According to plot guru, Martha Alderson, plot can be viewed as either a noun or verb. She states: “Plot as noun encompasses every element of a story. Plot as verb allows conscious development of those elements.”
I invite you to visit her blog, and to follow her on Twitter. Her daily Tweets are gems of gold.
Of Plot, Nouns and Verbs… Read More »
The display the revelations that take place during the denouement and resolution, end, of a novel must take place in scene, not summary.
End of story revelations work much like the action taking place during the crisis and climax points where the immediacy of the characters’ actions impress upon readers the significance and meaning of the ordeal the central character/characters are undergoing, surviving and ultimately growing stronger by enduring.
Just as the crisis and climax point of a novel provide places of major transition and transformation, so to the revelations presented during denouement and at resolution offer one last stage of growth and change.
Of Symbols, Change and Arc of Growth and Transformation… Read More »
The greatest revelation in a novel often comes, quite understandably, during the end. The context in which this occurs involves releasing underlying knowledge, all of which provides the stage upon where the ultimate truth of everyone’s motives comes forth.
Protagonists that draw on our senses and emotions not only face tough dilemmas and challenges they also encounter wonderfully treacherous antagonists whose actions force the main character to dig deep within themselves, assess and display their strengths.
Of Revelations, Redemption and Grace… Read More »
Dreams are but stories that possess a beginning, middle and end.
Recognizing this Aristotle superimposed this organization of dreams–his three-act structure onto that of plays and stories to render them more comprehensible.
Dreams, like stories and plays, hold drama, and their trajectory of plot often includes a dilemma, even if the problem is one of overwhelming joy.
Of Silence, The Three-Act Structure and Death… Read More »
The stage of renewal in a story offers a second opportunity for rebirth. Unlike the crisis, the scenes of renewal focus on the inner life of the major character.
Through the action of deciding and choosing to share the good news of her or his triumph in both word and deed, the protagonist now heads down a road, the path and events of which are shaped and influenced more by internal changes than those physically committed.
Renewal signals the time in a story or novel where the central character surrenders to the nuclear fall out, so to speak, of her or his actions.
He or she has carried out the physical task set forth by the changes and upheaval leveled at the outset of the story.
At the peak of action she or he dueled her their enemies and/or central antagonist.
In the wake of triumph she/he has made decisions reflective of their survival and the wisdom granted by having battled through the crisis.
Of Peeling Onions, Surrender and Writing from The Zone… Read More »
Traveling by ship, or cruising, starts with the point or process of embarkation, going onto the ship and finding our room. Your bags arrive soon after that. And within an hour or so the ship sets sail.
Unlike with an airplane, where matters move at a faster pac
Of Cruise Ships, Planes, Ocean and Sky… Read More »
What is your protagonist doing, and or saying when the curtain lifts on the set of that first page of your story, or novel? Their actions and dialogue relay not only much about who they are while interacting in the world with others, but also their identity within the universe of their own personalities. They