Elements of Building A Story: Research, Outlining & Plotting, Character, Scenes
Updated & Organized 12/16/2015 This page is 1 of 9 contents pages reworked from one single page to several for readability and accessibility.
K.M. WEILAND’S STORY STRUCTURE DATABASE
THE HERO’S JOURNEY
CHARACTERS
- Friends as Enemies by Becca Puglisi on Writer’s Helping Writer’s
- The Only Reason You Should Ever Choose a Protagonist K M Weiland
- 9 Surprising Reasons You Need 20 Characters to Start a Book by Christine Frazier BETTER NOVEL PROJECT
- BETTER NOVEL PROJECT blog
- A Question ARC The Half-Blood Prince Guide to Question Arcs 03.19.2016 by Jed Herne on Better Novel Project
- Scene Structure: Understanding the Truth about Character Arcs C S Lakin Live Write Thrive
- Torture your Character – The Three Most Effective Types of Inner Conflict by Amanda Patterson on Writer’s Write
- Honesty in Fiction by Fiction Editor Beth Hill The Editors Blog
- 7 Tips to Creating the Perfect Antihero Live Write Thrive
- Susan Rich What’s more important Plot or Character?->PLOT OR CHARACTER
- How to Study Plot and Character in Your Favorite Stories: 5 Easy Steps K M Weiland Helping Writer’s To Become Authors
- Profiling 101: Breeding Monsters Among Mankind by David Villalva on Sue Coletta blog INSIDE THE MIND OF A CRIME WRITER
- Casting Your Characters: 16 Lovers Part 2 by Diana Hurwitz on Game On! Crafting Believable Conflict. You can find part 1 on Game On under achieves in 2016. For more information and tools for the blogger of Game On visit Diana Hurwitz
- Fiction Writing: Creating The Perfect Hero by Cori Davan Fiction writing smolders down to the basic concept of good versus evil. A good story will include a hero and a villain duking-it-out in a twisted plot designed to keep the reader on their toes. The really good stories—the ones we can’t put down—are home to unlikely and flawed heroes, i.e. the perfect hero. But how do we as writers and authors create the perfect hero? Is there a formula? Or do they just magically spring into existence on the page?
- The 4 Tweaks to Writing Truly Original Stories and Characters by K M Weiland
VILLAINS
- How to Create a Remarkable Villain (Beyond the Clichés!) by David Villalva
- Your Protagonist Isn’t Your Story’s Most Important Role
- How to Create Legendary Villains Kristen Lamb’s Blog
WRITER’S HELPING WRITER’S STORY MAPS
WRITING CRAFT
COMPRENSIVE BOOK FROM WRITING CRAFT TO EDITING
The Magic of Fiction by Fiction Editor Beth Hill PDF version also available check sidebar of site
RESEARCH
OUTLINING & PLOTTING
- How to Write Mind-Blowing Plot Twists—Twisting is NOT Twerking Kristen Lamb’s Blog
- Plot Generator Inspiration for your next novel, film or short story
- What You Can Do When The World Is Plotting Against You– Guest post by David Villalva on website Live Write Thrive C. S. Lakin
- The Story Heart Blueprint David Villalva website.
- Also on David Villalva site, I recommend signing up for the free illustrated guide, which adds more visual to the process. It reinforced my own knowledge in a simple approach with visual impact.
- Writer’s Digest over the years has been full of helpful advice, and teaching skills–A favorite. “The Triple O-Method Exercise” HERE.
- How to Plot a Story (Even If Plotting Scares You Silly): 7 Sure-Fire Ways on Write To Done
LAYERING PLOT AND SUBPLOT
STRUCTURE
- Do You Know How To Put A Story Together Larry Brooks’ on Write To Done
- How Novelists Can Benefit from Using Cinematic Scene Structure C S Lakin
- How to Break Up Your Novel into Definable Sections C S Lakin Live Write Thrive
SCENE
- How to Create Awesome Scene Arcs That Surprise Readers K M Weiland
- How to Write a Fight Scene (in 11 Steps) by Christine Frazier Better Novel Writing Project
- Scene Structure: Opening Hooks C S Lakin Live Write Thrive
- How Writers Can Benefit by Outlining Their Scenes Live Write Thrive C. S, Lakin
- How to Take the Guesswork Out of What Scenes Belong in Your First Act K M Weiland
- Using a Scene Template to Craft Perfect Scenes Live Write Thrive
- How to Write Realistic Fight Scenes by A.J. SCUDIERE | @AJSCUDIERE on Helping Writer’s Become Authors
- How To Resuscitate A Lifeless Scene by Amanda Patterson Writer’s Write
- What is a SCENE? 3 Smart Tips For Structuring A Powerful Scene by Rachel Starr Thomson presented on K.M. Weiland blog Helping Writers Become Authors
- More from K.M. Weiland How to Structure Scenes in Your Story (Complete Series)
- Getting Scene Structure under Your Belt on Live Write Thrive There is even a little assignment for improving your skill.
- Scene Structure: The First 3 Things You Need in Your Scene Live Write Thrive
- The 5 Essential Components of Scene Structure LAKIN ON LIVE WRITE THRIVE
- Setup and Payoff: The Two Equally Important Halves of Story Foreshadowing K M Weiland
STORY SCENE TRANSITIONS
- Mastering Scene Transitions by Fiction Editor Beth Hill
- Scene transitions in fiction by Bruce Byfield
- Pulse on Pacing: How Smooth Transitions Keep Your Story Moving by Angela Ackerman
DEEP POV & DESCRIPTION
- Deep POV and Narrative Distance—Part 1 by Fiction Editor Beth Hill
- Deep POV and Narrative Distance—Part 2 Jby Fiction Editor Beth Hill
- 5 Times Katniss Nailed Deep Point of View by Marcy Kennedy on Novel Writing Project
- Writing “Personal” Description through Your POV Character at Live Write Thrive
- Writer’s Digest Tutorial Engaging Your Readers Through Emotion and Description
- Deep POV—What’s So Deep About It by Fiction Editor Beth Hill on The Editor’s Blog
- Hack Your Readers’ Brains by Describing the Five Senses by K M Weiland
- How To Share Your Protagonist’s Deepest Feelings With Readers by Angela Ackerman
LITERARY DEVICES AND SUCH THINGS
- 5 Basic Literary Devices That Will Deepen Your Fiction K M WEILAND
- What’s the Best Way to Tell (and Write) a Story? By Janice Hardy, @Janice_Hardy
STORY PREMISE
- Story premise is the foundation of all good books. It’s the fundamental kernel of the beginning idea. READ MORE HERE By K.M. Weiland Do You Know The Six Must-Elements of a WOW Story Premise?
- 3 Tips On How Not To Stink At Writing by K.M. Weiland I write for the ambitious scribe who splashes and thrashes to the point of choking in a tsunami of toner, trying to tame that big rogue breaker into smaller waves an actual readership might want to surf with you. Here are three tips on how not to stink at writing.
STORY HEART
BACKSTORY
LOGLINES
PROLOGUES
FIRST PAGES OF NOVELS
HOOKS
CLIFF HANGERS
PASSAGE OF TIME
WORDINESS
- GLUE WHINE. Overuse of glue words is a sticking point. by Sally Asnicar
- 5 Ways to Trim Your Book’s Word Count, Pt. 1 of 2 K M Weiilan
FINDING YOUR VOICE
FINISHING THE BOOK
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