Wednesday's Links to Writing and Marketing Blog Posts

A TRICK FOR KEEPING YOUR PLOT (AND STORY) ON TARGET

By: Janice Hardy, @Janice_Hardy

Whether you're an outliner, a pantser, or somewhere in between, you want your story to pull readers in and keep them hooked from scene to scene, all the way to the end of the novel. The more eager they are to find out what happens next, the faster they'll turn the pages and the more likely they are to think, "wow, what a great book. I'm telling all my friends." 

Unfortunately, novels don't always cooperate, and a first draft (or first outline) can become a tangled nest of scenes with no coherent narrative drive. This situation happens, then this happens, then this happens...oh, and then this happens...but it never feels as if it's going anywhere. It's not so much a story but a string of moments where "the protagonist does X" or worse, "then this happens to the protagonist." 

(Here's more on the "and then" plot test) 

Here's a little trick that can help keep your story on target. Better still, it works with the outlining, drafting, and revising stage, so you can use it as much or as little as needed. I like to write these down in my scene-by-scene outline file, but you could also do them as a book map or editorial map, highlight them in the text, or just mentally check them off if you prefer. 

Step One: Identify the goal of every scene

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Read the full article HERE!

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If you missed my writing & marketing tweets and retweets yesterday, here they are again:

1. How Believable Is Your Character’s Storytelling? - Writerology http://ow.ly/xPkYf
2. Are YOU the Writer's Block? With Donna Cummings | Romance University http://ow.ly/xPn78
3. Negative, Continuous, and Passive Forms of Subjunctive Mood | Live Write Thrive http://ow.ly/xPneU
4. Fiction University: A Trick for Keeping Your Plot (and Story) on Target http://ow.ly/xPnkm
5. Author, Jody Hedlund: 8 Steps For Getting Started on a Writing Career http://ow.ly/xPnsV
6. Anne R. Allen's Blog: Thinking Outside the Book: When a Writing Dead End Becomes a Detour to Success http://ow.ly/xPnw4
7. The Elements of a Good Mystery - The Fictorians http://ow.ly/xPnIJ
8. 5 Reasons You’re Not Ready to Self-Publish Your Book http://ow.ly/xPnLu
9. The Kill Zone: Secrecy? Privacy? How do authors protect themselves? http://ow.ly/xPnRB
10. The Write Conversation : Indie Tuesday—A Ten Step Crash Course on Instagram http://ow.ly/xPnUF
11. The Simple Pre-Proofing Checklist | Wise Ink's Blog for Indie Authors about Self-Publishing http://ow.ly/xPnZe
12. Make Your Landing Pages Work Harder with LeadPages http://ow.ly/xPo3c
13. Using Pinterest to Get Customers through the Door http://ow.ly/xPoah
14. 7 Social Media Marketing Trends - #Infographic http://ow.ly/xPonp
15. SMToolbox: Social Media Tools for Content Curation | Social Media Today http://ow.ly/xPoCe
16. Book Marketing Expert - 5 Steps for Successfully Promoting Yourself Online http://ow.ly/xPoH7
17. 9 Tips and Insights for Publishing your Ebook - Jeffbullas's Blog http://ow.ly/xPoU3
18. 10 Writing Exercises to Break You Out of Your Creative Rut http://ow.ly/xPoYr
19. 52 Ways to Market Your Book: Tip #7 - How to Get More Media for Your Book! - Author Marketing Experts, Inc. http://ow.ly/xPpc0
20. Killing the Top Ten Sacred Cows of Indie Publishing: #7… I Have To Sell Books Quickly | http://ow.ly/xR8ay

Happy writing and running, Kathy