Margaret Duarte

Visionary Fiction

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Complications Worksheet

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I’d like to share a plotting worksheet with you that I found very helpful in revising my novel.

It was written by Martina Boone, one of the publishers of Adventures in Children’s Publishing.

Don’t let the blog’s title, Adventures in Children’s Publishing, fool you.  Most of this blog’s content, as well as this worksheet, apply to ALL fiction, not just children’s fiction.

Here’s a sampling of Martina’s post.

Plotting Made Easy – The Complications Worksheet

“Want to create a plot you’ll itch to write? A protagonist you’ll love? An antagonist that will give you shivers? And (simultaneously) the first draft of a synopsis ready to be pared down to two pages and polished up?

“Like many writers, I’ve spun my mental wheels researching and experimenting with different methods of plotting: outlining versus free writing versus turning points versus notecards versus snowflake method etc. Since I’ve finally found something that works for me, I thought I’d share my Complications Worksheet here to help you simultaneously develop action, motivation and character depth by piling trouble on your poor protagonist.“

Try the Complications Worksheet as a thinking tool. But before you start, cruise through the links at the end of Martina’s post so you can add or subtract whatever you need. Then answer the questions in the worksheet with your story and characters in mind.

For Martina’s worksheet, go to Plotting Made Easy–The Complication’s Worksheet.

I know you’ll be pleased.

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About Margaret Duarte

Former middle school teacher, Margaret Duarte, lives on a California dairy farm with a herd of “happy cows,” a constant reminder that the greenest pastures lie closest to home. Margaret earned her creative writing certificate through UC Davis Extension and has since published four novels in her “Enter the Between” visionary fiction series: Between Will and Surrender, Between Darkness and Dawn, Between Yesterday and Tomorrow, and Between Now and Forever. Her poem and story credits include SPC Tule Review; The California Writers Club Literary Review; finalist in the 2017 SLO Nightwriters Golden Quill Writing Contest; First Place winner for fiction in 2016, Second Place winner for fiction in 2018, Honorable Mention for fiction in 2019, and Gold winner for fiction in 2020 NORTHERN CALIFORNIA PUBLISHERS AND AUTHORS Book Awards Competition; 2019 California Author Project winner for adult fiction.

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Comments

  3. Margaret Duarte says

    Hi Cathy. Since you write children's fiction, you'll find the site, Adventures in Children's Publishing, expecially interesting. I also think you'll find the worksheet a keeper.

  4. Margaret Duarte says

    You're welcome, Martina. This is one of the best writing worksheets I've come across and I'm more than happy to pass it along so others can benefit from it. Happy holidays to you, too.