Log Line and Elevator Pitch

So now that I've edited and polished and perfected my manuscript, I need to pitch it. All those thousands of words down to 100 or even less. 

How on Earth do I do it?

I think Gareth Powell, author of the Embers of War trilogy did it best with his suggestion of how to write an elevator pitch. He says on his Instagram account: 

In order to [avoid problem] a [flawed character] must [try to achieve goal] but when [complication] they realise they must overcome [antagonist] and [personal flaw] by [action] before [deadline].

If this isn't the most incredible way of writing an elevator pitch, I'm not sure what is. Gareth goes on to say that this is how he plots out his books before he starts to write them. It helps him ensure he has all the elements of the story he wants before writing the story. 

If I put the book I'm writing into this pitch, her problem is that she doesn't have a home really, so she is avoiding being homeless. 

Her flawed characteristic is that she's impulsive, thoughtless and a bit of a maverick. 

She wants to go to a space school, but she causes her own complication and can't go. Not only that, but the antagonistic force appears and starts causing problems for her. And she has to do it before the antagonistic force appears to destroy the world. 

I also wrote a tag line for my book:

To save the world, and herself, 12yo Lexi must face up to a destiny she doesn’t want before she loses everything.

 

Not sure if that's a great one or not, but I liked it. As I said, I'm still working on it because I want to get things ready for #PitMad. I can do three pitches so I'd better get them right! 

Step Three: Line Editing

This is the type of editing I'm better at: editing the actual lines and sentences.

I much prefer changing or editing what I've written rather than how it's been written or where the different scenes should go.

Here, I'm looking for congruency, conflict and cadence.

Are the scenes in the write order? Does it makes sense? I think that's really difficult as the writer to work that one out. I wrote it, of course it makes sense to me! I'd rather have something like this on a list for a Beta Reader but I do think it's important that I have a first look at it.

I have picked out some things for example, the antagonist at the end of the story wears a mask to represent another character. Well, that's not happened before and the importance of the other character isn't really emphasised earlier in the book so I think I need to introduce both of these things much sooner as they don't make sense.

My novel is also lacking conflict. My two main characters go into this lovely little alien world where no humans have ever been before, and it's all lovely and fine. I need some conflict. They have the over all threat of somehow being thrown out the alien world, which would devastate both of my main characters for different reasons. There are characters who would like to see them leave and go out their way to make that happen. But when those characters aren't in a scene, that conflict isn't there and everything is nice and lovely.

I can create conflict between my two characters. My female character is impulsive, a maverick, she likes to rush in and see what happens. My male character is cautious, fearful and likes to stand back. He's happy to see other people get in trouble as long as no one tells him off.

Also, my characters' flaws will create conflict, such as her maverick behaviour getting her into trouble, or his fearfulness and anxiety are holding him back from what he wants.

Creating consequences for all the actions they have will cause conflict. And they will make mistakes which will also add to the tension of a scene. If your main character has two goals which are conflicting, that will create tension. My female lead has two wants that, while they don't seem to be initially opposing, do come up against each other so that she ultimately gets nothing she wants.

If your character is alone a lot, they have less to argue with, or long for. And if things go wrong, even if they're unlikely, that will help to create tension.

I'm not good at conflict. I am far too nice to my characters but as I've mentioned before about my midpoint, I have managed to be nasty to my main character in particular.

Hopefully the line edit will work out the kinks.

Developmental Edit

Step Two of the Fix Your Damn Book edit is to do a developmental edit.

As far as I can gather, this means checking through for a number of things:

• identifying the writer's voice, and keeping it consistent throughout
• checking the novel fits into the traditional three-step structure, or the structure that you've chosen for your novel if you're writing a novel based on a structure from a different culture or tradition
• accents, appearance and culture
• balancing description, exposition and action
• catharsis - why have it switch off when you can have it blow up?
• characters
• head-hopping and faulty exposition
• lazy writing
• plot holes
• pacing
• scenes - do they have a start, middle and finish? Do characters have time to reflect, make a decision and act on a decision?
• the ripple effect

Phew! Is that enough to think about on my first read through edit? I feel as if I have to keep a thousand things in my head when I'm reading through, just to check the entire thing fits together well.  

I've still got to rewrite the scenes that weren't working to make sure they do, or reduce them down, or cut them entirely. I am thinking that they could be a conversation between the two main characters, and I could really do with scraping back the word count so I could add in something else later in the story, and/or thread in a subplot that I'm lacking at the moment. 

So, this is my next step: developmental editing. I'm also trying to get my pitches reading for #pitmad on the 2nd September. 

The more I work on this book, the more I wonder if it's complete rubbish and if it should be scrapped. 

Diagnosis

There are a number of steps to editing a novel. I've bought Fix Your Damn Book by James Osiris Baldwin. I'm working my way through it, and I think I have a grasp of how I'm going to start editing.

I've started with Diagnosis.

First he says to rest your book for two to six weeks, depending on how much editing you've already done. I'm trying to get my novel ready for Pitch Wars so I'm not resting it. I wish I had because I think my editing would be more effective, but hopefully I can do my best in the time I have.

When I'm diagnosing, I'm looking for weak plot, poor characterisation and lapses of tension. I'm also keeping my eye out for lack of detail, or details which contradict each other.

He also says to take this opportunity to write the synopsis and the tag line for the novel as this is when you're still in love with your book and can write the dream ideas for it.

First Step: Plot Planner

I've written out my plot planner now. It literally just says what my two main characters do in the scene, who is in the scene and what the links are to the subplots. It's a very dry document that wasn't fun to write, but it was fun to read through my novel.

This has highlighted my saggy middle, however. I've got two scenes where the main characters are separately learning about their world and picking up the skills they need to achieve their goals in the climax.

These are the only two scenes in the entire book where there is no tension, no conflict, nothing to drive the scene. I can either cut them down completely, turn them into a paragraph each which appears in another scene or rewrite them.

Chopping out these scenes entirely would help with my word count. They're mainly filled with info dumps dressed up in a pretty way. I could even compress them half the size and put them together in a chapter. I'll have a look when I come to rewrite them. They certainly need work.

Dues Ex Machina

I don't quite use this at the end of my novel but there are new elements introduced so I think I need to work on that as well. It just needs a mention of these things earlier in the book for the main characters to notice and that will sort it out a bit.

I'm Not Precious

Chopping scene or even part of a scene might seem a bit drastic to some, but the over all story and the journey the reader takes with my characters is what's important.

There's one scene where one of my main characters appears with singed fingers and soot covered hair, so it's possible to imagine what he's been up to without writing an entire scene to explain it. He also has a bit of dialogue to describe how it went, which also shows how his attitude is changing.

Better Get Back to It

As ever, thank you for reading. I'm not sure if what I'm doing is right, I just want to make the best story I can for the children who get to read it. Hopefully, the adventures of Lexi Walker and Tim Chen will inspire others.

Synopses - Don't Like 'Em

Is there anything worse than having to condense your beautifully crafted novel into a page of text? It is my least favourite part of writing.

I even enjoy writing a tag line or blurb more than I like the synopsis. I'm finding myself browsing on Twitter and Facebook or writing blog posts instead of sitting down and just focusing on the synopsis.

It's so easy to write! All I have to do is read through the book and write what happens. It's that simple. I can make the synopsis more streamlined after that and only include what's actually important to the plot, but it's just the act of doing it that I'm finding painful.

Actually, I got so into reading what I'd written that I forgot to add to the synopsis!

I suppose I'm lucky that I have an awful memory so reading my own book is sometimes like reading something brand new. I don't remember what the characters have done or said and I really enjoy finding out. I also start editing as I'm going along which I really shouldn't because I don't even know if I'm going to keep that scene or completely rewrite it all together!

Another part of writing the synopsis that I find tricky, is that the book makes perfect sense to me. I know why my hero is sulky or why the door was locked, because it's my world and my ideas, but sometimes I forget that the reader can't actually look inside my head and understand perfectly what's going on.

Also, I printed out my novel, ready to edit but while I've been going through it to write the synopsis, I've been changing things. This means, I'm going to have to print it out again.

The first synopsis I'm writing is a dry one, one that simply says what happens in the book. The next one will be an ideal synopsis, with everything happening in the correct order and all character arcs perfectly aligned.

One thing I don't think I have in my book, is a subplot. I think I do need one, but I'm not entirely sure where to put it or how to write it in. Also, I am dangerously close to the maximum word count for a middle grade science fiction novel. If I add too much, something else will have to get the snip and I don't want to do that.

I'd best get on with writing this synopsis...

The End

It's finished! It's taken over three years and this the second time I've written the words The End but I think it's finally finished.

Well, not finish finished. It still needs to be edited.

I ended up buying Fix Your Damn Book by James Osiris Baldwin. I really liked the writing style and one of the first things he says is be kind to yourself, so I had to buy it really.

So far, I've read that editing my book is a 4 step process. I have to diagnose the problems, do a developmental edit, a line edit, copy edit and proof read.

I have got a lot of work to do before this book is finish finished. I'd better get on with it.

Inspirational Images

Today we watched A Wrinkle in Time with the kids. I knew about it, the plot and the premise, but hadn't seen the films and I haven't finished the novel.

When we reached the end of the film (no spoilers) I saw this image and I just thought: That's what I want my novel to be!

Meg Murray looks like my character Lexi Walker, except that Lexi doesn't wear glasses.

I often see authors posting aesthetics of their books but I've never seen anything that reflects how I see my novel so make my own but this is it. This is just how I see it.

Editing

As I'm quickly approaching the end of my novel, I am going to have to start editing it. Urgh, don't want to! Can it not be perfect as it pours out my head?

I suppose not.

There are a lot of books to help with editing. Fix Your Damn Book by James Osiris Baldwin looks On Editing by Helen Corner-Bryant and Kathryn Price. There's also Editing Bootcamp: A Fiction Writer's Guide to Self-Editing Part 1 by Dola Basu Singh. and The Little Book of Self-Editing for Writers by Bridget McKenna. I need to invest in one.

interesting, as does

My problem when editing is that every word in my book is my baby and therefore precious. I think I feel as if, if I chop something, I don't love my story enough when actually trimming the rubbish out of a story is what makes it shine!

The fact of the matter is, every story needs an edit. It's rare that a first draft smashes it out the park straight away, and even if it does, there might be spelling mistakes or something that requires an edit.

My novel has certainly not smashed it out of anything. I know for a start that a bit of conflict waaaay back in scene 20 needs to be brought forward to scene 15. There's not enough conflict in the Fun and Games section of my novel and Bad Guys Close In is too short. Bad Guys Close In is supposed to be 25% of my novel and at the moment, it's 10% at best. I think I need to insert a subplot that comes out in Bag Guys Close In, the second half of the middle of my book, that moves the story and the character development on. Subplot is not my best skill but I did plan on a love story, which I didn't end up using, and that could come about in this part of the book.

It's usually during editing that I think the entire book is utter rubbish and start again. However, this is the first time I've made it past 30,000 words in the last six months between three rewrites so I think I'm getting somewhere.

When editing, I'm going to break the novel down in to smaller chunks and edit each scene as its own little story. I'm going to use postit notes that I can move around to say what happens in each scene and where I can chop out words, sentences and paragraphs, or maybe even scenes I just don't need anymore.

And I'm going to invest in a 'How to Edit' book. Wish me luck!

Reading Aloud

There is nothing better than reading your novel aloud and hearing your audience react to it. Well, maybe there is: your audience asking for more.

I love reading my story. I think it's the most entertaining book ever written, well parts of it. And

tomorrow I'll probably think the entire thing is a load of rubbish. Such is the swing of confidence of the aspiring author.

I am very lucky that I have an audience for my novel and I think that's probably why I chose the age group and genre that I did.

I remember once, I was reading a fantasy story I'd started to a group of children. When the toys woke up in the story, the entire room, about 200 children, gasped! I think that was my best author moment ever. That story unfortunately didn't go anywhere as is the way with books I write sometimes. I have a good start but I don't seem to get the middle together.

Hopefully I've cracked that with this draft.

I already read aloud to myself when I'm reading my draft copies. It helps me to pick up where the sentences don't flow, or where a runon sentence could be broken down into two sentences. It's not a perfect method and I do miss a lot of mistakes, but it's a little like doing some editing as I go along.

My own children are far too quickly approaching the age that I write for as well. I have been running ideas past my eldest child and he's reacted to my story. He was scared at the scary bits but he didn't laugh at the bit that was supposed to be funny so I will have to work on that a little bit more, I think.

I love rereading parts of my novel that I haven't read for a little while. I like to go back and read parts I'd forgotten.

Reading aloud also helps me to cut out the chaff. I repeat myself a lot. Sometimes even in the next sentence. Reading aloud helps me to see that a little more clearly and chop out the lines I don't need, or merge repeated sentences together. You can often find me muttering to myself that I've written that already once.

As I'm approaching the end of this draft, I'm about to start Act 3, I'll be doing a lot more of reading aloud. I'm really looking forward to it.

Writing Word Count Tracker

If you haven't heard of the phenomenon that is Bullet Journaling, and you're into notebooks and keeping notes, have a quick Google.

I discovered Bullet Journaling in March just as we went into lockdown. I have a terrible memory. If I don't write things down, then I simply won't remember to do them. This is why I always forget to send birthday cards, don't pick up everything I need when I shop for groceries and am generally late or absent minded.

The Bullet Journal helps me a lot. It keeps me organised and hopefully I'm not missing any deadlines. (Incidentally, two people from Day Job have commented that I come across as really organised, so this must be working because I feel as if I'm the most disorganised person on the planet!)

Bullet Journalling for me wouldn't be complete unless I used it to help me keep track of my writing. Writing is a huge part of my life and while it isn't how I generate my income, it is how I spend a lot of my free time.

My notebook isn't as thick as I'd like so it doesn't contain ALL my notes, as I wish it did, (but I am trying to find a way to bind some more pages into it) but I do have a word count page where I'm tracking how many words I have written each day.

I out grew it.

But that's fine because it gave me the chance to come up with a new one! I love putting doodles together in my notebook. I love researching different layouts and experimenting with different styles. I don't think I've done a monthly layout the same each month, as I've been experimenting with what works best for my journaling style.

I found various different layouts for word counts, mainly from people doing Camp NaNoWriMo. Incidentally, I've never managed to do NaNoWriMo because I'm not organised enough! Also, August is really the only month I can do a WriMo so it usually doesn't work for me.

These are some examples of what I found, and they are fabulous!

by Bri Rudd

by Life on Island

by TCK Publishing

The article from TCK Publishing is actually really interesting and has a lot of good ideas for writing journal pages.

As fantastic as these trackers are, they're not really my style. I wanted something that reflected my book a little more. Something science fiction/space related.

It's also a children's book so I wanted it to be quirky and childish as well. I found some mood trackers that reflected my style a little bit more. I also ordered some stencils as I can't draw, freehand or otherwise.

I am in awe of some of the layouts some bullet journalists do. They are so creative and beautiful. That's just not me. I can copy, a little, and I can follow artists' instructions on how to draw something, but I can't do it myself.

So, using my stencils and copying some layouts I've seen around, this is what I came up with for tracking my word count:

I started at 30k because I wanted to have something to colour in before I got started. The only thing I don't like is that there's nowhere to write a date, so I can't keep track of when I'm writing. But, I have my writing schedule for that now.

It's not perfect, but it's mine and I love it.

Parent, Day Job and Writing

How on Earth do you have time to write, be a parent and have a full time job? 

It's a question I hear a lot and I'm not sure if I have the answer. 

I have been working on this book for three years now. I started it in the summer of 2017. I think if I didn't have children, if I didn't have a full time job, I'd have this book cracked by now. 

As a (currently) unpublished author, at least all my deadlines are self-imposed. I don't have an editor or agent asking me to do edits by this date or that. However, I have put my foot down and said this novel needs to be finished and I want to be querying by September.

This means, I have to try to find time in my busy day to write. So, what do I do?

I've put together some things that I do to scrape time together to write. This doesn't mean what I'm suggesting is the right thing to do or what you should be doing to find time to write. We each have different families and different demands. We each have to do what is right for our family at the time. 

Also, I'm not going to mention Guilt. Just assume it's ever present.

The TV

Sometimes, it is ok to whack on the TV. For us, it's all about balance. The children might watch a film, or we might watch one together but we're also going to play with lego that day, or play outside.

The same with tablets or old phones that they play with. I have a few moments of peace and they have time to relax and unwind in a similar way that I do when I've had a busy day. 

Garden Time

We are very lucky to have a garden, and on the few days of the summer where it isn't raining or unseasonably cold, I do encourage the children to play independently in the garden. I can scrape together a few minutes between sword fights, sand castles and water guns. (I love playing in the garden.)

Writing in the Evenings

If I'm not doing Day Job things in the evenings, I cram in as much writing as I possibly can. I am lucky that the kids generally go to bed and stay there at bedtimes so I can sit and concentrate on what I'm doing. 

I've just started reading the eldest middle grade books, so bedtime stories now also double as research!

I must admit that writing when I'm tired, home from work and brain-fried, I don't produce the best writing but that's what editing is for. 

No Me Time

Because of my self-imposed deadline, I have been focusing more on writing and less on doing things I enjoy just for the sake of it. That doesn't include family things like going for walks, but I have hobbies that have fallen by the wayside so that I can focus on writing this book.

For me, this can't be helped. I know how important this book is to me, and I just have to make some sacrifices to ensure it is released into the wild.

A Strict Schedule

Also due to my self-imposed deadline I have put myself on a writing schedule. I thought it would be impossible to write when I knew I had to but actually I've found it's really helped to get the story down on paper. Like they always say, you can't edit a blank page. 

Using the writing schedule, not only have I made heaps of progress but I also don't feel guilty on non-writing days where I did before. 

Be Kind to Yourself

This is an important one, I think. I am not kind to myself. Even when I'm playing with the kids or doing something else that I enjoy, I have that nag at the back of my mind saying I should be writing, not watching TV or (pre-pandemic) out with my friends.

But I have to embrace my ambitious nag and yes, I will be writing but this time is for me. It is ok to have a break or take five minutes for other things.

I am also very lucky because I have a lot of support in my husband and my Dad who will distract the children for a few hours to give me some time to write. I know not everyone is so fortunate so I am thankful for that.

That's How I Do It

I'm not sure if my solutions to the Parent, Day Job, Writing question are any good, or any use to anyone else but that's how I manage it. I get an hour or so here and there and hope that it all makes cohesive sense when it's all put together. 

Best of luck writing your novel and feel free to write in the comments any of your writing tips. 

So Excited

I am strangely excited about this but I have written the midpoint for  my work in progress. I am

ridiculously excited about this.

The midpoint of your story has to be explosive. Not necessarily literally explosive, but something your main character cannot recover from. It's a bit like the Step into Act 2, or the First Plot Point. There is no going back from the midpoint. 

Your hero should face a false defeat or a false victory. It has to be something that changes the mood of your novel from exploration to action. Story Engineer calls this Wanderer to Warrior. Instead of learning about the Act 2 world, your hero needs to be doing something about it. They need to be taking action, although ultimately, their flaw is still holding them back because they don't solve their flaw until the ah-ha moment in Act 3. 

My hero has just suffered a false defeat. She has been promised her A-Story goal. It's what she thinks she needs to be happy. All she has to do to get everything she's ever wanted is to not act on her flaw, the B-Story goal. 

Well, my hero acts on her flaw and because of her actions, she misses out on her A-Story goal, she disappoints her friends, she reveals some fairly chunky secrets she's been hiding and she learns some information she'd rather not know. 

If this isn't changing from wanderer to warrior, I don't know what is. There's no going back from this midpoint. She has literally destroyed everything because my midpoint is literally explosive. 

It's not perfect and it's not the polished product by any means but I think I'm so excited about this because I know where my story is going now. It has a good shape. There's a lot of editing to be done. I've already decided I want to move a scene forward in the book. 

But now, I think my main character is relatable. I think (hope, with fingers and toes crossed) that when a reader reads the midpoint, they'll be telling her not to do it. They'll be telling her to follow the A-Story goal, not to act on her flaw. 

At 37,000 words, my midpoint is waaaay too late for it to be the actual middle. I might have to move some scenes later in the book, change some scenes to paragraphs. 74,000 words (which it would be if this was the numerical middle) is a bit long for debut middle grade novel, even if it is a science fiction. I'm working on it though. 

But hey! Midpoint! Yay!  

My Beat Sheet

If you've not heard what a Beat Sheet is, it's based on the beats in a story from the Save the Cat! story plan. Each part of a story has it's own beat which happens part way through a story. You should really read Save the Cat! to understand it fully, and what each beat contains but roughly, it's like this:

Act 1: Opening Image - 1%, Theme Stated - 5%, Set Up - 1% to 10%, Catalyst - 10%, Debate - 10% to 20%

Act 2: Break into Act 2 - 20%, B-Story - 22%, Fun and Games - 20% to 50%, Midpoint - 50%, Bad Guys Close In - 50% to 75%, All is Lost - 75%, Dark Night of the Soul - 75% to 80%

Act 3: Break into Act 3 - 80%, Finale - 80% - 99%, Final Image - 99%

Save the Cat! also breaks the finale into smaller chunks: Gathering the Team, Executing the Plan, High Tower Surprise, Dig Deep Down, and Execution of the New Plan. If I'm honest, I'd love Fun and Games and Bad Guys Close in to be broken down into smaller chunks too, but you can't have everything.

I've also been reading Story Engineer, which I've talked about in earlier blog posts. It again uses a really similar story structure plan but calls it other things. Of course they're similar. If something works, if it makes stories entertaining and thought provoking, they are going to be similar. But I think with each interpretation of the story, each time I read a different book explaining it all, I think I understand it better.

This beat sheet from jamigold.com shows what I'm talking about in even more detail, with scene descriptors along the way.

I've tried to take everything I've learnt from all the different ways of scene planning and put them together in my own beat sheet. None of it is an original idea, it's all collected from the books I've been reading, including Story Genius. 

This is the one I made:

It's not perfect, but it's helping me to focus and write the scenes as if they're their own mini stories. Each scene has a beginning, a middle and an end. They have a mission, or a purpose and they all move the story on... in theory. 

Again, it's the Fun and Games beat where I find it most difficult to only include scenes that move the story on. But, I thought it might be best to write everything and when I'm editing, I can cut anything that doesn't move the story along. 

If the mission of the scene isn't character development, plot development or world building, it's out! 

That's another thing I learnt from Story Engineering: Mission of the Scene. Why is this scene in your novel? It can't be in the novel just because it's nice. If a similar scene moves the plot along and helps your hero develop, is it needed? Does your hero need to show their shrinking cowardice, increasing bravery in five scenes when one would do? 

In my beat sheet, I break the scene down into four parts. I've done that as a reminder to myself that this is a small story. It's a short story about two friends meeting for the first time, two friends deciding to investigate something unusual, two friends embarking on an adventure. Whatever the scene is about, it has to have a start and a finish, even if the finish of that scene happens in another chapter.

I'm not sure if it's any good, or any use, but that's what I've done so I thought I'd share it with you.

The Middle - My Nemisis

I've blogged before that the middle of my novel is my nemisis. It's where I get lost, where the map goes blurry. And then suddenly, I'm back on track to write the ending.

I've seen other people plotting using post it notes. I've tried this in the past, but I don't really have anywhere to store this sort of planning method.

I gave in, and did it anyway.

Here it is, all over my carpet. I did this in an effort to sort out the middle of my story and make sure that it connected to both the beginning and the end, as a mirror. I transcribed it into my plan and then had a new beat sheet. 

I wanted the middle of my story to be magical. It had to awe and inspire, be enchanted and surprising. This is a brand new world after all. While I wanted it to be familiar, it also had to be strange and mysterious. It also had to bounce from highs to lows, carrying conflict and character development. 

I tried to imagine being a child myself, and all the wonderful things I'd like to do if I was transported into an alien world. I watched and read all the children's literature  I could get my hands on. I started to build a picture of what my characters could experience in this safe, alien world. 

Until we get past the midpoint and of course, it isn't all safe. The hero goes on the attack. The antagonist plays more of a role in problems for the hero. And don't forget the character development. 

Writing a novel is difficult!! 

And yet, I can't put this book down. I know it can be saved. I know it's a story that needs to be told. 

As of writing this blog post, the novel is back up to 23,000 words strong. By the time this blog post publishes, hopefully I'll be up to 30,000 words or more! Fingers crossed, it's all going well this time. 

I will beat that middle nemesis and this novel will be brilliant. 

Story Engineering

I read Story Engineering before I read Save the Cat! Writes a Novel. They are very similar books but

the reason why I'm so glad I have read both is quite simple: I understand Save the Cat! Writes a Novel more because I read Story Engineering.

I personally feel that my books have a Strong to Ok Start, and a Fairly Interesting Ending. But the middle of my books aren't what I'd like them to be. It's where I struggle. I can see clearly in my mind what happens to set up the story, and I can see the exciting climax where the characters use everything they've learnt to really save the world, or themselves, or whatever the case may be.

The middle, where they learn all the things and make all that character growth is really difficult for me.

However, working with Story Engineering and Larry Brooks's 6 Core Competencies has really helped. He explains it a lot better than I do, with his millions of metaphors, but just to give you an idea of why I like Story Engineering as much as I do, I'll explain.

A Novel in Four Parts

It's such a simple change to the structure of a novel but it makes so much sense. The first part is the set up, where we learn who our hero is in their own world, bumbling around with their flaws. Then Part Two of the Story Engineering plan is where the hero goes into their new world, be it actually or figuratively. Part Two finishes with the midpoint, which changes things so much that Part Three is the fall out to that change. And Part Four is the climax.

I really like breaking the novel into four parts like this. Smaller chunks help me to understand better, but also, it means the middle of the book, which is actually 75% of the total novel, isn't just rambling around aimlessly exploring the new world, but it changes and builds and becomes something different as the novel progresses.

That's not something I could understanding in a 3 part novel, but in a 4 part novel, it becomes abundantly clear.  

Read Story Engineering

I would absolutely recommend reading Story Engineering but Larry Brooks has brought out some newer versions of his books that I have on my wishlist. Great Stories Don't Write Themselves is on my To Read list. I can't wait!