The structure of your story is your blueprint from which to build. Whether you use a three-act plan, the Hero’s Journey, or your own version of problem, climax and resolution, you must pull your readers through without letting them slow down or get stopped along the way.
Great First Lines of Novels A great opening will pull readers into your novel and not let them put it down. Here are ways to develop problems, questions and “uh-ohs” in your first lines.
Write Compelling Opening Lines It only takes editors a few pages to know if they like your novel. Here are some tips to develop character, setting and mood in your first lines.
Every Scene Must Have a Purpose Scenes must serve a purpose: to set up or advance the plot, or to reveal character. Use these scene writing exercises to tell if a scene has a function or should be cut.
Revising a Novel: The Importance of Structure Ready for the first revision of a novel? Delay the line-editing and focus on the manuscript’s structure and supporting elements first.
Reserve Backstory in Fiction Reveal characters and situations through backstory, a little at a time, instead of telling it all at once. Beloved, One True Thing and CBS’s Jericho provide examples.
