The Importance of Guides—A Look at The Plot Whisperer

The Plot Whisperer: Secrets of Story Structure Any Writer Can Master by Martha Alderson

Sometimes books call to you. The Plot Whisperer waited for me and eventually sounded a trumpet. Long ago, I had ordered the book long, when I felt I should be writing. After I received The Plot Whisperer, I filed it away in my office and promptly forgot about it.

Then there came the time when I knew I needed to get serious about writing. I went on a retreat that reopened wounds and poured a container of salt on them. When I came home, I felt that that this book that I wanted to write hung on a very tenuous thread. For the first few days after I returned from the retreat, I woke up in the middle of the night, stumbled into my office, and wrote. I was too tired to be critical of anything that I put down. I knew if I was well rested and fully awake, I probably would not have given myself permission to write one word. But that was a short-term solution. With a late-night writing practice, I could not function well during the day.

So I sat in my office and wondered what to do, and I noticed this book that I had purchased years ago, sitting on my bookshelf. The title offered secrets. It said that it was something I could do. I picked the book up, and read the first few pages, and I knew I was home.

Alderson does not begin by explaining craft. In her opening, she discusses matters of the heart. She talks about how difficult it is to go on this journey, how it changes you, how writing a book is an act of courage. I had found the exact book that I needed. For a while, in my writing practice, I read this book and took notes on what I read and wrote down my ideas about my book that came out of my reading. Even after I had finished the book, I kept The Plot Whisperer by my bedside table. When I felt lost, I would pick it up and refer to things. Sometimes I would just look at it, and I would feel like things were going to be okay. I had a guide book. I wasn't just wandering around in a darkened forest. I had a plan.

Since that time, I have read many books on craft, but The Plot Whisperer was the first, and it was the guide that spoke to my soul. Before I read this book, I was so frustrated that I could not figure out how to write the novel that was in my head. Alderson, with compassion and experience, affirmed to me what a spiritual challenge it is to write a book. In fact, she recommended not showing anyone your first draft. She gave me permission to make my writing practice private and sacred.

This is the time to again reiterate that all writers are different. Some writers flourish in feedback groups. For me, it's destructive, an adult version of “Pin the Tail on the Donkey,” where I always end up being that mule. You have to know your nature, your strengths and weaknesses. I'm a sensitive. I pick up feelings. That's great for writing novels, but sometimes awful for being around groups of people. My instinct is to take care of others. I unconsciously volunteer to be a scapegoat. I leave feedback groups, feeling crazy. The Plot Whisperer was balm to my soul. It gave me much-needed technical knowledge, and it provided a guide to writing that suited my temperament. The Plot Whisperer saved my writing life.

Book Deals for Joy Returns! and Kate and the Horses

Amazon is currently offering the Kindle version of Joy Returns! for free through Monday, September 11th.

Goodreads is running a giveaway through October 7th where you can enter to win a free signed copy of Kate and the Horses.

Enjoy! Good luck!

Thoughts on Writing Practice

When I decided that I needed to get serious if I wanted to ever write novels, I knew that I had to figure out a writing practice. I started with three times a week for fifteen minutes each time. I understood from my guided-prompt writing group that I could write a significant amount of material in that period of time. I didn't even specify what day I wrote, although it was usually during the week. I wrote in my home office. (I'm also an editor and a transcriber.) Once I clocked out at 5:00 p.m., I would generally take a walk, and then, on the days that I wrote, I would return to my office and close the door. (My partner liked to watch political news. That just made me anxious. I also didn't tell my partner or anyone else what I was doing. I had tried writing novels before and had abandoned them. I didn't want to tell anyone in case that happened again.)

As time passed, I started writing every day. I wanted to stay connected to my project. I also wrote for an hour each day—in the evenings during the week and after breakfast on weekends. And I changed my locale. I didn't want to write in my office any more. I associated that with my day-job deadlines. I wanted to write in a place that felt comfortable and relaxing, where it would feel decadent, as if I was on vacation. I started writing in bed.

Eventually I told people what I was doing. When I said I had a writing practice, many assumed that I wrote first thing in the morning. I understand that concept. That's when people are generally refreshed and full of energy, and they can accomplish their writing goals before anything else. However, during the week, when I wake up, I am thinking about the things I need to do for my day job. That's the first items I want to accomplish. After 5:00 p.m., I can relax and dive into my creative endeavors. (I also understand the idea of getting up earlier to get your writing done. But I like to hang out with my partner at night. I also sometimes can't sleep. If I haven't slept as long as I need, I am not a functional person for anything all day, and that makes me miserable. So that's not a tactic that would work for me.)

People are often amazed that I've now written two novels, and I only write an hour a day. But I already knew how much I could do in fifteen minutes. This is four times that amount. And I find that an hour of focused writing is enough for me. When I've finished my practice for the day, I can step away, knowing that if any ideas come to me before I sit down again, I will write down the sentences or words and save them for my next writing practice time.

Writing practices are very personal. If you would like one and haven't started yet, think of what would please you most. Are you someone who likes to get out in the world to write? If I could walk to a cafe, I would definitely consider that. Do you work better if you have a chunk of time in front of you that you do on designated days rather than in regular moments every day? Are you a natural early bird or a night owl? See what works best for you.

Kate and the Horses and Charlotte's Web

My novel, Kate and the Horses, was inspired by a childhood vow. There came a point in my young life when I felt that no one really listened to me. So I decided that I would stop talking. That would get their attention, and then when they asked me about it, I could tell them what was on my mind. Unfortunately, my plan backfired. No one seemed to notice that I was silent. Or perhaps they were grateful for the quiet. Our elderly Siamese cats were the only ones who offered me any solace at all. I would sit alone in a room with them and unburden my soul. They were good listeners.

When I grew a little older, we moved, and I had a piano and a piano teacher, and there was also a stable in our neighborhood where I could ride horses. Life was good. Eventually we moved again, and I had to leave all that behind, but I always remembered those horses, their names and personalities, and how they felt like friends.

Years later, after I finished writing Joy Returns!, I had a dream one night. It was actually more like a novel with chapters and everything. I woke up in the middle of the night and thought, “I should write this all down,” but then I thought, “This book is engraved in my soul,” and I fell back asleep.

When I woke up in the morning, I remembered that I had a dream about my second book, and it was a complicated mystery with adult escapades, and it took place in the equestrian world. And that was all I could recall. The rest was gone. My immediate instinct was to be very critical of myself. But, as a writer, I have promised myself to fully accept my creative process, even when it seems flat-out wrong. So I let go of the mystery dream, and then I heard my childhood horses in the back of my head. They were talking to me. I started to write down what they said.

That led me back to Charlotte's Web. Even though the horses were talking in my head and I was writing it down, I didn't really want to admit to myself and certainly not to anyone else that I was writing a talking animals story. But then I remembered one of my favorite books from childhood, Charlotte's Web, where animals talked and I laughed and I cried. Would it still be as powerful today? I had to find out.

As an adult, I have to say that Charlotte's Web had me at hello. Any writer who wants to learn how to start a novel in a kick-ass way, pick up this book. The story opens with the following line, “Where's Papa going with that ax?” Is that a hook or what? In the first chapter, Fern persuades her father from slaughtering Wilbur, the weakling of the litter. We immediately understand that, if Wilbur is going to live a long, happy life, he will continue to be in need of these interventions in the future. Boom! We are engaged in this story.

I kept reading. It was an easy thing to do. The language is lovely. I didn't care that E. B. White wrote about talking animals. I cared about these characters. As I read, I remembered how, as a child, I loved Templeton. He got to be grouchy and complain. Despite his outsider status, he became a hero. And, yes, at the end, I cried, and my heart felt larger. I opened the book up again and reread it. So Charlotte's Web more than holds up. It really moved me.

So what did I learn? Listen to your muse. Don't trust your memory. Write things down. Have notebooks and pens or your phone within grabbing distance. For example, if I think of something while I'm walking, I'll record my idea using Voice Memo on my phone. I probably look like a dork, but it makes me feel bad ass. And I trust my process. I listen to what calls me, and I learn things going down that path, which I will continue to write here. I hope this is helpful to you.

Kate and the Horses is now available on Kindle and in paperback. And here's a link for Charlottte's Web.

The Incredible Mary Bigler

In Joy Returns!, I wrote about a nine-year-old girl, Samantha, and her relationship with her teacher, Elaine Desmond. When I was a child, I also studied piano. I had the good fortune to have Mary Bigler as my teacher.

Through music, Mary Bigler provided me with a portal to another world. She demonstrated the inherent magic of a metronome. She gave me stars in my notebook. She also didn't cut me any slack. One summer, I announced to her that I didn't want to study scales. I privately thought that scales were tedious. In the summertime, in my opinion, people should play show tunes on the piano. However, Mary Bigler stood strong. She told that scales were a necessary part of my education, and that, as a pianist, I was at the stage of development where I needed to study them. I looked into her determined face, and I agreed to apply myself. That summer, I practiced scales.

I often wonder now what would have happened if my family hadn't moved away. Would I have stayed on course? If had been under Mary Bigler's watch, could I have navigated my way through adolescence and continued to play? I will never know. Instead I stopped. I forgot. Many years passed before I remembered the joy I used to feel playing the piano.

When I started writing Joy Returns!, I felt the need to try to look up Mary Bigler. Through the power of the Internet, I found her. She has this great website. There's a video on her home page, I would say it’s a mission statement, where she starts with a knock-knock joke. When I saw that video, my heart sang. I contacted Mary Bigler. She remembered me! She was kind enough to answer my e-mail and talk to me on the phone. After our conversation, I felt like my bones had been put back in place again.

Mary Bigler continues to work in the field of education as a teacher, author, and inspirational speaker. After I discovered her site, I ordered her book in audio form, so I could hear her voice telling stories of how she has championed people throughout her career. Mary Bigler will always be one of my favorite teachers. She continues to inspire me.