I Called The Plot Whisperer Again

Sandra here and I’m just starting a new work in progress (wip) and although I knew the romantic plot, I realized it wasn’t enough to hold interest in a 70,000-word manuscript. I needed more depth.  So I called the plot whisperer, Martha Alderson.

I have a huge pot of my new favorite Dunkin Donuts’ Chocolate Glazed Donut coffee and a platter filled with Chocolate glazed donuts (and some maple ones too as I love those as well). Help yourself and enjoy the plot tips I gleaned from Martha. 

My new favorite coffee

At the workshops during the Saguaro Chapter of RWA in Tucson this winter, I heard two speakers talk about how they developed plot with readers via their Facebook page. Well I thought that might be fun. It really was interesting. The people that joined in surprised me though.  I thought it would be other writers, but most were friends and family that follow my Facebook and have no experience with plotting. However, I did get some great plotting ideas from their comments. I had given some of the backstory and flaws that would cause problems. Several men wrote about experiences they had similar to those my hero faced. Some wrote to me offline about some personal experiences and within those, I’ll be able to use some emotional markers. So I did get some excellent help in an unexpected way.

However, I was still stuck with where this story was going. Not a fun place to be when you are writing a story. I’m thinking its because I’m spinning this story off another so it can be a series and I’ve never done that before. So I have the characters, but not a real issue for them to deal with since the issues I wanted to deal with involving the setting of Sedona, were already dealt with in Book One.

Well you can never say you’re too old to learn a new skill. What I needed to do was call upon the skills I know and apply them to the current wip. I also decided to take advantage of people I know. I called upon a friend.

Martha Alderson came to the rescue. I met Martha years ago at the Desert Dreams writer’s conference in Tempe, Arizona. She was featured as one of the speakers and demonstrated her strategies for developing plot. She was also featured in two of our past blogs. In August 2013 we talked about developing the story climax and in October 2013 I wrote the first post I Called a Plot Whisperer.  Check this one out for examples of a detailed step by step process.

If you go to her website you will see all the ways she provides help in developing plot. Be sure to sign up for her free monthly plot tips.  They are very useful.

Go here to sign up.

So how did Martha help me?  First off, she sent me a form to fill out. This includes information about my characters. She asks for you to think about your theme and your concept and asks for a list of scenes.

The main part of the list is as follows:  (printed with permission of Martha)

CHARACTER/EMOTIONAL PLOT INFORMATION

Please fill out the following information for your main character(s)

•               Protagonist name

•               Complete the following 3 items for the beginning, middle and end of your story

◦                                 Goal

◦                                 What stands in his/her way?

◦                                 What does he/she stand to lose?

•               Flaw

•               Strength

•               Dream

•               Hates

•               Loves

•               Fears

•               Secret

I sent her most of the items, but I didn’t really know all of the answers. Yet!!!  I didn’t really know what was standing in the way of the goals and discovered it was because I hadn’t really been that clear on the goals in the first place.

How did I find that out? It was during my phone conversation with Martha.  After sending the forms in, she read over what I have given her and then formulated questions. The gift Martha has for helping you develop the plot is that she asks the kind of questions that make YOU come up with the answers. She doesn’t give you answers. She doesn’t develop a plot. But through her questions, you end up with the answers because she stirs up the brain waves so that you think of the answers yourself. This is important because then you don’t lose your own voice when writing your story.

We talked for an hour and I was writing notes furiously. Hopefully, I can read them and hopefully they make sense. LOL. It was very much like brainstorming with a critique partner except that Martha is skilled in this and you get right to the problem in the first few minutes.

The questions she asked made me think of other tangents to follow and other conflicts that could arise. With that information and thought process, I was able to deepen the plot and also develop a bigger story.

What I didn’t really realize is that my hero has his own plot. The heroine has hers and then you have the romance. When you develop and intertwine all three of these plots, you end up with much more than a mere romance. You have conflict, emotion, and accountability that engage the reader.

She also asks questions that bring you to an awareness of what she calls “energetic markers”. These are like plot points that bring the reader to a climactic event or turning point that will change the story or resolve the conflict.

So if you want to plot like the plot whisperer, start asking yourself questions. Start asking Why? When? Where? And if this happens what will the consequences bring? What are the consequences of the decisions each character makes? And what do you want to accomplish? 

So what helpful hints can you share with us about plotting? What has worked for you? How have you deepened the plot?

Martha will be joining us today and is generous with her advice. So if you have any questions for her, please ask away. Those who write comments today will be put in a drawing for a free hour plot consultation with Martha. One other commenter will win a copy of Martha’s book “Writing Blockbuster Plots”  And a reader who comments can have an ecopy of one of my books. Please indicate in your comment what prize you would like to win.

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Sandra Leesmith writes sweet romances to warm the heart. Sandra loves to play pickleball, hike, read, bicycle and write. She is based in Arizona, but she and her husband travel throughout the United States in their motorhome and enjoy the outdoors. You can find Sandra's books here on Amazon. Three of Sandra's most popular books are also audio books at Audible. You can read more of Sandra's posts here.