Writing advice
Craft advice for novelists and worldbuilders: story structures, point of view, character and more. Useful whatever you write in.
Planning
Story structures
Choosing a story structureCompare twelve story structures, from three acts and Save the Cat! to kishōtenketsu, and find the one that fits the book you are writing.Three-act vs five-act story structureCompare three-act and five-act story structure, understand their turning points, and choose a framework that fits your novel.The three-act structureSetup, confrontation and resolution: the nine beats of the three-act structure, where each falls and how to keep the middle moving.Five-act structure and Freytag's pyramidFreytag's pyramid explained: exposition, rising action, a central climax, falling action and dénouement, and when a mid-book turn suits your story.The Save the Cat! beat sheetAll fifteen Save the Cat! beats, where each lands in a novel, and how to use the beat sheet without writing to a formula.The hero's journeyThe twelve stages of the hero's journey, from the ordinary world to the return with the elixir, and how to bend them to your story.Seven-point story structurePlan from the ending back: the hook, plot turns, pinch points and midpoint of seven-point story structure.Dan Harmon's story circleEight steps out into the unknown and home again changed: how the story circle works for novels, episodes and short pieces.Kishōtenketsu: structure without conflictIntroduction, development, twist and reconciliation: a four-part structure that builds through contrast rather than conflict.The Fichtean curveStart in a crisis and keep escalating: how the Fichtean curve drives thrillers, mysteries and horror.Romance story structureThe beats of a romance in four phases, from two leads apart to the grand gesture and a happily ever after.How to structure a mysteryPlot a fair-play whodunit: the crime, the suspects, clues and red herrings, the wrong answer and the reveal.How to structure a novellaA compact three-act shape for one storyline: how to plan a novella of around 30,000 words.How to structure a short storyIn late, one turn, out early: five scenes that give a short story its shape.
Point of view
Character and scenes
How to write a character arcBuild a character arc from desire, pressure and choice, with practical ways to track change across a story.How to write a sceneGive each scene a purpose, a source of tension and a turn that changes what happens next.How to write natural dialogueWrite dialogue that sounds alive on the page by giving each speaker a goal, a voice and something left unsaid.