Plot Consultant

Plot Tip How to Decide Which Scenes to Keep and Which Ones to Toss

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The experience of teaching online Plot Workshops to small groups of writers using innovative technology that allows ten of us to see and interact live together is without a doubt the best teaching experiences I've ever had. The workshops revolve around weekly homework assignments from Plot Whisperer Workbook: Step-by-Step Exercises to Help You Create Compelling Stories. A homework question came up about plotting scenes above and below the Plot Planner line.1) The Plot Planner line shows the …

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BLOCKBUSTER PLOTS: 7 Ways to Create an Irresistible Story that Readers Will Love

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1) Create a multi-faceted protagonist2) Know who she is at the climax to determine how she’ll portray herself in the beginning – do this for any character you want to change and transform3) Commit to the primary plot of your story – character driven/action driven/meaning driven/romance driven & use all of them for depth and meaning4) Make her story goal important to others as well as to her5) Pre-plot the 4 Energetic Markers as early as possible6) Use antagonists capable of arousing emotion, …

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How to Release Scenes You’ve Written that No Longer Belong after a Major Revision or a Plot Consultation

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She is a First Nation People from Canada, writing a memoir about her journey "taking off her nativeness" to live a different life and how she finds her way back to her culture. She begins our plot consultation by telling me she is wearing her ceremonial dress and explains how the sage smudging ceremony she preforms on her end of the telephone opens the door for good. She follows with a prayer to "honor the creator of life". Including me in her blessing, I feel wrapped in the cocoon of safety. …

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CBS News Sunday Morning Show — Oscar Sunday

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Are we rewarded when, rather than run and hide, we choose to face our fears and own our own story?I'm one to answer with a resounding yes! This latest reward, however, far exceeds any gift I've ever imagined. I remember maybe ten years ago, a publicist chiding me for not thinking big enough. Then, I couldn't have even taken in the opportunity recently presented to me. After taking years to understand what she meant and to begin breaking out of the box I'd locked myself in, even now, I float …

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Success Demands Action: Writing a Story From Beginning to End Demands Self-Confidence

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He's an international sensation, houses in five different countries, a TED host and a successful non-fiction journalist. He falters when considering his fiction. Having worked with him in the past on developing the plot for his now completed suspense novel, he calls for another appointment. Double-thinking the job his agent is doing pitching his novel, he asks for help establishing his "brand" in support of his novel and developing a plan to create an on-line presence in hopes of impressing …

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