32 of 33 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Midwest Book Review, March 2007, March 1, 2007
This review is from: Blockbuster Plots: Pure & Simple (Paperback)
Have you ever been deep in the writing of a novel - only to discover that you've lost the thread, that the plot doesn't square up the way you thought? Do you find yourself swimming in deep water - or perhaps completely over your head - when you think about plot? Even worse, have your initial readers told you that your plot doesn't make sense? If so, this is the book for you.
Whether you plan your plots in advance or improvise as you go along, Martha Alderson's two major tools, the Scene Tracker and the Plot Planner, will improve your overall writing product. By the time you finish this book, you'll have learned seven major ways to improve your novel, and you'll have a much better grasp of the plot and structure of any book you choose to create.
With the use of Scene Tracker, Alderson artfully explains how to break down your work to identify scenes, then determine when to use scene and/or narrative and decide how to keep track of flashbacks, the timeline, character development, goals, conflict, theme, and change, all in an organized and effective manner.
In the second half of the book, the Plot Planner is used to work through beginning, middle, and end, with careful focus upon cause and effect, character emotional development, and thematic significance. Step-by-step guidance is provided. To demonstrate the principles throughout, the author uses examples from the work of authors like Ursula Hegi, Cormac McCarthy, and Billie Letts. Appendices are included breaking down scenes and plot from the work of Mark Twain, Ernest J. Gaines, and John Steinbeck.
This book will assist the budding new writer and the already-published author. It's easy to follow, the tools are accessible, the text is filled with good advice, and the book is laid out so that there is plenty of space to make notes or to use it as a workbook. Students of the Craft need this book, but writing teachers will also find the book useful. Highly recommended.
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you? Yes
No
20 of 20 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
A Great Tool to Have!, September 29, 2007
This review is from: Blockbuster Plots: Pure & Simple (Paperback)
This is my first time giving a review for a book. I was compelled to do so because my expectations for the book were high based on past ratings. Was the book and the author's tools for plotting helpful? Yes and No. Let me explain my take on it. The scene tracker, although simplistic, listed some areas that one should chart in order to be aware of gaps that one may have in certain scenes. I especially liked the concept of tracking the emotional change and how important it is to have "change" and "conflict" in each scene or it needs to be reevaluated or discarded. I give the book 2 stars just for learning that aspect/tool in scene tracker. There is more to scene tracker, however, I will not give it away. You'll have to buy the book. The scene tracker makes the purchase of the book worth it.
On Plot Planner, the only thing I found helpful was connecting individual scenes together above & below the plot planner to make a line if only each consecutive scene can be connected thru cause and effect. If not, then again, those scenes need to be reevaluated or discarded. For bringing that "Aha" into light, I give the book another star.
However, the book notes under the PLOT PLANNER section on how to plot THEME and EMOTIONAL Development. The author only records those aspects under scene tracker. SHE DOES NOT track it under the PLOT PLANNER. Unless I failed to understand her diagrams; theme and emotional development are not tracked on the PLOT PLANNER. She refers back to her SCENE TRACKER for those 2 aspects. So in essence, it is not the PLOT PLANNER that is tracking them but Scene tracker. I guess that would be fine with THEME, as you can make a connection with all the Theme points for each scene and come out with an overall sense of what the theme is or what scenes support the theme. But I fail to understand how the Emotional Change in each scene can demonstrate the protagonist's character arc or journey of emotional changes on the whole through the scene tracker (although it works for each individual scene). But the author's premise is that it is tied into the PLOT PLANNER and I didn't see where she connected those aspects into that tool.
What is recorded under PLOT PLANNER is just a visual of individual scenes divided by the beginning, middle, and end sections of the story. All in all, still a valuable tool, but I already had some knowledge of this.
However, throughout the book, the author spreads out tidbits of basic information on plot and the such which is helpful for the novice which I would have liked if she had delve into more detail. She tickled my palette for more knowledge.
I guess the supposed beauty of the book lies in it's simplicity. However, she gets off tangent in several areas (saying that she has gotten ahead of herself) and if you seek clarification of what she is talking about she refers to you to her DVD or website or she just barely touches the surface on it. In fact, almost every other page, along the side bars, her DVD is mentioned. The book at times seems like a disguise for marketing her DVD. I understand that authors need to self promote, but the amount of self promotion in this book became distracting. Perhaps just putting a footer on each alternate page with her website address would have been more appropriate than on the sidebars.
In addition, she left alot of white space on the sidebars which could have been utilized more efficiently to dispell more information.
If anyone has seen her dvds, please post a review and let me know how you liked it. I'm tempted to buy one, hoping that she does go in deeper with her tools. I think she made a very good attempt to what she was trying to accomplish when she started the book with the SCENE TRACKER (EXCELLENT tool that can be really tailored to suit your needs and she does emphasize that). But once she got into the PLOT PLANNER, I think she needs to clarify it a bit more and make the examples at the appendix more coherent in the sections of theme and emotional development.
Overall, its a good book to have for a reference. The scene tracker is excellent and having more developed examples of the plot planner with more detailed explanations would have been golden.
Her website and Blog has a wealth of information that is basically a reiteration of about 1/3 of her book.
I have emailed her requesting clarification on some of the above and will update my review according to her response.
***********UPDATE - October 12th***********
Martha Responded to me on her Blog! She explained how the Character's Emotional Development & Theme can be tracked through the plot planner. It was so simple that I simply overlooked it. Along with her website, her book delivers! It is great to see an author who supports what they have written in such expedited fashion. If Amazon would give me the ability, I would upgrade my rating from 3 to 4 stars. Not 5 you may ask? Well, the self promotion needs to be cut a bit (lol) and it would be more helpful to have color examples of her tools to see how she tracks the different aspects of plot, and for her to expand a bit more on what she delves in the book (like how she does on her site). There's just so much good stuff in her book, but she doesn't go into it as deeply as I would have liked. But overall, I am very pleased. Any further explanation you might need, you can find on her site and blog. Her tools are excellent. I highly recommend.
2 other books that I would also recommend to supplement with the Plot Planner is Dara Mark's "Inside Story: Power of the Transformational Arc". Also, a great book on Endings which also gives an overview to story structure is Drew Yanno's "The 3RD Act". It is simple and to the point and the 30 question checklist at the end of the book makes it a good investment!
Happy Plotting!
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you? Yes
No
29 of 31 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A best-selling author who loves this book!, August 3, 2006
This review is from: Blockbuster Plots: Pure & Simple (Paperback)
Some writers make plot seem effortless. It's not. This book gives you a step by step plan (which is what I need when I get stuck)and great examples. It shows you how to map out the three crucial pieces of your puzzle and coaches you along for the rest of the ride.
I like the templates and it's very "How To" frankness. This book obviously understands that one of the main reasons we get stuck is that we get stressed out about getting stuck!
I'm working now on my second novel and the pressure's on! This book helped me see that even without all the answers I can still do the work. By doing the assignments in the book, the answers begin to fall into place.
Jennifer Solow
Author of THE BOOSTER
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you? Yes
No
![[Start the discussion]](http://g-ecx.images-amazon.com/images/G/01/x-locale/communities/discussion_boards/start-new-discussion-sec._V192250339_.gif){kind=small}
