Through the Eyes of an Author

Here are some exercises that will strengthen your understanding of plot structure. For ease of typing I’ll simply refer to the protagonist as “protag.”
Exercise 1. Choose a book that has a plot you’re very familiar with and answer the following questions (you don’t need to reread the book, but you can refer to it):
1. Briefly [...]

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As an example, let’s outline a story’s plot. I’ll use the movie The Sound of Music, because it’s so well known.
The Plot’s Beginning: Maria, a postulant in an Austrian abbey, is our protagonist. She very much wants to become a nun. But her desires aren’t that simple. Internally, she desires to follow her heart, and that causes [...]

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This lesson may sound like a no-brainer, but I consistently see middle-grade and teen writers of fiction stall in their writing projects and not understand what’s happened. They’re eager to create rich, lush worlds with intricate back-story, but they haven’t paid enough attention to the basic structure of their story’s plot. So they’ve gotten lost [...]

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I’ve taught a number of writing workshops to students ranging from upper elementary to college level, and professional development workshops that teach teachers how to use fiction to strengthen writing skills. I always enjoy working interactively with teachers and classes through this blog to supplement classroom lessons in writing. I’ll be visiting an area middle school in [...]

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I bagpipe for a number of funerals each month, many of them military. A military funeral is one held for a veteran who’s died. Every veteran has the right to a flag-draped coffin, an honor guard of at least two service men or women, at least one of whom is from the deceased’s branch of [...]

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