3T Writing Tidbit - story structure part III

I've been reviewing story structure lately. Despite what the pundits say, there's more than one way to tell a story! You have your 3-17 step hero's journey, your 5 plot-point, your 3 act, your 2 step scene/sequel. Let's start on the far end and work our way in.

Two months ago we did the 5 plot points. Let's look at the 3 act today. 

It's famously used for plays. It's the basic Beginning, Middle, End. But what happens in each of those places that gives this structure its, well, structure?

In a nutshell:

• The beginning is the setup.
• The middle is the confrontation.
• The end is the resolution.

Because each section is so large, this structure works well with the 5 plot points, which give each section its own internal shape. The setup rises toward the catalyst, after which it falls to the end of act I. In act II it rises toward the pinch, then falls to the end of act II. From there it rises to the climax, falling through the resolution of act III.

Published since 2009, over the years I've accumulated various items of writing wisdom. The Third Tuesday Writing Tidbit showcases these items in no particular order. Click here to see all 3T Tidbits. 

2T Repeat Performance -- Vampires and Musicals, oh my!

I've done a number of blog tours over the years, posting on different sites. Now I'm bringing them to you!

Originally published August 14, 2012 for Redheads Review It Better

Thank you, Crystal, for having me here today!

Vampires and musicals. How was this connection made?

Original Samhain Cover

Well, it wasn’t totally voluntary :) The sad fact of my life is that, when I try to plan it out, things often go drastically awry.

I once said I’ll never write vampire stories. Needles and blood make me feel faint. What are sharp-fanged vampires but giant blood sucking needles? I do love alpha males though, and vampires are the ultimate alpha. So when I got a brainstorm for a new kind of vampire, one who drinks blood for his veins instead of his stomach (just a few times a month instead of three times a night), I jumped on it. I wrote two red-hot vampire romances that became Bite My Fire and Biting Nixie.

Why musicals? Back in 2009 the first three books in the Biting Love series released, with the fourth scheduled for early 2010. I wanted to follow them up quickly (I know, slap me with a cosmic “kick me” sign) with book five, so I picked an area that I knew a lot about—music. Specifically, I had just played Reed II in the pit orchestra for a production of The Wizard of Oz. Theater is exciting, all costumes and lights and swirling action. Playing pit is tons of fun with friends and laughter, triumphs and disasters.

With so much great material to draw on, I finished the story quickly and submitted it in May of 2010.
Have you ever heard the phrase, “Due to circumstances beyond our control…”? Yeah. Obstacles sprang up out of nowhere, and book five had to wait over two years to be released. 

Entangled Cover

The finished story, Biting Oz, is more than worth all the hassles. I am thrilled with how it turned out, from the dramatic cover to the excellence in editing. The story also has a few new surprises, including entr’actes from the hero’s point of view and the first ever meeting of the vampire spouses of Meiers Corners, seven smart, strong women around one table.

I’ve learned my lesson, though. I can tell you that I’m working on Beauty Bites (Book Six), but I won’t tempt fate by saying when it’ll be done :)

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3T Something Different

 Today is where I normally have a 3T Writing Tidbit, but I again felt like something different... xkcd!

 

Published since 2009, over the years I've accumulated various items of writing wisdom. The Third Tuesday Writing Tidbit showcases these items in no particular order. Click here to see all 3T Tidbits. 

2T Repeat Performance -- Not the End of the World

I've done a number of blog tours over the years, posting on different sites. Now I'm bringing them to you!

Originally published August 11, 2012 for Taking Time for Mommy

Note: Remember the big fuss about the Mayan calendar ending in December of 2012?

Thank you for having me here today!

As I was sampling your blog, Taking Time for Mommy, I found this in the humor section (http://takingtimeformommy.com/not-the-end-of-the-world-funny/). And I thought, the Mayan Doom plus Marty McFly? Golden :) 

Black Diamond Jinn is a lot like the comic. Like Marty, heroine Amaia Jones is young, funny, and dealing with a world gone slightly nuts. In both comic and book, the Mayan Doom isn’t real. Well it shouldn’t be, because honestly, the end of a Mayan Long Count is just a time of bad luck, not cosmic meltdown—a chance for the Mayans to buy a new calendar, maybe something with kittens and puppies.

But in Jinn, a bad guy is whipping up the world’s Y12 feeding frenzy, making the Doom real. Four hours before the end of everything, Amaia discovers this. As a government witch it’s her duty to stop it, but her magic isn’t enough. So she gets help from her own Doc Brown—a powerful, sexy jinni named Rafe. 

Of course, Jinn isn’t PG like Back to the Future, because Amaia and Rafe first try to save the world with some red-hot X-rated Venus magic. But there’s action and humor and emotions, and like both comic and movie, it can take readers someplace else for a little time off.

3T Writing Tidbit - story structure part II

I've been reviewing story structure lately. Despite what the pundits say, there's more than one way to tell a story! You have your 3-17 step hero's journey, your 5 plot-point, your 3 act, your 2 step scene/sequel. Let's start on the far end and work our way in.

Last month we did the hero's journey. Today, let's discuss my favorite, the 5 plot points.

There are changes in a novel. Lots of them, or things get stale. I mean, you could construct a story about a boy named Baldric who had a lovely little sausage, The End. But unless you're Sir Anthony Robinson, it wouldn't be very engaging.

This structure revolves around the major changes that shape a story.

In a nutshell:

• Catalyst: Change from the status quo
• Big Event: Protagonist commits to the story's journey
• Pinch: Horrible choice/lowest point/worst fear
  
• Crisis: Protag tries to solve major problem permanently but fails/beyond worst fear.
  
• Climax: Final confrontation. Tries to solve major problem permanently and succeeds.

A couple pointers here. This structure works well with the protagonist's internal journey. The crisis makes climax inevitable because protag realizes the main truth/learns the main lesson. The protag wins in the end because she has learned what she needs to.

Published since 2009, over the years I've accumulated various items of writing wisdom. The Third Tuesday Writing Tidbit showcases these items in no particular order. Click here to see all 3T Tidbits. 

2T Repeat Performance -- Sparkling Possibilities

I've done a number of blog tours over the years, posting on different sites. Now I'm bringing them to you!

Originally published November 29, 2011 for Whipped Cream's Stuff Your Stockings Holiday Blogs

Sparkling Possibilities

As a musician I’m gigging from mid-November to December 25, so my favorite holiday is the only one I can stop to enjoy—New Years. 

But there’s more to New Years than that! It’s the cusp of new beginnings, a time when possibilities sparkle. A breath of fresh air, a clean start, clearing away old mistakes and regrets and stepping into new hope. I love beginnings. That’s why my stories feature the first meet. Here’s a short sample from Biting Me Softly with vampire Logan and computer geek Liese.

When I first clapped eyes on Logan, I thought, Hot damn. Look what the Sex Fairy brung me!

It was eight p.m. Sunday night, and I was at work. I do computers for the Meiers Corners Blood Center. The staff is me, the executive director and a part-time nurse named Battle. I was the only one who worked insane hours, but I was new and still trying to prove myself.

I don’t know what made me look up. The cool March air, perhaps. Maybe the aroma wafting in, mystery and magic with overtones of raw sex.

Whatever it was, my eyes lifted and there he was, the most stunning male I’d ever seen. Smack-me-between-the-eyes gorgeous. Bright blond hair rippled to broad, muscular shoulders. Lean strength roped a long, lithe body. Laughter and intelligence sparked gold-flecked hazel eyes. Perfect lips curved in a smile so sensuous it made my innards go bang.

Then he opened his mouth and spoke. Talk about ruining perfection.

“Hello, gorgeous.” His tone was deep and lazy. “I want to speak to the computer man in charge.”

Right. Well that just spoiled everything, didn’t it?

I crossed my arms under my breasts. “You’re looking at him. I’m the head apple. Minus the stem, but those are overrated anyway.”

My sarcasm didn’t even faze the man. He tucked one spectacular ass cheek on my desk and leaned in, so close I could feel his warmth on my face. “You’re L. Schmetterling? How…fruitful. And what, my Red Delicious, does the L stand for? Laurie? Lucy? Lovely?”

All that male beauty and a tight ass on top of it. I’d been burned once by a man with a flabby butt and no hair. This man would incinerate me.

I clutched the reminder of male perfidy on my ring finger and screwed up my most forbidding expression. “It stands for Leave. As in Me Alone.”

“I live to do your bidding, princess,” the man crooned, his lips inches from mine. He had perfect, chiseled lips—the kind designed by Michelangelo for kissing. “But if you’re L. Schmetterling, I can’t leave. I have business with you.”