: Re: Story Structure I gained a lot of momentum from the answers to my first question. I've read a couple of writing books and read a lot of articles online. Although I'm still quite 'green',

@RJPawlick285

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I have a similar problem to you, in that there are such a vast majority of books to read about how to write that it's difficult to choose which ones to read. And once you have read them, their advice is often conflicting, meaning that if you follow one then you are actively ignoring the advice of another.

However, Writer's SE helped me immensely, because it made me realize from asking questions that even if you get half a dozen answers to a single question, that doesn't mean that any of those answers are wrong: they're just different. You simply need to choose which ones to follow.

Think of it like cooking. If I wanted to make a pot of chili, I could find at least 100 different chili recipes just from a quick internet search. None of them are wrong, they're just different. I just need to find the one I like and follow the recipe.

If I read all 100 recipes and made a chili using a mixture of ingredients from them all, that almost certainly wouldn't work. Certain ones would tell me to put coriander in, whilst others would advise me to leave it out. It's impossible to make a chili based on every recipe, in the same way that it's not possible to adhere to every bit of writing advice that you will read.

That doesn't mean that you have to strictly adhere to the advice or rules that a single book sets out. You can always mix together a couple that you think would work. It might turn out to be a disaster, but you might end up with an interesting result.

I now make great chili because I took the parts I liked from a few recipes and ended up making my own recipe. I also have my own unique style of writing because I follow rules and pointers from a number of authors that I like.

I will also offer a word of caution: you could read every recipe in the world, but that doesn't make you a chef if you've never cooked a meal. You will not know what tastes right together, you'll simply have a theoretical understanding of food.

It's the same with writing. As others here have suggested, you will never know which story structure to use unless you try some out. You might find you love the first one you try, or you might need to spend some time attempting different ones until you find one that works for you.

Also, reading does not make you a better writer. It's difficult to get your head around this, because reading and writing are so obviously linked most people assume they're the same thing, but they're not. I could happily eat a nice meal, but that doesn't mean I can cook it.

As a footnote, consider that anyone who has ever written a book could reasonably then write a book about how to write. There will be thousands of them, so don't venture down that rabbit hole. Most of them will say the same things anyway, so choose some and see if they work. If not, then you can try some more out.

Also, on re-reading my answer, I realize that I really went to town with the food metaphor, so I can only apologize, but hopefully it helped you out.

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