Story Structure Architect
My Rating: four-half-stars
January 1st 1970
Genres: Writing
ISBN: 1582973253
Build a timeless, original story using hundreds of classic story motifs!
It's been said that there are no new ideas, but there are proven ideas that have worked again and again for all writers for hundreds of years.
Story Structure Architect is your comprehensive reference to the classic recurring story structures used by every great author throughout the ages. You'll find master models for characters, plots, and complication motifs, along with guidelines for combining them to create unique short stories, novels, scripts, or plays.
You'll also learn how to:
Build compelling stories that don't get bogged down in the middle
Select character journeys and create conflicts
Devise subplots and plan dramatic situations
Develop the supporting characters you need to make your story work
This browsable and interactive book offers everything you need to craft a complete, original, and satisfying story sure to keep readers hooked!
This was a good writing tutorial. The author packed a lot of information into the short book.
The first two chapters were of particular interest to me, covering the three-act story and outlining. As the book progressed, types of stories, plots and situations are discussed.
Example of the “Romance” chapter:
Definition of the romance plot structure.
Breakdown of the types of romance structures:
The Cinderella Structure
The Beauty and the Beast Structure
The Sleeping Beauty Structure
Each of the structures are then broken down even further to highlight the main points in each of the three acts.
Romance elements are outlined by acts.
Examples are given.
The author did a good job of giving familiar examples of each. Unfortunately, some films were used as examples, not just books. That didn’t bother me, however. The author is discussing storytelling, not books. What’s unfortunate is that many authors will get hung up on the “movie” examples. To each their own, I suppose.
I have to say, I will read this book again. I know that some of the information didn’t stick the first time around. Like I mentioned, there is a lot of good information. I’ll keep it handy for reference even after I’ve read it a second time as I know my brain will never fully expand to contain all the gems Schmidt placed between the pages (or Kindle screen).
Reading this book contributed to these challenges:
- Writing Craft Books
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