There is No Safe Space, by Lisa Cron
From: http://writerunboxed.com/2016/08/11/there-is-no-safe-place I used to have this recurring image in my head. I was outside, on a deserted cobblestone street, in a very dim light, hemmed in by thick fog. I couldn’t see anything except gray. There was a strong current in the air – like a riptide. It was scary. I’d wrapped my arms around a thick concrete post, my feet having already lost touch with the ground. I knew with absolute… Read More
Insights Into Advanced Fiction Structure, by Donald Maass
From PNWA Master Class, Writing the Breakout Novel by Donald Maass, via DeeAnna Galbraith All about building layers and surprising the reader with something they didn’t expect Character Work/Openings Is your protagonist: An everyman? What quality in the life of the author can be shown in this type of character almost immediately? Are they in control, too busy, boring job? Already a hero or heroine? What is this character’s everyday human quality? Put this… Read More
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
On Developing Story Ideas, by Peter Docter
From: http://blog.artella.com/post/141211270456/on-developing-story-ideas-by-pete-docter “Where do you get your ideas?” This is a question people ask a lot, and frankly it demonstrates a fundamental misunderstanding about the creative process. For some geniuses like Walt Disney or Miyazaki, their movies show up to them fully formed. Kapow: Dumbo. Pinocchio. Spirited Away. If you’re lucky enough to be born brilliant, ideas just appear all at once in your head. I used to believe this. But here’s the… Read More
Birth vs. Battle, by David Corbett
From: http://writerunboxed.com/2016/04/12/birth-vs-battle Let me kick things off with blasphemy: Conflict is not the engine of story. Allow me to explain. The longer I teach, the more writing texts I seem to read, if only to find out if someone else has a clearer, simpler, or more insightful way of presenting the material. (To my chagrin, that’s often case. Fortunately, I’m not so old a dog that I’ve forsaken new tricks.) In… 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