Plot your story using the universal story form for structure and impact. A Plot Planner mimics the universal story and is the framework for developing a gripping story. Rather than creating a dry, episodic list of scenes to cover, arrange your story by cause and effect to best engage the reader. Think of the Plot Planner as the route or map of the journey you envision for your story. When you first plan your plot, your route is likely to be sketchy with lots of gaps and dead ends. These gaps …
When to Use a Flashback
Watch your delivery of backstory ~ the story of what, in the past, made the character who they are today (in story time). Writers want to cram everything right up front. "I know all their history, why would I want to withhold it from the reader?" "I wrote it that way." "It's the good part." Writers spend lots of time imagining and writing every little detail about a character's past, be it for a child or an adult. So, of course, writers want to tell everything right away. Perhaps, in the …
1st Writers Plot Retreat — Photos
Writers Plot Retreat took place in the Santa Cruz Mountains in Northern CaliforniaEasy access to San Jose airportClick for information on the next Plot Retreat, this time for 5 days: November 3 - 7, 2010Gorgeous private home on 25 acres of redwood forestTen writers worked on Plot and StructureOur canine companionsWe ate food worthy of a 5-Star ResortA spot with your name is waiting for youTestimonials, and more photos of the 1st ever Writers Plot RetreatClick for information on the next Plot …
What Now?
Q: I'm done! Too exhausted to type more. What now?A: Congratulations! I'm so impressed with how you kept your head down and your spirits high throughout the writing of the first draft of your story. You did it in two months. You are amazing!You're on a high. The best way to protect yourself from a letdown is to know that what goes up must come down and take care of yourself. Sleep, eat well, take long walks -- preferably to all the locations in your story: the cemetery, the martial arts studio, …
Antagonists in Stories and in Life
We make up stories in our minds about events in our lives. Are the stories real? Real only to us and only as far as our perception is capable of seeing at the time. The stories we tell ourselves to make sense of the world around us have a direct impact on how we react to new events in our lives.That is the only explanation I have for why one writer is slain by the antagonists that pop up in the middle of her writing journey. While, another writer faced with the exact same problems is able to …
Follow Me!