Books on Plot

Don’t you just love this hilarious picture of a dog sitting in the driver’s seat? I saw this big guy sitting in the parking lot and just had to snap his photo. Kind of reminds me of how I feel sometimes when I’m working on plot. I’m sitting in the driver’s seat of my manuscript but I’m just not too sure how to get my story where I want it to go.

That’s why I’m studying plot right now.

And here is a list of books that I currently own that focus on PLOT.

Advanced Plotting by Cris Eboch (Nook book)

Beginnings, Middles and Ends by Nancy Kress

Blockbuster Plots: Pure and Simple by Martha Alderson

Holly Lisle’s Create a Plot Clinic by Holly Lisle (Nook book)

Holly Lisle’s Professional Plot Outline Mini-Course by Holly Lisle (Nook book)

Plot and Structure by James Scott Bell

Scene and structure by Jack M. Bickham

The Plot Whisperer Workbook: Step-by-Step Exercises to Help You Create Compelling Stories by Martha Alderson

20 Master Plots (And How to Build Them) by Ronald B. Tobias

And even though these books don’t focus on plot, these are 2 of my current favorite books on writing novels that have good advice on plot:

Book in a Month: The Fool-Proof System for Writing a Novel in 30 Days by Victoria Lynn Schmidt

Novelist’s Boot Camp: 101 Ways to Take Your Book from Boring to Bestseller by Todd A. Stone

And actually, this list showcases the books that I’m reading right now as I try to digest a sweeping overview about plot. There’s so much here to dig into, though, that I know I’m going to go back and really focus on many of these steps and strategies to implement them into my own writing projects.

Yes, I’m reading multiple books at the same time, going back and forth between them, looking up topics in their index or table of contents and comparing their approaches. And trying to apply various techniques to various manuscripts that I’m racing to work on for different deadlines I have.

Wanna share any books that focus on plot that you love or even titles about plotting that you have on your bookshelf? There are so many books out there that it helps to get a personal recommendation.