: 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',

I have been amazed and impressed by the thoughtful responses everyone has provided. They have helped me greatly. I agree that characters are important and need to jump off the page. After the hook, no one will continue reading based on curiosity alone...they have to be interested and care about the characters. And then, yes, you have to torture them, or there is no story.

My question wasn't meant to negate the importance of character development. It was simply on understanding structure. And I understand from the great responses, that there is no 'golden rule' for structure. There may be traditional and popular structures, but like all true art, you can't just use a colour-by-numbers approach. That was a good revelation for me to learn. I do still believe, however (as some have expressed) that the knowledge I have gained of structure to date does give me a running start to writing my story.

There were also some responses that downplayed the idea of focusing on structure too much in the pre-writing stage. I agree that a solid structure does not automaticlally equate to a great story. However, there is much to be said of the differences between writing paradigms. I.e plotters vs Pantsers. As a true plotter, my strengths lie in planning out the story (as described in the snowflake method). My brain works in such a way that I need to understand the story mile markers, big or small, and to understand the flow of the story and where it is going, before I can begin writing. As such, the mapping of a solid structure into the story outline is a natural progression in my pre-writing planning.

My biggest take away is to not get too hung up on finding a perfect structure. Thanks everyone!

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: 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',

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: How do I write about nerdy concepts without sounding like a tryhard? How would one express nerdy gobbledygook without sounding like a technical tryhard? For instance, if I were to explain the

: In a screenplay, how do you show people talking over each other? When writing a script where you have two (or more) people talking at the same time, how is that formatted? Side-by-side columns?

: Typically, an editor does NOT have their name listed on the cover of a book. It is more common to acknowledge the editor in the acknowledgements. The exception to this would be in an anthology

: What is the difference between an ending scene and the end of a chapter? I'm new to professional writing, and I've been brushing up on standard manuscript format. I bought Scrivener to help

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