Plot Consultant

27-Step Plot Tutorial: How Do I Plot a Novel, Memoir, Screenplay?

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The first day of filming the 27-Step Plot Tutorial: How Do I Plot a Novel, Memoir, Screenplay? Youtube series was September 2010. I remember putting that 1st video up on Youtube, mortified by the yapping dog in the background and well-aware of how distracting for viewers who struggle to mask out background interference. Still, I knew if I didn't put up the video, flaws and all, I'd be waiting for perfection forever. Fire ahead four light-years filled with growth for the series, me as the …

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5 Tips How to Write and Sell a Picture Book with a Plot

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I'm jumping for joy, having finished filming How to Write a Sell a Picture Book with a Plot with Jill Corcoran, literary agent for some of today's finest picture books authors. Below I share 5 tips how to write and sell a picture book with a plot from the video course.  Months of creating the program, exercises and 7 scripts for each of us from the Plot Whisperer Workbook. Rehearsing and filming. Now, I'm excited and proud to announce the official launch of our latest video course for anyone …

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Every Writer’s Mantra

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Show don't tell is every writer's mantra and one of the first stumbling blocks a beginning writer encounters. Come time to revise before writing the next draft, writers with little background in the craft of writing a story with a plot find they've told the story rather than shown the story through scenes. Both writing in summary and in all dialogue, writing from a distance seems easier to manage. Even in first person POV, writers often unwittingly separate from the intimacy of sensuous story …

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How to Show Character Emotion beyond the Cliched

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Often in real life and news reports, we witness spontaneous and raw emotion. Not something we're privy to much in our everyday lives, having been taught to control our emotions as demonstrated by our show of emotional development and maturity. Many shy away from bearing witness to some of the most raw and painful shows of emotion -- rage, sorrow, jealousy, aggression, grief. Some judge shows of spontaneous and raw emotion childish / dangerous / uncomfortable. Buck up, we're taught. Everyone …

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Where To Start: How To Write the Exact Right Beginning of Your Story

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Pain shoots up from the bottom of her foot, enough so she limps and is forced to wear heavy boots with firm arch supports. Hearing the pain started about a month into writing a memoir and that she hasn't moved very far into her story even after more than seven months of writing scenes long-hand, I suspect that her foot pain and writing pain were linked.Often problems with the feet indicate difficulty moving forward. I ask her what the problem is with moving forward with her story."I don't know …

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