Category Archives: Plotting

Embracing Change and Letting Go

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For the first time in at least three years, I don’t have a book, a project that I’m currently working on or have touched in over a year.

Last month, I published the grammar book that everyone was asking, “When are you going to publish it?” Interesting how my royalty report isn’t reflecting the desired demand. At least, not yet. That was a book I’d been working on in between other projects for the last half decade.

But, hey, at least Freida McFadden told me that “You’re my new grammar expert!” and gave me permission to use her comment made in public in her readers’ fan group. Even if this book doesn’t turn out to be a best seller, that comment alone—in my mind and seeing it on my first hardcover book—made me a best-seller.

And, an hour ago, I uploaded the last of the three formats (hardcover, paperback, and eBook) for the November 18, 2025 publication of Harbor House: Deadly Intentions, my first psychological thriller. A book whose origins began in summer 2023, and which I thought had been ready for publication October 2024. Boy, was I wrong! To read the origin story, click here.

Why I never pursued romance instead of thrillers in the beginning is beyond me. No, actually, I do know why. There were and are no nearby thriller writing groups—at least not that I’ve found. At the time I began writing books, Romance Writers of America was huge, and there was an area chapter starting up, which I joined.

I learned a lot and have a pile of best-selling writer friends and just as many like me—not best-selling-authors-yet writer friends. The support is incredible.

Two days ago, I participated in my first author get-together through a Potluck Book Sale. In getting ready for my hour of hosting, I learned a few tricks to combining Canva with PowerPoint in creating reusable, promotional graphics. YAY!

I had fun chatting with some of the readers and ended up giving away seven books and sharing three recipes. I’ll definitely do another potluck party in the future.

So, what other significant changes have I made this year? Surprisingly, the theme has been about cutting back or letting go. Less is more mentality. Without providing all the details, the endgame is that I’ll be writing more books, using my time more effectively.

Once I clean some files, clear off my desk, and restock the printer, my plan for 2026 is to:

  • Rewrite the optioned script, Miss Mississippi, and publish it.
  • Plot out the 180-year-old story based on a true event and write it as a book. I always thought it should be a screenplay. I still believe it, but…I think it can gain legs as a novella first. A project I’ve been considering for 30 years.
  • Add another book or two to my Finding Your Fire series.
  • Plot out a story I’ve been mulling for about 20 years that reminds me of Nicholas Sparks’ books and the movie Somewhere in Time.
  • Plot out two thriller ideas that were solidified in a write-in weekend two summers ago.
  • Consider writing Harbor House and the true event story as screenplays.
  • And finally, plot out a 10-second idea that raced past me from start to finish with a shocking ending that came out of the blue while I was playing a game a few days ago. I heard the character talking and could see many of the events. Yup, all in 10 seconds. (I wrote it all down quickly, so I wouldn’t forget.)

All of these projects are nagging at me—as all projects do—with this last one close behind me and whispering in my ear, “You know it’s gotta be me, don’t you?

How to Become Obsessed With Your WIP Again

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The Insecure Writer’s Support Group

How to Become Obsessed With Your WIP Again

(WIP = work in progress)

As a new writer, every story I started began with excitement for either the character, the plot, or both.

After a few chapters, though, the writing became a chore. Soon, writer’s block would set in. It pained me to not be working on it. Not wanting to work on it.

Sound like where you’ve been or where you are now?

Through trial and error, I discovered the secret to finding excitement again for every project should I lose interest. To finding that original fire I started with.

Now, anytime I’m struggling with any WIP, I know exactly what to do, which are two things, and they’re tied together.

  1. Go back to the characters
  2. Go back to the plot

Going back to the characters

The characters and I sit down for a long meeting. Sometimes these meetings take several days. I let them talk on paper, while I record what they’re saying. They can talk about anything they desire.

After a while, I’m noticing that their mood is changing. They’re remembering…events where I can see hidden emotions, so I start probing with questions like:  How did you feel about that? Did you ever resolve your feeling or talk to that person later? Why not? What would they have done differently if given the opportunity? And, so forth.

Soon, they’re talking about their wounds, the hurt(s) they’ve suffered. In talking about them, we can both see how the hurt led to their beliefs, their goals, and even their choice of partners and friends. They have their aha moments in these discussions.

Which leads us to going back to plot

We become a team as we examine the plotline and how we can have them butt up against their wound several times. What events we need to include.

They want to overcome that which has been holding them back. They want to become a better person. So, they help me layer in the emotions, the plants and payoffs, and create the necessary tension that leads to page-turning stories.

As I write the story, they become actors in their own stories. Interesting scenario, right?

Of course, we’re all crossing our fingers that we’ve created a memorable story, both in my writing and their acting.

*****

As I finish writing Sweet Cravings #7 of the Laurel Ridge romance series, the last book, I find myself saddened that my adventures with these seven couples is coming to an end. They’ve become a family of friends, strongly connected for past last few years, making me laugh at their hijinks and teasing. Me wishing I could run around with them.

But now, new characters in new projects are waiting backstage, eager to make their appearance. These new characters know the drill. They know we’ll be chatting for several days first, building both their arc and the plotline before word one is written.

No more getting stuck in the middle anymore for this writer.

It’s my secret to staying obsessed with every story I write. Wanna give it a try?

*****

Dr. Diana Stout is an award-winning writer in multiple genres and media who enjoys helping other writers.

She’s teaching a Master Class, Punctuation and Grammar Made Easy, in January 2024, with limited seating. Enroll now if you’re interested!

Be sure to subscribe to her From the Desk of Diana Stout MFA PhD newsletter to receive updates and announcements on her classes and publications.

Learn more about Dr. Stout at her website, Sharpened Pencils Productions.

Follow her new Facebook account here: DrDiana Stout. (She’s the only Dr Diana in Facebook – Her Diana Stout account was hacked where she no longer has access, so you’ll want to unfollow that account.)

*****

Purpose: To share and encourage. Writers can express doubts and concerns without fear of appearing foolish or weak. Those who have been through the fire can offer assistance and guidance. It’s a safe haven for insecure writers of all kinds!

Posting: The first Wednesday of every month is officially Insecure Writer’s Support Group day. Post your thoughts on your own blog. Talk about your doubts and the fears you have conquered. Discuss your struggles and triumphs. Offer a word of encouragement for others who are struggling. Visit others in the group and connect with your fellow writers. This group is all about connecting!

The Surprising Secret of Developing Characters

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The Insecure Writer’s Support Group

 The question this month is:  Has your writing ever taken you by surprise? For example, a positive and belated response to a submission you’d forgotten about or an ending you never saw coming?

 The Surprising Secret of Developing Characters

I’m such a plotter one would think that I’m never surprised. The truth is that with every story I’m always surprised. The words that come out of my characters’ mouths are smart, engaging, and laugh out loud funny. So much so, I’m usually laughing aloud while writing, with my laughter surprising those around me whether other writers at a write-in or strangers in a coffee shop.

Often, I find my characters’ banter doesn’t require tags because the characters each have a distinctive voice, so it’s easy to know who is talking. The advantage is because we know who is speaking tags aren’t required. Thus, the writing becomes action and dialogue, with some narrative now and then rather than all the time. Even then, I try to keep the narrative down to a minimum.

Once I know the bare-bones outline of a story—how it begins and how it ends—I spend a lot of time finding out who my characters are. Many writers will interview their characters wanting to know about their background: where they went to school, what’s their favorite color, favorite music, favorite TV program, and so forth.

To me, while I want to know my character’s physicalities—such as hair and eye color, height, their job, their tangible goal—it’s more important for me to know their pain, their wound(s), the deep dark secret they don’t want anyone knowing.

To discover this information, I become the character. I do so by writing character journals. I start out saying my (their) name, where they’re from, and so forth. These various details will take up half a page and then, suddenly, I (the character) will say something that begs a question of what do you mean by that, or what happened, or how did that make you feel? That’s when the character goes deep. By now, I’m talking (writing) in that character’s voice. My voice and my thoughts are no longer my own, but theirs. I’m seeing through their eyes, feeling their pain. And, the writing becomes a stream of consciousness in their desire to reveal everything that hurts. Everything that up until this moment, has remained a secret that they can’t live with anymore.

By the time they’ve run out words, I’m holding three-to-five single-spaced typed pages. I have their goals, their essence, their true character—not the one that others in the book get to see and have seen forever, but the one they struggle to overcome.

It’s that pain that drives the character, which in turn drives their response in word and deed, which then drives the plot forward. It’s these elements that then help me plot out the middle, the important emotional points that spin the story into different directions.

It’s that pain that becomes the character arc, the thing that the character must overcome in order to win the girl, get the job, get the prize, and to finally obtain self-respect. It’s the thing the character will no longer have to face in their future.

It’s character pain that attracts readers. They want to see how a character will resolve their wound because that wound could be their own.

It’s character pain that engages readers, that makes them turn the pages. The suffering, the action, the pain.

It’s the pain overcome that provides a satisfying end to any story regardless of how the story ends: happily ever after or bittersweet.

The secret of developing characters is much like an iceberg. It’s not about the ice we see above the surface, the ice a character has shown us up until now; it’s about the ice we don’t see, the ice below the surface, the ice we get to learn about. How deep that ice goes, how big of a problem the ice really is.

So, when it comes to developing characters, the secret I share with you is this: Go Deep.

 

Insecure Writers Support Group BadgePurpose: To share and encourage. Writers can express doubts and concerns without fear of appearing foolish or weak. Those who have been through the fire can offer assistance and guidance. It’s a safe haven for insecure writers of all kinds!

Posting: The first Wednesday of every month is officially Insecure Writer’s Support Group day. Post your thoughts on your own blog. Talk about your doubts and the fears you have conquered. Discuss your struggles and triumphs. Offer a word of encouragement for others who are struggling. Visit others in the group and connect with your fellow writer – aim for a dozen new people each time – and return comments. This group is all about connecting!