Product Description: The second book in the Write Great Fiction series, Plot & Structure offers clear and concise information on creating a believable and engaging plot that readers can't resist. Written by award-winning thriller and suspense author James Scott Bell, this handy instruction guide provides:
* Easy-to-understand techniques on every aspect of plotting and structure, from brainstorming story ideas to building scenes, and from using subplots to crafting knock-out endings
* Engaging exercises, perfect for writers at any level and at any stage in their novel
* Practical and encouraging guidance from one of the most respected writers publishing today
Full of diagrams, plot brainstormers, and examples from popular novels, mastering plot and structure has never been so simple.
Great Nuts and Bolts ^ This book did not receive five stars because the writer has NO sense of style. Couldn't write a beautiful sentence to save their lives and one would assume this is essential to being a good, if not great, writer. However, as a mechanical instruction manual about how to plot and structure your novel this is a very, very practical guide. Highly recommended on that level.
The writer's ambiguous relationship to the distinction between literary and genre fiction is not helpful. There are, in my opinion, a great many distinctions between the two and these differences should have been listed, mapped, analyzed and offered up as coherent models. This, unfortunately, is not done...effectively.
Plot and Structure does not, effectively, deal with the terminology used to represent the techniques of the profession as well...but that is more quibble than a criticism.
In the end, if you cannot plot your novel after going over this book, thoroughly, then give it up...because you never will be able to.
Summing up, I would say this is a very good book...but not a great one. Still, as a nuts and bolts approach this writer brushes aside eloquence in favour of producing a basic 'how to' guide. On this level the book works brilliantly.
Excellent Book, Poor Kindle Formatting ^ Plot & Structure really is an excellent writing manual, particularly if you have others that stress creativity and fiction technique. It really gets down to craft, rather than art.
The problem with the Kindle edition is it has no active table of content. This, in my view, is inexcusable for a manual of any kind. Do they really expect a reader to read the entire book from start to finish? Every time they want to refresh on a particular topic within the book should they have to "turn" page after page to get to the section they need at the moment?
Honestly, I'm totally disapointed; particularly, I'm peeved there was no mention of the lack of active contents in the Kindle book description. I will probably refrain from buying any more writing manuals for Kindle. Stephen King's book "On Writing" suffers from same fault.
If you own a Kindle, save yourself the frustration and just buy the paperback.
Useful but Pedestrian ^ While this book has some useful tips on plotting, it seems most useful to people whose aim is formulaic genre fiction. Mr. Bell doesn't seem particularly well read, because about half of his examples come from Dean Koontz, who he refers to as "the master". Many of his other examples come from popular movies and other thrillers. The only literary examples he offers are The Catcher in the Rye and Moby Dick. Mr. Bell sometimes presents a sneering attitude toward authors who might eschew strict adherence to his formula. Of course, I'm not saying the techniques he describes dwouldn't apply to The Sound and the Fury. They probably do, but it would be nice to see some evidence that his story telling techniques apply to more than just the screenplay for Diehard.
Plotting made simple... ^ This book's philosophy on plotting is built around James Scott Bell's 'LOCK SYSTEM,' where: L: Lead O: Objective C: Confrontation K: Knockout ending This is aided by clear and insightful examples from actual novels (for example Dean Koontz, The Door to December) and actual movies (for example Jaws). When done in this way it provides a solid platform on which to structure a novel. Scott Bell explains 3-act structure but rather than talk about 'turning points' he uses his own self-styled 'doorways.' i.e. something has to happen in the plot to push the hero through Doorway Number 1, otherwise the story will stagnate. I found Scott Bell's explanations for these doorways very useful. Again he uses real life examples to make his point. The author breaks novel structure down into beginning, middle and ends and the essential ingredients that each section of your novel needs to work. He also does a nice section on scenes and again offers his own self-styled HIP (hook, intensity, prompt) system to make scenes work. Hook the reader, intensify the scene and prompt further reading. What this book does really well is provide simple, solid platforms/systems around which a writer can build their own story ideas. The style is user-friendly as is the page layout. I enjoyed reading this book and I felt I was in safe hands. It left me feeling confident about developing stronger plots.
Simply wonderful! ^ This book is one of my three writing bibles that I carry on me each and everyday. The other two are "First Draft in 30 Days" by Karen S. Weisner, and 'Writing the Breakout Novel" by Donald Maass. I love "Plot and Structure." I feel that it's an invaluable tool for writing a truly gripping novel. Anyone can write... but not every novel is gripping... yours will be with this book:) Thank you for the incredible tool!
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