Every Scene a Story
Perhaps the most valuable writing lesson I’ve learned: make every scene a story. That means purpose, shape and structure.
Structure
Posts on story structure
Murphy’s Twenty-four Chapters
Derek Murphy’s twenty-four chapters hold all my novels all together. Of all the story structures from the seven key scenes
Recursive Story MICE on a Budget
It’s the ultimate in story-building technique: recursive story MICE on a budget. It all stems from Mary Robinette Kowal’s guest
Thirty-eight Elements of Story
The writer’s software ‘Fictionary’ works on thirty-eight elements of story. It’s a long and thorough list of goals, objectives and
Story in Seventeen Beats
Another classic story-telling framework is the story in seventeen beats. It makes for fast-paced stories and works well across genres. Seventeen
Watching the Word Budget
Long-form or short-form, a writer’s always watching the word budget. At a writer’s seminar, master of short stories Mary Robinette
The Midpoint of Freytag’s Pyramid
I accidentally hit the midpoint of Freytag’s pyramid. It sounds like a plane crash, but it’s a story-telling device that
No Ordinary World
None of my stories do what the craft books say; there’s no Ordinary World opening for my protagonists.
The Seven-point Short Story
For my series’ short story, I’m turning to the seven-point short story structure. Why seven? And what are they?
Hidden Secrets of Engaging Scenes
To understand the basic unit of storytelling, the author must know the hidden secrets of engaging scenes. The novel simply