We looked at hooks last week, both concept hooks that pique our initial interest in a story and in-story hooks that keep us engaged from start to finish. Today we’re looking at how a few New York Times bestsellers hook us. Continue reading
Category Archives: Concept
Hooks Big and Small–How the Masters Do It
Filed under Concept, hooks, Microtension, One-Line Synopsis, Story Master Wednesday, Voice
Story Hooks: What are they?
In the last post, we discussed how the most important element in a logline is often the element that reveals the story’s hook(s). But what is a hook? Let’s find out. Continue reading
Filed under Concept, hooks, Microtension, Monday Tool Day, Voice
Stakes: Show us what you’ve got!
When doing concept a couple weeks ago, I popped off a few examples to show each master’s way of writing concept. When illustrating Mr. Iglesias’ approach, I wrote this: Continue reading
Filed under Concept, Own Work Friday, Stakes
Stakes: How James Patterson does it
A couple weeks ago we looked at how master novelists write one-line synopses. One of them really emphasized stakes, so I picked that one to read with an eye for developing, heightening, and deepening stakes.
Ladies and Gents, I give you: Continue reading
Filed under Concept, Stakes, Story Master Wednesday
Stakes: So what? Who cares?
The masters agree: stories most often fail because the stakes aren’t high enough. But there is plenty we can do to ensure lack of stakes doesn’t happen to our stories. Continue reading
Filed under Concept, Monday Tool Day, Plot, Stakes
Designing Principle: Show us what you’ve got!
Designing Principles can come instantly, along with the initial idea. But often they are hard-won. If they come at all.
I considered trying to come up with a designing principle for one of the two premises we developed last week, but… I’ve got nothing. The only made-up designing principle I can offer you is this… Continue reading
Filed under Concept, Designing Principle, Own Work Friday
Designing Principle: Examples from the Masters
The designing principle, more or less, is the collection of creative things you do to present and tell your story.
In no particular order, here are some examples of how the masters have done it: Continue reading
Filed under Concept, Designing Principle, Story Master Wednesday
Designing Principle: What is it?
This tool is really an opportunity. It’s a prompt to get you thinking about your story and about how you might tell your story in an original way.
WHAT IS IT? Continue reading
Filed under Concept, Designing Principle, Monday Tool Day
Writing–and Improving–The One-Line Synopsis
Today we’re expanding a couple of last week’s concepts into synopses and then trying to improve them.
Continue readingFiled under Concept, One-Line Synopsis, Own Work Friday
The One-Line Synopsis: How the Best Sellers Do It (Or At Least the People Who Write the List) (Updated 10/16/18)
I’ve lifted these synopses from the January 18, 2015 New York Times Best Seller Lists. In each one, I’ve identified any synopsis components with: {W}orld, {C}haracter, {I}nciting Incident, {G}oal, {A}ction, {P}roblem, and {S}takes. I’ve also indicated if the component is {i}mplicit…to my ears anyway. And, if I wasn’t sure if a word or phrase indicated a component, I added a question mark.
They’re ordered from most amount of clear (no ‘?’) components to least amount of components, with each component counted only once. Ready? Which grab your attention…
Continue readingFiled under Concept, One-Line Synopsis, Story Master Wednesday
