A writer who readily admits she struggles with plot and feels pulled to write about characters and relationships did the heavy lifting. She wove together character emotional development with exciting dramatic action and thematic significance.Trouble arrives after the climax. The story continues... for quite awhile, many scenes, in some of which the protagonist is downright passive. Finally, comes the resolution and true end.When the writer complains how her subplots carry the same weight as the …
When the Climax Fails The Reader Suffers
In preparation for a plot talk for children's writers and the SCBWI San Francisco/South region last Saturday (FYI: this is a post I ran nearly two years ago and am re-running now because I want to insert the Plot Planner this time. To see why, go here), I analyzed one of my favorite books from my childhood -- The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett. As I read and plotted out the scenes in the Beginning of the story, I was delighted to see all the effective foreshadowing (in 2 instances she …
Use Setting to Deepen Readers’ Appreciation Of Your Protagonist’s Character Emotional Development
A story is about a character transformed over time by the dramatic action.To make this character transformation more dramatic, great writers convey who the character is within the safety of a world that is familiar to her before thrusting her into a new world. The ordinary world gives the reader insight into the values, background, and habits of the protagonist (or lack thereof).Usually the protagonist has a life before the story begins, although some stories such as Ursula Hegi’s Stones of the …
101 Best Websites for Writers — as Awarded from Writers Digest
"Congratulations! Your website, Plot Whisperer for Writers and Readers, has been selected as a 101 Best Website for Writers as honored by Writer’s Digest. Your site has been listed in our May/June 2013 issue, which is linked in our SHOP"Thank you, Writers Digest! (Yes, I know, my show of gratitude is months overdue -- goes to show you what sort of year I've been having...)Being honored in this way is almost sweeter now than the thrill I felt upon receiving the news the first time in 2009 and …
101 Best Websites for Writers — as Awarded from Writers DigestRead More
Internal Goals versus External Goals
Every character wants something. You (and your character) must decide what she is willing to give up to achieve her goal. This begins the character’s emotional development plot.The specific actions the character takes to realize her goal comprise the dramatic action plot. Tie the character’s private passion to a bigger, more transformative universal subject, and a thematic plot is launched.When the dramatic action changes the character over time, the story becomes thematically significant. …
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