Story Sensei

The middle of the book is a series of "scenes" and "sequels" as discussed earlier in Scenes and Sequels . It's action-reaction. The important thing to remember is that those action-reaction scenes-sequels should be carrying the protagonist forward toward the climax. The middle can be broken down into: --Protagonist breaks down his over-arcing external story goal into a plan of action. For example, Joe needs to solve the murder case, so his plan of action is to first question the prime suspect, the victim's wife. --The protagonist's plan-of-action goal is thwarted somehow. The Mrs. is missing. --The protagonist changes his plan of action and continues forward. --Rinse and repeat. Here are a few guidelines for the middle section: 1) Every scene should be important. Everything that happens--every piece of information the characters learn, every obstacle, every conversation--should have the primary purpose of propelling the story toward the c

In my previous article " The Sagging Middle ," point 3 is to make things worse. There are lots of things you can do to make things worse, so I separated them into a separate article. a) Complicate, don't just delay things. Make sure that each obstacle is really an obstacle, not just a delay of the forward action. Each obstacle should somehow change something for the character. For example, say the heroine needs to drive to the next town for an interview. Her car dies. She phones the hiring manager and explains, and he reschedules her interview. In this instance, the obstacle doesn't change anything for the heroine. It's only a delay of the action. However, say the hero shows up in his tow truck and the heroine recognizes him as the guy she stole her car from. Suddenly the scene has turned into a complication. b) Create a powerful crucible. A crucible is the term used to describe the physical event or emotional relationship that keeps the character movi

Swain gives five steps for a dramatic conclusion to your story. Obviously, not all stories adhere to this rather simplistic and slightly rigid structure. However, many of the great stories of all time do follow these steps, which is why Swain recommends them. 1) Set up a situation where your character is boxed in and forced to choose between two very specific, alternate courses of action. The previous articles on The Sagging Middle discussed ways to Make Things Worse for your character and box him in until he’s forced to these two choices. Principle: Why two choices? It tests the character’s principle. Does he adhere to principle and forsake the other choice left to him, or does he abandon principle and pursue the other choice available? Either way, the character sacrifices something important and precious. That’s the definition of a climax. Swain teaches this way to set up a climactic scene. The two choices are either: (a) An easy way for the hero to attain his external go

Number of characters: Not too many, or you may confuse your reader. Only as many as absolutely necessary. Determining who's necessary: Each character should somehow advance the conflict. Too many characters: Try to consolidate minor characters. Contrived characters: Combining characters can sometimes seem contrived, but this isn't real life. It's a story, and your job is to contrive skillfully . Real people: If they're alive (and sometimes even if they're dead), using a real person can open the novelist up to frivolous lawsuits for slander. Plus real people don't often fit your story needs exactly, because real people are more complex than your story people need to be. Shape your character's character: Use STRESS. Conflict reveals a character's true nature. Character growth: Show how characters change in response to situations. The events in your story will teach them lessons. Minor characters: Develop them as much as you need to for the