The Secrets of Story Structure, Pt. 3: The First Act, by K. M. Weiland
From: http://www.helpingwritersbecomeauthors.com/secrets-of-story-structure-pt-3-first Once you’ve hooked the reader, your next task is to put your early chapters to work introducing your characters, settings, and stakes. The first 20-25% of the book comprises your setup. At first glance, this can seem like a tremendous chunk of story to devote to introductions, but if you expect readers to stick with you throughout the story, you first have to give them a reason to care. And this… Read More
The Secrets of Story Structure, Pt. 2: The Hook, by K. M. Weiland
From: http://www.helpingwritersbecomeauthors.com/secrets-of-story-structure-pt-2-hook Readers are like fish. Smart fish. Fish who know authors are out to get them, reel them in, and capture them for the rest of their seagoing lives. But, like any self-respecting fish, readers aren’t caught easily. They aren’t about to surrender themselves to the lure of your story unless you’ve presented them with an irresistible hook. Our discussion of story structure very naturally begins at the beginning—and the beginning… Read More
How Parallel Narrative Multiplies Your Story Choices, by Linda Aronson
From: http://www.lindaaronson.com/parallel-narrative.html Very often things like flashbacks, flash forwards, non-linear narratives, multiple plots and ensemble casts are regarded as optional gimmicks stuck into the conventional three act structure. They’re not. Each of the six types I’ve isolated and their subcategories provides a different take on the same story material. Suddenly, one idea for a film can give you a multitude of story choices. What do I mean? More than six ways to… Read More
The Secrets of Story Structure, Pt. 1: Why Should Authors Care? by K.M. Weiland
From: http://www.helpingwritersbecomeauthors.com/secrets-of-story-structure-pt-1-why What’s the single most overlooked, misunderstood—and yet most important—part of storytelling? If you cheated and looked at the title, you already know the answer is structure. Most uninitiated writers have two different reactions to the idea of story structure. Either they think it’s great, but too mystical and lofty to be understood by common mortals, or they think it’s formulaic hooey that will sap the art right out of their… Read More
3 Smart Tips for Structuring Powerful Scenes, by Rachel Starr Thomson
From: http://www.helpingwritersbecomeauthors.com/structuring-powerful-scenes It’s common wisdom that in structuring powerful scenes, we should open in media res—that is, while something is happening. And it’s generally best to bow out while things are still happening: close the dinner conversation with the last line of dialogue, not after everyone has fallen silent, gotten up from the table, washed the dishes, and gone to bed. But once we get into a scene, what do we do… Read More
Four Things House of Cards Can Teach Us About Writing, by Cris Freese
From http://www.writersdigest.com/editor-blogs/there-are-no-rules/4-things-house-of-cards-can-teach-us-about-writing I think the general consensus among those writers who teach the craft is that you must read—and read widely—about the craft of writing, particularly those authors who write in your genre. But I think there’s a lot you can learn about writing from other mediums, too. Specifically television. Every other Monday, I’ll be bringing you takeaways from some of the best television shows out there. These are meant to be specific… Read More
Worksheet: Story Structure: The Seven-Point System, by Dan Wells
Adapted from Dan Wells on Story Structure The Seven-Point System: 1. Hook 2. Plot Turn 1 3. Pinch 1 4. Midpoint 5. Pinch 2 6. Plot Turn 2 7. Resolution Key: Start at the end.
Desperately Seeking Darlings, by Kim Bullock
From: http://writerunboxed.com/2016/01/22/desperately-seeking-darlings-to-murder January 22, 2016 Back in late October, Liz Michalski wrote a post about how her portly manuscript lost an impressive 52,000 words. As someone who writes long and cuts later, I related well to her obsession with chopping adverbs, unnecessary adjectives, and dialogue tags. I ran that gauntlet myself when the last draft of my manuscript clocked in at 115,000 words. The length wasn’t terrible, but I feared it might be… Read More
The Redemptive Arc, by David Corbett
From: http://writerunboxed.com/2015/12/08/the-redemptive-arc December 8, 2015 It’s the holiday season, which means it’s time to talk about my three favorite elves: Shame, Guilt, and Ho-Ho-Hope. Those of you who follow this blog daily probably have gathered already that I’m going to follow up on two recent thought-provoking posts, one by Tom Bentley (“Shatter Your Characters”) on using shame and guilt to deepen characterization, the other by Donald Maass (“The Current”) on the implicit… Read More
The 5 C’s of Writing a Great Thriller Novel, by James Scott Bell
From: http://www.writersdigest.com/online-editor/the-5-cs-of-writing-a-great-thriller-novel May 6, 2014, reposted December 28, 2015 Remember when Tommy Lee Jones holds up the empty shackles in The Fugitive and says, “You know, we’re always fascinated when we find leg irons with no legs in ’em”? It makes me think of readers who pick up thrillers and find no thrills in them. Or at least not as many as there could be. I’m not just talking about plot here…. Read More