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Category Archives: Story structure
Star Words
Creating a good plot is one of the most difficult parts of writing. A perfectly plotted story is going to be snatched up by readers, but so far we seem to have only produced one of these plots that most … Continue reading
The Fable of the Hook
Readers seeking excitement prefer a story starting with the main character fleeing down a dark alley, reeling from an initial enemy strike, or near the edge of Niagara Falls. This immediate danger creates an adrenaline rush. Even if the reader … Continue reading
Who’s the Real Villain?
As a legend Robin Hood represents the kind of principled nonconformist on which many heroes are based. We love to read about people who confront government wrong-doing even in a criminal manner as he did. But, if a similar character … Continue reading
Posted in Characters, Literature, Story structure, Trends in books, Writing trends
Tagged fairy tale, gray hero, legend, principal nonconformist, superhero
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The Sports Hero’s Journey
When advised to base stories on the hero’s journey, I realized that the “monomyth model” constructed plots based on a large sampling of Greek mythology. I’ve always had a suspicion that these myths were based on real people. The characters … Continue reading
Posted in Characters, Drama and movies, Literary devices, Story structure, Writer's resource, Writing trends
Tagged monomyth
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Keeping the Unknown a Mystery
I was engrossed in a mystery that grabbed me from the beginning. Set in the mid nineteenth century it commenced with a spooky chase scene in the fog. The shadow-like suspect disappeared around the corner of a stately brownstone. Then, … Continue reading
Posted in Literary devices, Story structure, Style and voice, Writer's resource, Writing trends
Tagged mystery, suspense
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Dueling Detectives
When Edgar Allen Poe published Murders in the Rue Morgue in 1841 the murder mystery was a relatively new genre. He wrote a few more of these increasingly popular detective stories. However, In 1849 he was found wandering injured and … Continue reading
Getting the Utopian Novel Right
H.G. Wells kept trying to get the utopian novel right. His novel A Modern Utopia has a fictional framework–the protagonist meets a man from a perfect society on a distant island. The book is really a philosophical essay describing the … Continue reading
Fairy Tale or Dystopia?
The desire to be considered superior and above the crowd exists in most people. We try to ignore the fact that the majority of us are commoners. From time immemorial stories arise with the promise of reaching status by marrying … Continue reading
Breaking the speed limit
A thrilling fast-paced first chapter that pulls the reader into the story does not have the power to create tension for the entire story. A dramatic, edge-of-the-seat beginning might even decrease the tension. After the first thrill is over, the … Continue reading
Posted in Literary devices, Story structure, Style and voice, Trends in books, Writer's resource, Writing trends
Tagged fast-paced, Fiction
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Nothing New under the Sun
There have been authors for many millennia and the tools that they use have changed—from painting on stones, to drawing on animal skin, to writing with ink on paper, to using block prints and printing presses and we have electronic … Continue reading
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