Suppose you discovered that nearly all of the great stories written conform to a particular structure, a structure that would help to guide you in your writing and that, subconsciously at least, your readers are expecting to see in your work.
This is the contention of my guest today, the writer and creative writing tutor, Jessica Brody. Jessica took the classic screenwriting text “Save the cat” and applied it to the process of writing a novel, producing the appropriately titled “Save the cat writes a novel”.
In our conversation, Jessica and I explored the key beats in the 15 beat structure, why pacing is so important, how you create a problem, a want, and a need for your protagonist, and why it’s important to make your reader feel smart.
This was a fun and informative conversation I hope you enjoy listening to it, here it is.
Want to know how to query an agent? I do, so I decided to talk to talk to one of the best agents in the business right now; someone with international clients, and experience of selling book, TV, and film rights. This episode is a wide-ranging conversation with Juliet Mushens of CaskieMushens literary agency in which we talk about how to approach an agent, what to put in the query letter, and what in a single sentence, the agent is really looking for. ...
In this episode we look at stage four of the six stage story process, the Crisis. There is no better time in your story to showcase the strengths, weaknesses, and motivations of your characters. This is also a moment to use all of your creative writing skills to create a poignant moment, to enrich the setting and mood of your work, to add colour and depth to the context for your story. The crisis is the decisive moment, the calm before the storm, the point where all of the choices have been made and the climax must now be faced. How will your characters react? Will they be heroes or cowards, or maybe a more subtle combination of both? Here is your window of opportunity to show all of these things, use it well! ...
What are the personal qualities you need, not only keep you writing but to help you improve in your craft? Andrew shares his views on why perseverance, humility, and imagination are the fundamental character traits you need to develop as a writer. ...
