Blockbuster Plots: Scene Tracker Plot Workshop

Plot is a series of scenes deliberately arranged by cause and effect to create the most satisfying DRAMA/ACTION, EMOTION/CHARACTER through tension and conflict so as to reveal the deepest and most significant THEMATIC MEANING.

Writers of novels, memoirs and creative non-fiction require some sort of system to keep track of all the scenes and the information in each scene - the dates; the action plot line; the character development and the thematic significance. A simple technique is to create a visual representation of your story called a Scene Tracker. This technique works especially well for sorting out all the threads of your project, saving you both time and effort.

Think of the Scene Tracker as the loom that holds your story ideas, scene fragments, character development, snippets of dialogue, research and details, tension and conflict in roughly the order you envision the story will unfold. You may start out with lots of holes and gaps in your Scene Tracker, but these will be filled as you come to know your story and characters better.

If you have already written a draft or two, the Scene Tracker can help you with your rewrites. You can use it to determine whether scenes and transitions, characters' emotional changes and your use of detail are contributing all they should to the project's development.

Beginners, intermediates and advanced writers alike are encouraged to bring your characters and a list of the scenes in your story. The Scene Tracker writing workshop is divided between lecture and time for development of the Scene Tracker for your individual project.

For the sake of convenience, the lectures give independent consideration to the dramatic (action), emotional (character development), and thematic aspects of story, but keep in mind that all aspects of a successful writing project must become integrated into the total structure to create its unity, and that achieving this unity is the goal of every writer.

The example used in the Scene Tracker workshop DVD is F. Scott Fitzgerald's Great Gatsby.

Testimonials:

"The workshop was just what I needed. It really helped clarify things! I highly recommend this workshop for any writer who is stuck, confused, and doubtful or who has been listening to their Inner Critic too long. Martha will get you through it, and remind you of the joy and magic of writing."

- M.M. (fiction writer)

"Martha, I just want to thank you again for some of the most exciting hours I've spent in a long time. Isn't it thrilling to learn something new? I came to your workshop with much trepidation and left with enormous excitement. I can't wait to put what you've taught me to use. "

- D.O. (fiction writer)

You have a fantastic tool to help writers plot out scene, create tension and construct a story. I've had several "aha" moments ever since I've taken your workshop. I was struggling with how to build in my back-story. I know what it was, but I wasn't sure how to plot it. Now I know, thanks to you. However, I'm not through with you yet."

- G.S. (non-fiction biography)