Writer's Digest Magazine recently award Plot Whisperer for Writers and Readers as one of 101 Best Websites for Writers in 2009.Whittled down from 2,700 nominations, this year -- the 11th -- the list of 101 Best Websites for Writers is divided into eight sections. That Plot Whisperer fit in "Publishing Resources" makes me consider the blog differently than I have in the past. Plot Whisperer is the blog for Blockbuster Plots for Writers. As such, it started as a place for writers to read weekly …
But Am I Good Enough?
Though not often spoken aloud, I hear the fear whispered in many of the plot consultations I provide to writers. I know answering a question with a question is not always helpful, but the query begs a list of qualifiers:Are you good enough for what?Good enough to make time for your writing?Good enough to put the right words together to evoke just the right emotion?Good enough to come up with a compelling plot, engaging characters, a deeper meaning?Good enough to finish what you started?Good …
Formatting for Submission
Same writer as in the previous post has finished her outline, synopsis, and bio, and her entire book has been edited and is now ready to go out to interested agents.In making sure her attachments can be opened -- some problems arose earlier because instead of word doc files, she had gif files and docx files I could not open -- this time I could open. When I did, I caught a couple of issues which I addressed in an email, a portion of which I include here:Comments on formatting (these are no …
The Writers Submission Process
One of my favorite writers recently attended at a meet-the-agents day in NYC where she pitched her latest writing project to a slew of agents. She returned home with a headache and a long list of interested agents. Now that the excitement and nervous energy is abated, she's left with burn-out and overwhelm.Following is my sympathetic response to her experience....as for your burn-out. I'm not surprised. All that interfacing and the nervous energy from all the writers around you. Congratulations …
Plotting the Climax of Your Story
In the End -- the final 1/4 of the entire page or scene count, the protagonist still has foes to confront and overcome. Only now, she is armed with a new understanding of herself. For the first time, her goal is within reach. The Climax at the end serves as the light at the end of the tunnel. The protagonist moves toward the light -- one step forward toward the ultimate transformation, three steps back, a fight for a couple of steps, being beat backwards. The Climax is the crowning glory of …
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