Story Structure - Demystified

by Larry Brooks

A comprehensive study of how a successful novel, screenplay or even a short story breaks down into a sequence of mission-driven parts separated by succinct functional milestone moments. The result is a context-driven and mission-driven model for story sequencing, forever answering the question, "what do I write next, where do I put it, and why does it work there?"

Genres: Writing

ebook

First published January 1, 2009

Reviews

[Cathy Yardley · Rating 5 out of 5]

Admittedly, I'm a hard-core plotter, but this helped me look at the "middle" in an entirely new way, and finally explained the damned midpoint in a way I loved. All this material has been folded into his new book, STORY ENGINEERING. Great stuff!

[James · Rating 5 out of 5]

Helps put everything together

Larry help shine a light that leads the way to understanding how a great story should look, read, and feel. All his books have helped me greatly in improving my writing. Thanks Larry.

[Steven Howell · Rating 4 out of 5]

STORY STRUCTURE--DEMYSTIFIED has gotten my novel on track, helping me to go from a stack of index cards consisting of scenes I couldn't figure out where to place in the story, to a solid structure of story milestones that act as a skeleton to hold the novel upright while I fill in the connective tissue with the talking, fighting, loving, and traveling my characters do on their own.
While I don't necessarily agree with Brooks that his structure is "non-negotiable" if an author intends to sell his work, this book is a terrific reference for anyone who struggles with structure. It won't write your book for you, but it will lay out a possible route to the desired destination: a finished first draft.

Now, a couple of critical comments: The book could have been half its current length and still covered the necessary information. It's FULL of Brooks's heavy-handed pontificating about his method and why you simply cannot be successful as a novelist unless you follow it. He uses endless metaphors until I end up shouting out loud, Monty Python-like, "Get ON with it!" In fact, as a personal tool, I condensed the book to one page showing the author's recommended structural milestones, then used the Scrivener program's corkboard to create index cards for each. I now have an invaluable template as a starting point for planning the direction of my plot and the distribution of scenes already written. It's quite helpful, and I'm grateful to Brooks for pointing me in that direction. For that service alone, I give the book five stars.

[Jessica Huszar · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved this book! Really clearly written and invaluable information for a novice writer like myself. It defines the major parts and turning points in a novel, where in the novel they should occur, and how they work together to create a coherent, publishable novel. Larry Brooks uses analogies as well as examples from well known books and movies to illustrate basic story structure. I will be re-reading and referencing this book often. If you're writing novels or screenplays, this is a must-read.

[Nicolette Hugo · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is such a brilliant gem of a book for writers.

Larry is gold. He makes it so accessible and easy to get your head around. I have read a few bits here and there about structure and while it makes sense conceptually, there always seems a gap to trying to overlay it on my stories - Larry fills the gap. What's more the books is short, to the point and easy to read. I finished it in a couple of hours yesterday and that included some mind mapping of the key points.

Highly recommended.

[Katy · Rating 5 out of 5]

NOW to write my novel!

This book has made it very clear the importance of story structure. While I knew some if the things listed, there was also much I needed to learn! As a new writer, I look forward to using this in my first novel.

[Robin · Rating 4 out of 5]

I need to think about this one some more.