, readers sometimes ignore the Prologue. Changes in time right off the bat can confuse readers.

Best way to plot this first "scene", be it the Prologue or Chapter One is to make sure the scene introduces one or more of the three major plot lines -- dramatic action, character emotional development, or most likely, provide thematic significance and foreshadow what is to come.

I'll put out a request to some of my writer friends for more input and their take on the issue.

Hope this helps.

Great good luck with your project. Let me know how it goes.

Sincerely,
Martha