Result of plot players exercise Donald Maaas

Sorry again for the delay in posting. Book in a Week got me overwhelmed and then I went on vacation to Miami with my family, so postings might be a little thin for the next three weeks.

Results of Maaas Exercise on Plot Layers

Plot Layer #1: Drew discovers that Laurel was having an affair with the subcontractor and they were involved in a building scheme so they could make money and run away together

4 scenes that show this plot layer

1. Drew pretends she wants to get an estimate for a deck at her townhouse so she can question Kyle Harrigan. She gets him to confess the affair.

2. Drew puts together that the phone number she found in Laurel's bedroom connects them to a lawyer who is handling the real estate deal they have going - a large Georgetown Victorian which will be renovated and chopped up into condos. She finds out that the Victorian is not allowed to be chopped up into condos and realizes that another suspect, Tad Gowers, must be involved as head of the Historical Commission to influence this project going through.

3. Drew arranges to meet with Kyle Harrigan at a Panera's to confront him with what she has found out, but he stands her up. She calls him to say that she will go to the FBI with her information if he doesn't talk with her.

4. She meets with the FBI as he won't respond.

Reflection on Exercise

I'm going to continue with this exercise in the next posting as Maaas suggests adding several plot layers.

Book in a Week

I am in the midst of being in a writing challenge for Book in a Week. Each month for a week at a time, this organization offers a challenge for writers to set their own writing goals, which are posted. Each day, everyone who has joined for that week, can post their output for the day.



I have decided to shoot for 10 pages a day. Unfortunately, I am running out of plot ideas, and it is difficult to keep going without a plot in sight, so I'll be skipping to WRITING THE BREAKOUT NOVEL: THE WORKBOOK by Donald Maass (Writers Digest Books, 2004) for the plotting help that I need right now. There are many books that discuss plotting in a linear way, considering the three-act structure, but this doesn't work well for me. Maass's book is unique in talking about plotting from other standpoints. (I will return to Carolyn Wheat's book after Maass's book.)

The first exercise I'm choosing is "building plot players" (chapter 15, pps. 93-98) in which Maass asks a series of questions of questions about the problems the protagonist must solve and ends with suggesting that for each layer (problem) that you list and develop at least 4 scenes in which this problems plays itself out. (Maass prefers that I not write out his exercises; as an aside, I write to the authors of books I plan to use and get their permission ahead of time.)