TABLE OF CONTENTS
- Introduction: What Is Plotting (And Why Is It So Hard?)
- Plot Is...
- Where Plots Are Born
- A word of warning on dealing with the subconscious
- How Plots Grow
- The Seven Basic Plots (Plus A Mermaid)
- Plotting Is A Process, Not An Act
- How To Use This Book
- Section I: Plotting Before Writing
- Structures
- How Many Plot Cards Will I Need?
- Usual Novel Word Counts
- Figuring Average Scene Length Wordcounts
- The Number of Scenes You’ll Need Is...
- The Three-Act Structure
- Character Structure, Single POV
- Character Structure, Multiple POV
- Cliffhanger Structure
- Organic Structure
- Timeline Structure
- Mixing It Up
- Section II: Tools—When Things Are Going Well
- Plot Tools, and Why There Are So Many
- Tool 1: Question
- Tool 2: Twist
- Tool 3: Cliffhanger
- Tool 4: Character
- Tool 5: Line-For-Scene, Take One
- Tool 6: Conflict
- Tool 7: Language
- Tool 8: Culture
- Tool 9: Map and Terrain
- Tool 10: Throwing Stuff Against A Wall
- Tool 11: Theme and Concept
- Section III: Tools—When Things Go Splat
- Tool 12: Awake—Timed Writing
- Tool 13: Awake—Word Games
- Goosebumps
- Pong
- Chase Your Tail 1
- Tool 14: Awake—Drawings
- Tool 15: Awake—Cards
- Tool 16: Awake—Making and Doing Things
- Tool 17: Awake—Chop Wood, Carry Water
- Tool 18: Awake—Bore Your Muse
- Tool 19: Asleep—Dream Journal
- Tool 20: Asleep—Dream Blackmail
- Section IV: Plotting While Writing
- Fix an Existing Project
- Dance With the One Who Brought You
- Rethinking Plot Points
- Changing Characters
- Changing the World
- Changing the Crisis
- Plotting the Ending
- Section V: Plotting While Revising
- No
- Line-For-Scene, Take Two
- Conclusion
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Reader Comments
"Your book is downright brilliant, a real blast! Over the weekend I finished the stalled plot for ‘Styngard 3′, the plot for a new thriller and another one for a science fiction novel. 43 hours in 2.5 days."
Richard Norden
"I surprised the heck out of my Muse over the weekend with the techniques in your book."
lizb
"Four words: this book is great. I have no idea what exactly it was in the book that did it, but after I did a read-through, something went *click*, and I got 27 line-for-scene cards done in fifteen minutes. That’s a lot more scene ideas than what I had in the last year or so I’ve been trying to start my series! I got the plot for the first book in order, and I’ve been actually thinking about it almost constantly, instead of when I’m really bored. I’m already getting solid ideas for the next few books."
michelem31
"I was a little scared by how well it worked for something so simple. Amazing."
Zink Johnson
"I can’t even begin to explain how useful the first tool (questions) has been for me. Thank you so much. You are the first person to explain how to relate with Ms. Muse in a way that made sense to me."
heatherwrites
Don't Miss the Companion Books in the Clinic Series
Create A Character Clinic
Are editors telling you that your characters won't let them put your manuscript down? Are readers saying they stayed up all night reading your story? If you answered "No" to either of those questions, I can help.
Create A Language Clinic
Invent good names for your worlds, characters, and places--in fifteen minutes.
Create a complete working language--or just the parts you need for your story.
Add depth to your worldbuilding.
Discover new concepts your characters think and use--that don't translate into English.
Change the way you look at the way we all communicate...
All in about five hours. Create A Culture Clinic
Create religions and philosophies, governments and lifestyles that are different than your own, that work together, and that feel real. Avoid cliches. Begin using your new culture in your writing....
All in about five hours.
How To Write Page-Turning Scenes
Learn how to keep your readers glued to their seats by writing scenes that move, offer rich conflict and necessary detail, make your world and your people come to live, and don't get bogged down in backstory, unnecessary description, and pointless dialogue.
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