When writers put on their story theorist caps, nothing is more exciting than those moments when you get to recognize consistent patterns emerging within obvious story forms. This is the basis of all of our understanding (and musing) about story, including the chiastic story structure we’ve been studying these past few months. Although writers sometimes […]
November 2, 2020 by 68 Comments PodcastThe Power of Chiastic Story Structure (Especially in a Series)
October 26, 2020 by 51 Comments PodcastThe Midpoint as the Swivel Point of Your Story’s Linked Structure
The “saggy middle” of a story is one of the biggest challenges writers face. The Second Act is twice as long as the other two acts and yet is often less clearly defined. What’s a writer to do to keep the pacing just as tight and the events just as interesting over the long haul […]
October 12, 2020 by 64 Comments PodcastThe Link Between Your Story’s Pinch Points
Of all the paired structural beats in a story, the Pinch Points are perhaps the most obvious. There are only two of them, they have the same name, and they perform essentially the same function in both their first and second iteration. They’re also perhaps the least known and most confusing of all the major […]
October 5, 2020 by 47 Comments PodcastThe Link Between Your Story’s First Plot Point and Third Plot Point
I often talk about cohesion and resonance as being two of the most important qualities of great stories. Many factors are involved in achieving these effects, but one of the subtlest and yet most powerful is found within the structure of story itself. This is the hidden “circle” of story structure, in which all the important […]
September 28, 2020 by 38 Comments Beginning Your BookThe Link Between Your Story’s Hook and Resolution
On a theoretical level, art often comes down to patterns. As readers and even writers we are not always conscious of these patterns, but whenever we are able to recognize that a story works—or does not work—usually what we are responding to is the comparative effectiveness of certain underlying patterns. This is perhaps nowhere more […]
September 14, 2020 by 76 Comments PodcastThe Crucial Link Between Your Story’s Inciting Event and Climactic Moment
We talk about story being an arc, but in many ways it is more of a circle. A well-constructed story is a seamless whole in which its two halves reflect each other. We see this clearly in classic story structure, and perhaps nowhere more crucially than in the link between a story’s Inciting Event and […]
September 7, 2020 by 70 Comments Marketing Your Novel15 Steps to Self-Publish Your Book
What are the steps to self-publish your book? The modern boom of independent publishing has put the power to publish in the hands of authors—if they choose to use it. But even once you’ve decided in favor of the indie route over the traditional path of soliciting agents and pitching to publishing-house gatekeepers, what are […]
August 31, 2020 by 94 Comments Characters7 Considerations for Your Antagonist’s Motivations (Which Will Save You SOOO Much Trouble)
Your antagonist’s motivations can make or break your story. If your antagonist’s motivations are weak, unconvincing, or over-complicated (which is usually symptomatic of the first two problems), then you will severely undermine your story in several key areas. Not only will you end up with a weak character to oppose your protagonist, but you may […]
August 24, 2020 by 46 Comments PodcastAfraid to Let Anyone Read Your Writing? 5 Steps to Move Past Fears
One of the best things about writing is being read. Unfortunately, that can also be one of the scariest things. When you’re just starting out, it can feel like a huge jump to let someone else read your story for the first time. It feels like another jump to move past the eyes of kindly […]
August 17, 2020 by 43 Comments How to Become a Writer5 Exercises for Honing Your Story Instincts
How strong are your story instincts? This abstract and sometimes elusive concept rests at the very bottom of a writer’s toolkit. Your story instincts determine how successful your storytelling is, and whether you are able to offer readers the all-important “it” factor. Your story instincts are the foundation onto which you build with all the […]
