The Master Plot Formula . . . or How to Plot the Perfect Story

I believe that every person has at least one good novel in them begging for release if only they had the time and patience and the proper amount of creative know-how. I’ve spent well over a decade and countless hours dissecting hundreds of novels and movies because of my obsessive fascination with all things plot. And I’ve taken information from many resources while adding original pieces of my own in creation of this writer’s cheat sheet I call “The Master Plot Formula” that will guide you to writing your best possible story:

-ACT 1-

1. Old World Stasis (the protagonist’s ordinary world of home, work and social life where stasis = death).

2. Inciting Incident (the protagonist’s first introduction to the central story conflict through a major problem or big opportunity influencing their world in as permanent a way as possible caused by the antagonist).

3. New World Flux (the protagonist strives for balance in their newly disrupted world as they debate what can and should be done about the major problem or big opportunity of the inciting incident).

4. Physical Crossing (the protagonist finally decides to act and usually physically leaves their old world of restrictions behind for the new world of possibilities ahead).

-ACT 2A-

5. Things Come Together (the fish-out-of-water protagonist makes new friends and enemies while shedding old flaws for new virtues as they progress toward resolving the central story conflict).

6. Pinch Point / Betrayal Set-up (the antagonist flexes their muscles in a minor way against the protagonist / someone who is jealous of or dislikes the protagonist schemes their future ruin behind the scenes).

7. False Victory (the protagonist and allies achieves their biggest success yet toward resolving the central story conflict while earning the full attention of the antagonist and their minions).

8. Midpoint Twist (a stunning revelation and reversal of fortune causes the momentum shift of the protagonist from reaction to proaction against the antagonist).

-ACT 2B-

9. Things Fall Apart (the protagonist’s team suffers internal dissension as external enemies close in).

10. Punch Point / Betrayal Pay-off (the antagonist flexes their muscles in a major way against the protagonist / the protagonist is stabbed in the back at the worst moment).

11. False Defeat (someone dies and/or something precious is taken from the protagonist during this the antagonist’s false victory where all seems lost in this the protagonist’s lowest point thus far).

12. Spiritual Crossing (the depressed protagonist is struck with the inspirational epiphany to continue one last assault against the antagonist).

-ACT 3-

13. False Solution (all remaining subplots outside the protagonist are resolved as the surviving allies of the protagonist and the minions of the antagonist are eliminated).

14. Separation (the protagonist is separated from all remaining allies so they can face the antagonist one-on-one as only the protagonist can).

15. True Resolution (the protagonist defeats the antagonist or dies trying).

16. Aftermath (the immediate effects of the protagonist’s victory or defeat).

*The Kickers: All protagonists must achieve character growth throughout and because of the adversity of their story. As the writer it’s your job to “kick” them toward that character growth, and here’s how:

ACT 1 Kicker: Somewhere during ACT 1 your protagonist demonstrates their emotional shield earned from a past traumatic event they carry around to protect them from future harm. Show don’t tell the protagonist hiding behind the false safety of their emotional shield they have no intention of discarding.

ACT 2A Kicker: Somewhere during the first half of ACT 2 either the protagonist or someone close to the protagonist notices the hindrance of their emotional shield weighing them down and expresses as much through dialogue, forcing the protagonist to question the true value of their emotional shield and the scary possibility of living without it.

Midpoint Twist Kicker: Somewhere during the Midpoint Twist the protagonist battles against maintaining hold of their emotional shield growing heavier as the central story conflict progresses. Here they briefly set the shield aside and for it we catch a glimpse of who they will become without it in a daring display of potential, though this moment is fleeting because they have not yet achieved their full character growth so they pick their emotional shield back up and hide behind it again out of habitual practice.

ACT 2B Kicker: Somewhere during the second half of ACT 2 the protagonist overcomes the heavy burden of their emotional shield, finally lays it down as the false protection they realize it for and steps away from it as a changed character.

ACT 3 Kicker: But change is a scary process, so somewhere during ACT 3 the protagonist briefly regresses and picks up their emotional shield, but now it proves too heavy a burden and doesn’t offer them protection as the changed protagonist they’ve become so they throw it aside forever and achieve full character growth.

There are 3 kinds of stories:

The first is one with a well developed plot but no character growth arc; if you master the first half of The Master Plot Formula without the Kickers then this is what you’ll write, a pointless story with lots of meaningless action happening to a static protagonist who never changes. Plotters fall into this category.

The second is one with a well developed character growth arc but no plot; if you master the second half of The Master Plot Formula without the logical stages of adversity (plot) then this is what you’ll write, a boring story with a changing protagonist who meanders through a random collection of trivial events that have no logical connection but for that they happen to the same person. Pantsers fall into this category.

The third is the diamond in the coal, that perfect combination of pressure and change which creates the meaningful story of an exciting protagonist who endures through adversity and by changing triumphs in a satisfying conclusion to their strife. Authors fall into this category.

the 8-point story arc . . . or How To Construct Engaging Scenes

Nigel Watts wrote a little book called “Writing a Novel” as part of the Teach Yourself series of books that cover a wide variety of subjects. I was perusing the interwebs years ago and happened across a comment from another writer recommending Nigel’s book, so I hopped on to Amazon and bought myself a copy. Unfortunately for me, at the time the book was rare and pricey and I had to buy a used copy for $20, though now one can purchase a cheaper copy be it paperback or digital. Oh well, it was $20 well spent regardless.

In his book, Nigel explains the 8-point story arc, an incredibly useful tool for writers that has proven its worth many times over since I began implementing it into my own writing ventures. Nigel’s 8-point story arc is freely available all over the internet these days if one does a simple Google search, but I recommend you buy his book anyways because he spent the time writing it and “Writing a Novel” contains much more valuable (though some a bit outdated given our current digital age) information than just his 8-point story arc. So what’s the 8-point story arc? Zip-a-dee-doo-dah:

1. Stasis

2. Trigger

3. Quest

4. Surprise

5. Critical Choice

6. Climax

7. Reversal

8. Resolution

Or . . .

Once upon a time (stasis),

something out of the ordinary happens (trigger),

causing the protagonist to seek something (quest),

but things don’t go as expected (surprise),

forcing the protagonist to make a difficult decision (critical choice),

which has consequences (climax),

the result of which is a change in status (reversal),

and they all lived happily every after–or didn’t (resolution).

Thus is Story, or so says Nigel Watts. And I concur. But I also say the 8-point story arc not only applies to your overall story but also to each and every scene within it. And my suggestion is this: use Nigel’s 8-point story arc and describe your entire novel’s story in one sentence each pertaining to the 8 points of the story arc. This is a great way to grasp a secure feel of your whole story, before spending countless hours and months of daily writing, while also figuring out any pesky plot holes that may pop up.

Now that you have a loose plot of your overall story figured out in a logical though surprising way for your reader, you can next break down into further detail the scenes your story contains by way of applying the same yet different 8-point scene arc. Think of them as mini arcs within the maximum story, bridges leading from one scene to the next. If you wish, apply them to each of your chapters, though you will have to change the “resolution” of your scenes so that each event connects into the next in a continuous flow until your story reaches its true resolution, but that’s a minor detail easily figured out with a little tinkering . . .

And so the protagonist continues forth, executing their new plan of attack (new stasis),

until something out of the ordinary happens (trigger),

causing the protagonist to seek something (side quest),

but things don’t go as expected again (surprise),

forcing the protagonist to make another difficult decision (critical choice),

which has consequences (climax),

the result of which is a change in status (reversal),

helping them decide on a new plan of attack (continuation) . . .

Repeat as needed.

As example, let’s say you have a 20 chapter novel planned for writing. Okay, now let’s apply Nigel’s 8-point story arc as follows:

1. Stasis

2.

3. Trigger

4.

5.

6. Quest

7.

8.

9.

10. Surprise

11. Critical Choice

12.

13.

14. Climax

15.

16. Reversal

17.

18.

19.

20. Resolution

Now one only needs to fill in the gaps with the 8-point scene arc, connecting each of the 8 story arc points with a logical yet surprising sense of flow, and viola! the rest writes itself. But that still leaves a lot of white space begging for filling, truth be told, and if you’re familiar with my detailed writing guide for both Plotters and Pantsers (Pen the Sword: the universal plot skeleton of every story ever told) then you might plug in those pesky plot gaps even further like this:

1. Opening Hook

2. (Stasis) Save the Cat & Kick the Dog

3. (Trigger) Inciting Incident

4. Try/Fail Cycles

5. Physical Crossing

6. (Quest) Fish Out of Water

7. Allies & Enemies & Training

8. Betrayal Set-up

9. Big Success

10. (Surprise) Midpoint Twist

11. (Critical Choice) Rededication

12. Betrayal influence

13. Try/Fail Cycles

14. (Climax) Betrayal Pay-off & All Is Lost

15. Spiritual Crossing

16. (Reversal) Rally the Troops

17. Storming the Castle

18. All Is Lost . . . Again

19. All Is Won

20. (Resolution)

Whew! Isn’t that much better without all the white space screaming for words? Of course it is!

Though the above examples are only that: examples. You can devise your own novel plot chart as according to your particular story, changing and rearranging as needed. As to the details of the fill-in-the blanks, well, that’s what buying and reading the books are for, silly!

In Pen the Sword: the universal plot skeleton of every story ever told I break down at length every essential scene required for an engaging story learned from more than a decade and countless hours spent dissecting hundreds of movies and novels, leaving no plotting stone unturned but for your decision to choose and apply the essential scenes to your own story at your writing leisure. Pen the Sword: the universal plot skeleton of every story ever told is the perfect writer’s resource for both Plotter and Pantser and their next novel-to-be, especially so the NaNoWriMo writer looking to hunker down for the month and pen that novel they’ve been itching to write all year. You can apply my detailed plot skeletons and your story will practically write itself, or you can pick and choose whenever you feel stuck for ideas while pantsing and are unsure as to what your protagonist should do or what should happen next.

So do yourself a favor and buy your copy of Pen the Sword: the universal plot skeleton of every story ever told today. Your novel will thank you and so too will your readers!

Running the Deck . . . or How To Beat Brain Fatigue

Writers are not known for our physical prowess. When one imagines a writer, the typical depiction is of a man or woman hunched over their desk and typing away at a fevered pace between sips of coffee. Maybe even puffing on a cigarette before smashing it into the overfilled ashtray beside our trusty java mug. And as much as this may be true for some writers, it doesn’t always have to be.

      Exercise increases brain neurogenesis and synaptic plasticity, improves learning and memory, and stops the age-related loss of brain tissue during aging while at the same time improving our ability to focus and process information quickly. This is not fabrication, it is proven fact.

      In short, exercise makes us smarter–or at least makes our brain run better, even if exercise exposes our brain cells to a temporary lack of oxygen. That’s because exercise-induced hypoxia causes an adaptive response by the brain to combat the free radicals generated by hypoxia. And the same proves true for the rest of our body.

      So let me introduce you to Dat-da-da-DAH . . . Running the Deck! So named because of the deck of cards you implement, and all it requires is space, time, and a little bit of effort on your part. Oh, and one measly $1 from that tight buttcheek you call a wallet spent at your local dollar store.

      Take that $1 and go buy an ordinary deck of playing cards. Or maybe you already have a deck lying about somewhere round the house, even better ’cause now you’ve just saved yourself some precious moola better spent elsewhere. Remove the cards and shuffle them, then set them face-down on a nearby stand. Get ready. Get set. And turn over the top card.

      Black cards = push-ups

      Red cards = squats

      No weights required!

      Whatever the number is on the card you just turned over, you now do that many push-ups or squats. Face cards = 10, and Aces = 11. You perform the exercise, take a short breather as depending on your level of fitness (shoot for around 5 to 15 seconds of rest between card flips, though one can take as long as one needs, just try not to exceed 30 seconds), then turn over the next top card and get back to work.

      If you’re already in athletic shape then you can complete the entire deck in 15 minutes. Not so athletic then shoot for half an hour, all of which depends on how little rest you take between card flips. Start out Running the Deck twice per week with “off” days of rest between exercise sessions though eventually building to an every-other-day habit and soon you’ll be banging out squats and push-ups like a rock-hard piston of lean muscle.

      You’ll get tired less often climbing stairs or carrying heavy loads because of the cardio benefit, and you’ll watch that paunch melt away after only a couple of weeks if you stick to it. Dedicate yourself and reap the rewards. The compliment of habitual exercise is it makes your body not just hungry but hungry for vital minerals and essential nutrients, so if you ate chips and pop like a slob before Running the Deck then you’ll soon be eating salads and steak like a champ afterwards because of natural cravings.

      The beauty of Running the Deck is that you can take it with you anywhere you go, no excuses but for laziness. Have a pocket or purse? Then you’re all set! And the genius of Running the Deck is that you will never, ever do the same workout twice. Sometimes you’ll have a streak of Reds, while others you’ll have a streak of Blacks.

      And have no worries if you cannot finish the entire deck doing standard push-ups (knees off the floor). Once your muscles begin tiring out simply start doing your push-ups “girly style” ala with your knees on the floor. And the squats? Best way to do unweighted squats is “football style” ala back straight with your fingers interlaced behind your head and elbows flared with your eyes forward because this helps ensure good squatting posture when muscle fatigue begins to rear its ugly head . . . and it will.

      But you’re not limited to push-ups and squats alone, oh no sir-ee. You can substitute or add any free-weight exercises you wish to your heart’s content. Make the face cards 10 repetitions of sit-ups, or the Aces chin-ups. Keep in the Jokers for Burpees or Jumping Jacks. Whatever! The point is that you’re getting off your flabby bottom and doing something about feeling better while working toward life’s true end goal of living longer through better health.

      Because we use our brains a lot, writers often get what I call “brain fatigue.” Sometimes I’ll sit and write for 8 hours straight then hit a wall where everything I write thereafter is deletable crap even my dog wouldn’t chew on like tasty 7th grade algebra. My exhausted brain needs a recharge, and most often exercise does the trick because it gets those juices flowing. And it allows your brain to relax while your body takes over and does some work.

      Some of your best story ideas will strike you when you’re not writing, odd yet true, which is why most writers carry with them a little notebook to jot down their great epiphanies lest they forget them. I don’t have enough fingers and toes to count how many times I was in the middle of something else and not even thinking of the current story I was writing when out from nowhere the perfect putty to that gaping plot hole I couldn’t quite figure out how to fill suddenly comes to mind clear as buffed crystal. And exercise, because it requires focus of a different sort, allows your writerly mind to “rest” while your body is performing.

      So do yourself a favor and start Running the Deck. Your mind will thank you, and so too your body.

Boy meets Girl . . . or How To Make A Lover Sandwich

Everyone loves a good love story.

Boy meets Girl. Boy loses Girl. Boy gets Girl back.

What a classic, am I right?

We’ve all seen or read it a million times over, and we keep coming back for more. Because above all else in life everyone wants to love and to be loved. Even us tattooed, weight-lifting, chest-pounding apes called men love a good ol’ heart-tugger now and then. Heck, one of my all-time favorite movies is Untamed Heart with Marisa Tomei and Christian Slater. But shhhh! Don’t tell anyone.

Time is life’s most valuable commodity, but Love is life’s most precious gift.

Such is life.

But sometimes we don’t always get what we want, also such is life, so we watch a movie or read a novel already knowing going in that the two lovers will eventually end up together despite whatever differences separate them. Just like we want them to do. Just like we yearn for in our own tragic lives.

I can’t think of any other genre which has the same predictable ending 9 outta 10 times yet still endures to this day (‘Liar, Liar’ with Jim Carrey is a great example of that 1 outta 10, by the way). So much so that nearly all movies not of the love genre have “the love story” as their subplot.

Rocky and Adrian.

Neo and Trinity.

Han Solo and Princess Leia.

But I digress.

Romeo & Juliet, and When Harry Met Sally.

Two of the classics.

One modern, and one . . . well, not so modern.

To the untrained eye these two love stories are as different as night and day.

Romeo & Juliet fall in love at first sight.

Harry and Sally argue to the bitter end.

But to the trained eye they are almost the exact same story.

Yes, “almost.”

Two potential lovers meet, are separated, then meet again to live happily every after.

Boy meets Girl. Boy loses Girl. Boy gets Girl back. Or vice versa; Girl meets Boy, blah blah blah . . . depending on your cup of gender tea.

Of course, Romeo & Juliet “meet again to live happily ever after” in the afterlife by committing suicide, and that depends on your personal opinion of the existence of said afterlife. Clearly Shakespeare believed in one, at least for their story.

So what’s the “almost” difference?

Boy loses Girl.

Or, the separation.

Romeo & Juliet are separated by External circumstances. Their warring families hate each other, and the two young lovers are forbidden to be together because of it. But like all horny teenagers they defy their families’ wishes and see each other anyways. Because that’s what lovers do. Darn those rambunctious teenagers!

Harry and Sally don’t have such family problems. Their issues stem from another source: themselves. They’re adults. And their separation is one of Internal circumstances. Harry believes men and women can never be friends because of sex always getting in the way, while Sally believes men and women can be friends just fine without ever having sex. They argue this topic despite their clear attraction to and chemistry with one another, then separate to go about their lives until they finally meet again.

So who is right?

They’re both wrong, silly!

And after learning as much, Harry and Sally meet again to live happily ever after together. Yay!

The only real difference between Romeo & Juliet and When Harry Met Sally are the circumstances which temporarily separate them. Romeo & Juliet = External. When Harry met Sally = Internal. Switch the circumstances around and you have When Romeo met Juliet. Or Harry & Sally.

You see, life is like a box of . . . no, wait, that’s not right.

A bird in the hand is worth . . . no, no, no.

Adversity builds character.

That’s not only a fact of life but a fact of fiction. Especially so a fact of lovers.

And “adversity builds character” also happens to be the premise of every story ever told before they’re written.

Boy meets Girl has been done a million times before, and will be done a million times again. So if you’re planning on writing a Boy meets Girl (or Girl meets Boy), then as the writer it’s best to begin plotting with why they can’t be together. Because the circumstances of their separation (External or Internal) is not only the true test of their love, but the whole middle of your Boy meets Girl story.

Boy meets Girl, and Boy gets Girl back, are just the two pieces of bread. Boy loses Girl is the entire meat of your lover sandwich.

Don’t choose bologna.

Words of Iron, Buns of Steel . . . or Be An Arnold, Not A Sean

Something tickles your muse so you sit and begin writing. Sometime later you decide you’ve finished. Enough is enough and you have other things needing doing. Or your muse has run out of steam and is limping across the finish line. Or you’ve reached your word count goal for the day. Or your hourly count. Or you get frustrated and give up.

      But how do you know when you’re REALLY done?

      For me I usually write anywhere from 2 to 8 hours daily. I sit before my trusty laptop, start banging out words and everything is going great. Hours later the pauses between writing grow longer and longer. Then once I realize I’ve been going back through what I’ve already written and am attempting to find superior words for the past half hour or so I know I’m done writing for the day because: write first, edit last. Time to recharge my muse because it’s drifting off into the oblivion of slumber, exhausted. So I go about the rest of my day with the later plan of reading a good book for a few hours and maybe getting in some weight lifting depending on the specific day of the week after my “real job” because that’s what recharges my muse for the following session.

      For others they have a specific word count goal for the day and once they reach it they stop regardless if they can continue writing. 1,000 words achieved? 2,500? 3,729? Done and done. Time to mow the yard or wash the dishes or beat the kids.

      Others still have a specific set number of hours they write each day, and once the ticker hits whatever o’ clock they click save then close their laptop and go about their daily routine until tomorrow comes along with a new day of writing.

      Then there are those whom have no specific goal at all. You know who you are. They may sit for hours toiling over 3 little paragraphs while attempting to make every word a perfect fit like pieces to an elaborate puzzle. Or they write 10 pages only to realize 9 of those pages are uninteresting or illogical or unrelated bunk and needs be deleted. Sometimes they have no plan of how their story will go and so sit in wonderment trying to figure out where their protagonist should go next or wait for that perfect line of dialogue while they chew on a pen for 2 hours straight and stare out the window. Though sometimes the words flow onto the page so fast their fingers can barely keep up. While other times they grunt and frown because everything they type is crap and their usual musing flow has slowed to a disappointing trickle.

      Which brings me back to weight lifting.

      Lifting weights has afforded me several things over the years (strength and muscle and better health included) and those things have carried over into my writing. Though I’m not a competitive bodybuilder or powerlifter by any means. I started lifting weights when I was a few months shy of 20 years old, I was bitten by “the iron bug” and have continued lifting ever since because I enjoy the struggle of moving heavy weight and the benefits it affords me both physical and mental. And every time I step under or grab the oly bar (olympic bar for you newbs to weight lifting) I have a specific goal to achieve. I don’t always achieve it, mind, but when I do my happiness blooms like spring flowers. Weight lifting is a constant flow of success because you set smaller goals to reach over a shorter course while slowly achieving a larger goal over the longer haul.

      Want to squat 300lbs by next summer? Then you start with the puny 45lb. oly bar across your back knowing you will try to add 5 tiny pounds to the bar each workout or every week until you eventually reach 300lbs.

      Weight lifting is humbling. It’s just you verses the load. There’s no taskmaster lashing your back with their motivational whip. You either move the weights or you don’t. Period. No one else to blame but yourself and your lack of effort.

      Which is why it’s so much like writing. Because it’s just you verses the empty page. You write a little each day over the short course while slowly working toward writing an entire novel over the long haul.

      I’m a Plotter by nature. I’ve tried Pantsing but it wasn’t for me. How anyone can sit and try writing while having no idea what they want to write about is something I’ve never been able to grasp. To me that’s like getting into your car intent on driving but with no destination in mind. I understand the appeal but not the waste of gas.

      I plot my stories out before I begin writing them so I know they make logical sense while also containing surprising yet logical plot twists. I divide them into smaller sections, each with a brief description that tells me where I’m going though not specific enough as to how I should get there so I can still weave new ventures into scenes that did not occur to me while plotting. This helps me write every time I write. I literally cannot think of a single time I’ve ever sat to write and produced nothing.

      And it’s because of weight lifting that I hold to this plotter’s mentality. Every workout I strive for more reps or sets or weight than the previous workout. Progressive Overload is the #1 key factor to getting stronger and more muscular. Everything else is wasted effort if there’s no progressive overload. Even one more single rep than last time is one more rep than last time. Tiny accomplishments added up equal a big success. If I’ve plotted out 40 scenes for a novel, I know once I’ve written all 40 scenes that I’ll have a finished first draft of an entire novel. I may have more scenes when I’m finished, which I almost always do because writing is a wondrous process of discovery, but in the end that first draft is done. Next stop: editsville.

      Because of this I tend to view Pantsers as those whom go to the gym having no idea of which exercises or what muscle groups they want to train for the day, only that they want to exercise. And if you have any knowledge of or experience with lifting weights (I have 20 years worth as I write this, by the by) then you know these are the exact type of “lifters” who remain small and weak because they achieve zero consistent progress.

      These are the skinny-fat guys (yes, “skinny-fat” is actually a lifting term, meaning your limbs are skinny while the rest of you is fat) benching 185 or squatting 225 for “heavy singles” just like they were two or more years ago, and you know in two or more years’ time they’ll still be struggling with the same weights while you’re pushing up 315 for reps or rebounding out of the hole with 495 for a new PR (PR = personal record; the “hole” is the bottom of a squat just so ya know, and not just “the tops of your thighs breaking parallel to the floor” bottom but the “calves touching hamstrings” bottom). These skinny-fat “lifters” also assume glugging 3 protein shakes in one month on top of the 2 extra cheese burgers they ate will somehow add 30lbs. of muscle to their spindly frames then blame “overtraining” or their lack of steroid use when it doesn’t.

      Monday they exercise their chesticles, Tuesday their arms and abs. The next two days are “rest” days because they have stupid memes to tweet out to their 7 followers and groceries don’t buy themselves. Friday rolls around and they decide on chest and biceps again because why not? They want to develop a frosty peak on that massive 12 inch bicep of theirs anyhow and a wide sweep to their flat birdchest. Saturday? Naw, I gotta mow the yard, and Sunday is my “relax and play video games all day” day. Monday again and they decide they haven’t worked their wheels in a month so they bang out a few half-assed squats, sinking 6 inches “deep” if that and with excessive hunching because they overloaded the bar in the hopes of impressing the hot girl locked in a distant stare while doing 1,000 unweighted lunges hoping to tone her saggy glutes who doesn’t even know their name, then they slam the weight home in the power rack and call it a day. Tuesday is a rest day because their lumbars are almost as sore as their fragile ego from Monday’s “squats.” Wednesday and it’s time for some high-rep curls for the girls to pump those tiny biceps, and 5lb. lateral raises to plump their medial delts wider . . . until the pump goes away 20 minutes later and they look like they never even hit the gym let alone broke a sweat in their too-tight wife-beater gripping their flabby gut. Thursday was gonna be back day but now it’s chest day because they watched a youtube video the night before of a silverback twice their age and body weight benching 700lbs. at his local powerlifting meet and earning cheers. What weight did I use last time? Oh, who knows. I don’t keep track of that stuff anyhow because simple math is hard. Friday and whew! It’s been a long week at work so they decide on an extended weekend vacation from the gym. Besides, it’s summer out, and who wants to get all sweaty when I can post on Facebook about the last song I listened to and how it made me feel then sit for hours refreshing the page every 15 seconds while wondering why nobody is liking my dumb-ass post because I forgot I’m not the center of everyone’s universe.

      See where I’m going with this?

      Inconsistency breeds a severe lack of results.

      Now, this doesn’t mean to say that Pantsing is an inferior method of writing, because it’s not. It’s just not my preferred method when it comes to making progress because you can’t measure inconsistent achievements.

      Go ahead and try to find your average word count when you write 1,500 words on Monday, 200 on Tuesday, Wednesday you cranked out 4,500 but deleted half of it because you looked back and realized the last half had nothing to do with the main conflict of your story, Thursday was a good day with 3,200 words down while the kids were at school, Friday you got nothing though you did realize your protagonist’s hair should be brown instead of black after 3 hours of daydreaming, Saturday you managed 500 words but you had to cut it short because you were hungry then did two loads of laundry, and Sunday you banged out a nice 1,700 words but you’re not sure if they’re a keeper because they’re about a new character you just came up with on the fly and haven’t yet figured out how to work them into your story.

      Every Pantser I know enjoys the excitement of discovering what they write as they write it. Though when no words come pouring forth as they’d hoped, they grow frustrated and blame their muse because it’s a lot easier to blame than themselves for being undisciplined as a writer.

      “I just couldn’t write anything today because my muse wasn’t working.”

      Bullshit.

      What you mean is you didn’t write anything today because you are a lazy writer.

      Humble yourself and admit the truth. You might as well do so now because nobody is going to write your novels for you.

      Nothing worth doing is ever easy. Weights don’t lift themselves, and neither do blank pages fill with words on their own.

      Hard work and dedication reap their own rewards. Having a set goal, however tiny, is still a goal for you to work toward achieving. And success breeds the motivation to continue achieving.

      You make progress by keeping track of your progress. It really is as simple as that. And you don’t blame anyone but yourself if you fail to achieve results. Set smaller daily goals so that when added up they equal a big success over months of writing. Which makes that time spent toiling away all the more satisfying when you look back and see just how far you’ve come and how much you’ve accomplished.

      Let me tell you about my writer and lifter friend Sean. Sean doesn’t write every day, instead he writes only when his muse strikes him. Sean also doesn’t rewrite–ever!–because he believes editing will remove the inspirational emotion from his writing (god help us all) because he’s an artist and when he writes he writes with passion sparked by the flames of his fiery muse. One day Sean gets a particular interesting character stuck in his head involved in a few interesting situations, so from here on out he decides his stories will revolve around said character. For the next year Sean only writes when his muse strikes him. One year later and Sean has a random collection of stories loosely connected to his character who is not even a protagonist because no antagonist exists.

      So what does Sean do now?

      He can either face facts and assemble all of his stores, arrange then rearrange them until they flow into each other with a logical sense of connection, go back and rewrite everything so the scenes weave together, and eventually he’ll have a finished novel. Maybe. He also has to deal with several major plot holes he has no idea how he’s going to plug because he never planned out any of his stories beforehand. Or Sean can continue down his inconsistent path and keep writing stories that have nothing in common other than a protagonist wandering through random events and hope for the best.

      Sean, by the way, has never published anything. Ever. Because readers don’t want to spend their hard-earned money on let alone their time reading a collection of random events. Sean also buys lottery tickets with the “plan” of winning and retiring from life and is always disappointed when his numbers don’t come up in the Idiot Tax.

      Is Sean’s lack of progress always true? No. But even Napoleon Dynamite had a plot revolving round a very interesting protagonist.

      Sean is the type of “lifter” who goes to the gym whenever he feels like it. He never records any weights or sets or reps on any of his exercises because his exercise routine is always different. He can bench press his own body weight for a few reps if he really pushes hard, but he never gets anywhere near his goal of bench pressing 300lbs. because some chest days (which are never set in stone, god forbid) he bench presses while others he does cable crossovers and never with the same weight twice let alone for the same sets and reps. Sean has the appearance of possibly working out, though he definitely isn’t what anyone would describe as athletic. Sean has yet to understand the motto “Failing to plan is planning to fail” despite the irony of living it.

      Now let me tell you about my other writer and lifter friend Arnold. Arnold understands that a goal without a plan is just a wish. One day Arnold gets some ideas about an interesting protagonist involved in several interesting and related events. Arnold spends a few days coming up with many more interesting and related scenes, moving them around until his story possesses a logical sense of flow while also having several intriguing plot twists. Arnold then sits down every day determined to write 1,000 words no ifs, ands, or buts. 1,000 words per day is small enough to manage without interfering in his other life activities yet large enough to produce good results so that’s his goal. Sometimes the 1,000 word goal takes Arnold several hours, and sometimes he’s done in half an hour. But he’s made a plan and a commitment and so sticks to it. After 80 days Arnold has an 80,000 word first draft of a novel. Arnold pats himself on the back for all his hard work because his planning and dedication has paid off.

      So what does Arnold do now?

      Arnold takes a break and rewards himself. For the next week he relaxes while his new novel “rests.” The following week it’s back to work, because Arnold spends the next 80 days rewriting and editing his novel-to-be. 1,000 words per day just as before, only now the process is much easier because all those words actually exist. 80 days later and Arnold is done. Hooray! He rewards himself for all his hard work. Then he spends the following weekend polishing his entire novel by crossing all the t’s and dotting all the i’s while omitting needless words and double-checking spelling and grammar. Weekend over and everything in Arnold’s new novel is exactly how he wants it. He could keep tweaking but he knows it’s not necessary. Now Arnold sends his finished manuscript out to publishers. But he doesn’t play the waiting game by sitting there biting his fingernails down to bloody nubs, no sir-ee. Instead Arnold sits and plots out a new story just as before then begins working on his next novel-to-be. 1,000 words a day worked out great so he bumps it up a tad to 1,200 a day because why not reach for higher than before?

      Arnold is the type of lifter who has a plan before he hits the gym. It may not be perfect, and he adjusts it where needed, but his plan provides him goals to strive toward. He keeps a record of his workouts to ensure he makes slow but steady progress because progressive overload is key to training, though sometimes he goes into the gym knowing only that it’s “back day” and decides which specific exercises to perform while working out his back. Arnold not only reached his goal of a 300lbs. bench press months ago but is now closing in on 350lbs because he’s consistently added a tiny amount of weight to the bar over a long period. Arnold definitely looks like he lifts weights by the way his muscular physique bulges beneath his shirt and pants. And Arnold attracts more female attention because not only has his consistent workouts given him an attractive physique but it’s also an instant visual indication to others than Arnold is a hard-working man who follows through with things.

      Arnold’s consistency has not only helped him in the gym but also carries over into other aspects of his life. Arnold is ambitious and sets goals then strives to accomplish them, making him a success and a boss favorite at work. Because weights don’t lift themselves, Arnold is confident when he lifts weights he hasn’t lifted before and humbled when he doesn’t because he has nobody to blame but himself. Arnold is friendly to others because he enjoys helping those weaker than him while also knowing he is physically capable of defending himself against bodily threats.

      There is a major difference between Sean and Arnold, and it ain’t the stink of their gym shorts.

      Arnold is a man others respect and know they can depend on because he follows through with things. He’s a man who gives his word then does his best to stick to it. He lives on his own and works hard to accomplish his goals. If Arnold hit the lottery he’d bank it as savings and enjoy a comfortable rest of his life while still working hard to achieve his writerly dreams.

      Sean is a boy pretending to be a man who shows up late if at all, and when he does you never know what kind of mood he’s in because of his uncooperative muse. He blames everyone else but himself, makes promises he never keeps, and is unreliable at best. Sean is the loser who lives in his parents’ basement smoking weed and playing video games or listening to music all day at 30-something years old, and every so often he scribbles down a story in one of his notebooks for that first novel he’ll eventually get around to writing. Always telling everyone he’s gonna be a writer someday . . . always someday, though never today. If Sean hit the lottery he’d be broke within 2 years.

      I advise you to treat your writing like an exercise program. Don’t think of it as a chore but a habit, and make it a good one. Don’t be a Skinny-fat Sean who makes little if any progress, looks like he’s hardly every touched a weight after several years of “training,” and blames the weights or his uncooperative muse for all his lifting or writing failures. Instead be an Athletic Arnold, a confident and determined though humble individual earning constant success through proven results because he cares enough about himself and his achievements in life to plan ahead.