How do you create rising action? What is its purpose? How can you make rising events more suspenseful? Dive into dramatic theory and tips to make your rising action riveting.
Category: Plotting
Plotting a story well ensures cohesion and connection between story events.
Find every article on plotting in Now Novel’s archives here.
Read helpful questions for plot development, and learn how to avoid common plot pitfalls. Learn what makes a good plot, and read plot structure examples that show how to connect story events in practice to tell a gripping story.
Brainstorm plot intrigues with 100 questions for plotting from beginning to end, plus an extra seventy on the seven basic plots in a free worksheet.
What is conflict’s role in plot? In a plot, conflict creates untenable situations that make resolution vital. It moves events in a direction. Learn more.
This complete guide to plotting and story structure provides resources for finding plot ideas, developing your plot and more.
Types of stories such as the seven story archetypes identified by Christopher Booker provide a starting point for writing something entirely your own.
There is no single method for how to outline a story, but these are some ways to make story structure and planning work for you and your writing process.
Acclaimed authors have often said that it’s not plot that matters, but rather story. Yet knowing how to create a plot that uses universal storytelling elements such as action and reaction, incident and coincidence, helps you grab and keep your reader’s attention. Learn how to come up with a plot for a better story:
Understanding how to keep a scene interesting is a crucial skill for writing a novel or screenplay. Scenes are the basic building blocks of a chapter or act. Read on for tips on how to write a scene, plus analysis of story scene examples:
Deciding how to outline a novel (or whether to outline at all) is a personal process for each author. This sample book outline plus 7 checks and insights will help you outline with purpose: