Straight talk from the sisters about blood, sweat and ink
Sorry for our brief absence. Did you miss us? Heather and I needed some down time. We logged an insane number of blogging hours during April and our work, writing, health and family lives were starting to suffer. The vacation did its job brilliantly. We’re excited to get back to work and have some fantastic …
Continue reading “Story Twinkies: Do You Need One?”
Welcome back to Masterplots Theater on this the very last day of the A-Z Challenge! Yippee! We made it! And as happens every year, we get to Z and go, “What the heck are we going to write for this letter?” Of course, now that I think of it, we could have picked zombies, but …
Continue reading “Masterplots Theater: Z is for Zoomorphic”
Welcome back to Masterplots Theater! All month we’ve been talking about writing individual masterplots, but what if you’re deliberately writing a story in two genres? What the heck is that? Well, I’d call that a “mashup”, or for the purposes of the A-Z Challenge, an “X Meets Y” masterplot. But the real question is: should …
Continue reading “Masterplots Theater: X is for X Meets Y (Genre Mashups)”
Welcome to Masterplots Theater. Does your main character start out fine? The have a fulfilling job, a loving partner, and a family life any one would be envious of? But writing a character with everything is pretty dull. You throw in a few bad events, and during this new stressful time, your hero falls under …
Continue reading “Masterplots Theater: W is for Wretched Excess”
Welcome back to Masterplots Theater! Today we’re going to talk vengeance, for all those writers who are just dying to exorcise a past wrong through fiction… Vengeance Plot Notes: The main drive of this masterplot is simple: the protagonist seeks revenge on the antagonist. The antagonist must have done something that warrants the hero’s desire …
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Welcome back to Masterplots Theater. This is our last week of the Blogging from A to Z Challenge and we have a fabulous final lineup! Love is messy; it’s messy in real life and it’s messy in stories. This ill-fated type of affection is at the heart of just as many romantic comedies as tragedies. …
Continue reading “Masterplots Theater: U is for Unrequited Love”
Welcome to Masterplots Theater. Do you crave brave and selfless acts in your stories? The Sacrifice Masterplot requires these, because this hero is facing gut-wrenching decisions. This is a master plot for powerful emotional tales, ones that might leave your keyboard soggy and your readers emotionally devastated, but that’s just another part of the sacrifice. …
Continue reading “Masterplots Theater: S is for Sacrifice”
Welcome back to Masterplots Theater! When people hear “Rite of Passage plot” they often think it’s another term for “coming-of-age story.” While youthful tales involving loss of innocence and puberty most definitely fit the Rite of Passage mold, not all ROP stories are about teenagers. Allow me to explain… Rite of Passage Plot Notes: The defining …
Continue reading “Masterplots Theater: R is for Rite of Passage”
Welcome back to Masterplots Theater. Do you dream of writing stories with flying carpets, or wishing wells? Or maybe you want to write a story where the bad guy gets taken down by a witch with a sense of humor. Great, because this masterplot takes us to a land of all plots magical. Out Of …
Continue reading “Masterplots Theater: O is for Out of the Bottle”
Welcome back to Masterplots Theater where we examine archetypal plots in books and film. Today we’re going to study a plot often referred to as “Rivalry”, but I need an “N” post for the purpose of the #AtoZChallenge, so I’m going to call this masterplot “Nemesis.” After all, there is no rivalry if the hero doesn’t …
Continue reading “Masterplots Theater: N is for Nemesis”