Structure

The Skeleton Draft

The Skeleton DraftNavigating a path from start to finish of a novel can be hard for both plotters and free-writers; enter the Skeleton Draft.

The Skeleton Draft is an idea-dump. Maybe you outlined the novel using a story structure such as the Hero’s Journey or any of the five, seven, seventeen or twenty-four point methods. Or maybe you have a scant clue of your story without a real structure in mind. The Skeleton Draft is a means to dive into the story and explore characters, conflicts and events without getting hung up on prose before you really have the idea worked out. …

Story Structure: the First Quarter Debate

Story Structure: the First Quarter DebateDiscovered a new aspect of writing craft this week while looking at story structure: the First Quarter Debate powering our story opening.

Freelance editor and BookTuber (there’s a compound word with so much right and wrong with it) Ellen Brock  posts on writing craft and this week summarised the essential components of the difficult first quarter.