Introduction | p. ix |
Using This Book | p. xi |
Structuring Your Writing Sessions | p. xi |
Finding Your Workspace and Writing Time | p. xii |
Collecting Your Writing Tools | p. xiii |
Adding Useful Books to Your Bookshelf | p. xiv |
Thinking Like a Writer | p. xv |
Warming Up | p. xvi |
Mind Maps | p. xvii |
Listing | p. xvii |
Writing Practice | p. xvii |
Writing with Friends | p. xvii |
Reading Aloud | p. xviii |
Exercises | p. xviii |
Managing Your Writing | p. xviii |
Prepare, Prepare, Prepare | p. xviii |
Freeing Your Unconscious | p. xix |
Escaping the Internal Editor: Writing Under the Clock | p. xx |
Writing to Produce Word Pictures | p. xxi |
Weekends 1-6: Plotting Your Novel | p. 1 |
No More Corner Bookstore | p. 2 |
The Writing World has Changed, But Plotting Stays the Same | p. 2 |
Plotting Along a Straight Line | p. 4 |
Guidelines for Plotting with a Straight Line Structure | p. 6 |
Exercises | p. 9 |
The Novel-in-Progress: Trophy Wives | p. 10 |
Plotting Along the Curve | p. 12 |
Guidelines for Plotting the Quest for Your Protagonist | p. 14 |
Departure | p. 14 |
Initiation | p. 16 |
Return | p. 16 |
Taking Your Protagonist on the Mythic Journey | p. 16 |
Getting Help from Other Writers | p. 18 |
A Cage for Santiago | p. 18 |
Escape for Santiago | p. 18 |
Santiago Takes the Quest | p. 18 |
Santiago Confronts the Dragon | p. 20 |
Home for Santiago | p. 20 |
Exercises | p. 20 |
The Novel-in-Progress: Trophy Wives | p. 21 |
Spinning Your Novel Down the Page | p. 24 |
After the Sketches, Here Comes the Fireball Prose | p. 24 |
Choices for the Writer | p. 25 |
Image and Action | p. 26 |
Plan B: Ripping Down the Page | p. 27 |
Exercises | p. 28 |
The Novel-in-Progress: Trophy Wives | p. 31 |
Using the Grid to Play What-If | p. 34 |
Weekends 7-14: Sculpting Your Characters | p. 35 |
Determining What Your Characters Want | p. 36 |
Understanding Character and Motive | p. 37 |
Developing Characters and Character Roles | p. 37 |
Finding Motivation for Your Character | p. 39 |
Building Character Through Discovery | p. 39 |
Creating a Character Sketch | p. 41 |
Learning by Example: The Stranger in the Room | p. 42 |
Guidelines for Creating Your Sketch | p. 43 |
Exercises | p. 44 |
Getting Help from Other Writers | p. 45 |
Writing Back Story | p. 49 |
Learning by Example: Veronica's Back Story | p. 50 |
Guidelines for Writing Back Story | p. 52 |
Chronology for the Protagonist | p. 54 |
Exercises | p. 54 |
Getting Help from Other Writers | p. 55 |
Writing a Dream | p. 57 |
Learning by Example: Veronica's Dream | p. 57 |
Notes on Veronica's Dream | p. 59 |
Guidelines for Writing a Dream | p. 60 |
Altering Logical Sequence | p. 61 |
Letting Go | p. 62 |
Exercises | p. 63 |
Getting Help from Other Writers | p. 64 |
The Novel-in-Progress: Trophy Wives | p. 65 |
Notes on Paul's Dream | p. 67 |
Dressing Your Character | p. 68 |
Learning by Example: Paul Dressing | p. 69 |
Guidelines for Dressing Your Character | p. 71 |
Getting Help from Other Writers | p. 73 |
Exercises | p. 73 |
Character Work is Watching Your Characters Handle Weapons, Money, Jewelry, Furniture, Cooking Utensils, Vehicles, and Wardrobe Items | p. 76 |
Weekends 15-20: Plotting Your Novel: Plan B | p. 78 |
Plotting with Sacred Objects | p. 81 |
Choosing the Perfect Object for Your Novel | p. 81 |
Objects Tell the Story in The Great Gatsby | p. 83 |
Getting Help from Other Writers | p. 87 |
Bullet from 1945 | p. 88 |
A Bullet from 1857 | p. 89 |
A Bullet from 2000 | p. 90 |
Guidelines for Plotting with Sacred Objects | p. 92 |
Exercises | p. 95 |
The Novel-in-Progress: Trophy Wives | p. 95 |
Plotting with More Than One Protagonist | p. 97 |
Getting Help from Other Writers | p. 98 |
Mini-Guidelines for Working the Double Protagonist | p. 100 |
The Architecture of Ian McEwan's Amsterdam | p. 100 |
Lessons from Amsterdam | p. 103 |
Plotting with More than Two Protagonists | p. 104 |
Exercises | p. 107 |
The Novel-in-Progress: Trophy Wives | p. 108 |
Plotting with the Working Synopsis | p. 111 |
Telling Your Story | p. 111 |
Using Your Synopsis | p. 112 |
A Synopsis for Cinderella: A Three-Act Structure | p. 113 |
Write the Ending First | p. 114 |
Guidelines for Writing Your Synopsis | p. 115 |
| p. 116 |
| p. 117 |
| p. 122 |
Getting Help from Other Writers | p. 125 |
Exercises | p. 127 |
The Novel-in-Progress: Trophy Wives | p. 128 |
| p. 129 |
| p. 130 |
| p. 130 |
Weekends 21-28: Writing Scenes and Building the Scene Sequence | p. 135 |
Exploring Reasons to Write Scenes | p. 136 |
Establishing Rhythm in Your Novel | p. 137 |
Noting Key Scenes on Your TV Screen | p. 141 |
Building Scenes and the Scene Sequence | p. 142 |
Constructing a Scene Sequence | p. 143 |
Getting Help from Other Writers | p. 148 |
Ritual of Courtship in Jane Eyre | p. 149 |
Plot and Subplot in the Scene Sequence | p. 150 |
Exercises | p. 152 |
Writing the First Encounter Scene | p. 154 |
The First Encounter in Leaving Las Vegas | p. 156 |
Getting Help from Other Writers | p. 160 |
Guidelines for Writing Your First Encounter Scene | p. 161 |
Exercises | p. 163 |
The Novel-in-Progress: Trophy Wives | p. 164 |
Writing Your Climax | p. 167 |
Constructing a Chain of Events | p. 167 |
Guidelines for Writing Your Climax | p. 168 |
Exercises | p. 169 |
The Novel-in-Progress: Trophy Wives | p. 170 |
Writing Your Midpoint | p. 175 |
Seeing Midpoint on the Big Screen | p. 176 |
Getting Help from Other Writers | p. 178 |
Guidelines for Writing Your Midpoint | p. 179 |
Exercises | p. 180 |
The Novel-in-Progress: Trophy Wives | p. 181 |
Weekends 29-49: Writing Your Rough Draft | p. 187 |
Writing Tips: How to Keep Going | p. 189 |
Writing Your Rough Draft for Act One | p. 191 |
Bringing Your Characters Onstage | p. 192 |
Creating a List of Scenes for Act One | p. 193 |
Sketching the Opening Scene | p. 195 |
Guidelines for Writing Your Act One Rough Draft | p. 199 |
Writing About Place | p. 199 |
Using Diagrams to Probe Subtext | p. 200 |
Exercises | p. 202 |
The Novel-in-Progress: Trophy Wives | p. 204 |
Writing Your Rough Draft for Act Two | p. 211 |
Guidelines for Writing Your Rough Draft of Act Two | p. 211 |
Finding Act Two | p. 214 |
Work, Work, Work | p. 215 |
Writing with Power | p. 217 |
Crossing into Act Three | p. 218 |
Exercises | p. 219 |
Getting Help from Other Writers | p. 221 |
The Novel-in-Progress: Trophy Wives | p. 222 |
Writing Your Rough Draft for Act Three | p. 229 |
Sketching the Fate of Your Protagonist | p. 230 |
Getting Help from Other Writers | p. 233 |
Guidelines for Writing Your Rough Draft of Act Three | p. 234 |
Exercises | p. 237 |
The Novel-in-Progress: Trophy Wives | p. 238 |
Where to Go From Here | p. 241 |
Weekends 50-52: Tapping the Power of Your Manuscript | p. 242 |
The Weekend Novelist Writes a Memoir | p. 243 |
Case Study: Writer A | p. 245 |
The Shape of the Book | p. 247 |
Exercises | p. 249 |
Suggested Memoir Readings | p. 249 |
The Weekend Novelist Rewrites the Novel | p. 250 |
Tips for Rewriting Your Novel | p. 252 |
Nouns, Verbs, Word Pictures, Style, and Operation Ratio | p. 253 |
Exercises | p. 255 |
The Weekend Novelist Writes a Screenplay | p. 256 |
Part I: Story | p. 257 |
Squeezing the Story in Trophy Wives | p. 258 |
Writing the Screenplay: Trophy Wives | p. 260 |
Exercises | p. 262 |
Index | p. 263 |
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