Authors are always being warned not to begin their stories too soon. The idea of beginning in medias res—or “in the middle of things”—is popular these days because it plunges readers into the plot right away without dragging them through pages of backstory or setup. But at the same time, you must give readers enough […]
January 30, 2012 by 14 Comments Outlining Your NovelHow to Reverse Outline Your Story
Today, I’m honored to be hosted on Writers Helping Writers. You can stop by the blog to read my guest post “Reverse Outlining,” which is an excerpt from my book Outlining Your Novel. Below is a sneak peek: When you think of outlines, you generally think about organization, right? The whole point of outlining, versus the seat-of-the-pants […]
November 27, 2011 by Leave a Comment PodcastAction and Reaction in Scene Structure: The Two Pistons Powering Your Story
Your story is a precision machine. If you were to take the shiny cover off this machine, what you would find inside would be an intricate mass of nuts, bolts, gears—and an engineer only knows what else. At the heart of it all, you’d find two huge pistons running the show. One of those pistons […]
June 6, 2010 by 63 Comments Beginning Your Book5 Ways to Maximize Your Story’s Inciting Event
The Inciting Event is the moment your character’s world is forever changed. It knocks over the first domino in the line of dominoes that forms your plot. It sets off an irrevocable chain reaction that will eventually lead your character to the maelstrom of your Climax. So how do you go about creating an Inciting […]
March 22, 2010 by 47 Comments Structuring Your Novel21 Must-Haves for Your Story Structure (in 90 Seconds)
A writer’s life is busy. Sometimes we need shortcuts. And while there really aren’t any shortcuts, sometimes there are, at least, cheat sheets. Today, I’m going to give you a Mouse-ter Class in story structure—in all of 90 seconds. Ready? Strap in and take a look at the video below to see the foundational art of […]
March 3, 2010 by 26 Comments Structuring Your NovelHow to Write Scenes That Matter
One of the single most important decisions in storytelling is one you make every day, maybe even several times a day. It all comes to: how to write scenes that matter to your story. Imagine your story as a line of dominoes and each individual scene as a single domino. If you expect your line […]
October 18, 2009 by 49 Comments Outlining Your NovelShould You Outline Your Book Backwards?
When you think of outlines, you generally think organization, right? The whole point of outlining, versus the seat-of-the-pants method, is to give the writer a road map, a set of guidelines, a plan. It only makes sense that an outline should be simple, streamlined, and linear. An outline should put things in order. So you’re […]
