DECEMBER: INTERNATIONAL PLOT WRITING MONTH

What: Craft a draft of your work into a novel, memoir, screenplay in a month’s time.

Who: Anyone who has written a draft of a novel, memoir, or screenplay and is now ready to craft the project into a coherent piece worthy of publication.

Why: The first draft of any writing project is considered the generative phase. The muse is often responsible for much of the generative phase. The writer acts as a conduit and allows the inspiration to come through onto the page. The generative phase is all about getting the words on the page.

At the end of the generative phase, a writer is often faced with a manuscript full of holes and missteps, confusion and chaos. This is part of the process in that editing in the generative phase risks stifling the muse, which often results in stagnation.

When a writer completes the generative phase the real work begins—crafting the words into a coherent story. This is where International Plot Writing Month comes into play.

Many writers, when left with pages and pages of words, are often at a loss as to how to take their writing to the next level. Rather than shove the words about on the page, join the Plot Whisperer as she takes you through the process of crafting what you have into a viable story.

When: International Plot Writing Month begins December 1st. Visit: http://plotwhisperer.blogspot.com/ daily throughout December for step-by-step guidance to prepare your manuscript for draft two.

Where: Plot Whisperer blog: http://plotwhisperer.blogspot.com/

December: International Plot Writing Month

Have a draft of your book? Wondering, now what?

Follow me here everyday for tips and tricks and inspiration beginning Dec. 1st.

No writing required.

It's a time to analyze what you have and brainstorm for an effortless draft two in January '09.

Plot Tips for NaNoWriMo Writers

30 days hath November.

I fear pulling out my tricky little formula for determining the parameters of your story. Before you groan in disgust, I know, I know. Horrors that I deem it necessary to reduce the creative process to a mathematical equation. Hey, I'm just trying to help. You want to get to the end of the month with some semblence of a story, don't you? I don't expect those natural born story tellers would visit this site anyway. But, for you writers who are looking for tricks and tips to keep you on track during your month-long journey toward completing your novel or memoir or whatever, try this.

According the 1/4, 1/2, 1/4 rule for the Beginning, Middle and End respectively, you left the Beginning (1/4) of your story around the 7th or 8th of the month. By now, you are deep in the Middle of the story world itself.

In about 5 days or so you'll reach the highest point in your story so far -- the Crisis (3/4 give or take). Therefore, you are smack dab in the middle of or quickly approaching the quicksand of the territory of the antagonists.

Identify what the protagonist is after, wants, desires, is fighting for. Use as many antagonists as you want to interfere with her achieving her goals and to build tension. When we are under the most strain and stress and conflict do we reveal who we really are. Same with your characters.

Adversity does not build character.
Adversity reveals character.

Get the energy of the story moving higher. If you've fallen in love with your characters and are resistant to place them in danger, think again. You're creating a story, not hanging out with your best friend. No one said this was going to be easy. Amp up the tension. Get out of her head and into scene. Show us emotion.

Show us who the character really is. Get her moving toward the Crisis -- a breakdown, dark night of the soul, or the Climax of the antagonist. Make it exciting.

No matter what, keep going. December is National Plot Writing Month. We'll shape your words into a compelling story then.
Are you still writing? Did you start strong only to find yourself wavering now? Still hanging on? Is the tension rising?

Plot, Platform, Publicity

In a recent issue of The Bookwoman, the official publication of Women's National Book Association, Fern Reiss gives hints on how to publicize your novel. One of her methods is to put a nonfiction hook in your novel. Hooks provide a potential platform as well as leverage for publicity. Riess' words shot through me. Of course! Brilliant!

I often guide writers through the pitfalls of creating the Middle of your story in two ways. The use of antagonists is one. The other is to create an unusual world. When the protagonist leaves the old world, they enter the story world. Not only does this technique support your writing, as Reiss points out, creating such a hook leads to so much more.

Write what you know. Create the story world around your passion -- that which you know and love.

Or write about that which you do not know, but fascinates you enough to immerse yourself in until you become an expert.

Readers and audiences love to learn or experience something new and exotic. Provide that in the world you create in the Middle.

Take raising a wild coyote (the core of a new memoir coming out 12/2 by Simon and Schuster -- The Daily Coyote) or learning about life as a queen (as in CW Gortner's new historical novel by Ballantine Books: The Last Queen). Not only do the exotic worlds of contemporary Wyoming and 1492 Spain provide excitement and plot twists, they also provide a potential platform from which to publicize your work.

For instance, Barnes & Noble writes of Daily Coyote: "This full-color illustrated book will change your view of an entire species." This is big, news worthy, and holds importance beyond the book itself, beyond Shreve herself. News outlets -- T.V. and radio, newspapers and magazines are more likely to do a story on Shreve and her book based on that one statement than simply doing an interview about the book itself. Therefore, the unusual world she elaborates on -- raising a wild coyote -- becomes her platform which an entire publicity campaign centers around.

What unusual world does the story world in the Middle of your story involve???

Finish by Year's End -- Take the Poll

On the wheel of life, this is both a time to reap the harvest of all we have accomplished for the year and also a time to reflect on whether we actually planted the seeds we intended and nurtured them to fruition.

If you started your writing project and finished -- this is a time to celebrate!!

If you started and haven't finished, it's not too late.

Even if you haven't started, it's not too late.

You have until year's end.

How many words, pages do you envision your completed project? Divide by the 58 days before the end of the year.

An average book is between 250 pages = 4 pages everyday until the end of the year to 320 pages = 5 1/2 pages a day to the end of the year.

What about you? Finished? Started, but not finished yet? Haven't started?

Top Down or Bottom Up??

Two vastly different plot consultations for two vastly different writers.

One, a female with a logically well-thought out detailed plot and the different parts of her story -- scenes and chapters -- sequentially lined up and arranged in logical order.

The other, a male with a wildly creative premise and lots of random ideas for the overall story.

1) The logical writer had so many details and parts of the story figured out that it took nearly the entire two-hour plot consultation before I fully grasped the overall story. Based nearly entirely on real life, still, the writer has chosen to write a novel rather than a memoir.

Though she had thought out many of the parts, she still had trouble grasping what the story was really all about -- the coherence and meaning were muddled and confused. In the end, we found the whole, thanks to the Plot Planner visual aid in front of me that I later color-coded and, because character and emotion are a bit of a stretch for her, included lots of notes on developing the character, the very heart of the story itself.

2) The intuitive writer could see the big picture for his story but had difficulty with the details, like what to put where. He had a sensational twist but could not "see" a way to get there. This isn't the first time he has come to me for help in outlining his story for him. After two successfully published novels, still, because of his random nature, he craves linear support. He intuitively knows what he wants but no idea how to get there.

As he flits from one idea to the next, I continually bring him back to the parts or the scenes. We start with the answer and work backward. He knows what he means but has trouble finding the best way to get there. He does well with his own individual Plot Planner because the visual map grounds him and gives him step-by-step support to reach his vision of a story that is based mostly in fantasy.

Most people are whole brain learners. But it's amazing to me how many writers I come in contact with through my plot workshops and plot consultations who are distinctively one or the other.

What about you? Are you a logical planner with a firm grasp of the scenes but confused about the overall story itself? A more random visionary with the bigger picture in mind, but struggle with a way to get there?? Or, are you one of the lucky ones who has a enough of both sides to sail through your writing projects?

Winner Announced!

Thank you, Kathrynn Dennis for posting last week -- Pets in Plots: Help or Hindrance.

Last night, I reread the first couple of chapters of Dark Rider for a Romance Writers Plot eBook I'm putting the final touches on and was once again swept away by your writing, your crafting, your plotting, your heart. Great writing. Looking forward to reading your latest and award-winning Shadow Rider. Congratulations on all your success!!

The winner of the drawing for a free copy of Shadow Rider is Becky Levine!! Congratulations, Becky. Enjoy.....

Thanks again, Kathrynn.

Pets in Plots: Help or Hindrance?

KATHRYNN DENNIS is the author of Dark Rider and Shadow Rider. The Romance Times Reviews recently awarded Shadow Rider 4 Stars! and writes: "The color, vibrancy, and excitement of the Middle Ages allows Dennis to create a memorable tale of two people whose destiny is tied to a mystical colt. Dennis tells her story with passion, drama, and a love of animals that will enthrall readers."

Horses take center stage in her stories. I asked her if pets are a hinderance or a help to plotting? (naturally!)

Pets and animals have a lot to contribute to plot—I’m not talking about Old Yeller, or Black Beauty, where the animal is the plot, but rather books where the animal plays a role, though not so prominantly. Animals can be developed as stand alone characters that take action and thus move the plot in a particular direction, or they can add a layer of character to their owner’s personality. How, exactly, do they do that, you ask? The literature is rich with information on the human-animal bond and why people choose the pets they do. It’s called pet-owner profiling. Pets and animals in the story help the reader get into the head of the human characters. There are good studies which suggest pets are an extension of their owners—in looks and in behavior. People tend to chose pets that look like them, much like they choose a human life-partner. Take a look at Paris Hilton, Jessica Simpson, and Jake Gyllenhaal with their dogs. It’s hard to miss the physical similarities. Pet owners also tend to choose pets with personality traits like their own. Turns out you can learn a lot about a person’s character just by knowing what kind of pet they own. Here’s what the seminal research by Kidd and Kidd (1980) tells us about pet-owner personality traits:

• Cat lovers are high in autonomy and low in dominance and nurturing.

• Dog-loving men are high in dominance and aggression. Dog-loving women are high in dominance, too, but low in aggression.

• Horse lovers in general are assertive, introspective, and self-concerned, but limited in cooperativeness, nurturing, and warm human relationships. Male horse-lovers are aggressive, dominant, and less expressive in general. Female horse-lovers avoided aggression and are easy going.

• Turtle lovers are hard-working, reliable, goal-oriented, and see the world as lawful.

• Snake lovers are unconventional, informal, novelty seeking, and unpredictable.

• Bird lovers are contented, courteous, expressive, social, and altruistic.

Pet owners in general are considered to be more nurturing and low in autonomy, no matter what kind of pet they own. I’ve noticed dog and cat-loving characters enrich a fair number of romance novels (for an early example, think of Georgette Heyer’s Ulysses in Arabella) and the personality of a male horse-owner certainly has the makings of a historical romance hero—think cowboys, knights, and men who were rich enough to fox hunt. Dominant men. Aggressive, alpha males who had trouble expressing themselves (until they met the heroine, of course).
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I keep thinking about Rex, the hamster in Janet Evanovich’s Stephanie Plum series. Rex embodies the character of a bounty-hunting woman who keeps a hamster for a pet. She’s high in autonomy and not especially nurturing. Neither is Rex. Both make me laugh.
I’ve not seen many romances where a character owns a nontraditional pet (fish, lizards, or pocket pets like Rex), but I’m sure they are out there.

There are also some interesting reads on the pathological condition known as pet hoarding. Profiles of hoarders suggest the condition is a type of obsessive-compulsive disorder and affected people usually come from chaotic, unstable homes. Just google pet hoarding and you’ll turn up a fair number of psych reviews on the topic.

If you’d like to dig deeper into pet-owner profiling, check out Why We Love the Dogs We Do: How to Find the Dog That Matches Your Personality by Stanley Coren (Simon and Schuster; ISBN 978-0684855028). There are some interesting chapters in there about dogs (breeds) for introverts and extroverts, dominant people, not-so-dominant people, trusting, or controlling people, and an in-depth examination of the dogs owned by various leaders and famous personalities--what their dog-ownership reveals about their non-public personality.

If you understand your character, the character will drive the plot. Not the other way around (a pitfall for writers). So pets can enrich the plot, especially if they are used as character enhancers. They are only a hindrance if they serve no purpose. I love an author who can weave a pet into a plotline or incorporate a pet or an animal to enlighten my understanding of the owner’s character. As a reader, can you recall pets that helped move a story along, or helped you better understand the character of their owner?

I’ll give a free copy of SHADOW RIDER to a randomly chosen commenter!

Thank you, Martha, for inviting me to blog!

For more about Kathrynn Dennis, please visit for a plot interview where we asked Kathrynn about her writing process, with an emphasis on plot.

(NOTE: I had the great honor of working with Kathryn on her book's early development.)

NaNoWriMo

National Novel Writing Month is fast approaching. In preparation for the big event, I'm working with several writers who plan to write the first draft of their novel in a month. A couple of the writers are veterans to the event and eager to utilize their time more efficiently than they have in past years. The other writers are undertaking the challenge for the first time.

As the official NaNoWriMo site explains: "National Novel Writing Month is a fun, seat-of-your-pants approach to novel writing. Participants begin writing November 1. The goal is to write a 175-page (50,000-word) novel by midnight, November 30."

This approach works best for "pantsers" or those writers who prefer to write by the seat-of-your-pants, in other words, to work things out on the page with little or no pre-plotting. Typically, these writers allow their characters the freedom to determine the direction and flow of the story. These writers are often more right-brained, creative types who abhor structure and plot (well, maybe not abhor and definitely not all of them, but I've been slammed by enough stanch "pantsers" who believe their way is the only way and that the work I do stifles the creative process -- which it might true for them, but not for all writers -- that I'm a bit touchy about the subject!)

Left-brained or more analytical writers find NaNoWriMo only works for them if they put a bit of time and thought into what they hope to write before jumping into the actual writing.

For any of you who wish to take take part in NaNoWriMo and wish to prepare ahead a time in order to make the most of the upcoming month, I recommend that you create a Plot Planner or a Scene Tracker template now for the project you wish to produce then.

Both templates -- Plot Planner for the overall story plot, and the Scene Tracker, for plot at the scene level -- allow writers to stand back from their projects in order to see the entire story as a whole. As writers we spend the majority of our time at the word level. Many writers end up drowning in their words or stuck down a dead-end dark and scary alleyway with no direction out. A Plot Planner is like a road map to help guide you on your journey throughout the story.

Yes, you have to be flexible and toss the pre-plotting if/when the characters bully you into taking a different route. However, many writers find the pre-planning structural support comforting and allows them to persevere all the way to the glorious end.

Are you a "pantser" or a "plotter'? Are you going to participate in this year's NaNoWriMo??

Great good luck to all of you who are......

Plot for Memoir Writers

Join me in my first ever teleseminar plot talk. It's for a memoir group of writers, but any writer is welcome and will benefit. Below is the press release blurb.
Looking forward to tomorrow.......

October 16-2008 11 AM PST

Plot for Memoir Writers

We are pleased to have Martha Alderson, an expert on plot and structure and author of Blockbuster Plots, present a special topic that challenges all memoir writers: how to create plot and structure in a memoir. As an international plot consultant for writers, Martha Alderson employs helpful strategies to help writers develop plot for writers of all genres.

Memoir writers struggle with what parts of their life to put into the memoir and what parts to leave out. The challenge is to choose what is most important.
A memoir needs to focus on a specific time period that illuminates and develops the thematic significance to the writer's life, often with the hope that these themes and the lessons learned might benefit others. But being so close to the story of “what really happened “challenges the memoir writer to think in terms of plot.

1. What is plot and why is it important?

2. How to construct a plot plan for the overall memoir

3. The art of writing plot in scenes

4. The importance of the main character -- You!


Martha’s Bio
Martha Alderson, author of Blockbuster Plots has created a unique line of plot tools for writers, including the upcoming Plot for Memoirists eBook. She teaches scene development and plot workshops privately and at conferences. For plot tips, visit: Blockbuster Plots for Writers

Best-selling authors, screenwriters, memoirists, writing teachers and fiction editors turn to Martha Alderson, M.A. for help with creating plot. She has won attention in several literary writing contests, including the William Faulkner Writing Contest and the Heekin Foundation Prize.
Martha takes readers and writers alike beyond the words into the very heart of a story.
As the founder of Blockbuster Plots for Writers, she manages a popular blog: Plot Whisperer

If you are interested, email Linda Joy Myers, President and Founder of NAMW ASAP