The ScriptShark Critique Sheet
I rediscovered the ScriptShark Critique Sheet from 2009. It’s another useful tool by which to evaluate your manuscript. …
I rediscovered the ScriptShark Critique Sheet from 2009. It’s another useful tool by which to evaluate your manuscript. …
Abigail Perry’s Seven Key First chapter Questions are touchstones. They apply not only to opening chapters, but to every chapter and every scene in the novel.
We’ve looked at opening chapters before, but Perry’s seven questions, from a presentation in 2023, takes a different approach.
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Writing the last chapter doesn’t mean getting to the end of the plot. Whatever is in the last chapter is the memento mori, the closing image, the takeaway. The last chapter will likely set the mood for how the reader remembers the novel.
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Can you draw your story as a graph? From Freytag to Vonnegut, writers and coaches will tell you stories have a shape you can draw. With a little analysis, you can visualise whether or not your story ‘works.’
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Acting out the first act is the only way of knowing if your novel opens the right way. There is no single ‘right’ way to begin a novel, but there are plenty of wrong ones. Breaking down your first act will increase your chances of keeping the reader to Act Two.
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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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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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Mary Robinette’s ingenious short story technique raised a reader question about calculating the MICE Quotient.
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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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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 summits, podcasts and blogs.
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