"There are
ways to create, fix, steer and discover plots--ways
which, over a writing life, you'd eventually puzzle
out for yourself," writes Ansen Dibell. "They
aren't laws. They're an array of choices, things to
try, once you've put a name to the particular problem
you're facing now."
That's what this book is about:
identifying those choices (whose viewpoint? stop and
explain now, or wait? how can this lead to that?), then
learning what narrative problems they are apt to create
and how to choose an effective strategy for solving
them. The result? Strong, solid stories and novels that
move.
Inside you'll discover how to:
- test a story idea (using four simple questions) to
see if it works
-convince your reader that not
only is something happening, but that something's going
to happen and it all matters intensely
- handle viewpoint shifts, flashbacks,
and other radical jumps in your storyline weave plots
with subplots
- get ready for and write your
Big Scenes
- balance scene and summary narration
to produce good pacing
- handle the extremes of melodrama
by "faking out" your readers--making them
watch your right hand while your left hand is doing
something sneaky
- form subtle patterns with mirror
characters and echoing incidents
- choose the best type of ending
--linear or circular, happy or downbeat, or (with caution!)
a trick ending
Whether your fiction is short
or long, subtle or direct and hardhitting, you'll learn
how to make the correct narrative choices that will
lead to strong plots -- and fiction others will want
to read.
