Mastering Suspense, Structure, and Plot

Mastering Suspense, Structure, and Plot PDF Author: Jane Cleland
Publisher: Penguin
ISBN: 1599639696
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
Languages : en
Pages : 241

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Book Description
Enthrall Your Readers! Suspense is one of the most powerful tools a writer has for captivating readers--but it isn't just for thrillers. From mainstream fiction to memoir, suspense creates the emotional tension that keeps readers on the edge of their seats. Mastering Suspense, Structure, & Plot is your hands-on guide to weaving suspense into your narrative. Award-winning author Jane K. Cleland teaches you how to navigate genre conventions, write for your audience, and build gripping tension to craft an irresistible page-turner. Inside, Cleland will show you how to: • Implement thirteen no-fail techniques to construct an effective plot and structure for your story • Use Cleland's Plotting Road Map to add elements of suspense like twists, reversals, and moments of danger • Write subplots with purpose • Improve your descriptions, character development, sentence structure, and more Packed with case studies, exercises, and dozens of examples from best-selling authors, Mastering Suspense, Structure, & Plot is the key to writing suspenseful, engaging stories that leave your readers wanting more. ------ "Indispensable! For newbie authors and veterans alike, this terrific how-to is your new go-to. Don't write your book without it--it's a treasure." --Hank Phillippi Ryan, Agatha, Anthony, Macavity and Mary Higgins Clark award-winning author

Mastering Suspense, Structure, and Plot

Mastering Suspense, Structure, and Plot PDF Author: Jane Cleland
Publisher: Penguin
ISBN: 1599639696
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
Languages : en
Pages : 241

Get Book

Book Description
Enthrall Your Readers! Suspense is one of the most powerful tools a writer has for captivating readers--but it isn't just for thrillers. From mainstream fiction to memoir, suspense creates the emotional tension that keeps readers on the edge of their seats. Mastering Suspense, Structure, & Plot is your hands-on guide to weaving suspense into your narrative. Award-winning author Jane K. Cleland teaches you how to navigate genre conventions, write for your audience, and build gripping tension to craft an irresistible page-turner. Inside, Cleland will show you how to: • Implement thirteen no-fail techniques to construct an effective plot and structure for your story • Use Cleland's Plotting Road Map to add elements of suspense like twists, reversals, and moments of danger • Write subplots with purpose • Improve your descriptions, character development, sentence structure, and more Packed with case studies, exercises, and dozens of examples from best-selling authors, Mastering Suspense, Structure, & Plot is the key to writing suspenseful, engaging stories that leave your readers wanting more. ------ "Indispensable! For newbie authors and veterans alike, this terrific how-to is your new go-to. Don't write your book without it--it's a treasure." --Hank Phillippi Ryan, Agatha, Anthony, Macavity and Mary Higgins Clark award-winning author

Mastering Plot Twists

Mastering Plot Twists PDF Author: Jane Cleland
Publisher: Penguin
ISBN: 1440352356
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
Languages : en
Pages : 241

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Book Description
"...A unique and absolutely invaluable toolbox for any author..." ~Kate White, New York Times best-selling author and former editor-in-chief of Cosmopolitan Unlock the secrets to superior plot twists! The key to keeping people on the edge of their seat--from memoirs to thrillers and stage plays to screenplays--is filling your stories with unexpected twists and turns. By integrating Plot Twists, Plot Reversals, and Moments of Heightened Danger (TRDs) at crucial points, you can captivate your readers with I-can't-wait-to-see-what-happens-next intrigue. The quicker pace and focused action that comes from strategically placed twists form the core of the nuanced, multifaceted books that sell--and that help you find a devoted readership. In Mastering Plot Twists, Agatha Award-winning author, Jane K. Cleland goes beyond telling writers what to do; she shows you how to do it. Within these pages, you'll find: • A proven, five-step process for using TRDs, with detailed examples from best-selling books • A deep dive into plotting, structure, pacing, subplots, and more to help you develop surprising yet inevitable twists. • "Jane's Plotting Roadmap" and worksheets--essential tools for planning your plot Building on the award-winning instruction provided in Mastering Suspense, Structure & Plot, Cleland's newest guide will help you create effective and credible twists, creating the kind of stories that will keep your readers up long into the night. "...A master class in crafting plots that twist and turn..." ~Hallie Ephron, New York Times best-selling author of You'll Never Know, Dear

Plotting and Writing Suspense Fiction

Plotting and Writing Suspense Fiction PDF Author: Patricia Highsmith
Publisher:
ISBN: 9780751565973
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 144

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Book Description


Writing Blockbuster Plots

Writing Blockbuster Plots PDF Author: Martha Alderson
Publisher: Penguin
ISBN: 1599639831
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
Languages : en
Pages : 240

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Book Description
Plotting a story filled with memorable, engaging scenes from beginning to end can feel like an insurmountable challenge. Having the right plan - and the tools to execute it - can make all the difference. Writing Blockbuster Plots pulls back the curtain on story structure with step-by-step strategies and visuals that turn plotting and scene writing into a no-stress endeavor. In this completely revised and updated edition, celebrated writing instructor and plot consultant Martha Alderson helps you navigate the intricacies of story with the help of her exclusive Plot Planner and Scene Tracker tools. Using Alderson’s effective, accessible techniques, you'll be able to: • PLOT your story from beginning to end with a focus on dramatic action, the emotional development of your characters, and thematic significance. • ENSURE that each scene contributes meaningfully to the narrative by tracking the seven essential elements of scene. • LINK scenes by cause and effect to create a tight, seamless narrative. • INJECT tension and conflict to keep readers glued to the page. • TARGET weak areas in your story and learn how to fix them. Filled with examples from both classic and contemporary novels, as well as illustrations of the Plot Planner and Scene Tracker in action, Writing Blockbuster Plots strips the confusion out of the plotting process, enabling you to write a story that deserves a standing ovation.

On Stories

On Stories PDF Author: Richard Kearney
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1134537913
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 206

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Book Description
Stories offer us some of the richest and most enduring insights into the human condition and have preoccupied philosophy since Aristotle. On Stories presents in clear and compelling style just why narrative has this power over us and argues that the unnarrated life is not worth living. Drawing on the work of James Joyce, Sigmund Freud's patient 'Dora' and the case of Oscar Schindler, Richard Kearney skilfully illuminates how stories not only entertain us but can determine our lives and personal identities. He also considers nations as stories, including the story of Romulus and Remus in the founding of Rome. Throughout, On Stories stresses that, far from heralding the demise of narrative, the digital era merely opens up new stories.

How to Write a Damn Good Thriller

How to Write a Damn Good Thriller PDF Author: James N. Frey
Publisher: St. Martin's Press
ISBN: 9781429913638
Category : Performing Arts
Languages : en
Pages : 306

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Book Description
A quick look at any fiction bestseller list reveals that thrillers make up most of the titles at the top. HOW TO WRITE A DAMN GOOD THRILLER will help the aspiring novelist or screenwriter to design, draft, write, and polish a thriller that is sure to grab readers. Frey uses examples from both books and movies and addresses the following hot topics: *Germinal ideas *Breathing life into great thriller characters *Crafting a gripping opening *Maintaining tension *Creating obstacles and conflicts *Writing a mean, lean thriller scene *Adding surprise twists *Building a smashing climax and many more. In his trademark approachable and humorous style, Frey illuminates the building blocks of great thrillers and gives the reader the tools to write his or her own.

How to Write a Mystery

How to Write a Mystery PDF Author: Larry Beinhart
Publisher: Ballantine Books
ISBN: 0307776050
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
Languages : en
Pages : 241

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Book Description
WHODUNIT? YOUDUNIT! So you want to write a mystery. There's more to it than just a detective, a dead body, and Colonel Mustard in the drawing room with the candlestick. Fortunately, Larry Beinhart--Edgar Award-winning author of You Get What You Pay For, Foreign Exchange, and American Hero--has taken a break from writing smart, suspenseful thrillers to act as your guide through all the twists and turns of creating the twists and turns of a good mystery. Drawing on advice and examples from a host of the best names in mystery writing--from Raymond Chandler and Mickey Spillane to Scott Turow and Thomas Harris--plus some of his own prime plots, Larry Beinhart introduces you to your most indispensable partners in crime: *Character, plot, and procedure * The secrets to creating heroes, heroines, and villains ("All writers draw upon themselves and their experience. While the whole of yourself might not be capable of being either a serial killer or an FBI agent, there are parts in each of us that are capable of almost anything.") * The fine art of scripting the sex scene *The low-down on violence ("A crime novel without violence is like smoking pot without inhaling, sex without orgasm, or a hug without a squeeze." ) *And much more! From the opening hook to the final denouement, Larry Beinhart takes the mystery out of being a mystery writer.

How to Write a Damn Good Mystery

How to Write a Damn Good Mystery PDF Author: James N. Frey
Publisher: St. Martin's Press
ISBN: 1429974133
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
Languages : en
Pages : 286

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Book Description
Edgar award nominee James N. Frey, author of the internationally best-selling books on the craft of writing, How to Write a Damn Good Novel, How to Write a Damn Good Novel II: Advanced Techniques, and The Key: How to Write Damn Good Fiction Using the Power of Myth, has now written what is certain to become the standard "how to" book for mystery writing, How to Write a Damn Good Mystery. Frey urges writers to aim high-not to try to write a good-enough-to-get-published mystery, but a damn good mystery. A damn good mystery is first a dramatic novel, Frey insists-a dramatic novel with living, breathing characters-and he shows his readers how to create a living, breathing, believable character who will be clever and resourceful, willful and resolute, and will be what Frey calls "the author of the plot behind the plot." Frey then shows, in his well-known, entertaining, and accessible (and often humorous) style , how the characters-the entire ensemble, including the murderer, the detective, the authorities, the victims, the suspects, the witnesses and the bystanders-create a complete and coherent world. Exploring both the on-stage action and the behind-the-scenes intrigue, Frey shows prospective writers how to build a fleshed-out, believable, and logical world. He shows them exactly which parts of that world show up in the pages of a damn good mystery-and which parts are held back just long enough to keep the reader guessing. This is an indispensable step-by-step guide for anyone who's ever dreamed of writing a damn good mystery.

The Plot Whisperer Workbook

The Plot Whisperer Workbook PDF Author: Martha Alderson
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
ISBN: 1440542740
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
Languages : en
Pages : 224

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Book Description
As every writer knows, plotting is the most essential part of any story. And for that reason, it's the part that's the most difficult and that causes the most headaches. Now Martha Alderson, well-known writing consultant, has created a series of exercises to give the plotting part of your brain full rein. From the beginning of the story to the climax to the conclusion, she trains would-be writers to craft a tale that is both compelling and that expresses the writer's own inner journey to find catharsis through writing.

The Structure of Story

The Structure of Story PDF Author: Ross Hartmann
Publisher: Kiingo
ISBN: 9781735603827
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 434

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Book Description
What do all great stories have in common? What techniques do great writers use? The Structure of Story details the specific writing tools that will help you recognize and apply the patterns of great stories.