Story Genius: How to Use Brain Science to Go Beyond Outlining and Write a Riveting Novel (Before You Waste Three Years Writing 327 Pages That Go Nowhere)

by Lisa Cron

In 2012, the New York Times reported that most self-published books sell fewer than 150 copies;

At its most basic, a story is about how someone grapples with a problem they can’t avoid, and how they change in the process.

What starts on page one is the second half of the story, when the plot kicks in.

The first half establishes where the problem came from and who the protagonist is to begin with, so that the plot you then create can force her to struggle with that problem and, in the process, change.