Story Structure

"The vast majority of writers begin the storytelling process with only a partial understanding where to begin. Some labor their entire lives without ever learning that successful stories are as dependent upon good engineering as they are artistry. But the truth is, unless you are master of the form, function and criteria of successful storytelling, sitting down and pounding out a first draft without planning is an ineffective way to begin.

Story Engineering starts with the criteria and the architecture of storytelling, the engineering and design of a story--and uses it as the basis for narrative. The greatest potential of any story is found in the way six specific aspects of storytelling combine and empower each other on the page. When rendered artfully, they become a sum in excess of their parts."

- Amazon Books

Test your story ideas for freshness and expand on them using "what-if" ladders.

Brooks provides actionable advice in this book, a productive benefit for any author trying to plot a novel. Story Engineering has valuable explanations of story pacing and scene placing, presented in the easy-to-grasp concept of "story milestones". While some say that his explanations are long-winded and bordering on condescending at times, it's widely agreed that Brooks presents valuable insight on planning a book. Whether you're revising an old work or outlining a new piece, the fundamentals of Story Engineering will help fit your story to a proven structure.

In the physical world, gravity, force, and other elements of physics govern your abilities and can be utilized to enhance your every movement. In the world of writing, story physics can be harnessed in much the same way to make your novel or screenplay the best it can be. In Story Physics, best-selling author Larry Brooks introduces you to six key literary forces that, when leveraged in just the right way, enable you to craft a story that's primed for success--and publication.

These literary forces will elevate your story above the competition and help you avoid the rejection pile. With Story Physics, you won't just give your story wings--you'll teach it how to fly.

Brooks encourages you to set up your plot, highlighting the five goals you should reach during the introductory period of your book.

Though perhaps not as helpful as a stand-alone guide like Story Engineering, Story Physics is beneficial as an accessory for the writer who wants an even more in-depth lesson on story structure. Brooks once again aims to school you on story structure in a somewhat irreverent tone, but that may be a positive for readers who don't want to feel like they're consulting a textbook. Lessons on story physics are given through case studies of famous books such as The Da Vinci Code, The Hunger Games, and The Help, so while readers familiar with these books might find them to be helpful examples, readers who have yet to read these titles may find difficulty in relating Brooks' lessons to actual works. However, at its core, Story Physics will offer you additional guidance in building a three-dimensional, structurally sound story.

"All too often, following the "rules" of writing can constrict rather than inspire you. With Story Trumps Structure, you can shed those rules - about three-act structure, rising action, outlining, and more - to craft your most powerful, emotional, and gripping stories.

When you focus on what lies at the heart of story - tension, desire, crisis, escalation, struggle, discovery - rather than plot templates and formulas, you'll begin to break out of the box and write fiction that resonates with your readers. Story Trumps Structure will transform the way you think about stories and the way you write them, forever."

- Goodreads

Steven James indicates where a character's internal, external, and interpersonal struggles should take place throughout a novel.

This is a book for individuals who wish to hone their natural instincts by writing the book first and then tweaking it in ways that make sense. Authors who are pantsers can be just as successful as plotters, but there are still fundamental techniques in pantsing that can be used to improve one's craft. Some of the examples that James uses can be described as somewhat dated, but the core teachings of Story Trumps Structure will help you to understand story progression, characterization, and narrative forces in ways that will make your writing more organic and fluid.

"It's been said that there are no new ideas; but there are proven ideas that have worked again and again for all writers for hundreds of years.

Story Structure Architect is your comprehensive reference to the classic recurring story structures used by every great author throughout the ages. You'll find master models for characters, plots, and complication motifs, along with guidelines for combining them to create unique short stories, novels, scripts, or plays.

Especially featured are the standard dramatic situations inspired by Georges Polti's well-known 19th century work, The Thirty-Six Dramatic Situations. But author Victoria Schmidt puts a 21st-century spin on these timeless classics and offers fifty-five situations to inspire your creativity and allow you even more writing freedom. Story Structure Architect will give you the mold and then help you break it."

-Penguin Random House

Learn about how nontraditional throughlines subvert the traditional three-act structure of a story.

This book is extremely organized, presenting, different conflicts, genres, and dramatic situations in lists for your reference. It can help you determine the tone and mood of your book, choose the perfect structure for your story, and help you decide the type of situation you want your character to encounter. Story Structure Architect is especially helpful for screenwriters, with many of the story examples coming from famous films, but this book can improve storyteller craft for all mediums. Though it may not be a sit-down read, as it aims to address nearly all story types and possibilities, this book is certainly helpful for when you need to refer to specific parts that pertain to the story you want to tell.

"A deft analysis and appreciation of fiction―what makes it work and what can make it fail.

Here is a book about the craft of writing fiction that is thoroughly useful from the first to the last page―whether the reader is a beginner, a seasoned writer, or a teacher of writing. You will see how a work takes form and shape once you grasp the principles of momentum, tension, and immediacy. "Tension," Stern says, "is the mother of fiction. When tension and immediacy combine, the story begins." Dialogue and action, beginnings and endings, the true meaning of "write what you know," and a memorable listing of don'ts for fiction writers are all covered. A special section features an Alphabet for Writers: entries range from Accuracy to Zigzag, with enlightening comments about such matters as Cliffhangers, Point of View, Irony, and Transitions."

-W.W. Norton

Jerome Stern notes some writing pitfalls, such as having too many characters or characters with phonetically similar names.

This is a book that has made it on the required reading lists of many creative writing programs. It's not so much a manual on what to write, but it explains the fundamentals of writing terms and conventions in a way that will introduce new writers to essential concepts and remind seasoned writers of accidentally-forgone basics. The clever Alphabet for Writers section, written in a somewhat irreverent tone, makes for an entertaining read with memorable examples.  Though Making Shapely Fiction does not cover how to sell your story, what kind of process to use, or how to get a representative, it will teach you to write well enough in order to solve these problems independently.

"It’s every novelist’s greatest fear: pouring their blood, sweat, and tears into writing hundreds of pages only to realize that their story has no sense of urgency, no internal logic, and so is a page one rewrite.

The prevailing wisdom in the writing community is that there are just two ways around this problem: pantsing (winging it) and plotting (focusing on the external plot). Story coach Lisa Cron has spent her career discovering why these methods don’t work and coming up with a powerful alternative, based on the science behind what our brains are wired to crave in every story we read (and it’s not what you think).

In Story Genius, Cron takes you, step-by-step, through the creation of a novel from the first glimmer of an idea, to a complete multilayered blueprint—including fully realized scenes—that evolves into a first draft with the authority, richness, and command of a riveting sixth or seventh draft."

- Penguin Random House

Lisa Cron introduces a new form of outline: the Story Genius Blueprinting System

This is a book that will take you by the hand through writing a novel. But beyond a traditional outline, Story Genius urges you to prioritize characterization and use that to inform your outline. Although there's not much hard-data "science" in this book as the tagline on the cover might suggest, Cron provides much insight for how to make your characters relatable and three-dimensional, which is essential for any compelling story. The grueling process of developing your idea into an interesting and workable outline will be easier with this book at your side.