People read stories and go to the movies 70% for the character. We love to peek into other people's lives, even if the other people are mere characters in a book or movie.This last writer's story is filled with dramatic action, which makes for an exciting story. I find myself anxious to hear what happens next, and what happens after that. The writer masterfully provides more and more compelling action, and does so seamlessly through consistent cause and effect. The Dramatic Action plot line …
Caution: Writing May be Hazardous to Your Health
Not every writer I work with admits to her flaw(s) but many do. The more prevalent flaws I encounter operate exactly like the protagonist's flaw in a story = the internal flaws of feeling not good enough, smart enough, or producing enough do more to sabotage the writer (and protagonist) from achieving her goals than any outside antagonist ever can.Writers who have labored for years start when hopeful and stop when fraught with insecurity and fear (both of success and of failure). They do this …
Author Plot Interview
Most writers have a preference for writing one plot line over another. Some are Character-driven writers. Others are Action-driven writers. Some have strengths in both. Not many are Thematic-driven. The deeper meaning of a story comes up out of the story itself over time. Thus, the Thematic Significance plot line is generally saved for the last or ignored or overlooked all together. The more aware a writer is about their own personal themes, the more attuned the writer will be in the search for …
After PlotWriMo
Give yourself permission to follow your energy.If you have energy to write something even if it means writing and rewriting, so be it.Just remember, you are not looking for perfection here, you are looking to build the structure on which to rest the story (1st draft) or (subsequent drafts) opportunities to dig deeper and, as Kate Braverman once said to me: find the doors and open them.Do like Hollywood movie directors and cup your hands around one eye like a telescope. Write about that one …
Middle: Territory of the Antagonists
(**Coming soon = 2nd Annual International Plot WriMo Pre-plot new story Plot revision of NaNoWriMoFinal test plot before send-offBegins December 1, 2009)The Middle of a novel, memoir, screenplay encompasses a whooping 1/2 of the scene and page count of the entire story. More writers lose their nerve in the middle of the Middle than in any other spot of the writing process.Two ways out:1) Develop a list of all the antagonists that will interfere with the protagonist reaching both her long and …
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