Tools

These two books tell you exactly what bullet points to list, how many you'll need, and what actually needs to happen in the middle of your novel. Best of all, both of these books feature free online resources you can use right now.

Consider the best pattern for your story might not be a “narrative arc” or five act structure. Stories can also expand or collapse in spirals, meander through multiple plots or points of view, or be loosely associated narratives with a single root point.

Today we are going to steal a tool from the visual artist’s cabinets and see if we can bang it into shape that works for writers. It’s called a Master Study, and it’s part copying, part analysis, and all hands-on learning.

Clark gives us the language to describe what is often seen as indescribable, the unique voice of each writer.