I came to writing late in life after a career of helping kids with speech, language and learning disabilities much like I had grappled with. Sinking into the imaginative, non-verbal world of words felt safe, though not always natural. I struggled with plot. After deconstructing stories and discovering many of the hidden elements of plot, I began sharing with writing friends what I was learning.
My first big "break", though I wasn't thinking about breaking into anything other than I was simply attempting to keep up with requests to teach, came at an early Jack London Writer's Conference hosted by my then local branch of California Writer's Club. Melanie Rigney, then managing editor of Writers Digest Magazine, sat in on my plot workshop. My visual approach appealed to her. I still remember the sense of wonder settling over me in the hallway after my workshop as I listened to her excitement and praise and encouragement to write for her magazine. A plot article with my by-line came out to a great response. Melanie went on to help edit my first book on plot that I self-published: Blockbuster Plots Pure and Simple and even went so far as to reach out to many of her colleagues who wrote glowing blurbs for the back of the book.
Since Melanie's life-changing endorsement and belief in my approach, I've gone on to carry the honor of being awarded 101 Best Websites for Writers by Writers Digest again this year for the 6th time. I teach plot webinars for Writers Digest and all three of my Plot Whisperer books are published Adams Media -- a Writers Digest fellow imprint of F + W Media. Fall 2015, I become a Writers Digest author.
The support of Melanie and so many others at Writers Digest, especially the gate-keepers to knowledge and dream-makers to success, did wonders as I've wandered through the maze of what makes a story captivate the reader both by exploring the visual plot templates I was devising with my own writing and teaching others. The published work by so many writers who credit my plot techniques as helpful to their success comes on the shoulders of others -- many of whom are Writers' Digest writers.
In August I'll be teaching plot in Los Angeles at Plot Your Novel's Course: Writer's Digest Novel Writing Intensive.
Until then, I invite you to join me this Thursday for my live Writers Digest plot webinar: 10 Tips to Immediately Create Great Plots: Everything You Need to Plot a Great Story.
Thank you, Writers Digest, for everything!
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PLOT WORKSHOPS and RETREATS
WRITER PATH PLOT and SCENE RETREATS in the heart of the Santa Cruz Mountains. May 30 – June 1 Your story deserves to be told. Your writer’s soul needs to be nourished. Learn to identify and write the key scenes that build a page-turning story, master crucial scene types and go deeper into your plot by applying the three key layers that run through all great fiction: action, emotion and theme. Reserve your spot now for the 1st Annual Writer Path Retreat Spring 2014. WriterPath.com
A PATH to PUBLISHING
Pre-orders now available for PlotWriMo for writers ready to Revise Your Novel in a Month.
For more: Read my Plot Whisperer and Blockbuster Plots books for writers.
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