Blockbuster Plots: Pure & Simple by Martha Alderson
|
List Price: Our Price: $7.05 You Save: $2.94 (29%) Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Buy Used: from $5.77 (click here) Category: Book See more book details and other editions |
|---|
Book Reviews of Blockbuster Plots: Pure & Simple
Book Review: Midwest Book Review, March 2007
Summary: 5 Stars
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.
Book Review: A Beacon in the Dark
Summary: 5 Stars
Until I read Blockbuster Plots: Pure & Simple, I was writing in the dark. I had known about Martha's book for a couple of years and had always planned to read it. Then, after a year of complete upheaval in my life, I decided to pull the trigger and - among other things - buy this book. I read it from cover to cover first, ignoring the exercises. A dim light started to shine. I went back to the beginning and worked through the steps and the shadows in the corners faded away.
Blockbuster Plots is to the writing world what Apple is to the PC world: they both give you tools that are intuitive, simple, and save time. Many of us have taken loads of writing classes, read volume after volume on writing, and have numbed our rears at endless writing conferences. We are "experienced."
If that describes you and you typically look at new information with a skeptical sideways glance, thinking, "What can you POSSIBLY teach me?" I encourage you to stuff those thoughts in a dark closet. If you want to mesmerize your reader, you need to guide him through your story.
Keep your ego out of it and be willing to cut those perfect scenes you've spent months perfecting. If they don't fit the story, Martha's technique will help you identify that. You have to be brave enough to accept it and act on it. Is it simple? Yes. Is it easy? No. But you can always tweak those gems for another story. You're writing for the reader, not yourself, right?
Strip away the pretense and imagine you are a child who knows little about writing. Listen to Martha's story about what makes a story great. She's teaching you how to enchant your reader.
Book Review: A Tremendous Tool for those who Author their work.
Summary: 5 Stars
I doubt you will find a better tool. As many who set out to create their literary work can atest to, plotting can be a real bear. This is not always the case, there are a lucky few of us who have no problems plotting, but a great many who do. Essentially what this book does is give you a way to structure your work and plot it chapter by chapter. It by no means is the only way, but a very fine one. It also can be an aid to those of us who have published or authroed work in the past, because if allows us a new and successful approach.
The author does pitch some products here and there (and who doesn't these days), but that aside, they do have a support site that adds a greater value to the book. I own many writing and literary research books, and this is one that focuses primarily on the art of plotting, and it does so extremely well. My advise after authoring since 1975, to newer authors, authors who are stuck and even established authors, is this is a tool that can only help. Since I find there is never enough writing books, I highly recommend this as you will never know some time if you are stuck in your literary endeavors, that a chapter might help you out, and that is certainly much cheaper than hiring outside help or worst yet, doing nothing!
Book Review: Demystification Of Plot Made Easy
Summary: 5 Stars
I came across Martha Alderson about five years ago in a Writers Digest article. Immediately after reading the article I purchased the book. I devoured it. Finally somebody who not only got it, but could teach and explain it to others. Priceless.
Before Martha's book, I had read a variety of plot books (Anson Dibell,Sawyer& Weingarten, etc..) many of which left me more confused afterwards then when I started. Her book was unique and provided a system that was simple to employ in order to achieve results.
Currently, I'm working on my first fiction novel. I called on Martha's expertise to evaluate my project and the direction I was headed. During my two hour consult she was able to effectively evaluate my work, provide keen insight, as well as alternate avenues of approach to the telling of my story.
I was truly pleased with the experience. If you are considering writing a novel you would be wise to consult Martha during the planning/outlining stage before committing ink to paper. This alone will result in a tighter story with more universal appeal.
Martha is truly good at what she does.
Matt Leatherwood, Jr.
Author, Train To Baghdad
[...]
Book Review: Wonderful Way to Understand Plot
Summary: 5 Stars
This is one of the best books I've encountered for writing fiction. It provides useful tools for organizing your story and keeping track of the various plot lines and character development. As a suspense writer, I write my first draft with only a vague outline of what I want to happen and let the story develop as I progress. Then I go back and use the Scene Tracker techniques to ensure that my individual scenes have all the necessary ingredients, such as goals, conflict, change, and character development, to make them interesting and compelling. The Plot Planner gives me the tools to not only track the action plot but also the emotional development of the characters. Both these tools make the rewrites much easier.
Alderson provides concrete examples from familiar books to illustrate her points and gives practical exercises to develop both plotting and writing skills. The book is well organized and presents the material in a easy to learn format. I can't recommend it more.