Study Martha Alderson’s resources for plot:  http://plotwhisperer.blogspot.com and http://www.blockbusterplots.com and http://www.youtube.com/user/marthaalderson

After you have completed the first draft of your book and have gained a handle on plot, please contact me if you’re shopping for a manuscript consultant/editor who can help you take your project to the next phrase.  Here’s a testimonial from a client who is writing a most exciting thriller:

“I was an attendee at the CWC-BB and have been working since then with Teresa LeYung Ryan on my novel, The Sacred Heart. Teresa is so committed to her clients and does a remarkable job of coaching and encouraging while wielding an insightful red pen.

Tom Wolfe spoke last week in Charlotte for the public library there and I briefly interviewed him afterwards for The Writer magazine ….He said the basis for his writing continually came back to great reporting and that the key for any writer is getting out of the building and observing people – particularly being on the scene when something happens.

Thanks Teresa, for pushing my reporting skills.”

Don Hudson

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Are there editors/book doctors who specialize in thrillers & mysteries?  Yes.  You’ve found one of them.

Happy Holidays & Happy New Year, Writers!

May your writing projects take on new form and new vitality!

Sincerely,

Writing Coach/Manuscript Consultant Teresa LeYung Ryan

author of Love Made of Heart (recommended by the California School Library Association and the California Reading Association)

http://writingcoachteresa.com

Hi, Martha,
Your plot coaching is priceless. I like your analogy “Do like Hollywood movie directors and cup your hands around one eye like a telescope. Write about that one moment in your story.”

As a manuscript consultant, I get to read stories that carry profound themes and I know my clients have spent years working on their projects.

A mistake I often come across is not enough “showing…with sensory details” and too much “summarizing” or “editorializing.” That’s when I’ll ask my client “Have you looked at Martha’s blog or book?”

I guest-blogged on Nina Amir’s about how to make one’s manuscript compelling http://writenonfictioninnovember.wordpress.com/2008/11/16/how-to-make-your-manuscript-compelling/

In that post, I referenced The Woman Warrior, Woven of Water, The Other Mother, Angela’s Ashes–all four memoirs have smooth plotlines with what you’d call “Cause and Effect” linked scenes.

I see your new post:
http://plotwhisperer.blogspot.com/2009/10/when-scene-just-wont-do.html

Happy New Year, Int’l Plot Consultant Martha! Thank you for doing your magic!

Sincerely,
Teresa LeYung Ryan
Writing-Career Coach/”22 Pages Manuscript Consultant”