A definition of touchstone on thefreedictionary.com says: an excellent quality or example that is used to test the excellence or genuineness of others. A thematic significance statement becomes a sort of touchstone for writers. A statement that best represents your entire story shines as an excellent example to test the excellence of each scene in relationship to the whole. Theme Exercise:1) Write a thematic significance statement you believe best represents the deeper meaning of your …
Plot-lines All in A Knot
The story you're writing and the audience you're writing it for help determine the exact right number of plots and subplots the story requires.The complexity and number of plots differ for a storybook as compared to a middle-grade novel versus an epic historical or character-driven women's fiction that feature relationship plot-lines between several main characters.No matter how many or how few plots your genre demands, every great tale separates out at least three major plot-lines:A character …
Crisis versus Climax
The latest video up on the Plot Tips Youtube channel is all about the difference between a crisis in a story and the climax of a story.I write up a summary here for those of you who have not yet discovered the wonder of youtube.Crisis and Climax are often confused.Basically:1) CrisisAt the Crisis (around the 3/4 mark of a novel, memoir, screenplay), the energy of the story is at its highest so far and the protagonist is at her very worst, both internally and externally.The crisis forces the …
Rough Draft to Revision
Q: Last week I did something I didn't know I'd be able to do though had the drive to do it. It's taken 20 months to do it, but I've completed my first draft- I have a manuscript! Woot woot! So much of your influence pushed me to it, btw!Anyway, I was wondering how you go about re-writing/editing. Do you do a full read through first? Do you just start with spelling checking? How do you make sure it's fluid from the color of a shirt in one scene to the next, etc.....A: Congratulations!See my …
Scene Tracker & Rewriting
Even after all these years I delight every time I see a plot planner or scene tracker filled in. Each of the notation on this writer's scene tracker is clear and precise and the scenes flow naturally one scene to the next.Ready for her first major rewrite, she's fumbling around, moving words. All the while, the naysayers in her mind are growing in strength. I can hear it in her voice. She's wobbly, ready to throw up her hands. Her steel resolve to finish this historical novel of 5 years is …
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