Welcome to another Sunday! It’s been a special weekend in Nashville–Southern Festival of Books time! Three days packed with books, authors, panels, food, and friends… really, what more can you ask for? Here are a few shots of my weekend, starring, in order: my panel, with Jaden Terrell and I cutting up (photo courtesy of Genny Carter), the awesome Megan Abbott, my buddy Laura Hill from Reading Rock Books, Paul from NPT in my favorite shirt ever, the divine Victoria Schwab, snacks at the Oak Bar, my housewife crush, Helen Ellis, the adorable Meg Mitchell Moore, comrade-in-arms Ariel Lawhon, pointing and in hat, ghostly hands in the men’s room at the Hermitage and a pile of housewives (photos courtesy of Helen Ellis), and my book haul.
One of my favorite series is Deborah Harkness’s All Souls Trilogy. I’ve been rereading A DISCOVERY OF WITCHES this week, and say this awesome short video: Yoga and The All Souls Trilogy (cc @DebHarkness)
This is a fantastic piece for my fellow writers. I don’t mean to provoke any sort of existential crisis, but deciding “What Kind of Writer Are You?“ if a great exercise.
Welcome to another Sunday! It’s been a special weekend in Nashville–Southern Festival of Books time! Three days packed with books, authors, panels, food, and friends… really, what more can you ask for? Here are a few shots of my weekend, starring, in order: my panel, with Jaden Terrell and I cutting up (photo courtesy of Genny Carter), the awesome Megan Abbott, my buddy Laura Hill from Reading Rock Books, Paul from NPT in my favorite shirt ever, the divine Victoria Schwab, snacks at the Oak Bar, my housewife crush, Helen Ellis, the adorable Meg Mitchell Moore, comrade-in-arms Ariel Lawhon, pointing and in hat, ghostly hands in the men’s room at the Hermitage and a pile of housewives (photos courtesy of Helen Ellis), and my book haul.
One of my favorite series is Deborah Harkness’s All Souls Trilogy. I’ve been rereading A DISCOVERY OF WITCHES this week, and say this awesome short video: Yoga and The All Souls Trilogy (cc @DebHarkness)
This is a fantastic piece for my fellow writers. I don’t mean to provoke any sort of existential crisis, but deciding “What Kind of Writer Are You?“ if a great exercise.
Goodreads is giving away 100 copies of my newest book, #4 in the Thriller Award-nominated Huntress series! BITTER MOON is available for preorder, on sale Nov. 1.
BITTER MOON:A haunted FBI agent and a ruthless killer track evil across decades in the next thrilling Huntress/FBI novel. A sixteen-year-old cold case offers Roarke a glimpse into the Huntress’s past…and a chance to catch a savage predator.
My anniversary as a published author is just around the corner. My very first novel, ALL THE PRETTY GIRLS, released into the world for the first time October 23, 2007.
But 2006 was when everything started really happening for me. It was a huge year, very exciting, very scary. My awesome agent (the brilliant Scott Miller) was shopping my novel to New York publishers. I placed a couple of short stories. I was part of a stellar line-up on an award-winning blog called Murderati.
It’s amazing to look back on that year. I’m so glad I was a regular blogger, because I’m not much of a journaler, and the blog gives me a week-by-week snapshot of all the exciting things that happened those first couple of years.
Now, I have 18 novels under my belt, and a wad of short stories. I co-write with Catherine Coulter, and co-host a literary television show. I’m writing standalones on my own—my ultimate goal—and I’ve started a publishing house for my fiction that doesn’t fit in with my traditionally published work.
Which is why I’m writing this post.
Over the years, many people have asked if they could have a print version of my shorts. I’m so thrilled to be able to offer this option at last.
Today, my very first print novel through Two Tales Press is available. It’s aptly named THE FIRST DECADE, and represents my most popular and personal favorite short stories written over the past ten years.
It also has two brand-new, never-before-seen stories that I wrote expressly for this collection. Plus, it’s a delight to have my best work over the past ten years in one place, in a tangible, physical book. Because we all love that new book smell, right?
THE FIRST DECADE is available through all your favorite retailers, and with any luck, your local independent bookstore as well.
(though you will have to ask them to order it for you) We are partnering with several stores where you’ll be able to get copies (more on that later).
I hope you’ll grab this one today, and spread the news to your friends as well.
Buy the Print Book
Download the ebook
Thank you for always supporting me and my writing. You mean the world to me!
My anniversary as a published author is just around the corner. My very first novel, ALL THE PRETTY GIRLS, released into the world for the first time October 23, 2007.
But 2006 was when everything started really happening for me. It was a huge year, very exciting, very scary. My awesome agent (the brilliant Scott Miller) was shopping my novel to New York publishers. I placed a couple of short stories. I was part of a stellar line-up on an award-winning blog called Murderati.
It’s amazing to look back on that year. I’m so glad I was a regular blogger, because I’m not much of a journaler, and the blog gives me a week-by-week snapshot of all the exciting things that happened those first couple of years.
Now, I have 18 novels under my belt, and a wad of short stories. I co-write with Catherine Coulter, and co-host a literary television show. I’m writing standalones on my own—my ultimate goal—and I’ve started a publishing house for my fiction that doesn’t fit in with my traditionally published work.
Which is why I’m writing this post.
Over the years, many people have asked if they could have a print version of my shorts. I’m so thrilled to be able to offer this option at last.
Today, my very first print novel through Two Tales Press is available. It’s aptly named THE FIRST DECADE, and represents my most popular and personal favorite short stories written over the past ten years.
It also has two brand-new, never-before-seen stories that I wrote expressly for this collection. Plus, it’s a delight to have my best work over the past ten years in one place, in a tangible, physical book. Because we all love that new book smell, right?
THE FIRST DECADE is available through all your favorite retailers, and with any luck, your local independent bookstore as well.
(though you will have to ask them to order it for you) We are partnering with several stores where you’ll be able to get copies (more on that later).
I hope you’ll grab this one today, and spread the news to your friends as well.
Buy the Print Book
Download the ebook
Thank you for always supporting me and my writing. You mean the world to me!
My anniversary as a published author is just around the corner. My very first novel, ALL THE PRETTY GIRLS, released into the world for the first time October 23, 2007.
But 2006 was when everything started really happening for me. It was a huge year, very exciting, very scary. My awesome agent (the brilliant Scott Miller) was shopping my novel to New York publishers. I placed a couple of short stories. I was part of a stellar line-up on an award-winning blog called Murderati.
It’s amazing to look back on that year. I’m so glad I was a regular blogger, because I’m not much of a journaler, and the blog gives me a week-by-week snapshot of all the exciting things that happened those first couple of years.
Now, I have 18 novels under my belt, and a wad of short stories. I co-write with Catherine Coulter, and co-host a literary television show. I’m writing standalones on my own—my ultimate goal—and I’ve started a publishing house for my fiction that doesn’t fit in with my traditionally published work.
Which is why I’m writing this post.
Over the years, many people have asked if they could have a print version of my shorts. I’m so thrilled to be able to offer this option at last.
Today, my very first print novel through Two Tales Press is available. It’s aptly named THE FIRST DECADE, and represents my most popular and personal favorite short stories written over the past ten years.
It also has two brand-new, never-before-seen stories that I wrote expressly for this collection. Plus, it’s a delight to have my best work over the past ten years in one place, in a tangible, physical book. Because we all love that new book smell, right?
THE FIRST DECADE is available through all your favorite retailers, and with any luck, your local independent bookstore as well.
(though you will have to ask them to order it for you) We are partnering with several stores where you’ll be able to get copies (more on that later).
I hope you’ll grab this one today, and spread the news to your friends as well.
Buy the Print Book
Download the ebook
Thank you for always supporting me and my writing. You mean the world to me!
Y’all, it has been a crazy couple of weeks. We’ve known for months that the second half of the year was going to be busy, what with the regularly scheduled deadlines and book tours and conferences supplemented by parental joint replacement surgery and multiple tapings for Season 2 (!) of A Word on Words. And then Mother Nature decides to send a hurricane right at our beloved beach? It’s the perfect metaphor, isn’t it? Happily, the joint-replacee is doing great, the show is great, the deadlines were met, the hurricane did superficial damage, and I’m home of the foreseeable future (at least until November, LOL). Half of me is so sad we’re heading into the second week of October, and the other half keeps saying “only 8 more weeks and things calm down!”
These are the blessings of my life, and trust me, blessings they are. Though I am looking forward to a quieter 2017. 💤
So. Here’s what happened on the Internets this week:
First things first: if you’d like to help those who were devastated by Hurricane Matthew, here are some organizations you can look into for spreading the relief effort. Your help is so greatly appreciated!
Ever dreamed at working at a bookstore, or at least being Kathleen Kelly in You’ve Got Mail? Then you’re gonna love these 17 behind-the-scenes secrets of working at a bookstore. I worked at a mall Waldenbooks for a while, and it was a blast.
If you’re not reading the Bliss House series by Laura Benedict, you are missing OUT! Laura’s prequel to the series,THE ABANDONED HEART, comes out Tuesday, and you need to go get it!!!! It’s perfect reading for the Halloween season.
Would you look at this beauty!!!! Last week, the cover for Nick & Mike #4, THE DEVIL’S TRIANGLE, made its debut and I don’t think Catherine and I could be more thrilled with how it turned out! Mark your calendars for 3/14/2017, y’all, and pre-order it here.
The final episode of A WORD ON WORDS Season 1 just aired, and my guest couldn’t have been a lovelier person: the wonderful Ariel Lawhon!!! If you’re into historical fiction, you’ve got to check out Ariel’s newest book, a masterful work on the Hindenburg’s final flight—appropriately titled FLIGHT OF DREAMS.
That’s it from me! Y’all be good, deck your porch with the trapping of fall (send pics, I’d love to see your decorations!) and I’ll talk to you again soon!
Y’all, it has been a crazy couple of weeks. We’ve known for months that the second half of the year was going to be busy, what with the regularly scheduled deadlines and book tours and conferences supplemented by parental joint replacement surgery and multiple tapings for Season 2 (!) of A Word on Words. And then Mother Nature decides to send a hurricane right at our beloved beach? It’s the perfect metaphor, isn’t it? Happily, the joint-replacee is doing great, the show is great, the deadlines were met, the hurricane did superficial damage, and I’m home of the foreseeable future (at least until November, LOL). Half of me is so sad we’re heading into the second week of October, and the other half keeps saying “only 8 more weeks and things calm down!”
These are the blessings of my life, and trust me, blessings they are. Though I am looking forward to a quieter 2017. 💤
So. Here’s what happened on the Internets this week:
First things first: if you’d like to help those who were devastated by Hurricane Matthew, here are some organizations you can look into for spreading the relief effort. Your help is so greatly appreciated!
Ever dreamed at working at a bookstore, or at least being Kathleen Kelly in You’ve Got Mail? Then you’re gonna love these 17 behind-the-scenes secrets of working at a bookstore. I worked at a mall Waldenbooks for a while, and it was a blast.
If you’re not reading the Bliss House series by Laura Benedict, you are missing OUT! Laura’s prequel to the series,THE ABANDONED HEART, comes out Tuesday, and you need to go get it!!!! It’s perfect reading for the Halloween season.
Would you look at this beauty!!!! Last week, the cover for Nick & Mike #4, THE DEVIL’S TRIANGLE, made its debut and I don’t think Catherine and I could be more thrilled with how it turned out! Mark your calendars for 3/14/2017, y’all, and pre-order it here.
The final episode of A WORD ON WORDS Season 1 just aired, and my guest couldn’t have been a lovelier person: the wonderful Ariel Lawhon!!! If you’re into historical fiction, you’ve got to check out Ariel’s newest book, a masterful work on the Hindenburg’s final flight—appropriately titled FLIGHT OF DREAMS.
That’s it from me! Y’all be good, deck your porch with the trapping of fall (send pics, I’d love to see your decorations!) and I’ll talk to you again soon!
Y’all, it has been a crazy couple of weeks. We’ve known for months that the second half of the year was going to be busy, what with the regularly scheduled deadlines and book tours and conferences supplemented by parental joint replacement surgery and multiple tapings for Season 2 (!) of A Word on Words. And then Mother Nature decides to send a hurricane right at our beloved beach? It’s the perfect metaphor, isn’t it? Happily, the joint-replacee is doing great, the show is great, the deadlines were met, the hurricane did superficial damage, and I’m home of the foreseeable future (at least until November, LOL). Half of me is so sad we’re heading into the second week of October, and the other half keeps saying “only 8 more weeks and things calm down!”
These are the blessings of my life, and trust me, blessings they are. Though I am looking forward to a quieter 2017. ?
So. Here’s what happened on the Internets this week:
First things first: if you’d like to help those who were devastated by Hurricane Matthew, here are some organizations you can look into for spreading the relief effort. Your help is so greatly appreciated!
Ever dreamed at working at a bookstore, or at least being Kathleen Kelly in You’ve Got Mail? Then you’re gonna love these 17 behind-the-scenes secrets of working at a bookstore. I worked at a mall Waldenbooks for a while, and it was a blast.
If you’re not reading the Bliss House series by Laura Benedict, you are missing OUT! Laura’s prequel to the series,THE ABANDONED HEART, comes out Tuesday, and you need to go get it!!!! It’s perfect reading for the Halloween season.
Would you look at this beauty!!!! Last week, the cover for Nick & Mike #4, THE DEVIL’S TRIANGLE, made its debut and I don’t think Catherine and I could be more thrilled with how it turned out! Mark your calendars for 3/14/2017, y’all, and pre-order it here.
The final episode of A WORD ON WORDS Season 1 just aired, and my guest couldn’t have been a lovelier person: the wonderful Ariel Lawhon!!! If you’re into historical fiction, you’ve got to check out Ariel’s newest book, a masterful work on the Hindenburg’s final flight—appropriately titled FLIGHT OF DREAMS.
That’s it from me! Y’all be good, deck your porch with the trapping of fall (send pics, I’d love to see your decorations!) and I’ll talk to you again soon!
Okay, now, this is the one – the most important thing I can tell you about film story structure that will help you for the rest of your writing life – no matter what form you’re writing in.
There is a rhythm to dramatic storytelling, just as there’s a rhythm to every other pleasurable experience in life, and the technical requirements of film and television have codified this rhythm into a structure so specific that you actually already know what I’m about to say in this post, even if you’ve never heard it said this way before or consciously thought about it. And what’s more, your reader or audience knows this rhythm, too, and unconsciously EXPECTS it. Which means if you’re not delivering this rhythm, your reader or audience is going to start worrying that something’s not right, and you have a real chance of losing them.
You don’t want to do that!
Early playwrights (and I’m talking really early, starting thousands of years ago in the Golden Age of Greece) were forced to develop the three-act structure of dramatic writing because of intermissions (or intervals). Think about it. If you’re going to let your audience out for a break a third of the way through your play, you need to make sure you get them back into the theater to see the rest of the play, right? After all, there are so many other things a person could be doing on a Saturday night….
So the three acts of theater are based on the idea of building each act to a CLIMAX: a cliffhanger scene that spins the action of the play in such an interesting direction that the audience is going to want to hurry back into the theater at the warning chime to see WHAT HAPPENS NEXT. Many plays break at the middle, so the Midpoint Climax is equally important.
This climactic rhythm was in operation for literally thousands of years before film and television came along and the need for story climaxes became even more, um, urgent. Not just because life was faster paced in the 20th century, but again, because of the technical requirements of film and television.
In a two-hour movie, you have not three climaxes, but seven, because film is based on an eight-sequence structure. The eight-sequence structure evolved from the early days of film when movies were divided into reels (physical film reels), each holding about 10-15 minutes of film. The projectionist had to manually change each reel as it finished, so early screenwriters incorporated this rhythm into their writing, developing sequences that lasted exactly the length of a reel and built to a cliffhanger climax, so that in that short break that the projectionist was scrambling to get the new reel on, the audience was in breathless anticipation of “What happens next?” – instead of getting pissed off that the movie just stopped right in the middle of a crucial scene. (If you get hold of scripts for older movies, pre-1950’s, you can find SEQUENCE 1, SEQUENCE 2, etc, as headings at the start of each new sequence.)
Modern films still follow that same storytelling rhythm, because that rhythm was locked in by television – with its even more rigid technical requirements of having to break every fifteen minutes for a commercial. Which meant writers had to build to a climax every 15 minutes, to get audiences to tune back in to their show after the commercial instead of changing the channel.
So what does this mean to you, the novelist or screenwriter?
It means that you need to be aware that your reader or audience is going to expect a climax every 15 minutes in a movie – which translates to every 50 pages or so in a book. Books have more variation in length, obviously, so you can adjust proportionately, but for a 400-page book, you’re looking at climaxing every 50 pages, with the bigger climaxes coming around p. 100 (Act I Climax) p. 200 (Midpoint Climax), p. 300 (Act II Climax), and somewhere close to the end. Also be aware that for a shorter movie or book, you may have only six sequences.
If you put that structure on a grid, it looks like this:Looking at that grid, you can see that what I started out in this article calling the three-act structure has evolved into something that is actually a four-act structure: four segments of approximately equal length (30 minutes or 100 pages), with Act II containing two segments (60 minutes or 200 pages, total).
That’s because Act II is about conflict and complications. While plays tend to have a longer Act I, because Act I is about setting up character and relationships, the middle acts of films have become longer so that the movies can show off what film does best: action and conflict. And books have picked up on that rhythm and evolved along with movies and television, so that books also tend to have a long, two-part Act II as well.
You don’t have to be exact about this (unless you’re writing for television, in which case you better be acutely aware of when you have to hit that climax!). But you do need to realize that if you’re not building to some kind of climax in approximately that rhythm, your reader or audience is going to start getting impatient, and you risk losing them.
Once you understand this basic structure, you can see how useful it is to think of each sequence of your story building to a climax. Your biggest scenes will tend to be these climaxes, and if you can fit those scenes onto the grid, then you already have a really solid set of tentpoles that you can build your story around.
So here’s the challenge: Start watching movies and television shows specifically looking for the climaxes. Take a film from your Master List (you did make that, didn’t you?) Screen it and use the clock on your phone or the counter on your DVD player to check where these climaxes are coming. It won’t take long at all for you to be able to identify climactic scenes.
Your next task is to figure out what makes them climactic!
I can give you a few hints. The most important thing is that the action of your story ASKS A QUESTION that the audience wants to know the answer to. But climaxes also tend to be SETPIECE scenes (think of the trailer scenes from movies, the big scenes that everyone talks about after the movie).
And what goes into a great setpiece scene?
Well, that’s another post, isn’t it?
– Alex If you’d like to to see more of these story elements in action, I strongly recommend that you watch at least one and much better, three of the films I break down in the workbooks, following along with my notes.
I do full breakdowns of The Matrix, The Wizard of Oz, Chinatown, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, Romancing the Stone, Sense and Sensibility, Four Weddings and a Funeral, Sea of Love, and The Mist – and act breakdowns of You’ve Got Mail, Jaws, Silence of the Lambs, Raiders of the Lost Ark in Stealing Hollywood.
I do full breakdowns of The Proposal, Groundhog Day, Sense and Sensibility, Romancing the Stone, Leap Year, Notting Hill, Four Weddings and a Funeral, Sea of Love, While You Were Sleeping and New in Town in Writing Love.
===================================================== I also recommend that you sign up for my Story Structure mailing list to receive movie breakdowns, story structure articles, and other bonus materials. (This mailing list is NOT the same as the RSS feed of the blog – you must opt in to this list to receive the extras mailings.)
