Here's something I got in the email today. I wanted to share it with you.


10 Tips to Create Great Plots

SUE JOHNSON Writer's Digest Tutorials

Hi Everyone!

Too many writers think that the plot of a story is made up of either fast-paced, external action or quiet and introspective moments. Plot is both those things and so much more. Creating a compelling plot incorporating action and emotion and meaning requires talent, skill, know-how, and practice. Learn what makes a great plot and how to apply practical plot techniques as you craft a dramatic heart-felt and meaningful story.

Martha Alderson, also known as the Plot Whisperer, has helped novelists of all genres and memoirists and screenwriters write stories with plots. Writing a story with a plot from beginning to end using universal story-telling methods gives you confidence as you explore your characters, action, and deeper meaning.

In this 68-minute tutorial video, you’ll learn:

• Simple techniques to master plot
• Key elements of plot in the beginning, the middle, and the end of your story
• The importance of weaving action, emotion, mystery, romance, meaning, and more through to the very end of the story
• All about the heart of your plot
• Effective techniques to developing memorable characters
• The most common plot problems and how to avoid them

Preview: 10 Tips to Create Great Plots >

Writer's Digest Tutorials Members enjoy full access to all tutorials featured in this newsletter, as well as every tutorial on the tutorials site. Did you know that for only $199 you gain access to all Writer's Digest's writing tutorials for an entire year? That means you have access to all 187+ current tutorials and all the new tutorials created throughout the year. With the addition of at least one new tutorial every week you have access to a minimum of another 52 educational tutorials. Watch every video whenever you like, as often as you would like . . . and be the first to watch the new tutorial we post each week! 

Haven't taken advantage of the wisdom bestowed through the WD tutorials yet? Why not try it out today and see all that our WD tutorials have to offer! You can try WD Tutorials for only $25/month! You will enjoy instant access to 187+ tutorials, including at least one new tutorial added weekly. Also, there are many new tutorials still in development. Feel free to preview the many tutorials immediately available to you through the WD Tutorials site.

Wishing you a wonderful week!

~ Sue Johnson~

P.S. If you missed the last newsletter (or two), be sure to watch these new and featured tutorials:

Editing Skills That Will Make Your Manuscript Shine

Re-Creating Poetry: How to Revise Poems

Writing Scary: How to Use Pacing, Sentence Structure, and Word Choice to Scare the Pants Off Your Readers

Strategies for Character Development: Character-Based and Plot-Driven

Structuring Your Novel: Discover the Proven Blueprint for Creating Stories That Sell

Creating Poetry: How to Self-Prompt Poems

Secrets to Selling Your First Novel


For quick and easy access to all WD Tutorials available to you, use this link:

View All WD Tutorials >

Hello, readers.

How is your Sunday?

I have something here for you. If you would like to talk directly with an agent concerning your book check out the info below.

Work Directly with an Agent Online to Perfect Your First Ten Pages! Starts Friday! REGISTER NOW

Hurry, Limited Seating! Start Date: Friday, November 21, 2014 Tuition: $199 REGISTER NOW As many writers know, agents and editors won't give your work more than ten pages or so to make an impact. If you haven't got them hooked by then, it's a safe bet you won't be asked for more material. Make sure you've got the kind of opening they're looking for! In this invaluable weekend event, you'll get to work with an agent online to review and refine the first ten pages of your novel. You'll learn what keeps an agent reading, what are the most common mistakes that make them stop, and the steps you need to take to correct them. The best part is that you'll be working directly with an agent, who will provide feedback specific to your work. Here's how it works: On Friday morning, November 21, you will gain access to a special 60-minute online tutorial presented by agent and editor Paula Munier. It will help you clarify what you should be looking for in your work. You will also be notified by email which agent you'll be working with on Friday. (All times noted are Eastern Time). After listening to the presentation, you'll spend Friday evening revising your first ten pages as necessary, given the guidelines provided in the presentation, and you'll email those pages directly to Paula or one of four additional agents from Talcott Notch Literary, including Gina Panettieri, Rachael Dugas, and Jessica Negron, by Saturday morning at 10:00 AM (ET). They will spend all day Saturday reviewing their assigned pages and providing feedback as to what works and what doesn't. All pages with notes will be returned to participants by 11:00 AM (ET) Sunday morning. Throughout the day onSunday, you'll work to revise your pages based on the agent's specific feedback. From 1:00 to 4:00 PM, Paula, Gina, Rachael, Jessica, and Sara will be available to answer questions and provide additional feedback via the Writer's Digest University message boards. Only registered students can access these boards. You'll also be able to ask question of your fellow students. Feel free to share your work and gain support from your peers. By 10:00 PM (ET) Sunday night, you'll return your final revised pages to your assigned agent for review. They will spend the next week reading the revised submissions assigned to them, and will provide a final brief one-or-two sentence critique of your progress no later than December 1. Please note that any one of them may ask for additional pages if the initial submission shows serious promise. *Please note: All attendees should have the first 10 pages of their novel finished and ready to submit to the agent prior to the beginning of the event. In addition to feedback from Paula, Gina, Rachael, or Jessica, attendees will also receive: A download of "An Agent's Tips on Story Structures that Sell," an on-demand webinar by Andrea Hurst 1-year subscription to the WritersMarket.com literary agent database Refine Your First Ten Pages in Three Days! Meet the Agents Paula Munier  Paula Munier, Senior Literary Agent and Content Strategist at Talcott Notch Literary Services, boasts broad experience creating and marketing exceptional content in all formats across all markets for such media giants as Disney, Gannett, Greenspun Media Group, and Quayside. Paula has also served as both co-chair and Agents and Editors chair on the New England Crime Bake committee for seven years and counting. And she's an active member of Sisters in Crime. A well-published journalist, author, copywriter, and ghostwriter, Paula has penned countless new stories, articles, and essays, as well as authoring/co-authoring more than a dozen books, including Fixing Freddie, 5-Minute Mindfulness, and A Miscellany of Murder. Gina Panettieri Gina Panettieri is President of Talcott Notch Literary Services, and has worked as an agent for more than 20 years. She currently represents a full range of adult and children's fiction and nonfiction, with an emphasis in fiction on YA, MG, mystery, fantasy, women's fiction, horror and paranormal. She currently represents an eclectic range of writers, encompassing everyone from a former head of Security and Intelligence for NATO Europe, to CEOs of major corporations and Deans of major medical schools, to stay-at-home writer moms and amazingly talented teens. Gina speaks at many conferences and writing events throughout the country on the subjects of securing an agent and getting published. Her agency website is talcottnotch.net. Jessica Negron Jessica Negron has experience working for a diverse range of publishers and publications in both an editorial and design capacity, and she is now a Junior Agent with Talcott Notch, taking on a select batch of clients. She's interested in all kinds of YA and Adult fiction, but leans toward science fiction and fantasy (and all sub-genres), romance (the steamier, the better), and thrillers. Rachael Dugas Rachael Dugas joined Talcott Notch Literary in 2011. During her tenure as associate agent, Rachael has judged contests and attended conferences in New York and beyond, working with groups such as Writer's Digest, ASJA, YA Lit Chat, the National Publicity Summit, and the Hampton Roads Writers. Recent sales include titles in young adult and romance to imprints at Hachette, Perseus, and Month 9 Books. Rachael is a former Sourcebooks editorial intern and a proud Ithaca College graduate. She welcomes fiction submissions in the following categories: YA, MG, women's fiction, contemporary and historical romance, historical fiction, and general commercial fiction. Her non-fiction wishlist includes memoir with an amazing voice and cookbooks or performing arts-related books with outstanding platforms. Register Now

The Wonderful World Of Writer Digest

Dear Readers,

Here is something I got in the mail from Writer's Digest. Of all the writer's resources out there I personally feel Writer's Digest is the best. It's magazine and website is full of relevant information. They also help writers to understand the purpose of agents and what they are looking for in new material. So I strongly suggests subscribing to the online magazine. You will not be wasting your money.

WRITER'S DIGEST WRITE BETTER, GET PUBLISHED

WHY GO DIGITAL?  Sign up for a digital subscription to Writer's Digestand you'll get a PDF of each issue delivered directly to your email 8 times a year, offering fully searchable text, live links to tools and websites, go-anywhere convenience and earlier delivery than the print version. PLUS, at only $9.96, you'll SAVE a whopping 79% OFF the newsstand price. Order now and get a great deal, added convenience-and you'll save a few trees in the process.

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!!

Dear readers,

This is an email I got today that I would like to share with you.

*******

Hi Frances!

I've got a BRAND NEW must-see video for you on our YouTube channel:

EVERY writer and EVERY producer will always face these three problems... and they'll never go away. These are the fundamental problems of screenplay development.

I developed FAST Screenplay as a way to directly address these three problems. But whatever approach you use, if it doesn't directly address them, you will continue to spin in circles... forever.

Watch today. And feel free to leave any questions or comments on theYouTube page.

A Note About This Video

This is a remake of the very first video I created for FAST Screenplay (5 years ago, before everything went HD!)... and the whole system was built upon these ideas.

It was originally intended to be watched the first thing you watched... before reading The Missing Ingredient and The Screenwriting Roadmap ebooks (both of which you've already seen if you're on this list).

I would urge you to check out this video (and please share!), and thenre-read those ebooks, to get a true sense of how to beat these challenges.

Up Next

I've decided to put The Producer's Perspective series on hold. Despite getting lots of views, it hasn't started the dialogue I was aiming for, and it's been terribly time-consuming (difficult while juggling all my projects).

So instead, in the next set of videos I'm putting together, I'm going to show you the FAST Story Development Process — How to Create Detailed Original Stories in 1 Hour. I'm trying to create 4 brief videos that walk you through the process (all will be released on the same day).

The entire 1-Hour Story Development process takes about 2-3 months to learn (it's what the Setup and Focus Phases teach), but when you snap the pieces together, you'll create powerful, original (non-formulaic) stories within an hour. And that will lead to extraordinary results.

So stay tuned! You'll hear about it here first.

Or Join Us

If you haven't joined us in FAST Screenplay, don't you think it's time to take the plunge?

Did you know there are now tens of thousands of films made each year? It's called "the digital revolution" and we're seeing films made in every corner of the globe. The only problem is this: THE SCREENPLAYS ARE AWFUL, so the vast majority of those films will never see the light of day.

Producers need great screenplays — and we need LOTS of them.Pretty much any kind of story you want to tell. A fantastic story can andwill get noticed today.

But it must be extraordinary, and it must be something a producer can actually use.

Why compete against the 100,000 writers trying to get Hollywood's attention (there's a much more effective way to get Hollywood's attention anyway), and go where the real action is — where there is literally unlimited opportunity waiting for you.

I'll be creating a Screenwriting Uncut video about this in the weeks ahead. But why not get started TODAY?

Let me guide you in the months ahead through the entire process. You have nothing to lose.

As always, I'm here for you if you have any questions or comments. Just reply here and let me know.

Thanks for reading, remember to take action daily... and we'll see you soon.

Take an Online Writing Class
Want to take a writing course but don't want to leave your house? Writer's Digest University classes offer you the chance to improve your writing and build your writing career all from the comfort of your own home. From blogging to grammar to plot to copywriting, we've got you covered. Check out this list of upcoming courses and sign up now: 

• Blogging 101
• Social Media 101
• Writing Children's Picture Books
• Conflict & Suspense Writing
• Write Great Dialogue
• Revision and Editing
• Science Fiction and Fantasy
• Form and Composition
• Turning Personal Stories into Memoir
• The Art of Storytelling 102: Showing vs. Telling

Dear Readers,

Here is something else for you to check out.

What Halloween Can Teach Us About Character Development  What do Halloween costumes teach us about how to develop character? Well, a lot. Writer's Digest editor Jessica Strawser explains. Read more ...