Plot Consultant

27 Steps to Plotting Your Novel, Memoir, Screenplay Complete

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We did it. The Plot Series is complete! We're not finished with our YouTube channels. A cool idea for a new plot tips series is floating in my head that pushes off from these first 27 steps and dives deeper -- a new plot series that shows what the first 27 steps tells.The new segment is still in that fragile place between inspiration and application. Following my own advice of not showing anyone the first draft and another pearl -- don't talk away the energy, I'll leave the new series for now …

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Thinks Like in Fireworks!

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Terrific comment from a writer I work with -- she thinks like in fireworks with ideas going off in all different directions. No wonder she has difficulty pinning down her story. It's as if in every writing session she embarks on yet another story. Yet, it's obvious that her themes remain consistent throughout. Based on that we begin our work.For her, the process is not about generating scenes. For this writer, her process involves analyzing what she does have. We begin with key scenes at …

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Back-story Informs Front Story

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Fascinating consultation today. The back-story the writer has developed becomes a clear motivating force behind the protagonist's actions and goal setting throughout the entire front story. The back-story serves as a beacon for the writer to filter her decisions through to bring more depth and emotionality to the story. Readers connect to the story through the character. Readers identify with the characters through the characters' emotions.During the consultation, the back-story develops in such …

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Directory for Plot Series

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To the right of this post is a list of the 22 Steps in the Plot Series: How do I Plot a Novel, Memoir and Screenplay? (a few more coming soon complete the series)Now that I posted the directory of the YouTube series, I wish I started the list with the last one and encourage you work your way forward. Perhaps this will work as a strategy for the writer who never reaches the end, finishes, accomplishes her goals. Perhaps beginning at the end will help you stay true to the cause of writing your …

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Writing Deadlines

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Nothing worse than when a writer commits to a deadline and then is unable / unwilling to accomplish the feat. Well, that's a bit extreme but too often, I see what happens when writers fail to meet deadlines. Such a failure frustrates me personally because rather than move forward in our consulting sessions, even if the writer tells me how much research she accomplished or thought she gave or plotting she did, if she is not writing, we are standing still. Two, a writer's writing time is just …

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