The Difficult Second Book
If the first book was a whirlwind of inspiration, then the difficult Second book is like a rock band’s “difficult second album.” Reaching a consistent standard over three books isn’t easy. Especially if it’s a trilogy.
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Structure
Second Act Pinch Points
From Act One ingenue to Act Three veteran, your second act pinch points are the key. Character arcs simply don’t work without them.
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Calculating the MICE Quotient
Mary Robinette’s ingenious short story technique raised a reader question about calculating the MICE Quotient.
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Essential Components of a Scene
Building a story at the scene-level, we have to understand the essential components of a scene in order to give it focus. The scene has to advance the story else it fails in its purpose, which is to drive action or reaction in the characters.
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Work in Scenes Not Chapters
Why should authors work in scenes not chapters? The answer: focus. Don’t take my word for it, this is the consensus of writing coaches across A Solid Three-Stage Book Plan
How do you define a solid three-stage book plan without writing a single line of the novel? Abigail Perry presented her Three Stages of a Solid Book Plan at this years Perfect your Process Summit.
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Revision Planning with Troy Lambert
One of the sessions of last year’s writers’ summits covered revision planning with Troy Lambert. At Daniel David Wallace’s Revising and Editing Workshop, Lambert presented a solid and concise approach to revising a novel.
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The Skeleton Draft
Navigating 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.
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Dan Wells’ Seven-Point Story Structure
Dan Wells’ Seven-Point Story Structure came from the author’s 2010 BYU presentation. Taking his cue from the Star Trek Roleplaying game Narrator’s Guide, wells utilised the Seven-Point Story Structure as a plotting and outlining tool.
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Turning Points and Plot Points
All story structures include turning points and plot points. Whether it has seven, seventeen or twenty-four chapters, somewhere in that structure you hit key turning points or plot points that change the direction of the story. Without them the story is a flat line.
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