Comments on: The importance of story structure

By: The importance of story structure | Write for Your Life « Here come the lobsters!

Thu, 22 Jul 2010 18:55:43 +0000

[...] importance of story structure | Write for Your Life July 22, 2010 by fletcherski The importance of story structure | Write for Your Life. from → Writing, writing exercise ← Back to work. No comments yet [...]

By: How I use a mind map to build stories | Write for Your Life

How I use a mind map to build stories | Write for Your Life — Thu, 22 Jul 2010 07:40:23 +0000

[...] my experience, outlining stories can be a big help, but writing an outline often frustrates my efforts to develop a story from [...]

By: 43 Most Inspiring Writing Advice Posts of 2009

43 Most Inspiring Writing Advice Posts of 2009 — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 20:13:07 +0000

[...] The Importance of Story Structure, by Sophie Johnson [...]

By: Iain Broome

Iain Broome — Sun, 27 Sep 2009 15:40:03 +0000

@Alex Thanks for the heads up there Alex – I’ll take a look at that too.

By: Alex Fayle | Someday Syndrome

Alex Fayle | Someday Syndrome — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 16:55:49 +0000

@Dorian
I use a modified version of the POV spreadsheet I downloaded from this website: http://margaretfisk.mmfcf.com/writingtools.php

It’s great! Plus I didn’t have to do all the work to get it set up.

By: Dorian Peace

Dorian Peace — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 13:51:58 +0000

I’ve typically always used Word for outlines… an Excel spreadsheet didn’t even occur to me. I want to try it now, though.

By: Iain Broome

Iain Broome — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 09:02:44 +0000

@Alex I’ve used Word in all sorts of creative ways to try and plot and structure the novel. The only one that really remains is the Document map, which I think is an excellent way of navigating long documents and forces you to use ‘styles’ (good practice anyway). Apart from that though, I’m now very much a pen and post it person, which is also a satifying phrase to say out loud!

By: Alex Fayle | Someday Syndrome

Alex Fayle | Someday Syndrome — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 20:58:00 +0000

With my first novel, I used a white board, the second one a Word document as an outline and the third an Excel spreadsheet – I’ve found the way I like to work – the spreadsheet. It holds all the things I want to see and allows me to move things around easily.

By: Dorian Peace

Dorian Peace — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 07:27:34 +0000

Mea culpa. The above should read “If I write with some semblance of a plan…”

By: Dorian Peace

Dorian Peace — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 07:24:17 +0000

Great article! I agree that structure matters. So much so that I feel lost without a road map. Some people say you should just dive headlong and let the story go where it wants but, although I agree there should be some element of spontaneity, if I don’t have a “skeleton” from the get-go I find myself wandering around aimlessly. Parts are either too long or too short, too rambling or too curt, too descriptive or not descriptive enough… playing by ear gets to be a frustrating and ugly chore for me. So I sit down and do a plot outline and fill in the more colorful stuff as I go.

Why so much regimented planning? Because writing, I’ve found, is like almost every other aspect of life: timing is everything. Telling a joke, having sex, playing basketball, writing a novel or playing a piece of music – all these things are made or broken by RHYTHM. You wouldn’t sit down to play a piece of music without knowing the time signature a song is in. If I write without some semblance of a plan, I find that not only does it NOT bleed the life out of it, it makes it stronger because I’ve got my pacing down flat and pacing is extremely important.

Yes, McKee’s book is essential. I read it when I was in college. Another favorite of mine was ON DIRECTING FILM by David Mamet, which is features fantastic discussions on pacing and hitting your mark.

Thanks again for the brilliant article. Moar!