Story Structure

Story Structure
Alan Watt with L.A. hills behind

Alan Watt

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Story structure is often taught by story analysts as plot, but it is really the DNA of our protagonist’s internal journey to transformation.

Without a sense of a beginning, middle and ending, you are likely going to get lost, and by having a sense of how to proportion your story you will be more aware of where your story is not working.

Structure is related to theme and not plot. By working with structure we begin to understand what we are trying to express. Don’t assume or take for granted that you know what you are trying to express. I always say that our idea of our story is never the whole story. It is not that our idea is incorrect. It is that it is incomplete.

By deepening our relationship to story structure, we develop the tools to write a more compelling narrative.

I always love to hear from writers. Please share with me your thoughts on this.

 

Learn more about marrying the wildness of your imagination to the rigor of structure in The 90-Day Novel, The 90-Day Memoir, or The 90-Day Screenplay workshops.



Alan Watt with L.A. hills behind

Alan Watt

Writing Coach

Alan Watt is the author of the international bestseller Diamond Dogs, winner of France’s Prix Printemps, and the founder of alanwatt.com (formerly L.A. Writers’ Lab). His book The 90-Day Novel is a national bestseller. As Alan has been teaching writing for over two decades, his workshops and the 90-day process have guided thousands of writers to transform raw ideas into finished works, and marry the wildness of their imaginations to the rigor of story structure to tell compelling stories.

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