The Plot Whisperer by Martha Alderson

[katekintailbc]

The Plot Whisperer
by Martha Alderson

I cannot for the life of me find the long 5-page book review I wrote for this book! It might be one of those things I lost when my old computer went under. Boo :-(

This is possibly the most useful writing book I've ever read. I found it completely useful. I remember learning about the rise and fall of plot lines back in 7th grade, but I didn't ever make a genuine effort to plot out my stories to follow that visual rise and fall; that seemed just instinctive at this point, but now I see the benefit of actually mapping it out. Characters are easy for me but plots are hard, and this book gave me a lot of tools and things to think about for my writing. The book breaks down the process of creating plots and makes you really think about how to write scenes that further a story. It showed me that eve character development is important to further a story, if it's done right and elements are revealed at the correct time.

This book works on several different levels. There is the instructive level, exercises to help you write your story, and ways to apply that development to a writer's life. For example, when learning about conflict, the book would talk about different types of conflict your character could encounter, the book would talk about ways to figure out when conflict should arise to further the plot, and the book would talk about conflicts the author encounters when trying to write (like writer's block, inner editors, etc.).

This book came at me at exactly the write time in my writing life, and I filled it with all sorts of scribbles, notes, and post-its. The examples were almost all books I loved--everything from Harry Potter and Hunger Games to Crime and Punishment. I felt like the book was written just for me. LOL I highly recommend it to any writing who, like me, struggles with plots.