Writing Blockbluster Plots by Martha Alderson

Review by Soulinda Somvong

      Writing Blockbuster Plots is written by Martha Alderson. She is known as the Plot Whisperer for her books on plot and for winning an award on the blog she manages, The Plot Whisperer, which has been awarded top honors by Writer’s Digest from 2009 to 2015.
      Writing Blockbuster Plots was published in March 31, 2016, the book is divided into parts: Plot Planner and Scene Tracker. Both parts provide step-by-step instructions on how to maximize the impact of your scenes and strips the confusion out of the plotting process.
      The book helped me tell the differences between scene and summary. Alderson states that a scene shows the action, while summary tells. Each scene has a tiny plot structure of its own, beginning with a goal or desire, followed by some sort of conflict and tension, and ending with an unanswered question or a cliff-hanger, something that makes the reader want to continue reading.
      Summary is a place to rest; I can use summary to compress time when appropriate. The use of summary is helpful in moving quickly, so that I can focus on creating scenes to show the moments that are more important to my plot.
      By the end of these book reader will be able to:

1. Plot the story from beginning to end
2. Ensure that each scene contribute meaningfully to the narrative
3. Link scenes by cause and effect to create a tight, seamless narrative
4. Inject tension and conflict to keep readers attention
5. Target weak areas in the story and learn how to fix them.

      Things I like about this book it is easy to understand and follow. Alderson literally walked me through on how to plot the beginning, middle, and end.

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