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Archive for January, 2011

Week 2 Plotting Lesson

Posted in Uncategorized, Writing Help, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , on January 31, 2011| 3 Comments »


I’m not a fan of the hero’s journey or the 3 act structure. The third act or middle just remains this huge mass of undefined territory.
I like the idea of 4 acts or parts instead of 3 to break things down further.
Here’s what I’ve learned so far.
The four acts:
1. Setup
2. Response
3. Attack
4. Resolution
1. Setup – composed of hook, hero, stakes, foreshadowing, current world. Main character is an orphan without a purpose.
2. Response – composed of running, hiding, analyzing, calculating, observing, recruiting. Main character is a wanderer/responder with a purpose, but no good direction. S/he is fearful, hesitant
3. Attack – composed of overcoming, obtaining, leading, gets new information/skills. Main character is a warrior.
4. Resolution – composed of changing, overcoming, winning or sacrificing. No new information, skills or people can be introduced. Main character is a winner/martyer.
I’m currently editing the end of Act 1 Setup and am going to start working on the Response act soon.
Hope this is helpful to someone else.
Write On.

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A Novelist I Will Be

Posted in Recommendations, Writing Help, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , on January 24, 2011| 2 Comments »


I went to a local writer’s meeting yesterday. Where I confessed to not being able to plot, which is a HUGE handicap if you want to be a writer. A woman, whose name I don’t know told me to do the following:

1. Go to storyfix.com, download and read Story Structure Demystified

2. Go to Michael Hauge’s blog, study his plotting chart and read his past blogs on plotting

3. Go to Randy Ingermanson’s blog and get his book Writing for Dummies.

I’ve started #1 and must say Story Structure Demystified is really good. I’m beginning to get the big picture.

I’ve learned so far novels are composed of 4 stages. The first being Setup and ending with the first plot point. My current work doesn’t do a good job of setup and misses the first plot point altogether. So you know how I’ll be spending my week. Editing section 1 of my current work, Feral.

For now, Write On

D

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