The process of developing a story from a basic idea is not easy. When I first started writing fiction, I thought it was just a matter of discovering the plot events in the story - an outline. But it's more complex than that. Before starting a writing project you need to understand the story dynamics …
Tag: Plot
Plausibility – the biggest plot hole of all.
As a science fiction and fantasy writer it might seem odd for me to pick up on the idea that storylines should be plausible. After all, in the world of science fiction we have time travel, aliens, dystopian future worlds, mind control and many other implausible features in our writings. But we persuade our readers …
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Story design and readers’ expectations
What makes a story a compelling read that the reader cannot put down? Is it the story idea at the heart of the story? Or is it the way the story is executed? Great writers, of course, do both. But creating the readers expectations about the book and delivering what they want must be of …
The Writer’s Toolbox (ii)
In last month's blog, I looked at Scrivener, the primary tool I use for writing and publishing. This month I want to look at another tool, which is relatively new-- Plottr. Plottr, is essentially a time line planning tool. It allows you to quickly map out a story's timeline with scene cards. It also allows …
Eliminating the saggy middle
Choosing a topic for this month's blog was a difficult choice. During the month I finally managed to see the Star Wars The Rise of Skywalker and commenting on the unbelievable bizarre ending could easily fill at least one blog post on story design. But I don't like to give negative reviews and there are …
Finding a story from chaos
One of the tasks I have been putting off for some time is a limited re-edit of my debut novel, Collision. After its release in 2012, I noticed some irritating typos had crept into the final proof. Well, as you can see it's taken me quite some time to get around to doing it. But …
Daydeam Believer
Not many people are old enough to remember Daydream Believer. It was a single released by the Monkees in 1968 with lead singer Davy Jones and headed the US charts for four weeks. It's a catchy tune, with cryptic lyrics about a daydream believer and his homecoming queen. But I can still remember the chorus. …
Story, Plot, Arc and Theme — how they work together
Any new writer might well be confused by some of the terms used in writing such as story, plot, arc and theme. Aren't they interchangeable terms? It's easy to see why the terms might be confused. The first person to distinguish story from plot was E. M. Forster in Aspects of the Novel (1927). Forster wrote …
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Plot patterns
Recently I was looking through my blue-ray collection to find a movie to watch with my family. King Arthur: Legend of the sword (2017) caught my eye. The movie directed by Guy Richie, grossed $148m on a budget of $175m, which was pretty much a financial disaster for the producers, and the critics complained it ignored …
Connecting your story’s hero/heroine
Have you ever read a story or watched a movie that brought a lump to your throat and tears to your eyes? Yes, of course you have. Good stories create an emotional experience for their readers or audience. It's the reason why we like them so much. But how do their writers do it? It's …
JMJ Williamson 