#Plan4WriMo Reposts! Day 31: Pat Yourself on the Back

And on the thirty-first day, the writers rested.

It’s Halloween, which for me means a preschool costume parade, a teacher workday, and a whole lot of candy. But for those of us who have been busting our butts preparing for NaNoWriMo, it’s also a day of writerly rest.

Let your brain breathe. Step away from the computer. Take a kid Trick or Treating. Hug your husband. Call your mom. After all, they’re not going to hear much from you over the next thirty days.

But I hope some of this has been helpful—that you’ve learned something about yourself or your writing that you didn’t know before. That you found a new blog to follow through the links or made a new writer friend in the comments. And if not, shoot me a message and tell me why.

Okay, now it’s time to stop reading this blog.

No really.

We’re done.

Take a break.

You’ve earned it. 

#Plan4WriMo Day 30: Get Your Ducks Together

Holy crow you’ve done a lot of work this month. If you’ve participated all month you may have gobs of notes, stickies or flashcards, Pinterest boards, synopses, pitches, and a hot picture of Matt Lewis.

Just me? K…

Today we’re going to make sense of it all, put it in some sort of orderly fashion so we can access it if we need it, and absorb the information to make sure it’s consistent with the story you’re trying to tell.

There are probably some things you still don’t have an answer for. And some things will change organically as you write. But in terms of trying to write a novel in 30 days, you’re a lot closer to the finish line already, and you haven’t even started writing your first draft yet.

If you want, throw your NaNoWriMo handle in the comments so we can all support and keep up with each other over the next month.

Then get ready to write. You’ve got this.

#Plan4WriMo Reposts! Day 29: Experiment with Voice

If you’re a pantser, it’s pretty rare to get a spot-on narrative voice during your very first draft. After all if your plot and character change, the whole tone of your book might, too.

But since we’ve been prepping for 29 days now, we’ve got a good idea for the mood we’re going to set. And we know whose story we’re telling. We know where we’re headed. And we know what POV we’re going to use to tell the tale.

Today we’re going to experiment with narrative voice.

Even if you’re not writing in first person, voice is super important. The first page of PHILOSOPHER’S STONE is chock-full of fantastical voicey goodness. Katniss’ hostility shines through from the very first scene. And Tris’ flat, abnegation affect is obvious from the opening paragraph.

Today’s links:

Narrative Strategy

There Are No Rules for How to Find Your Narrative Voice

Finding a Voice

POV vs. Narrative Voice

I Know it When I See It: YA Voice

The Problem with Sarcastic Voice

Interiority

How does your story sound? 

#Plan4WriMo Day 27: Create a Beat Sheet

A beat sheet is a structural outline of your novel that ensures you’ve got all your plot points, pinch points, midpoints etc happening at roughly the right time within your story architecture. For me, this is where my brightly colored notecards come in, because I can then begin to break my book down scene by scene surrounding these crucial points in my manuscript.

Larry Brooks has some awesome examples of Beat Sheets throughout his posts on his website. So that’s where most of today’s links come from:

Today’s Links

Storytelling to the Beat of a Different Drummer

Begin to Write It Down

Beat Sheet Basics

Blank Beat Sheet Form

The Pantser’s Guide to Storyplanning Part Two

The Most Powerful Writing Tool You’ll Ever See That Fits on One Page

6 Tools to Rescue Your Beat Sheet

Make Your Readers Love ‘Em Instead of Leave ‘Em

Keys to a Satisfying Conclusion

It’s time to put your plotting skills to the test. Have you identified your tent posts? Do you know where you’re headed and how you’re going to get there? Give it a try! 

#Plan4WriMo Reposts! Day 26: Identify the Best Perspective

You may wonder why I’ve saved my point-of-view post for the end of the month. In my work as an editor I see a lot of writers who I feel are using the wrong point-of-view. They could be using third person when first person would really serve their story better. They might be using first person but the narrative is so head-hoppy they really need to get out of their main character’s skull. They might be writing present tense because they think that’s trendy when in fact present tense doesn’t make a lot of sense for what they’re writing.

I know from personal experience that it’s a lot easier to start with the right POV than it is to go back and edit the hell out of it later. There’s a whole new level of line editing required to switch tenses.

So today we’re going to contemplate which point-of-view is best for your story—how do you know whose head to be in or whether you should be in anyone’s head at all? And how deep into that person’s psyche do you want to get? How can you take the POV you’ve chosen deeper?

You might consider an exercise of writing a scene from two different POVs and seeing which feels more natural. Or you could just skim the following links:

TODAY’S LINKS:

Perspective Outline

The Trifecta of Storytelling Power

Going Deep

Deep POV

Choosing the Right Point of View

#Plan4WriMo Reposts! Day 25: How Will Your Novel End?

Most writers who do NaNoWriMo will tell you that you’re unlikely to reach your story’s end during the month of November. I’m living proof that they’re wrong. But you also might decide to write your scenes out of order—since you know where you’re headed and how you’re getting there by now.

But before I got obsessed with story architecture I had a different/more loose method of plotting that involved writing my last scene first. I did that because even though I still thought I was a pantser I wanted to know where I was headed. So even if the terms Plot Point One, Pinch Point, Midpoint and Lull make your pants itch, if you’ve been following my blog this month you’re either a masochist or curious about plotting.

My challenge for you today is to contemplate how your story will end.

But it’s more than just ending the plot—you’ve got to tie up relationship arcs, characterization arcs, subplots, and everything into a nice neat last bit of bookage. If you don’t want to think about your book’s climactic resolution quite yet, make a list of everything you’ll need to cover during your final chapters.

For those of you who are thinking “well this is the first book in a series, so it’s not really going to have an ending…”

There’s a reason why I’ve been using the examples I have all month.

PHILOSOPHER’S STONE. DIVERGENT. THE HUNGER GAMES. All of these books could have stood on their own two feet if nothing followed them. Why? Because the writers, agents, and editors had to guarantee the first book would sell before they tried to sell the second. No matter if it’s a standalone novel or the first of fifty, you’re writing a standalone novel right now.

How satisfied do you want your reader to be? Will this be a hearts and flowers happy ending or something more along the lines of ALLEGIANT? (Yup, still bitching about that book, a year later.)

Not a lot of links today because you’re the only one who really knows what you need here.

TODAY’S LINKS

The Final Act

Climax

Dénouement and Closing Scenes

#Plan4WriMo Reposts! Day 24: Your Hero's Character Arc

According to Larry Brooks’ story architecture model which we’ve been following this month as we prep for NaNoWriMo, beginning at the Midpoint, your main character becomes a Hero of Action—he grabs your story by the balls…erm…horns…either way...and takes charge, leading to the story’s climax and resolution.

Okay, the balls analogy makes sense. Just go with it, people.

And while there’s definitely plot prep involved in creating Part 3 of your novel, today I’d like to focus on your main character’s character arc. How does his journey change him? What is the moment that causes her to truly become a hero and how does that moment impact not only your main character, but also everyone else that surrounds her?

In HARRY POTTER AND THE DEATHLY HALLOWS this moment is huge and hugely important. It’s when Harry realizes that Voldemort is after the Elder Wand. That’s when shit gets real. From there the pace and story completely shifts and, more importantly for today’s post, HARRY shifts. In every scene that follows, Harry is the take-charge-instigator-of-all-action. He’s the catalyst for everything that follows.

But Harry becoming a hero doesn’t just impact Harry. Luna, Ron, Hermione, and Neville…

***moment of silence to admire Movie 7 WILF version of Neville***

Ahem. Everything changes. For everyone.

So while you’re looking back at your scene brainstorming from the beginning of the month and you’re thinking of how to make your hero a hero of action, think of it not only in terms of plot but also in terms of characterization.

Today’s Links:

Part 3: The Attack

Antiheroes

What Character Arc Really Means

The 3 Types of Character Arcs

The Character Arc

Character Arcs

Plan4WriMo Reposts! Day 23: Pinch Points

We’re back on structural elements today and delving deeper into plot. Whheeeee!!

Most of the “keywords” I’ll mention in these plotting posts are from Larry Brooks’ series on story structure (i.e. 6 core competencies). That’s because his definitions and explanations make sense to me in a more concrete way than any other method of plotting I’ve tried.

It works for me. It won’t work for everyone. But if you’re a plotter and you haven’t read his series on NaNoWriMo, you really should.

Today we’re talking Pinch Points, of which your novel will have at least two. These are moments where your story’s main conflict is intentionally highlighted, when the reader gets to see the antagonist’s truly bad nature in a way that is separate from any biases your MC may have. In other words, even if your MC can’t see the bad guy for who he truly is, the reader will (even if it’s not until the second read-through.)

Totally clear, right?

Some examples:

On the roof of the Training Center the night before the Games, Katniss and Peeta discuss how the Gamekeepers manipulate the tributes and set them up to fail.

In the Great Hall, Harry’s scar hurts for the first time. He thinks it’s because he’s looking at Professor Snape. Really, it’s because of Quirrell’s turban facing him.

Frustrated and desperate for comfort, Tris goes to Erudite to visit her brother. When she returns, Eric is waiting for her. (It’s also arguable that when Eric forces Christina to hang over the Pit by her fingertips that this is a Pinch Point. I disagree because the aforementioned moment paints both Janine and Eric as antagonists in cahoots.)

Cinderella’s stepmother tells her she can go to the royal ball…if she finishes an impossible list of chores.

Katniss makes her first kill—the kid who snared and speared Rue—and becomes a murderer.

Harry’s broom gets cursed during Quittich. (He thinks it’s Snape--who’s really muttering a counter-curse. But right beside him is Quirrell and that pesky turban.)

POTTER, like other stories with suspenseful twists revealed at the end, is a little tricky where Pinch Points are concerned. Because instead of two pinch points, you really have four: The two red herrings you want the reader to fall for as the writer, and the two true sightings of the bad guy that the reader probably won’t realize are there until they go back and read the story for a second time.

If you’re working off a Four-Act plot structure, the Pinch Points happen during Act II and Act III—on either side of the midpoint.  You may have other moments like this at other points during your book, where the reader sees the antagonistic force for themselves, but there will be at least two of them.

***Two questions I had when I first read about Pinch Points***

If we are in first person POV, how do we see the antagonist’s evil nature without the MC’s bias?

The reader can always have a different opinion from your main character. This is one of the reasons it’s really important for your MC to have flaws. If your MC is perfect, and we’re in his/her head, there’s not a lot of surprise happening with the Pinch Points. And she might be aware of who the bad guy is, he just might not fully perceive the scene the way a reader would should they go back and read for a second time.

What if you’re writing a romance or other such manuscript where the antagonist isn’t a character, but rather some sort of internal struggle?

There’s still got to be an antagonistic force. It might not be a person. It might be a character flaw. It might be a relationship conflict. But if your story doesn’t have conflict, if nothing opposes your main character, you don’t have a plot.

Today’s Links:

Story Structure Series: Pinch Points

Using Pinch Points to Create Narrative Drive

Romance University: Pinch Points and Turning Points—Oh My!

The Point of Pinch Points

Pinch Points: A Reminder of What’s at Stake

2015 Update:

I often get asked where does the story's "climax" fall into this model of story structure. Here's the answer! 

#Plan4WriMo Reposts! Day 22: The Midpoint

Most of the “keywords” I’ll mention in these plotting posts are from Larry Brooks’ series on story structure (i.e. 6 core competencies). That’s because his definitions and explanations make sense to me in a more concrete way than any other method of plotting I’ve tried. It works for me. It won’t work for everyone. But if you’re a plotter and you haven’t read his series on NaNoWriMo, you really should.

The First & Second Plot Points are two of the three tent poles holding up your manuscript’s architectural roof. The third fits exactly half-way between them AND also in the exact center of your manuscript. It’s called the midpoint. Clever, eh?

The midpoint is a game-changing twist that shifts everything we’ve known about the story so far (We being the reader and also possibly the main character.) This moment leads your hero to become a hero of action, rather than a potential-hero being acted upon by his world.

Unlike the plot points which are actual events in the story, the midpoint doesn’t necessarily have to be a scene. It can just be an insertion of information that changes the MC or reader’s perception. And while you can obviously have more than one twist, depending on the kind of story you’re writing, this one happens smack-dab in the middle of your manuscript.

How will the midpoint give new context to and shift the story you’re planning to write? How will you reveal it?

Some examples:

Harry realizes that the package Hagrid fetched from Gringotts must also be the thing that Hagrid’s three-headed dog, Fluffy, is guarding in the forbidden corridor of Hogwarts. That’s when Harry transitions from directionless hero to a hero of action—taking steps to guard the Philosopher’s Stone from the bad guys.

On visiting day, Tris’ mother comes to Dauntless headquarters. During the visit Tris learns the true danger of being divergent. And that her mother was Dauntless-born.

Katniss awakens from her Tracker-jacker stupor to discover she successfully claimed the only bow in the Games. She’s no longer lost and hiding out while the other Tributes kill each other. With the bow, she has a shot at winning.

Today’s links:

Wrapping Your Head Around the Midpoint Milestone

Magical Midpoint Moment

Midpoint & Mirror Moment

The Secrets of Structure: Midpoint

What are some game-changing midpoint twists you’ve read and loved?

#Plan4WriMo Reposts! Day 21: Identify PP2!

Sorry, pantsers, we’re back on plot today.

Most of the “keywords” I’ll mention in these plotting posts are from Larry Brooks’ series on story structure (i.e. 6 core competencies). That’s because his definitions and explanations make sense to me in a more concrete way than any other method of plotting I’ve tried.

It works for me. It won’t work for everyone. But if you’re a plotter and you haven’t read his series on NaNoWriMo, you really should.

Today we’re talking about the SPP or Second Plot Point. It’s what Larry Brooks describes as “when the chase scene starts.” This is the last time the reader gets new information about the story, the moment when there is no question what the main character must do to save their stakes or meet their story goal. It happens about ¾ through your story and it moves your main character from a hero of action to a hero of desperate action.

What’s most important about the SPP is that it propels your story forward in a way it previously lacked. It comes right after the ‘lull’ or the moment when the MC believes he has failed at his mission and all hope is lost. Suddenly, there’s a shift in the power differential, your MC gets a burst of courage, or something new comes to light that makes the MC say “I MUST ACCOMPLISH THE STORY GOAL AND I MUST DO IT RIGHT THE EFF NOW!”

Some concrete examples that don’t involve shouty capitalization (but do contain spoilers):

***MASSIVE SPOILER ALERT****Tris makes it to the Abnegation safehouse and finds her brother is not a dirty family-hating traitor after all. (The pre-SPP ‘lull’ is when her mother sacrifices herself so that Tris can escape.)

Katniss goes to the Cornucopia ‘Feast’ to get medicine for Peeta, knowing her success means they can both go home if they win. (The pre-SPP lull is when Peeta threatens to follow/sabbotage her if she tries to go to the feast, because he’d rather die than have her risk herself. Katniss feels all hope is lost if she survives but Peeta dies.)

During detention in the Forbidden Forest, Hagrid reveals that he bought Norbert (a baby dragon) off a mysterious stranger in a pub and during the course of the transaction revealed that the key to getting Fluffy the Three Headed Dog to sleep was to play him music. Harry realizes that the mysterious stranger is Voldemort and that he’s the bad guy, not Snape. (The pre-SPP lull is when he gets caught by Filch after releasing Norbert and believes Snape is going to get the Stone, no matter what he does.)

TODAY’S LINKS:

Do Story Physics Work in Fantasy?

10 Specifics on How to Plan Your story

The Second Plot Point

Part 4: The Final Act

#Plan4WriMo Reposts! Day 20: Nail Down Your MC

We’ve been swimming in plot-land, so today we’ll take a break and focus back in on our main character. If you’ve been with us all month, by now you know who your MC is, what he wants, and what stands in his way. You also know how she’s going to fail. But there’s still more to consider where your main character is concerned.

What are his stakes? Are the same as the greater stakes of your story? Do they change as the story moves forward?

How do you introduce her? How self-aware is he? And how will you present him to the reader? Is she an open book? Does she have secrets? How do his flaws come into play with your plot?

With a little over a week to go until WriMo starts, it’s time to nail down your main character.

TODAY’S LINKS:

A Strategy for Introducing Your Hero

15 Questions Authors Should Ask Their Characters

Main Characters Need to Change

Answer All of These Questions

What is your main character’s greatest strength? What is his/her fatal flaw?

#Plan4WriMo Reposts! Day 19: The First Plot Point

We’re back on structural elements today and delving deeper into plot. So buckle up!! Today we’re discussing the First Plot Point (FPP) which is not the same thing as your hook or your inciting incident.

Most of the “keywords” I’ll mention in these plotting posts are from Larry Brooks’ series on story structure (i.e. 6 core competencies). That’s because his definitions and explanations make sense to me in a more concrete way than any other method of plotting I’ve tried.

It works for me. It won’t work for everyone. But if you’re a plotter and you haven’t read his series on NaNoWriMo, you really should.

Especially if you’re writing YA if your FPP is also your hook, your hook is happening way too late. And that’s why it’s important to get your FPP right: It matters to agents and editors. If your FPP comes too late (and it should come around ¼ of the way through your book) you’ll get feedback that your story ‘started in the wrong place.’  If it’s not significant enough you’ll hear ‘not enough stakes’ or ‘conflict is too vague.’ The nice part about plotting is that if you figure out what your FPP is ahead of time, you don’t have to worry about that.

So what is the FPP, which Larry Brooks refers to as ‘the most important moment in your story’? It’s the moment when the story’s main conflict becomes clear to your main character—when he is given his mission. It’s the moment after which your hero can’t take it back.

Today we’re going to look back at the list of scenes we identified, at our basic pitch, and our character goals and motivations and identify our First Plot Point. And for those who are fully embracing this whole architecture and plotting thing, the links below will help you take that further to identify some smaller moments between your inciting incident and your FPP.

Some concrete FPP examples:

Harry Potter arrives at Kings Cross Station and meets Ron Weasley. Together, they board the Hogwarts Express.

At the Choosing Ceremony, Beatrice chooses Dauntless.

Katniss decides to ‘play along’ with the love story angle with Peeta in order to stay alive.

THE HUNGER GAMES’ plot architecture is pretty twisty-turny. So much that Larry devoted an entire series of blog posts to laying out its structure. It’s a great example to check out if you’ve got the time and interest.

Today’s Links:

Why and How Your First 12-15 Scenes Are Different

Stuck? Try This and Move Forward

The Most Important Moment in Your Story

#Plan4WriMo Reposts! Day 18: Relationship Arcs

Not only do your characters have a history, they also have a history with each other. It’s important to know not only how your characters relate to your MC and/or your antagonist, but everyone else in the world you’re building.

You’ll also want to consider how their relationships will change over the course of time—especially over the course of your novel. This is called a relationship arc, and it’s just as important as your plot arc and individual character arcs. And those arcs should all weave together in a fluid way.

Your characters impact each other. Their relationships impact your plot arc. Your plot impacts your characterization arcs.

And away we goooooooo!

That diagram I mentioned earlier this month? You’ll find an example of one below. Enjoy!

Today’s links:

Relationship Chart

Using the 12 Stages of Physical Intimacy to Build Tension in Your Novel

Emotional Amplifiers

#Plan4WriMo Reposts: Day 17--What's Your Hook?

We’re halfway through October and if you’ve been participating in this ‘workshop’ every day, you should be getting confident about the story you’re telling. But is it strong enough to be worth the weeks and months you’ll spend on it?

The problem is, there are a lot of stories out there, probably many with similarities to yours. Before you start writing, you’ll need to identify what’s going to make your book stand out of the pack.

This is your hook.

Your inciting incident isn’t necessarily your hook. In fact, your hook may not be a specific moment in your story, so much as it is the concept you are showing us with that moment. A hook is your unique storytelling element—the most crucial part of your query or your pitch, but it might not necessarily be a specific scene in your story.

Some examples:

Every year Panem twenty-four children are chosen to fight to the death.

In dystopian Chicago, independent thinkers, known as Divergents, are being hunted by the government.

As an infant, Harry Potter inexplicably defeated the world’s most powerful and evil wizard and was left with a lightning shaped scar.

So with your characters, inciting incident, and the potential scenes you’ve brainstormed in mind, it’s time to identify your story’s hook.

Today’s Links

Sharpen Your Hook

Hook vs. First Plot Point

A Better Way to Open Your Novel

#Plan4WriMo Reposts: Day 16--Get Your Backstory Out of Your System Now

You’ve spent two weeks thinking about the story you’re going to write. You’ve gotten to know your characters, their history, and everything that leads up to your inciting incident.

That’s a whole lot of infodump waiting to happen. Today’s exercise involves actual writing, but not the kind you’ll include in your manuscript. We’re going to create backstory for our characters—contemplate how they came to be who they are before your book opens.

Consider writing a scene that would be a flashback if you were to include it in your book. What was your main character’s most traumatizing childhood moment? What was his favorite birthday? What moment in her past is she most proud of? How did your main character meet his/her sidekick?

But since it’s not November yet, you can’t include any of this in your novel or it’s CHEATING! Hah. 

No but really, plan not to include much if any of this. This is for you, as the writer, to know your story, your characters and their world. Get it out of your system now so that come November, you know enough about your characters’ history that you don’t need to work it out while you’re drafting.

And if your CPs or beta readers are confused, you can always dribble it into your manuscript later on. 

Today’s links:

How to Make Your Readers Love ‘Em Instead of Leave ‘Em

Baby Got Backstory

Flashbacks & Backstory

Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell

Reverse Backstory Tool

It’s Okay to Leave Stuff Out. In Fact it’s Better

Five Missions for the Setup of Your Story

#Plan4WriMo Reposts! Day 15: Get to Know Your Other VIPeeps

Despite the name, ‘secondary’ characters are crucial to making your main character and your world tangible. Whether it’s a sidekick, a love interest, a frienemy, a parent, a sibling or a child, every character in your book should have his or her own story—even if it doesn’t make it into your book. And they should impact your main character’s story. They also should impact the other characters with whom they interact (but don’t worry, we’re saving relationship charts for later this month.)

Looking back at the lists we brainstormed earlier this month (Characters, Settings, Scenes), start thinking about the other characters you need to make your scenes and settings come alive.

It’s a tricky balance—making secondary characters matter without overshadowing the primary characters. Character economics is also a factor—you don’t want to have too many minor players. Or too few.

Looking back over your notes from the previous days, who do you need to fill in your story’s details? How can you make them matter? How do you make them tangible?

Today’s links:

Basic Character Profile

In-Depth Character Profile

Minor Character Sheet

5 Ways to Make the Most of Your Characters

Secondary Characters

Character Sketch

Who’s your favorite secondary character? Why?

#Plan4WriMo Reposts--Day 14: Get to Know Your Antagonistic Forces

Equally important to your protagonist is what stands in his way. Sometimes it’s a person, sometimes it’s not.

Sometimes it’s an inner-demon, or a hurdle a couple must overcome to be together.

But without an antagonistic force of some sort, you don’t have a story, because you don’t have conflict.

The greatest villains are those you love to hate.

Voldemort

Bob Ewell

President Snow

Maleficent

The Joker

Skeletor

Mother Gothel

As god of your story world, you should understand your villain just as well as you do your main character, even if your readers never do. So today we’re going to get to know the bad guy—even if he’s not a guy (or gal) at all.

Today’s links:

Answer All These Questions

Characterization

Game Changer: Create an Inner Dialogue with Your Hero and Your Villain

How to Create a Vile Villain

The Flipside of Hero Empathy

Antagonists

What stands in your main character’s way?