Do you ever feel like the further you put yourself out there teaching, writing, consulting, living, the more vulnerable you feel?It's risky, following the energy out of the comfortable zone.Inside a turtle's shell seems the perfect place to dream and imagine. It's also a good place to lick wounds. So many decisions, so much work, too challenging. Always on the edge of barely knowing. The part that believes I'm not good enough, not smart enough, not brave enough, not enough whispers how easy it …
Character Flaw
Every protagonist has a number of challenges to overcome in a story. Each of the core challenges can be seen as a separate plot line and plotted out over the course of the story. A major core plot line revolves around the protagonist's inner story. To satisfy the inner plot line, the protagonist must undergo a deep and fulfilling transformation. Often this is accomplished by introducing the character at the Beginning of the story with a flaw that must be eventually overcome to achieve her …
A Guided Imagery Tour of Your Story
I sometimes do brief guided imagery work in plot workshops to relax writers before they begin plotting their stories (for most highly creative writers, the work I ask of them is very stressful and counter-intuitive and can involve quite a bit of resistance on the part of the writer. all writers are anxious about their writing in a group setting), and I use my voice. Guiding an imagery tour on a blog is awkward because you close your eyes. You also need the directions... You figure it out.Oh, …
Follow the Energy
A couple of months ago in a plot interview, Brenda Novak, author of nearly forty romance novels and more than 3 million books in print and multiple honors, shared a trick she uses when she gets "...stumped. Some people call this writer's block. I loose steam, the tension leaks out of the story and my productivity grinds to a halt. When this happens, I have to retrench to a point when I know the story was working and branch off in a new direction. Every time this happens, however, I find a better …
BEYOND CHARACTER, ACTION, AND THEME
When the Dramatic Action changes the Character Emotional Development at depth over time, a story becomes Thematically Significant. These three threads: Dramatic Action, Character Emotional Development and Thematic Significance, hold the core dynamic of plot.But if one broadens the definition of plot to include it as a verb -- what a writer does in deliberately arranging scenes by cause and effect, then there are a multitude of story elements a writer is able to plot. An excellent source to plot …
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