Table of Contents
Foreword 1
Introduction 4
Part I The Essence of Story 5
Chapter 1 Desire: The Ceiling Fan Principle and What It Means for Storytellers 6
Chapter 2 Orientation: The Eight Aspects Every Story Opening Will Include 15
Chapter 3 Crisis/Calling: Story Origins, Resolutions, and the Three Levels of Struggles 37
Chapter 4 Escalation: Adding Complications and Weeding Out Repetition 53
Chapter 5 Discovery: Crafting a Satisfying Climax 68
Chapter 6 Change: How Situations and Characters Are Transformed by Conflict 75
Part II Secrets to Organic Writing 85
Chapter 7 Responsiveness: Eight Secrets to Discarding Your Outline to Write Better Stories 86
Chapter 8 Emergence: The Three Questions That Will Solve Every "Plot Problem" You'll Ever Have 110
Chapter 9 Awareness: How Context Determines Content 124
Part III Story Progression 131
Chapter 10 Twists: Practical Steps to Pulling the Rug Out 132
Chapter 11 Promises: The Keys to Building Suspense and Satisfying Your Readers 145
Chapter 12 Scenes: Mastering Setbacks, Interludes, and Subtext 159
Part IV The Narrative Forces That Shape Our Stories 177
Chapter 13 Causality: How the Contingent Nature of Stories Affects Every Sentence You Write 178
Chapter 14 Believability: Removing Coincidences and Sustaining Belief 188
Chapter 15 Expectations: Working with Overlapping Genres 197
Chapter 16 Continuity: How Narrative Momentum Carries Stories Forward 208
Chapter 17 Fluidity: The Interplay of Pace, Flow, Narrative Time, and Flashbacks 212
Chapter 18 Polish: Touching Up Your Story 221
Chapter 19 Dilemmas: Creating Moral Quandaries for Your Characters 226
Chapter 20 Meaning: Telling the Truth About the World 235
Part V Subtleties of Characterization 245
Chapter 21 Status: What No One Is Teaching You About Characterization 246
Chapter 22 Attitude: Quirks, Idiosyncrasies, and the Difference Between Intention and Motivation 257
Chapter 23 Depth: Revelation vs. Transformation 270
Part VI Plot Flaws and How to Fix Them 278
Chapter 24 Incongruities: How to Tackle Problem Spots in Your Fiction 279
Chapter 25 Gimmicks: Common Traps Authors Fall into and What to Do About Them 288