Analysis of Story Structure
The building blocks of a story seem basic enough: plot happens to characters. Under the hood, there’s so much more. For the past week I’ve posted a series on my socials where I broke down the elements of a story including: inciting incident, character development and arc, convergence of multiple character subplots into the main plot, and how this all tries together the “world impact” with the personal stakes of each character.
I’ve compiled them into the linked PDF and hope you get something out of it. As a reader or an author, I think you might enjoy it.
View or download it here: StoryAnalysis.pdf
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Progress Update: Harbinger of Darkness
Beta reading is finished and revisions are done. I have sent the initial chapters to my editor and cannot wait to get back into it with their expert guidance. The story and setting are inspired by The Expanse and are sprinkled with my love for Firefly (its vibe is more like the film Serenity). I’m super excited about this one.
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Read the prequel, The Hidden Darkness, for free: Read now
👀 Watch here for a call for ARC readers coming soon. You get to read for free and I get to ask you to leave a review. It’s an author/reader win-win.
Recent Watch/Read/Recs
📺 Reruns or Returns?
I guess it’s a thing now, old shows are being “continued” rather than rebooted. Recently I’ve checked out Scrubs and Malcom in the Middle. (Sing it with me: “Life’s still unfair.”) Scrubs is better than I expected and I’m enjoying it. 2 episodes into Malcom, I can say it’s ok. I’ll see where it goes from here.
What beloved show would you like to see “continued”?
📖 The is No Antimemetics Division by QNTM
Sometimes I think I'm not a deep enough person…
After watching a YouTuber rave about this book (10/10) and say how twisty and mind-bending it was, I picked it up. The opening scene in the office meeting, seeing Marie in action and that first big twist/reveal was incredible. It had me. I thought this novel was going to be every bit as good as I had hoped. Unfortunately for me, that was the best part of the book by far.
There is so much not said (which many reviewers praise it for), that I found it lacking and unsatisfying. I'm good with leaving much to the reader's imagination, but so many things happen with zero explanation or understanding that it feels like I needed to write more of the story than the author did. There is no science, only ideas of science. The Unknowns are concepts or ideas, yet also physical but not perceived. (Yet somehow those in the Division can perceive them). They are monsters, but only destructive in "ideatic space" yet somehow ruining the world and killing people, but maybe not?
As we reach the climax and resolution, much hinges on the love between Marie and Adam Quinn. However, we never feel that at all. We are told about it briefly. No sacrifice feels weighty, no emotional or personal stakes earned. Things happen. People do stuff. They forget. (I was lost on why so many times they forgot things on purpose while at other times forgetting was a malevolent act done to them). Some die. Some who die are still somehow active in the story. Maybe I missed the depth others found in it. It wasn't really for me.
If you think it might be for you: Go for it
Indie Author Spotlight
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Greyson Peters - Indie Author & Personal Friend
For those who love sci-fi and adventure without “colorful metaphors” or gratuitous violence and sex, you’ve got me and Greyson Peters (among others). While the demographics lean towards YA, middle-aged adults can enjoy some “good clean fun” too.
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You can grab book 1 and preorder book 2 now. Or listen to the first few chapters as a podcast show.
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