Three Plots Make One story
Mastery of plot structure isn’t about a single thread, more like three plots make one story. So says writer and […]
Plotting
Posts on plotting a story
Internal versus External Plot
What really makes a story is the interplay between internal versus external plot. I upset some folks when I say
The ScriptShark Critique Sheet
I rediscovered the ScriptShark Critique Sheet from 2009. It’s another useful tool by which to evaluate your manuscript. Listen to
Eight Types of Surprises
The reader hook you didn’t know you needed: Eight Types of Surprises to keep the reader turning those pages. Jessie
The Art of the Flash Forward
We’re all familiar with the flashback; but what is the art of the flash forward? The flashback takes us back
Story as a Graph
Can you draw your story as a graph? From Freytag to Vonnegut, writers and coaches will tell you stories have
The Mid-point Plot-Knot
They want it, they can’t get it, and time is running out; this is the Mid-Point Plot-Knot. This is the
Sisterhood as Theme Over Plot
Revising my novella, I discovered I’m writing about sisterhood as theme over plot. Who knew? Not me, it began as
Exceeding the MICE Quotient
My novella hit problems a while back, entirely from exceeding the MICE quotient. I tried to pack too much into
Avoiding the Idiot Plot
Avoiding the Idiot Plot: in which characters behave like idiots. Logic and good sense go AWOL. Along with the reader’s