Using novel planner tools helps you build a story with purpose. Whether you use a step-by-step, prompted outlining process like Now Novel’s dashboard or other story software, try these tips to for planning and making progress:
Category: Story Structure
Story structure is part of what makes a great novel, short story, play or other tale.
Find every article on crafting well-structured stories in Now Novel’s archives here.
Learn how to create an effective and purposeful scene. Get advice on chapter structure including where to use a dinkus or scene break. Discover how structure can help you keep your reader enthralled and turning pages.
There are many types of exposition in stories, in literature, film and other media. Exposition introduces your reader to important and intriguing details of your story – who, what, why, where and when. Read 9 exposition examples that show how to introduce characters, settings and scenarios memorably:
Writing the middle of a novel has its own unique challenges. You need to develop your story further after your engrossing start and set in place the build to the end. The curse of the ‘sagging middle’ can’t take hold. Read 9 tips on how to write the middle of a story and get it right:
A ‘hook’ in a story promises intrigue, entertainment and answers to the questions it raises. Far from the trickery of a bait and switch, a hook gives a true sense of what your reader can expect of your story’s pleasures. Explore great story hook examples and what they teach us about starting strong:
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:
Writing short stories provides a stepping stone to conquering larger story forms. Short story structure is easier to see due to brevity. Learn how to structure stories, with examples by a master of the form:
How do you start a chapter in a novel to hook your reader and structure your story? These 10 examples reveal ways to make your chapter beginning count:
You can easily find a novel outline template such as a spreadsheet full of empty fields to fill. Yet columns and rows of blank space are also daunting. Here are 5 tips for an easier outlining process:
In novels, screenwriting, and play-writing a scene is a useful structuring device for deciding what happens, where, to whom, and why. There are many ways to outline a story, but planning scene by scene is a useful way to make sure every scene has purpose, intrigue, and the other ingredients of a great read. Here are 5 tips to plan and link individual scenes to create structured story arcs: