Great news . . . Fill-in-the-Blank Plotting has risen to the Top 50 Writing Books on Amazon.com! It’s sitting at #49 (and at times has been in the Top 25. Hurray!
Reading the reviews made me proud of being able to help fiction writers who struggle with plotting . . . as I did before learning about the basics and and figured out a plotting method to wrestle a “plot in progress” into a usable format.
One Amazon reviewer said she wasn’t willing to rearrange her office to put up plotting boards. But of course, the “boards” could be created in Word documents and handled entirely on her computer.
Here at the writing studio of the Georges, I do believe 2010 was one of the busiest years of our lives. 2011 is starting out a bit calmer, and I’ve got some time to write fiction again after completing our 65th nonfiction book for teens in January. What sort of books? For example, Biotech Research, written for ReferencePoint Press, was a real challenge.
Meanwhile, I’m updating a novel I drafted a good while back, getting it ready to submit! I’m checking the plot structure to make sure it has all 12 steps of the Hero’s Journey and all the elements of the Three-Act Structure so the reader won’t fall into any plot-holes. I have to admit, I love writing fiction . . . making things up as I go along instead pushing hard to write only 400-500 words a day, with every fact backed up with three sources.
There’s such freedom in writing fiction! And my plotting boards are helping me get back to it with ease.
Sometime this year, I’ll be conducting a Saturday Seminar on Plotting and Strong Writing for The Woodlands Writers’ Guild near Houston. I’ll let you know when that seminar gets on the calendar. I’d love to see you there!
Have a wonderful year, everyone! And happy writing!
Linda
We take along a map or a GPS when we travel. Why should traveling with words by any different? Linda’s FILL-IN-THE-BLANK PLOTTING helps writers—veterans and newbies—stay on track and moving in the right direction. As a writer, I need this structure; this sense of direction to avoid dead ends and wrong turns.
Hi, Sheila! You’re right that the Hero’s Journey and Three-Act Structure act like a roadmap for the fiction writer. Without GPS or a map, or a plotting structure when writing a story, I could end up on a detour that might result in a lot of rewriting and deleting. The structure keeps me on track and heading in the right direction. What I like most about my plotting boards is being able to make course adjustments without a lot of work. Thanks for your kind words!
Linda
FILL-IN-THE-BLANK PLOTTING makes so much sense and is so easy to stay on track, it’s hard to imagine writing fiction without it! It’s great to utilize storyboard format on the computer to input the story line and keep the flow directed. Thank you Linda for the fantastic roadmap for fiction writers!!
How wonderful that Plotting is on the list of the top 50 writing books selling on Amazon! I’ve read it, use it, and love it! Any writer who doesn’t own a copy should purchase one today. A helpful tool absolutely all writers of any genre should own. Great news, Linda.
I wish you all the success!
Cathi
Thanks, Cathi! Coming from a novelist, it means a lot to me that you use my plotting system when you plot your books. It’s wonderful that PLOTTING has made the top 50! I’d love to see it climb higher on the list! Thanks again!
Glad to see your plotting book recognized. It’s the only one in my library. Thanks, Linda.
Thanks, Lucile! That’s a real compliment, coming from you! I’m so glad you’re back online again! I’ve missed hearing from you!