Story Structure for the Novel

About this course:

Many aspiring novelists write with the hope that inspiration will come. The result is time wasted on a flabby novel with no clear shape and a sagging pace. On the other hand, story structure gives your novel a skeleton; it forms the bones of your story. And just as adding flesh and clothing to a body makes that body more unique, so does any creative addition the writer makes to his or her basic structure. This course teaches you how to build that skeleton, from a solid premise line to building the moral argument of your novel. You ensure that your novel has what story structure guru John Truby calls the "seven key steps," and you learn how reversals and reveals, as well as character wants and needs, can drive your story to a satisfying conclusion. Exercises are worksheets which focus on structural elements such as character ghosts, story world, and more. By the end of the course, you have in hand a six-page synopsis that works.