Super Simple Story Structure: A Quick Guide To Plotting And Writing Your Novel

by Lisa M. Lilly

Are you struggling to start your novel? Stuck in the middle? Have you finished a first draft, but it doesn't really grab you? Super Simple Story Structure is a short, easy-to-read book that lets you speed through your first draft, minimize major rewrites, and keep readers turning the pages. The book includes specific questions and prompts to expand and focus your story idea. Using those exercises, plus examples from plots as diverse as The Terminator, The Awakening, and Gone With The Wind, bestselling author Lisa M. Lilly (writing as L. M. Lilly) walks you through the five simple steps she's used to write every novel she's published. You'll learn to Most important, Super Simple Story Structure walks you through what should happen in the middle of the novel--that spot that many writers approach with dread. What you'll create won't be so structured that you'll feel hemmed in and stifled. But it will be enough that you can write your first draft quickly, without getting stuck staring at a blank screen for an hour, then giving up and checking your social media accounts. Get started today.

90 pages, Paperback

Published May 31, 2020

About the author

In addition to the Q.C. Davis Mysteries, a traditional detective series that includes The Worried Man, The Charming Man, The Fractured Man, The Troubled Man, The Hidden Man, and the novella No Good Plays, Lisa M. Lilly also is the author of the four-book Awakening supernatural thriller series.

Like her character Quille C. Davis, Lilly lives and works in Chicago, Illinois. Under L.M. Lilly, she is the founder of WritingAsASecondCareer.com. She also hosts the podcast Buffy and the Art of Story.

Lilly also writes horror, including When Darkness Falls, a gothic horror novel set in Chicago’s South Loop, and the short-story collection The Tower Formerly Known as Sears and Two Other Tales of Urban Horror, the title story of which was made into the short film Willis Tower. Her stories and poems have appeared in numerous publications.


Her non-fiction books, written as L.M. Lilly, include Super Super Simple Story Structure: A Quick Guide to Plotting and Writing Your Novel; The One-Year Novelist: A Step-by-Step Guide to Writing Your Novel in One Year; and Creating Compelling Characters From the Inside Out.


A resident of Chicago, Lilly is an attorney and a member of the Alliance Against Intoxicated Motorists. She joined AAIM after an intoxicated driver caused the deaths of her parents in 2007. Her book of essays, Standing in Traffic, is available on AAIM’s website.

For information on new releases and to get free bonus fiction, including a Q.C. Davis Mystery novella, join her email list at LisaLilly.com/QuilleStories.

Reviews

[Elruin Elmsroot · Rating 3 out of 5]

Super simple.......

[Michelle Stockard Miller · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very helpful. I took a lot of notes on this book.

[J. Cygal · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found the book very useful for my debut novel project. It really helped me keep my plot on track. The content isn't revolutionary, but it's presented very concisely. I highly recommend it.

[Hayley (Strange & Unusual Book Club) · Rating 3 out of 5]

Solid structure advice!