Let's talk about that sagging middle. Of your book or script, I mean! This month we’ll be moving into the third quarter—often the darkest and most difficult quarter! —of a book or script: Act 2: Part 2, what I call THE DOWNWARD SPIRAL. But first I want to make...
We’re working with Act II: Part 1, so it’s time to do another post on STORY PATTERNS - which you really start to see at work in this second quarter of a book or script. The KIND of story, or STORY PATTERN, is different from genre or subgenre. There are hundreds of...
One of the key elements of Act II, especially Act II: Part 1, is the PROMISE OF THE GENRE. Your GENRE (and subgenre) is a promise to your readers or audience about the EXPERIENCE they are going to get by reading your book or watching your movie. It’s a contract with...
If there’s just one bottom line piece of advice I can give you about how to write a novel or script, it’s this— You need to know the PLAN. Your protagonist’s Plan is the road map, the Holy Grail, the spine, the sine qua nonof your story— book or script. The Plan is...
Now that you have your Index Cards, let’s get them up on a Story Structure Grid! If you haven’t brainstormed on Index Cards yet, that’s your first step: For the second part of the method, you’ll need: A cork board, whiteboard, wall, or a sheet of cardboard, big enough...
Great characters are great from the first moment they appear on the page or screen. We’ve all experienced that electrifying rush—the knowing that this fictional person will be with us for the rest of our lives. So how do authors and screenwriters achieve that magic?...
Last month we eased into the New Year with some (I hope!) inspirational posts about committing to your writing. Now let’s move on to the nuts and bolts of story structure: the crucial Story Elements that are part of the DNA of any story. This is just as important for...
I’ve decided to drill down on the essential elements of Act Ifor February (with some digressions!). Last week I suggested that everyone would benefit from reviewing the essential elements of whatever Act you’re writing in right now. But how much more fun to do it...
So in this New Year, of all my Top Tricks to Get Yourself Writing Again, my Trick #1 is: Fall in Love with Story Structure I’m not ever going to try to talk anyone out of being a pantser! Your process is your process.To...
This month, why not celebrate Martin Luther King Jr. and work on your storytelling craft—by watching Selma? We’ve started talking about using Story Patterns (What KIND of Story is It?). In Selma, the filmmakers have chosen the structural form of a War Story and...
