Story Structure Quotes

“Highlights   1) Structure is the selection of events from characters’ lives strategically arranged to serve the writer’s purpose.   2) You should know the lives of your main characters from cradle to grave.   3) In addition to telling a good story, a writer’s secondary goal is to stir ideas or emotions in the reader.   Red Sneaker Exercises   1) List your three favorite books of all time. What do they have in common? Do common themes emerge? Did they produce a specific emotional or intellectual response?   2) Write a job application for your protagonist and antagonist using the form attached as Appendix A. Take your time. Do you know as much about these critical characters as you should?   3) You may have heard the term “takeaway,” meaning what the reader takes away with them after reading a book. What do readers get from your book? How are they rewarded for spending their time in your fictional world? Complete the following sentences:   When readers finish my book, I want them to feel ____________________.   When readers finish my book, I want them to think ______________________.   Now how are you going to arrange your story to make that happen?”
― William Bernhardt, Story Structure: The Key to Successful Fiction

“In his terrific book, Adventures in the Screen Trade, William Goldman wrote that the best approach to a good scene is to leave out the beginning and the end (the parts readers can readily guess or that matter least)”
― William Bernhardt, Story Structure: The Key to Successful Fiction