Whodunnit? The plot thickens

At first glance you may have thought I was venturing off on the trail of a murder mystery given my title. Nah, nothing like that. I attended a workshop last night of our local writer's group, the Winston-Salem Writers. The workshop was presented by Peggy Rhodes, a teacher, journalist, & novelist.

Peggy talked about plot being a sequence of events or actions and involving one or more types of conflicts. She stressed how important it was to know where you're going and know what you're doing.

We learned there are basically five types of conflicts:

• man against himself
  
• man against man
  
• man against society
  
• man against fate
  
• man against nature

After some lecture we completed an writing exercise developing a plot. The idea is to develop the plot quickly to capture the attention of the reader intriguing them to continue reading. The exercise was loads of fun and several participants shared what they had written with everyone.

Peggy concluded by talking about different novels and the author's approach to plot. Her favorite novel is Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell, a book she has read four times and plans to read again.

A good time was had by all. If you live in the Winston-Salem area and are interested in the craft of writing... you should check us out.