_Up to now, this series has been focused on ways we can conceptualise story structure using shapes:_ simple peaks_,_ wigglier lines_, and_ circles_. This week, we're taking a slight shift to look at beat sheets, a tool you can use in conjunction with the structures we've looked at or on its own from a template._ * * * For those of us who want a more detailed structure for our stories, there is the option of using a beat sheet. This is a technique drawn from screenwriting in which key moments from the plot are set out in sequence and linked together. We have come across beats in previous story structures; they include necessities such as the inciting incident and climax, but can also be much more specific than that. You could create a beat sheet using one of the previous structures we've discussed, with any number of important points listed in it, but it's likely that you'll want to fill it out a bit further than the most important five or seven events; the benefit of a beat sheet is being able to connect those dots. The Hero's Journey is complex enough to work as a beat sheet in and of itself, but the most popular template in this style is the Save the Cat beat sheet, which combines individual moments with more general plot shifts. Using a template like this is a good starting point, but another benefit of a beat sheet is that it's easy to customise for your particular project. A custom beat sheet can be especially useful for works where you're mostly following a standard formula, such as romance novels or an episodic series, because it's an easy way to make sure you hit the right beats consistently across different works. ## Save the Cat Beat Sheet The Save the Cat sequence of beats comes to us from screenwriter Blake Snyder; initially designed for screenplays, it has also become a favourite amongst novelists. Like most of the other structures we've looked at, Save The Cat falls naturally into a three-act division. It also rather handily includes suggested percentages indicating roughly where in the story each element could sit, which makes it a useful tool for writers who (like me) have difficulty intuitively timing plots. According to the Save the Cat model, the first tenth of the narrative is dedicated to the set-up. This section begins with a meaningful opening image, and the theme of the story is communicated about halfway through. At the 10% point, a catalyst occurs to incite the plot. The next tenth of the narrative shifts into debate, where the characters must decide how to respond to the catalyst; the decision that comes out of this debate marks the shift into the second act. Act two, starting about a fifth of the way into the story, starts with a big chunk of "fun and games", which is another name for the bulk of the rising action. A secondary plot line kicks off early on in this section to add complexity. At the halfway point, the fun and games are interrupted by a major shift in the plot or tone of the narrative (the midpoint!), and the antagonistic forces facing the characters start to close in. This shift covers roughly the third quarter of the story, with things becoming bleaker and bleaker for the characters. Around the 75% mark, all is considered lost and the characters spend the next 5% of the story suffering the dark night of the soul before act three. The transition into the third act, sitting at around 80% through the narrative, is marked by by a more positive change that prepares the characters for the upcoming climax. The remainder of the story is about that ultimate conflict and its consequences, with a final image showing how the characters and their lives have changed, come full circle, or otherwise come to a resolution. This structure looks very prescriptive, and a common criticism is that if you follow it precisely you could fall into the trap of being formulaic. Its most effective use is as a loose guideline, which you can tinker with or diverge from as needed. If the specificity of where to place each section or beat is likely to be a distraction for you, for example, it's easy to ignore the percentages and just take the beats as they come. You might also decide to change which moments to highlight as beats depending on what is important for your genre; customisability is a necessity.

A reflection

The WORD Festival is an annual collection of events in my home city of Ōtautahi Christchurch presented by and for local writers. Although some events hosted by the organisation happen throughout the year, the biggest concentration of them is in the first week of September, during the festival itself. The events range from quizzes to lectures to panels to book launches to performances, covering a very wide range of topics, texts, and writers. It's a great way to get to know some of the talented creatives around us, and those of us who share that creative bent can pick up a few tricks while we're at it. Due to various health and scheduling difficulties in previous years, I'd been forced to sit out the festival and sigh longingly when the programme came out, but this year I finally had the time and energy to attend some events! Two of the workshops on offer particularly caught my eye, and since they were scheduled to take place on the same day in the same venue it was easy to attend them both (unlike some other workshops I liked the look of). I really enjoyed them, and learned some useful things. The best way to embed learning is to share it with someone else, and who better to share my new knowledge with than you, my lovely readers? It's not the same as being there, of course, but I hope you appreciate these gems as much as I do. ### This post is for subscribers only Become a member to get access to all content Subscribe now

It is, down here in Aotearoa New Zealand, springtime. That means daffodils carpeting roadside parks, cherry blossoms blooming and blowing about in the wind like we're in some sort of anime, and finally feeling like it's sometimes warm enough that I don't need to wear thick socks around the house (sometimes). "September" and "spring" are also alliterative with "sonnet", so it seems like a spectacular time to stretch my poetic muscles a bit and keep my skills up. I have decided, therefore, to write a new sonnet every week this month just to share with you. Enjoy! ## I The wind doth bluster teasing through the trees, As though in errant search for time passed by; It brushes swirling eddies through the leaves, And sends the clouds careening 'cross the sky; The tender buds just coming forth to peep Are naught but fodder to the hungry chill; And if those gentle blossoms I would keep, More fierce protections for them must be built. But wait--with sudden, soft alacrity, Behind the bluster quiet quickly falls; And in the momentary silence, see: A bird alights, as sweetly it doth call. So powerful the wind, so hard it blows; But, then again, so swift it comes and goes. ## II No creature lives as perfect as a cat, Who rules its home with comfort and with ease; It knows where all the comfy nooks are at, And naps in sunny spots as it doth please. A cat that wants for nothing lives in bliss, With problems of no greater bravery Than can be solved with a disgruntled hiss, For cats have no responsibility. Yet, though a feline life is full of rest, It also lacks a purpose to the day; It may be good, but surely not the best, Compared with having words with which to play! With jealous eyes I watch my kitties snooze, But know that human life is what I'd choose. ## III I have no end to plans inside my head Of all the things that I would like to make: Yarns of yellow, green, and blue, and red Inspire the buzz of notions mine to wake; With these, perhaps, a chunky scarf might form, Complete with loads of tassels at the ends; And that one there: a hat to keep me warm Arrayed with all my favourite pattern trends. Alas! I only have so many hours With which to carry out my woolly plans; And time to time ambition starts to sour In light of what my limitation bans. My thoughts are endless, always birthing more; My time, however, lacks upon that score. ## IV Beyond the window something quickly stirs; I know it from the pricking of her ears. The sun sits shining on her sable fur, Attention wand'ring very far from here. Upon the chair a rumbly purr ensues, Contented stripes like tides move up and down. He keeps his ears alert for any news, But otherwise keeps snoozing, safe and sound. I sip my tea in contemplation long While thinking of the words I want to say; Inside my head I sift through right and wrong, And so I pass a satisfying day. The three of us might do things on our own, But it's more fun when we are not alone. _Did you like these poems? For the rest of 2026, every time you share a post on social media and tag me in it, I will write a poem for YOU too! Maybe not a sonnet, but it'll be fun nevertheless. You can even share directly from your email using the arrow button below, if that's where you're reading this._

Writing for writers about writing

Can you believe it, folks? Three whole years I've been working away at this blog! And there's a whole bunch of you who have been following along the whole time, which is honestly pretty fantastic. I love hearing from you when a post has really stood out to you; it's a great reminder of why I started doing this in the first place. So let's take a moment now to look at how far we've come in the last 12 months, and where things are headed next. ## Accomplishments Year 3 of the blog has been a busy one! A lot of this is thanks to my new, non-office-working lifestyle, which has given me a lot more time and energy for working on Red Pens and Playwriting, amongst other projects and activities. In the last year, I have published: * 44 brand new blog posts, including: * A short piece of fiction about guiding lights * A brief introduction to Gothic fiction (which I will be expanding on next month...) * A series of reflection posts exploring the basics of textual analysis (more on this below) * A Q&A post where I answered questions sent in by my lovely members * The first half of a new series of Grammar Talk posts focusing on different forms of narrative structure * 3 updated and re-released reflection posts that everyone can now access: * Shivering with antici- * Instincts and intentions * Rediscovering the joy in writing * my very first guest post! The delightful Emily Munro from Writing About Writing About Writing contributed an excellent piece on building a revision checklist. I have a second guest slated in for the end of the year, and I'm very excited to see what they have to say! I also (FINALLY) found the time to work on my introductory writing guide, _Red Pens 101_ , which was officially released in April. I am super proud of this achievement, as it's something I'd been planning for quite a while. I also happen to think it's rather good! So if you or someone you know would benefit from a brief, easy-to-understand, entertaining guide to grammar, go get Red Pens 101 from my Ko-fi shop (if you use the code RPP25 by the end of the month, you can even get it 25% off!). You can also get a preview of a few sections from some tie-in Grammar Talk posts I put out earlier this year: * Determiners 101 * Phrases 101 * Clauses 101 * Semicolons and colons 101 ## New things Of course, I can't let an anniversary go by without releasing something new in the shop to celebrate. This year it's a fancy, polished-up PDF compilation of the recent reflection series I did on textual analysis: "Learning to Unlock Texts". It's perfect for students on their first forays into literature analysis, and includes several practical exercises to embed the concepts. #### Learning to Unlock Texts Buy on Ko-fi now! Since we're celebrating, this new PDF and everything else in the shop is available at a 25% discount for the rest of the month if you use the code RPP25 at the checkout. So now would be a great time to grab a bundle of _Red Pens 101_ and the new "Learning to Unlock Texts" for a budding academic in your life. Just the right time for the start of the northern-hemisphere school year and exam prep for those of us in the south, yes? ## Up next As I'm sure you all know by now that I'm not one to rest long on my laurels, and I have lots of plans for new and exciting things that I'd like to do with Red Pens and Playwriting. A year ago I was looking forward to having more time and energy to work on creating better blog content, and now that we've been enjoying the fruits of that expanded capacity I feel ready to start expanding the blog itself. Therefore, I have decided to take a punt on upgrading my plan with the platform I publish on, Ghost. I'll send out more details at the end of the year, but as of January I'll be offering some cool new stuff, including: * multiple tiers for more (and cheaper) subscription options. * additional VIP content. * a whole new newsletter for serialising the series of detective stories I've been working on. * (maybe also a book club newsletter? I'm not fully sold on this one, so email me or leave a comment if you'd be interested.) All very thrilling, right? I'm definitely feeling thrilled, that's for sure. There's just have one little hiccup: I'm just a _tiny_ bit short on the funds I need to make the upgrade. Very, very close. So it would be most excellent (in the words of Bill and Ted) if you could help me clear those last few tens of dollars by scoping out the Ko-fi shop and boosting the reach of the blog. Just to give you a little bit of extra motivation, I'll make a deal with you. **Every time someone shares a Red Pens and Playwriting post between now and the end of the year, if you can find a way to make sure I see it** (e.g. by tagging me, tagging the blog, or emailing it to me at redpensandplaywriting@pobox.com), **I promise that I will write you a bespoke poem.** Every time. Probably a limerick, but haikus and sonnets are also possibilities. You don't even have to leave your email app to do it; you can share a post directly from an email by clicking this little button here: I encourage you to go back through the blog and find some of your favourite posts to share around. If you want to share a post that is paid content, just get in touch and I can give you a gift link that will allow you to share the full post without a paywall. I dare you all to make my life as difficult as possible trying to keep up with poems! Thank you all for reading, enjoying, and engaging with Red Pens and Playwriting over the last year. Extra thanks goes to those of you who have contributed time, work, and money to keep things ticking along. I'm super pumped for what the next year will bring, and I hope you are too!

_So far in this series, we've looked at ways to conceptualise narrative structure along a line, whether it's a_ basic rise and fall of tension_or_ something a bit more interesting_. This week, we're going in a different direction and thinking about circularity!_ * * * Rings make for another popular way to conceptualise a narrative's shape. They are, naturally, a more comfortable fit for stories with a "coming home" element, where the characters return as changed people to their starting point, whether that return is geographical, social, emotional, or via some other way. The most well-known circular structure is the Hero's Journey, which was initially developed to chart patterns in a number of myths from different cultures. Despite the universality suggested by its marketing as a monomyth, the Hero's Journey has proven to be somewhat less than one-size-fits-all, so the general idea has been adapted and reworked into more thematically specific or simplified alternative structures. One commonly-used alternative is Dan Harmon's Story Circle, which tightens up the beats from the Hero's Journey and internalises the movement more. Like the Seven-point Story Structure, circular narratives are focused less on building tension and more on building character development. They work particularly well for the journey of a single character as opposed to an ensemble (note "Hero's" Journey), centring on how the events of the story create lasting changes to that character. ## The Hero's Journey The genesis of the famed Hero's Journey is in the studies of Joseph Campbell, who noticed a structural pattern in the myths he was studying and codified it into an analytical framework which he somewhat presumptively labelled the monomyth. This monomyth idea was then adapted by Christopher Vogler into a much more practical twelve-step writing tool, which will be what you've seen in all the infographics. The twelve stages of the Hero's Journey are divided into three acts. The first act is the departure, where the character leaves their old life behind. The ordinary, familiar world is established, and the character hears the call to adventure. They start by refusing the call, but then they meet a mentor figure and cross the threshold into the new life of adventure. At this point, the story moves into the second act: initiation. This is when the character begins to face tests and meet allies and enemies. As the challenges get tougher and the stakes get higher, the character approaches their goal and prepares to face their biggest ordeal yet. It's a difficult struggle, and when the character comes out of the side with their reward, they have been changed by it. This change propels the story into its third act, where the character makes their return. They start on the road back to normality, but are stopped by the resurrection of antagonistic forces―which are now stronger than before. The character struggles even harder to defeat their enemy than they needed to last time, and the change that had begun in them after the previous ordeal comes to fruition. Now the character may finally return to their former life, irrevocably changed and wiser for their experiences. The Hero's Journey is an epic structure based on epic stories. It works well for narratives that echo the grandeur of great legends, but it requires you to have a distinct hero to focus on. This structure also tends to build stories that have a lot of heft to them, and isn't terribly streamlined, so if you don't like heavy plotting organisation this probably won't be for you. ## Dan Harmon's Story Circle The Hero's Journey might be all well and good for full-length films or fantasy series, but in episodic television shows there isn't time to go into all of that journeying. Dan Harmon, the screenwriter and producer behind hit shows like _Community_ , developed his own version that simplified the circle and could be implemented more easily, especially in a collaborative and fast-paced creative environment. Instead of twelve stages, Harmon's Story Circle has eight, and rather than a three-act division uses a dichotomy of order and chaos to organise the narrative events. The story begins in a state of order, establishing the central character in their comfort zone. However, there's something that the character needs (or really wants) which provides motivation for them to cross the threshold into the unknown―into chaos. The character searches for the thing they need, facing challenges and adapting to the new chaotic normal. They achieve what they want (yay!), but must pay a price for it (boo!). Now they can return to their starting point, back into order, but they have changed in the process. This structure is a lot less bulky than the Hero's Journey, though it takes a similar narrative path. It's a more flexible option because of this simplicity, but also less epic in scale. You can tell much shorter stories with it, and stories with smaller stakes. Instead of saving the world, your protagonist might just be saving face in front of their neighbours. Nevertheless, it is still focused on the way that your central character goes out into the story and returns to normality having been changed by the events that happened.

There are two ways to explain a fictional quirk: you could discuss it from an in-universe perspective, or from a practical crafting point of view. Depending on which angle you're viewing the issue from, those explanations can be _very_ different. This disparity makes it difficult to discuss points of confusion or potential problems in fiction, as people frequently end up talking at cross purposes, so the world of fandom has come up with the terms "Watsonian" and "Doylist" to better differentiate explanations within the universe from those of real-life circumstances. Say, for example, that you notice an inconsistency in a certain character who had been wounded in the arm in the past but is now sporting an old leg injury. An in-universe (Watsonian) explanation could be that there were two separate injuries, or that the limp is a psychosomatic response to the arm injury. A likely real-life (Doylist) explanation is that the writer simply forgot where the injury was supposed to be. Doylism tells you why the inconsistency exists, really, while Watsonian explanations are a method of maintaining the text's internal consistency. ### This post is for subscribers only Become a member to get access to all content Subscribe now

A few weeks ago, I asked my members to send me a bunch of questions that they would like me to answer. Some of them have responded, and with some really good questions, too! I've really enjoyed digging into them, and I hope you all enjoy reading my answers just as much. Huge thanks to this week's contributers! ## Projects **What [writing projects] are you most excited about working on at the moment? ―Kieran** I'm absolutely, 100% the most excited about _The Missing Mortimer_ , a detective novella that I'm _very_ nearly finished editing. The plan is to follow it up with a series of short stories and other novellas about the same characters solving new mysteries (in the vein of Sherlock Holmes). It's a project that's been in the works in some form or another for about 6 1/2 years now, and it's thrilling to finally be so close to releasing the beginning of it! In _The Missing Mortimer_ , the recently-widowed Isabel Mortimer becomes worried when her late husband's heir mysteriously disappears. She enlists her hedonistic brother, Jimmy Howard, to help her circumnavigate the police and track down the young man, hopefully before something truly dreadful happens to him. The year is 1924, and mischief is afoot. There will be more updates about this story and where you'll be able to read it in coming months, so stay tuned! **What are your favorite pieces of writing that you've done so far? ―Nic** Oooh, that's a tough one. I really enjoyed the play I wrote for my Master's degree, a Restoration-era-style comedy called _Love's True Servant_ full of queer fun and so, so many innuendos. My supervisor and the actors friends I workshopped the script with all had a great time reading it and discussing it with me, and I found the process really encouraging. (Your Love's Refrain and A romantic extract are both from _Love's True Servant_.) Some other short pieces that I particularly like include: * "Monologue of a Whale", in which I rewrote one of my favourite passages of _The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy_ in blank verse. * "Toil and Trouble", a short story about a witch who runs a New York speakeasy and is always a sucker for a damsel in distress. * "Hare Scent", which started as a short impression I jotted down on holiday and has grown to have something resembling a plot. I may expand on it again in future; what do you reckon? * "But if My Brain...", a sonnet I smashed out in 20 minutes after a shower for a Twitter contest (back when it was Twitter and not entirely the worst). ## Writing process **What's your favourite thing about writing? ―Nina** The simple answer is: it's play. Like many creative writers (and creatives in other media), I love the way writing latches onto my imagination and gives me scope to have fun with it. Growing up, I was constantly drawn to storytelling forms of play, such as dolls, dressing up, and make-believe. Small wonder, then, that I liked telling stories on paper too. Make-believe is definitely a big part of how I got into creative writing, but I think as a nominal grown-up I've developed more of a Lego-style approach to writing as play. Yes, I get to move the minifigs around and take them on adventures, but it's _even more fun_ because I get to put together the setting around them. How am I going to build a car for my little guy? What pieces do I use for the secret hideout? Do I have enough of these green pieces for all of the walls? I don't even need a story or characters to have fun this way; it's still playing with words and techniques when I write blog posts or essays or what have you. And boy do I relish it! **How do you decide what genre to use if you are writing fiction? Do you write in a form that you generally enjoy reading, such as murder mysteries? Or would another format suit you better and how do you decide? Eg. romance, fantasy, science fiction, adventure, how do you decide which format tells your story best? ―Alice** This is a really interesting question, and I've had to think about it a bit. Firstly, I usually come at this decision the other way around: rather than starting with a story idea and figuring out how to tell it, I usually start with the genre and form and figure out a good story that fits those parameters. For example, if I want to write a piece for a competition there will usually be a preferred genre and a word count given. In other cases, I decide that I want to write something in a specific genre or form because there's a technique or convention I want to experiment with. This is how I ended up writing (among other things) a stage farce, the detective story I mentioned above, and a lot of my sonnets. Occasionally, I do start with a plot or character idea, and in those cases I explore the idea and consider if there are settings, conventions, or techniques that match up with it. In the case of _Love's True Servant_ , for instance, I knew I'd be writing a comic play but didn't settle on the specific genre until I decided on the time period I would set the story in and narrative conventions I wanted to use. The late 17th century had the right feel, and the theatre movement of the time suited the conventions I was most interested in, so Restoration comedy it was. In terms of whether I write in genres and forms I read a lot, it's a bit of a mixed bag. I love reading huge novels and sweeping fantasies (see _Priory of the Orange Tree_), but I could never write something that expansive. I could probably do to read more short fiction than I currently do, but I don't really write in genres I don't enjoy reading, because I wouldn't enjoy writing in them either. **I know you spent a lot of time working as a technical writer. How has that affected your creative writing ability? And is it hard to do both at the same time? ―Liz** For those who are new to the blog, I spent 9 years working professionally as a technical writer, which I loved doing. It's a job that focuses heavily on things like grammar and clarity, as we were tasked with writing instructions for people working in complex fields. I learned a lot about written communication in general and how to simplify complicated material so that other people can easily engage with it, which has made me a lot better at writing emails! I think most of the ways technical writing has benefited my creative writing skills are in that general sense of improving my ability to communicate clearly, such as: * knowing when to stop a sentence and split content into a new one. * identifying which information is necessary and which is redundant. * avoiding tautology. * including all the points and not skipping over something that's less obvious than I think it is. * putting things in the right order. * being able to rearrange, reword, and trim sentences without changing their meaning. We love transferable skills, and even though I'm not a technical writer anymore I still get a lot of mileage out of the way I learned to assess my writing. I actually found that it wasn't difficult to switch from "tech writer brain" to "creative writer brain", because although I was staring at words on a screen for both activities I was using different types of creativity. In my day job, I was focused more on problem solving and efficiency, whereas my personal projects were more about imagination and flavour. A lot of my former colleagues are also creative writers, so I'm sure I wasn't the only one who felt like this. **What does the "seed" of your stories look like? How do they take shape when they first arrive in your head (e.g. for me, it's as a high concept)? ―Nina** As I alluded to a couple of questions up, a lot of my stories start off as a desire to play with a particular genre, convention or technique. I love novelty and challenging myself (coughADHDcough), so this tends to be a surefire way to hold my attention. Some examples of technical seeds are: * What if I wrote a scene entirely in onomatopoeia? * Writing a sonnet myself doesn't sound hard (oops now I'm obsessed with them). * I want to try writing dialects! * A farce sounds like a fun challenge... (now I want to do it again) * Since I love blank verse so much, I should write a play in it! Other stories come to me as a focused impression: an emotion or observation, a tantalising line of prose, or the flash of a character. I start with that detail and build outward, following the thought or fleshing out the image until I know what to do with it. ## Writing techniques **Why, or when, would you use the present tense in writing? I find it an uncomfortable form when I read it and usually give up on books written this way. ―Alice** Present tense is not often used in the books I read, either. I'm not sure if there are specific genres that use it more, though I wouldn't be surprised if poetry and short fiction do. I reckon that past tense feels a lot more natural for most storytelling, which is probably why present tense jars with you so much. As it happens, one of the short stories I'm tinkering on now is written in present tense, and I'm finding it a really interesting change. The biggest reason to use present tense is to create a stronger sense of immediacy, with the action happening right in the moment of its telling. It pairs well with first-person narration, and this combo is good at putting the reader in the character's head; it feels more like you're following them in real time. I can see present tense being useful if you want to create a disconnect from time in your story, such as de-emphasising a sense of history or muddying the sequence of events. It could also help with tension in an action-filled story if you want to sweep the reader up in the momentum of increasing stakes and chaos. There are a lot of other reasons it might attract a writer, depending on the particular story. Those stories just might not be for you, and that's alright. **What makes a good critique? How do you give it? How do you interpret someone giving lots of suggestions into actionable critique? ―Nina** I've got a whole post about how to give a good critique, and I recommend giving it a read if someone's asked you for feedback on something! The short version is that a good critique is one that a) understands what the work is trying to do, b) identifies where the work does and does not succeed in its aims, and c) does not try to mold the work to the critique-giver's preferences. I would also say that for a critique to be well received, it should be asked for (seriously, don't give unsolicited feedback; it won't be appreciated) and kind. I don't mean that there can't be criticisms―those are kind of important―but that there's no call to be harsh. Pointing out the good bits and framing the bits that aren't working as opportunities for improvement will make your critique a lot more encouraging for the person on the other end of it. Of course, just because you know how to give a good critique doesn't mean that the people giving you feedback will, and it's inevitable that at some point someone will take things too far and try to rewrite things for you. If you have asked for critique and gotten a list of suggested changes instead, here's how I'd advise dealing with them: 1. Don't take any suggestions at face value. Always think the changes through before applying anything. 2. Identify what problems the suggestions are trying to address. Hopefully your critiquer has mentioned this, but if not you'll need to try and figure it out. 3. Once you know the problem, determine whether it is actually a problem. It might be a matter of preference (unhelpful), or a symptom of something else that isn't working or that hasn't been made clear enough. 4. For each real problem, consider different ways you could fix it. Your critiquer has provided one option, but there might be a more appropriate or effective solution. 5. Implement the changes that you think will be best for your work! 6. Maybe find someone else to run the next draft by. ## Life **I'm also interested to know how you think about being a writer as you move through the rest of the world; does it make you more observant? Less able to fully immerse yourself in a moment, because you're thinking about it as though it was being written? More able to immerse yourself, because you're in touch with your inner thought life at other times so can switch it off? Any other insights about how writing impacts the rest of your lived experience? ―Kieran** Ooooh, what a fascinating series of questions! This is another one I've had to really think about. I have no idea if being a writer makes me more observant when I'm not deliberately trying to notice things (signs point to unlikely), but I think it does make me more inclined to _want_ to take notice, if that makes sense, and I can get more out of the experience of observing. Regarding your subsequent questions, I think that the act of describing a moment as though I'm writing it actually _helps_ me immerse myself. My internal monologue is constantly pinballing all over the place, often in several directions at once, so in order to really appreciate a moment I have to make an effort to hold my focus on it, and I've found that a good way to do that is to observe the moment carefully and savour it in words. In general (and you may remember this from our uni days), I find that analysing the crap out of things doesn't ever ruin my ability to enjoy them, but rather gives me more appreciation for them. However, I think that's unrelated to writing and just a quirk of being me! It's hard to say how writing, specifically, affects the way I move through life. I suppose it fosters curiosity, leading me to wonder why and how things come about. Seeing the world through a narrative bent highlights how connected people and events are, and the ways they affect each other. And I think I'm more appreciative of people's individuality when I think about what makes characters interesting! **You've been talking about your cats... can I meet them please??? ―Nic** You sure can! This is Jarvis, our self-appointed Head of Household Security. He likes snuggling on the bed, eating fresh catnip, and patrolling the back garden in his harness. He dislikes visitors and nonsense (especially little sister nonsense). Sometimes he's too clever for his boots and sneaks outside when I'm not looking just to show off, and has on several occasions been stuck waiting for me in the garden for hours while I was out because I missed his escape. And this is Sophie, who is essentially a clueless laborador in a cat's body. She likes bothering Jarvis, eating popcorn and potato chips off the floor, and yelling SO LOUD. She dislikes being picked up and going to the vet because she ate something that's categorically not food. At least once a day she makes me follow her around the house and play her like a bongo, ideally while she sticks her head under a piece of furniture. * * * Phew, that's a lot of words! Thank you again to everyone who sent in questions. We should do it again sometime!

(Free post) How do I love my home of Ōtautahi? Let me count the ways...

_Last month, we began our new series on narrative structures by looking at simple_ three-act and five-act structures_. This time, we're stepping up the complexity with a couple of variations adapted for particular types of stories._ * * * For some stories, one rise and fall is not enough. Characters need to be propelled from one event or crisis to the next, and their momentum must be maintained. Or, you may simply want a slightly more complex structure, with more movement in it than just building up to a climax and coming down from it, without having to define every narrative beat. The three-act structure is, as we've discussed, fairly ubiquitous. It's not very surprising, then, that the bones of this structure have been elaborated on to create more detailed variants. One example is the Fichtean Curve, which uses the same overall shape of the three-act structure but modifies the rising action slope with smaller crises leading up to the big climax. Another is the Seven-point Story Structure, which can be overlaid onto a three-act structure but shifts the focus from action and tension to progress and character development. Both of these variants are good at helping you manage elements like pace and tension, making them useful stepping stones for writers wanting to develop more sophisticated plot arcs. ## The Fichtean Curve This narrative structure was coined by John Gardner in _The Art of Fiction_. It is, as mentioned, quite closely based on the classic three-act structure, but with some key differences. Firstly, the inciting incident happens immediately; there isn't time to spend on exposition in this structure. By pushing the inciting incident earlier, the tension can start building right away, and this structure is all about tension. The other major difference between the Fichtean Curve and a classic three-act structure is the path of the rising action―after the climax both structures use the same rapid fall into denouement to resolve tension, but it's the building of it that we're focused on with this structure. Rather than moving directly towards the climax, the plot builds up to smaller moments of crisis which must be resolved along the way. These crises become increasingly tense and raise the stakes higher and higher, leading the characters up to the climax, the biggest and most important crisis of all. This structure layers the tension of the underlying rise to the climax with that of each individual crisis point as it comes up. While the underlying tension keeps rising, though, the tension from each crisis is built and then resolved, leading to more fluidity in the reading experience. Because of its focus on tension, the Fichtean Curve is ideal for gripping, suspenseful plots. ## The Seven-point Story Structure A relatively new narrative structure, the Seven-point Story Structure was developed by Dan Wells around 2010. It follows similar plot points to the ones used in a three-act structure―there's an inciting incident, a midpoint shift, a major setback, and a final resolution―but focuses less on the action and more on the characters. For this structure, the ups and downs are specifically related to the characters' emotional journey, rather than tension. The first of the seven points is the hook, which establishes the exposition (in a way that pulls readers in, the name suggests). This is followed by plot point 1, which we might recognise as being an inciting incident; it's the event that kicks off the plot. Progress is made, and we're feeling good! Unfortunately, the plot falls into pinch point 1, and the situation becomes difficult. From there, the characters rise to the fourth point (the midpoint), when they start to take a more active role in the story. This does not, however, stop them from tumbling into a second pinch point, even more negative than the last one. All seems lost, until the characters have a breakthrough with plot point 2, and they know now how to succeed. The conflict of the story can now be resolved, ending the story on a satisfying note. Because this structure is more character-focused, it aligns well with stories which have a primarily internal arc or an emphasis on character development over action. It also encourages a balance of positive moments with negative moments; rather than building continuously up, it shifts between progress and setbacks, or between high points and low points. A Seven-point Story Structure is a good way to think about the role of change in your narrative, not just tension.

“Hey Mum, call me back as soon as you get this, yeah? I’ve got a bit of a… um… problem here. It’s this… well, you know the cat our new flatmate has? Turns out it’s a bit of a hunter. Yesterday when I got home from work

Most of the writers I have talked to have a tendency to draft too much. I started noticing this in university, where my peers often complained of the difficulty they had cutting their essays down to the recommended word count, and since then I've heard a lot of similar sentiments from creative writers whose first drafts consistently need to be edited down by a significant margin. Clearly, this is a common experience. However, it's one of several common writing experiences that I don't share. I've always been prone to underwriting my drafts and lowballing essay word counts, and most of my editing involves finding ideas I need to expand on. There must be a middle ground in there somewhere, and that's what we all aim for in the editing process. So how do we find it? Since my observation has been that cutting down overlarge drafts is much more usual, I'll focus on that today. (If you are more my style of writer and want me to discuss how to fill a draft out, leave a comment or send me a message so I know there's interest!) I may not have to deal with this personally in my own writing, but my editorial skills and instincts for efficiency have served me well in helping others with the task. With that caveat out of the way, let's look at some strategies! ### This post is for subscribers only Become a member to get access to all content Subscribe now

_I first shared this post with my paid subscribers in December 2024. It's such a useful topic, though, that I thought I should share it with everyone! I've given the original content a bit of tweaking while I had the opportunity, so even if you've read it before you might discover something new._ _Also, a note to members: don't forget to email me questions to answer later this month! (You can respond directly to email in which you've received this post if you wish.)_ * * * Every so often, a writer may find that they just don't enjoy what they're doing anymore. For some, this growing apathy may manifest as a kind of writer's block and grind their progress to a halt. For others, the ability to create may still be there, but the work is halfhearted and lackluster. Watching the craft that you love and that usually invigorates you turn into a slog can quickly become worrying, especially if the disinterest hangs around for a while. What can you, a desperate writer, do to get that joy back? I wish I could give you a straightforward answer, but there just isn't one. Every situation is unique, and every writer is going to find their motivation in a different place. Just like a great many aspects of creative work, a foolproof strategy for one person is likely to be completely counterproductive for someone else. This does mean, rather annoyingly, that if you find yourself stuck in a predicament such as I've described above it can take some time and experimentation to figure out what's going to work for you. But even though I can't give you The Answer, what I can do is give you a direction to try out. I've collected some assorted strategies below that may be worth trialling if you're feeling like you're losing your creative joy. Who knows, maybe one of them will be the one that works for you! ## Taking a break Sometimes, continuing to hammer away at a problem that's got you stymied is the least effective way to work through it. You've been staring at the same issue from the same angle for _ages_ without making any headway, so how can you expect to work through it by keeping on with the same behaviour? Madness is, after all, colloquially defined as doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results. Or, to give you another scenario, perhaps you're just a bit tired of the writing routine. You've been working hard for what seems like forever, but there's no end in sight. It feels like you've been doing the same thing for so long that you're going in circles, and your progress has slipped almost as much as your ability to focus. One potential solution for these problems is to give yourself a break. Put your project down for a bit and focus on something else for a while, then come back to it later with a fresher mind. In the short term, this may mean taking a breather for an hour or so, ideally to switch to an activity that doesn't require a lot of thinking, such as going for a walk or working on an ongoing craft project. Fresh air and/or movement can be particularly refreshing so long as you don't tire yourself out, but anything non-cerebral should allow you to keep whatever specific difficulties you may be struggling with percolating away in the back of your head. If you need a longer-term solution, you may need to get yourself to a reasonable stopping point and down tools on your project for a few days, weeks, or even months according to need and feasability. If it's the specific piece of work that's a problem, maybe you can find another, more exciting project to play with for a while. If it's the whole act of writing you're disillusioned with, though, perhaps it's time to pay some more attention to a different hobby or activity until the spark comes back. It's not a stain on your status as a writer if you need to stop for a while; having peaks and troughs of creative energy is perfectly normal. We should try to avoid burning ourselves out, though, so it's helpful to be proactive with rest periods if you start to feel things slipping, before it really becomes a problem. Of course, for those of us working to deadlines there is a definite limit to how much time we can take away from our pens and keyboards. But, if time _is_ on your side, consider making use of it to keep yourself refreshed. We all need to take breaks every so often, even if they're small; it's an important part of being able to sustain our efforts over time. ### Alternatively: Pacing yourself If stopping work on a project entirely for a time is not workable for your situation (maybe you have deadlines to keep, or you're concerned that you might not pick the project up again later), some benefit may also be had by simply lowering the pressure for a while. Reduce your daily word count, give yourself more frequent or longer breaks between writing sessions, be comfortable with letting your mind wander a little bit. You won't be completely stopping your progress, but hopefully slowing down will give you the space you need to rethink and recharge as well. ## Trying something new Another possible strategy for when your writing is feeling stuck or stale is to add some novelty into the mix. How this novelty takes shape is entirely up to you; it may be a change to an aspect of your writing process, your environment, or the story itself. If motivation is your biggest problem, and you are finding it difficult to keep up with your writing schedule or make meaningful progress on your work, you may want to try doing something different in your process. Perhaps now is a good time to take stock of what your process is at the moment, and consider particular sticking points. Do you feel like your story is either too constrained or too uncertain? Might be a sign to review your planning. Are you writing at a time of day where your brain isn't at its best? You may need to rearrange some other things in your schedule (if you can). Even the length of your writing sessions might need tweaking; too short could leave you feeling like you haven't got time to get into a groove, and too long could make you think you're stretching yourself too far. If that's not it, maybe you're feeling stale because your space is not quite right, perhaps feeling a bit stagnant. You may find that introducing something new and pleasant to your writing space gives you a nice little dopamine boost, whether you add a nice decorative light, a potted plant, or a new piece of equipment to make the workflow smoother. Alternatively, you might find less expensive refreshment in a new writing playlist, or a change in snacks. For a more drastic environmental change, you could even try relocating, either to a new room or a new location entirely—many writers like to frequent coffee shops, for instance, and pre-pandemic I did a lot of my writing in the library. But sometimes it's not your writing space or process that needs to change, but the story itself. You may decide to drop a bombshell of a plot twist into it, just to give it a new direction and provide the characters something exciting to react to. If you don't _actually_ want to send the plot off on a tangent, you could open up a new file and use this as a writing exercise; it's a good chance to explore different sides of your plot and characters, and might give you some good ideas that you _can_ use. Another possibility is to try and solve some of your problems by bringing in a new character, or repurposing an existing one. The most reliable method, according to a number of other writers I've seen talking about this issue, is to dig back into earlier parts of the draft to figure out how to move forward. If you're stuck in a rut and don't know how to proceed, there's a good chance that your problem isn't in the current scene or paragraph, but in one a bit further up. ## Roping someone in Sometimes, however, the thing you need most is a fresh pair of eyes, an outside perspective, or just some accountability. Either way, it's important to remember that you don't have to do this writing thing alone. Having a support network is incredibly helpful, especially at times like these! There are a lot of ways that other people can help you keep motivated and engaged in your writing, if you reach out to them. In situations where you find yourself stuck and unsure where to take the piece next, getting a trusted second opinion from a fellow storyteller can give you some ideas to play with. A good discussion may highlight problems that you were unaware of, or new approaches you wouldn't have considered otherwise. Sometimes, even just having somebody listen (or pretend to listen, even) while you explain the situation can help you think your own way out; in coding, this is known as the "rubber duck" method, based on the traditional recipient of the explanation, but it works just as well with pets or clueless family members. Readers can also be a very good motivational tool—reminding yourself that someone else is going to read your work and enjoy it may be just the boost you need to keep going. It's what keeps me posting here on this blog, really: the knowledge that you, my readers, are depending on me to keep giving you interesting things to read and the lovely feedback I hear from you. If you too have received some encouraging responses about earlier work, revisiting that could inspire you to finish the next bit. If you don't have any accessible feedback yet but you know you have readers out there, perhaps you could give them a sneak peek to get excited about (which is exciting for you the writer, too). Or, if you're early enough in your career that you don't have any readers yet, consider recruiting people you know to be your first fans. * * * So, now it's your turn to chip in. What do you find helps you when _you're_ feeling stuck or unmotivated? Do you already use one of the strategies I've talked about, or is your go-to method something different? Add a comment below and share what you've learned from your experiences, and maybe you'll be able to help someone else too!