Category: 8. Story Beats
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Story Structure: Erle Stanley Gardner’s Fiction Factory
Best known for his Perry Mason novels, television series, and movies, Erle Stanley Gardner built and ran his fiction factory from the 1920s until his death in 1968.
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Story Structure: Exploring the Lester Dent Story Formula
In the 1930s, the Lester Dent story formula roared into use, but did it work?
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The Trellis Method: Discover What Story Beats Can Do for Your Writing
Popular masterworks, such as The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, follow a traditional story structure. I wondered, why do many writers resist using a story structure? Do they perceive it’s too complicated? Albert Einstein said, “Everything should be made as simple as possible, but not simpler.” In this post, I’ll explore how Story Beats simplifies structure,…
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The Trellis Method: How Busy Writers Can Use Story Structure and Write a Book Readers Will Love
Two life-changing words: what if. A few years ago, I asked, “What if I could find and apply the techniques used by bestselling authors?” I found intellectual wisdom, but practical application was scarce. Starting with this post, I’ll explain how The Trellis Method answered my what-if question and invite you to test whether the process…
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If I Was Creating a Story Arc Today
My dilemma: I had the perfect book idea but lacked the story’s structure. My solution arrived when genre and beats had a baby named Story Arc.
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Do You Want to Personalize Story Structure? Now You Can! – Part 6
Robert McKee shared this wisdom. “Writing is a marathon, not a sprint.” The finish line is in sight for this series on L. Frank Baum’s action fantasy, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. I’ll use the Preparation step from 7-Step Storytelling to emphasize essential takeaways.