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 …
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 PSTPlot 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 …
Character Emotion
To continue reading or watching, readers and audiences need to understand and care about the characters. Yes, the action has to be compelling and there must be meaning attached to the writing. People identify most with character emotion -- the characters and the emotions they convey. Action as a Emotional Response One way to help a reader connect is to "show" the character's emotional response to the conflict and action. By this I don't mean the character's internal monologue about how …
The Middle
I recently worked with a writer who, when she hit the Middle, lost the passion for her story. When the allure of the Beginning is over, the story starts getting messy. Characters act out. Everything she writes seems boring to her. All her fears about the unworthiness of her project interfere with her ability to create new scenes. She wants me to give her the scenes or at least give her ideas for the scenes.My advice for this writer is to list the themes she's interested in exploring in her …
Help Your Readers/Audience Connect
In most plot consultations, I never read a writer's work. Instead, the writer tells me their story scene-by-scene or chapter-by-chapter. I find I can better "see" the plot and structure minus the words. Sometimes, however, in an on-going plot consultations after we have worked our way through the first draft and I understand what the writer's vision for the project is and have a pretty firm idea of the overall plot and structure, I will read and comment on the manuscript itself.In the case of a …
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