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The kidlets are still away. One on the east coast (Washington D.C. now) and the other two at my parents. I'm missing my morning hugs a lot. That's how we always start are day as soon as they wake up. I've tried hugging the cats, but it's just not the same since they don't hug back. Sigh...
My local RWA chapter got a mention by one of the speakers this weekend. Check out this post Larry Brooks wrote on his Story Fix blog. It was waiting for me in my inbox this morning. If you're a writer, I highly recommend subscribing to his blog. That's what I've been doing for a long time now.
It was an interesting talk. Pretty much the same 3-Act structure that most story/plot gurus teach, but each has their own terms and nuances. Larry's division into four parts is something I'm still thinking about. But I've got a proposal due so will have to get back to it. I do know his 4-Rs (Delilah Marvelle, who I was sitting next to on Sunday, and I actually turned it into 5-Rs) is turning out to be a huge help with this proposal!
A couple years ago Michael Hauge presented his Story Mastery workshop at our chapter's Winter Intensive so Larry's type of plotting method wasn't new to most of us. (I think he was a little disappointed about that!) But what I've realized is each method of story structure has a place because the semantics (best word I could think of for this) are different. Story Fix's vocabulary and definitions might make clearer sense to one writer while another can't see beyond Story Mastery's terms and concepts. Add in Blake Snyder's Beat Sheet (and I'm sure there are others I've missed) and a writer can find a method they understand and what works for them.
And they should.
I'm a plotter, not a pantser. But I think even pansters can get something from these guys, even if it's only internalizing the structure.
I rarely talk about writing craft, so this my post for the quarter, possibly even the year!
Have a great Wednesday. I'm off to talk to a volcano scientist. It's research for my current manuscript!
