Epiphany: The Bottom Line, Revealed

Sometimes it feels like I’ve been in a street fight for the last 30 months. Pantsers vs. Planners.  Jets vs. Sharks.  Right vs. left.  Good vs. Evil. You would not believe — I’ve only shared a sliver of it — the vitriolic venom sent my way when I’ve suggested that there exists an underlying, matrix-like […]

A Guest Post About Story Structure

But first… an Intro by Your Host Here’s a confession.  I have mixed emotions about posting this article.  Not because it’s in any way unworthy.  It’s good.  Ultimately, that’s why it’s here. But it reads a bit like a sales letter for one of my ebooks.  That makes me slightly uncomfortable, because  I don’t want […]

Hook vs. First Plot Point — Don’t Get Fooled

Monster post today.  Set aside a couple extra minutes to soak this one up. I’ve heard from several readers on this sticky little issue.  Some quote books and workshop gurus who say you should present something early-on in a story to grab the reader.  To get the story moving quickly.  In doing so, they seem to […]

Your Next Deconstruction Challenge

If you’ve just arrived here via Copyblogger, welcome!  We’re all about going deep into the infrastructure and principles of effective storytelling, and we’d love to have you join us. Just saw Shutter Island, the Martin Scorsese film starring Leonardo DiCaprio based on the Dennis Lehane novel.  And I’m here to tell you, if you’re a […]

How to Learn Story Structure in Two Minutes or Less

Went to a movie yesterday.  The new Clooney flick about staring at goats.  Not bad, a few grins, but in my view a little over-the-top silly at the end. But that’s not my point today.  What happened before the movie is. Because I saw a bunch of previews for upcoming films.  And in doing so, […]

Special Offer to Writing/Critique Groups

You may think us blogging/guru types wake up every morning wondering how we can sell more stuff to you.  I hope not — that’s pretty cynical — because it’s not true. If we’re doing this right, we wake up every morning wondering how we might deliver something of value.  There are theories about that, unique […]

Why You Need to see “The Box”

Two elements of my approach to teaching story have always been on the controversial side.  Wouldn’t have it any other way – if you want vanilla, take a community college writing class.  If you want to publish, stick around here. First, I advocate that novelists study movies, and screenwriters study literature.  And second, with regard […]

Announcing the Launch of “Story Structure – Demystified”

“Story Structure — Demystified” is live. I’m excited to announce the publication of my new ebook.  The preliminary reader response has been nothing short of astounding, and humbling.  Even for me.   Here’s just one of them: “I’ve purchased and read at least ten books since last spring on writing and I’ve found nothing yet that […]

Shades of Gray: A Somewhat Liberating Spin on Story Structure

If you’ve been challenged by the notion – or if you’re in complete denial – that effective stories can and should be broken down into sequential parts, that each of these parts has a unique contextual mission to fulfill, and that each segment is separated by a critical milestone that must accomplish certain storytelling feats…  […]

Story Structure vs. Story Architecture: “Dude… what’s the diff?”

 I’ve been hearing that question a lot lately.  Story structure is old news, and frankly it rubs some writers the wrong way.  It shouldn’t – that’s like saying gravity and taxes rub you the wrong way. Deny them all you want… they’re always there, inescapable, sucking you in. Story architecture, on the other hand, isn’t […]