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One of the best books about writing!
Format: Paperback
Each chapter offered valuable information. I can't praise it enough. It's simply one of the best books that I have read about writing. I have learned plenty, and I will apply it to my new novel that I'm working on right now!
Buy it! Read it! It works wonders! It's invaluable to my collection. If you're building your collection, make sure this book finds a place in your home. I have outlined so much. I have taken so many notes. I memorized elements of the structure. The author didn't take any break. He didn't stop surprising me toward the end.
Great work!
OVERVIEW
The author talks about the LOCK system for your novel.
L --You need to have a gripping Lead with whom readers can identify with. You need sympathy, likability, and inner conflict. You need to build an arc of your character breaking into his layers, so the lead changes by the end of the novel. You need to show it through action and show the moment of change.
O-- Objective, a goal your lead wants to achieve. You need to create a strong opposition, and put that opposition close to the lead. It might be a physical location, moral duty, professional obligation, life or death situation, obsession, etc.
C--Confrontation or simply said conflict that grows; stakes are raised higher leading to the climax of the story.
K--Knockout--final fight against opposition
You need three ACT structure:
Beginning (Act 1) , Middle(Act 2), Ending (Act 3)
Beginnings- You need to reveal the lead; hook the reader; create sympathy through those things that I have mentioned earlier. You need to create disturbance in his life that will move the Lead to Act 2 which is the middle, no return.
Middles- Raise the stakes; scenes are more tense; create more conflict and have a death hanging over your Lead (emotional death, physical, or professional, etc.) The customer is nearing the black moment. The Lead enters another door of no return.
Endings-Battle--tie those lose endings (some might contain sacrifice) 1. A final choice or 2. A final battle
Add a twist if possible.
If you follow the above and create a back cover blurb, you can go ahead and write your novel knowing it will not fail. Create an arc of the character that concentrates on the internal part of the character.
I like to create also two charts. One is for the Lead showing how the character is changing internally.
Another one, characters who play the parts in your novel divided into following categories:
Character, Description, Objective, Role, Secret, and Emotion Evoked.
You can add as much as you want in your never ending list.
Scenes- HIP- Hook, Keep it Intense, Prompt to another scene
Stretch tension! You need show instead of tell.
ARM- Action, Reaction, and More Action
Soap Opera-- don't resolve anything until the end, and you might want to end the scene with a secret revealed or a cliff hanging moment.
Complex Plots--Play with symbols or motifs; create subplots and integrate them into the main plot, or use parallel plots used so much in romance novels.
Or divide into sections; each section to contain the LOCK system and three act structure.
Some other things that I found valuable:
Flashbacks -- keep them short; create scenes out of them; use one HAD.
If your middle doesn't play well, do something unexpected like throwing a guy with a gun.
Unanticipate-- avoid cliches, create unpredictiable scenes, endings
If you present something in the story, make sure you use it later in your novel. If you mention the riffle on the wall, make sure it will play out in the future scene. You need to work backwards. You need to plant things, so the future scenes will make sense.
The author talked about SHUTDOWN. I have experienced it myself just after the conference. It happens when the writer is overwhelmed and can't produce. It's a phase that passes. I did have it for two weeks. I was just simply exhausted and overwhelmed. I took a break, and the passion came back.
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Reviewed in the United States on November 1, 2011