When I first read a few pages from the beginning of Structuring Your Novel, I thought that, so far, nothing was all that new and most writers had to be already aware of this book’s contents. However, the more I read, the more appreciated this author’s expertise in putting all the information together in a well-balanced and expertly organized book.

Structure is important; it makes novels shine. Surely, a few cases of successful stories exist that seem to be written haphazardly, but even those books have some kind of an internal structure created by their authors.

In this book, the structuring is based on the three-act construction. The book begins with the advice of finding a story’s key question or what the story is about. Then it points to roughly where the plot points, climax, and other important elements go and how to make each act and scene powerful.

The author also talks in detail and precision about the character arcs, conflict, theme subplots, dialogue, and resolution. I especially appreciated the questions-to-ask (oneself) parts after the chapters. Most of all, I loved the section on scenes, especially the options for scene conflict, and that she concentrates on the importance of the character.

Toward the end of the book, the author offers pretty good advice on the subject of sequels, sequel dilemmas, and decisions.

Even if a writer thinks he or she knows everything, in this book, she will find just about everything needed for coming up with a good story.

learning story structure or reviewing what one knows.

the questions to ask parts at the ends of the chapters and the simplest forms of outlines for structuring.

is K.M.Weiland who wrote the writing guides, Outlining Your Novel, Structuring Your Novel, and Creating Character Arcs, as well as Jane Eyre: The Writer’s Digest Annotated Classic, the historical/dieselpunk adventure Storming, the portal fantasy Dreamlander, the medieval epic Behold the Dawn, and the western A Man Called Outlaw.

the information in it is precise yet with details if you want them, and it is written in clear and easily understandable language.

Just to offer a taste, here are three quotes from the section about options for disasters in a scene.

"Don’t skimp on disasters."

"Disasters must be logical within the context of the story."

"The disaster is a master of disguises and can come in just about any shape or size necessary to fit the needs of your specific story and scene. The important thing to keep in mind is that the purpose of the disaster is to drive the plot forward."

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Created Oct 18, 2019 at 1:25pm • Submit your own review...