Plot Consultant

Archetypes — People Who Exhibit A Particular Trait Strongly

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Archetypes appear more clearly in people who exhibit one trait strongly. I am inclined to study the people I work with. Most plot consultations take place over the phone, so I rely on overt comments and breath, perceived posture, expressions, and movements. For help on a deeper level, archetypes shed meaning. Over and over she laments her uncertainty. She blurts out doubts in herself, her abilities, the actual presence of others. Why bother, she cries out? A writers' life demands more from us …

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Trying Too Hard

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After today's plot consultation, plotlines and subplots, flashbacks and time jumps still linger.The writer is guilty what many of us are ~ he tried too hard. At some point in every writers life, we ask ourselves ~ who would want to read this? And, why? In our fear of not measuing up or worried the story falls short, we add another subplot here, switch events around, change the point-of-view, and mess with the format. I think this is part of the writer's personal journey. Our egos keep our minds …

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When the Writing Gets in the Way

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I appreciate that not everyone writes to be read. Writers who say they write for themselves may or may not mean that the writer does not care about the reader, but that the reader does not dictate the story, the writer does.For writers who want to be read by the mainstream reading public (whoever that is), don't let words get in the way of meaning.A writer recounts an exciting, well-thought out Dramatic Action plotline (he has entirely ignored the Character Development plotline for now and …

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Characters Consistency is Paramount

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Partway through a two-hour plot consultation, the writer I was working with related a scene in which the protagonist does something entirely out of character. The protagonist of this young adult novel steals pot from her father's illegal pot growing shed."Whoa!" I cried. "Where does this come from? You've set up the story so that the protagonist does not respect her father because of his pot growing, right?""She's not going to smoke any. She wants to get back at her dad.""She's going to take …

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Mystery Writers Need Plot, too!

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Are you nuts?Leave a fire roaring, dog snoring, husband chatting, and a pot of soup bubbling for the long walk down a cold hallway in the dark and all alone to a quiet and still room filled with expectations and uncertainty??? Lately, so goes the lament from many of the writers I work with on an on-going basis.Everyone seems slow to jump into the writing life this year. Rather, self-doubts, and threats of going back and starting again, fear and uncertainty hold us back. The drama keeps us …

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