Plotting Your Novel From Start to Finish

Whether you outline or write by the seat of your pants, your novel will stand or fall on the strength of four pillars: characters your reader will care about, a quest your reader can believe in, opposition that is relatable and reasonable, and a resolution that will satisfy them. In this workshop, we will explore how to plot your novel utilizing a fresh look at the classic and always reliable 3-Act structure.

Instructor: 

Susan Meissner is a USA Today bestselling author of historical fiction with more than three-quarters of a million books in readers' hands and translations in nineteen languages. She is an author, speaker and writing workshop leader with a background in community journalism. Her novels include Only the Beautiful and The Nature of Fragile Things, both of which earned a starred review in Publishers Weekly; The Last Year of the War, named to Real Simple magazine’s list of best books for 2019; As Bright as Heaven (starred review in Library Journal); Secrets of Charmed Life (Goodreads finalist for Best Historical Fiction 2015); and A Fall of Marigolds, named to Booklist’s Top Ten Women’s Fiction titles for 2014. She attended Point Loma Nazarene University in California and makes her home with her husband and yellow Lab in the Pacific Northwest.