10 Essential Lessons I Learned From Plot & Structure by James Scott Bell

Summary

Dans cette vidéo, John partage les leçons les plus intrigantes et impactantes qu'il a tirées du livre 'Plot and Structure' de James Scott Bell. Il en extrait 10 conseils essentiels, allant de la création de scènes surprenantes au développement de relations avec les personnages principaux, en passant par la révision méthodique et l'analyse des idées. Le point culminant est l'introduction de l'échelle d'intensité, un outil clé pour équilibrer le 'montrer' et le 'raconter' dans l'écriture, pour des histoires captivantes et bien structurées.

Takeaways

• 📚 L'importance de la structure narrative : Le livre 'Plot and Structure' de James Scott Bell offre des leçons clés pour améliorer la structure de l'histoire, bénéfiques pour débutants et experts.
• 🤔 L'idée première à jeter : Pour surprendre les lecteurs, il est suggéré de rejeter la première idée qui vient à l'esprit et de chercher des options inattendues.
• 📖 L'écriture de la couverture arrière : Écrire la couverture avant de commencer le livre aide à définir l'idée et facilite la promotion.
• 🎨 La méthode du traitement : Rédiger un résumé détaillé de l'histoire pour avoir une vision globale tout en laissant de l'espace à l'imagination.
• 📝 La méthode de David Morrell : Journaliser sur l'idée de l'histoire en se posant des questions pour explorer toutes les possibilités.
• 💡 Choisir les bonnes idées : Il est essentiel de sélectionner des idées qui valent la peine d'être écrites et qui passionnent l'auteur.
• 🧠 Fondamentaux de l'état d'esprit : Posséder une mentalité de croissance, se signaler soi-même et appliquer les connaissances acquises sont cruciaux pour l'amélioration en tant qu'auteur.
• ✍️ La révision étape par étape : Bell propose une approche complète pour réviser une histoire, allant de la mise à distance à l'élaboration de plusieurs brouillons.
• 🔍 Analyser l'idée avant d'écrire : Il est important de s'assurer que l'idée est personnelle et qu'elle répond aux attentes du marché.
• 🔑 Rendre les scènes intéressantes : Utiliser des accroches fortes, maintenir une intensité élevée et créer un appel à l'action pour la scène suivante.
• 👥 Établir une connexion avec le personnage principal : L'empathie, la sympathie, la sympathie et le conflit intérieur sont essentiels pour que les lecteurs s'investissent dans l'histoire.
• ⚡️ L'échelle d'intensité : Apprendre à alterner entre 'montrer' et 'raconter' en fonction du niveau d'intensité de la scène pour éviter la surcharge des lecteurs et mettre en évidence les moments clés.

Q & A

Quel livre a John lu et comment cela a-t-il influencé sa compréhension de la structure de l'histoire ?

John a lu 'Plot and Structure' de James Scott Bell, un livre qui offre de nombreuses leçons pour améliorer la structure de l'histoire, que ce soit pour les débutants ou les experts.

Quelle est la première leçon partagée par John sur la création d'une histoire ?

La première leçon est le concept d'anticipation, où John suggère de rejeter la première idée qui vient à l'esprit et de se concentrer sur des idées surprenantes pour les lecteurs.

Pourquoi est-il important d'écrire la copie de couverture de son livre avant de commencer à écrire ?

Écrire la copie de couverture permet de se concentrer sur l'idée principale du livre et facilite la promotion du livre par la suite, en rendant plus facile sa découverte et sa lecture par le public.

Quel est le rôle d'une 'trattoria' dans le processus de rédaction ?

Une trattoria est un aperçu détaillé de l'histoire, généralement d'une vingtaine à quarante pages, qui permet d'avoir une vision globale de l'intrigue tout en laissant de la place pour la créativité lors de la rédaction.

Quelle est la méthode de David Morrell et comment l'a-t-elle aidé John ?

La méthode de David Morrell consiste à tenir un journal sur l'idée de l'histoire, en se posant constamment des questions pour explorer toutes les possibilités et découvrir le potentiel de l'histoire. John a découvert cette méthode par hasard et l'a trouvée très utile pour développer des arcs de personnages complexes.

Pourquoi est-il essentiel de choisir la bonne idée pour un roman ?

Choisir la bonne idée est crucial car cela évite de passer beaucoup de temps à écrire quelque chose qui pourrait ne pas intéresser les éditeurs, les agents et les lecteurs, ce qui serait une perte de temps et d'efforts.

Quelle est la technique que Bell décrit pour avoir des idées créatives ?

La technique consiste à réserver un temps hebdomadaire de 30 minutes sans distractions pour laisser libre cours à l'imagination, sans censure ni jugement, et à analyser ensuite les idées pour en sélectionner les meilleures à développer.

Quels sont les trois aspects clés de la révision d'un roman selon Bell ?

Selon Bell, la révision doit inclure la mise à distance du manuscrit, la préparation à la révision, la lecture du récit en se concentrant sur les éléments clés, la réflexion sur les observations, la rédaction d'une deuxième version, le raffinage du manuscrit, et le polissage final.

Quelle est la différence entre 'montrer' et 'raconter' selon l'enseignement de Bell ?

Montrer est une technique pour rendre les scènes vivantes, mais il ne faut pas le faire constamment, car cela pourrait épuiser les lecteurs et ne laisser aucun moment qui se démarque. Il est important de savoir quand montrer et quand raconter pour maintenir l'intérêt du lecteur.

Quels sont les quatre éléments clés pour établir une connexion entre le lecteur et le personnage principal ?

Les quatre éléments sont l'identification (empathie), la sympathie (mettre les personnages dans des situations difficiles), la sympathie (caractéristiques aimables) et le conflit interne (doutes et hésitations du personnage).

Quel est le concept de l'échelle d'intensité et comment est-il utile pour le récit ?

L'échelle d'intensité est un outil pour déterminer les moments où il faut montrer et les moments où il faut raconter dans une scène. Elle varie de 0 à 10, où les moments à haut niveau d'intensité sont mieux montrés et ceux à faible intensité sont racontés plus rapidement.

Quelle est la leçon la plus importante pour John dans le livre 'Plot and Structure' ?

La leçon la plus importante pour John est l'utilisation de l'échelle d'intensité, car elle clarifie les moments où montrer ou raconter, améliorant ainsi la dynamique de l'histoire.

Outlines

00:00

📚 Leçons de structure narrative

John partage les leçons clés tirées du livre 'Plot and Structure' de James Scott Bell, qui sont bénéfiques pour débutants et experts. Il a noté 10 leçons et les partage, en réservant la plus précieuse pour la fin. Il insiste sur l'importance de surprendre le lecteur et de ne pas donner ce qu'ils attendent, en rejetant la première idée lors de la création d'une scène. Il introduit également la 'médaillée de systèmes de trame', qui comprend l'écriture de la couverture arrière du livre avant de commencer l'écriture, l'écriture d'un traitement pour avoir une vue d'ensemble détaillée de l'histoire, et la méthode de David Morrell qui consiste à journaliser sur l'idée de l'histoire pour explorer son potentiel.

05:01

🤔 Choisir les bonnes idées

Bell souligne l'importance de choisir les bonnes idées pour écrire, car non toutes les idées méritent d'être développées. Il propose une technique pour avoir des 'heures d'idée hebdomadaires', où l'on laisse libre cours à l'imagination sans jugement, puis on analyse et on sélectionne les meilleures idées pour les développer. Cette approche cumule les idées et permet de trouver des concepts passionnants à explorer en écriture.

10:02

💡 Fondamentaux de l'état d'esprit

Ce paragraphe aborde les concepts fondamentaux pour devenir excellent dans n'importe quelle compétence, y compris l'écriture. Il mentionne l'importance d'avoir une mentalité de croissance, de se signaler soi-même avec des objectifs et des identités visibles, et d'appliquer réellement les connaissances acquises plutôt que de simplement s'engager dans une éducation vide. Ces éléments sont essentiels pour améliorer ses compétences d'écrivain.

15:02

🔄 La révision de Bell

Bell présente une approche complète pour la révision, qui commence par laisser reposer l'histoire, se préparer à la révision, lire l'histoire en se concentrant sur les éléments clés, poser des questions sur différents aspects de l'histoire, puis rédiger une deuxième ébauche en appliquant les changements. Il suggère de réfléchir à ces observations, de passer à l'étape de raffinement en ajustant les scènes et les personnages, et de finir par un polissage pour améliorer les dialogues et les scènes. Il insiste sur l'importance d'aimer la révision comme une partie nécessaire de l'art de l'écriture.

📘 Analyser les idées avant d'écrire

Bell conseille d'analyser une idée avant de commencer à écrire pour s'assurer qu'elle est suffisamment personnelle et passionnante, et qu'elle est attrayante pour le marché des lecteurs. Il est important de s'assurer que l'idée est originale et qu'elle mérite d'être investie en temps et en énergie, en se concentrant sur la publication et la réception du public.

🚀 Améliorer la trame par la pratique ciblée

Bell introduit le concept d'améliorer la compréhension des trames par le 'forage', qui implique de lire et d'analyser six livres du genre qu'on souhaite écrire. Après avoir lu le premier livre pour le plaisir, on réfléchit à la sensation qu'il procure, puis on enregistre des informations clés pour chaque scène des livres lus, pour comprendre comment les trames sont construites et identifier les相似ités entre elles.

🔑 Rendre les scènes plus intéressantes

Bell donne des tactiques pour rendre les scènes plus captivantes en se concentrant sur l'accroche, l'intensité et l'incitation à la lecture suivante. L'accroche doit attirer l'attention du lecteur dès le début, l'intensité doit être maintenue pour garder le lecteur engagé, et l'incitation doit susciter la curiosité pour la scène suivante, en utilisant des dialogues mystérieux, des révélations de secrets ou des événements surprenants.

🌟 Connexion avec le personnage principal

Il est essentiel de créer une connexion entre le lecteur et le personnage principal, en utilisant l'empathie, la sympathie, la sympathie et le conflit interne. L'empathie permet au lecteur de se identifier aux traits relatable du personnage, la sympathie le met dans des situations difficiles pour renforcer cette connexion, la sympathie amplifie les traits aimables du personnage, et le conflit interne montre les doutes et les luttes internes qui sont universels.

⚡ L'Échelle d'intensité

La leçon favorite de John est l'Échelle d'intensité, qui enseigne à écrire avec une variété d'intensité dans les scènes. Lorsque l'intensité est élevée, on se concentre sur la description pour montrer, et lorsque l'intensité est faible, on utilise le récit pour avancer rapidement vers les moments clés. Cette échelle aide à éviter la fatigue du lecteur et à rendre les moments importants plus intenses et mémorisables.

Keywords

💡Intrigue

Intrigue fait référence à la capacité de quelque chose à captiver l'attention et à susciter le désir de savoir plus. Dans le contexte de la vidéo, l'auteur souligne que les leçons tirées du livre 'Plot and Structure' par James Scott Bell sont intrigantes et ont un impact sur l'écriture de récits, ce qui est essentiel pour maintenir l'intérêt du public tout au long de l'histoire.

💡Unanticipating

Le terme 'Unanticipating', inventé par l'auteur, fait référence à l'idée de surprendre le lecteur en lui offrant quelque chose de différent de ce qu'il s'attend à voir. Cela est crucial pour éviter les histoires prévisibles et ennuyeuses, comme illustré dans le script où Bell suggère de rejeter la première idée qui vient à l'esprit pour créer des scènes inattendues.

💡Back cover copy

La 'back cover copy' est un texte concis qui résume l'histoire d'un livre et est destiné à attirer les acheteurs dans les magasins. Dans la vidéo, l'importance de rédiger cette copie avant d'écrire le livre est soulignée pour clarifier l'idée principale et faciliter la promotion du livre, comme le suggère le worksheet mentionné à la fin du livre.

💡Treatment

Un 'treatment' est un résumé détaillé d'une histoire, généralement de 20 à 40 pages, qui présente l'intrigue dans son ensemble. Il est utilisé pour avoir une vision globale de l'histoire tout en laissant de la place pour les détails, ce qui rend le processus d'écriture plus rapide et plus structuré, comme expliqué dans la vidéo.

💡David Morrell method

La 'méthode David Morrell' est une technique de journalisation qui consiste à se poser constamment des questions sur une idée de récit pour explorer toutes les possibilités et découvrir le potentiel de l'histoire. Cette méthode est présentée dans la vidéo comme un outil pour approfondir la compréhension des personnages et des arcs narratifs.

💡Mindset fundamentals

Les 'mindset fundamentals' sont des concepts clés pour devenir bon dans une compétence, y compris l'écriture. Le script mentionne le 'growth mindset', qui est la croyance que l'on peut acquérir de nouvelles compétences et s'améliorer, ainsi que l'importance de l'auto-signalisation et de l'application des connaissances acquises.

💡Revision

La 'révision' est le processus d'amélioration d'une histoire après la première écriture. Le script décrit une approche étape par étape pour la révision, allant de la lecture initiale à la rédaction d'une deuxième ébauche, en passant par le raffinement et le polissage, pour rendre l'histoire plus forte et captivante.

💡Idea analysis

L''analyse d'une idée' est le processus de vérification de la valeur et de la pertinence d'une idée de récit avant de commencer à écrire. Le script insiste sur l'importance de s'assurer que l'auteur est passionné par l'idée et que le marché des lecteurs pourrait s'y intéresser, en se concentrant sur la personnalité de l'œuvre et en évitant les tendances de la foule.

💡Drilling

Le 'drilling' est une méthode de pratique ciblée pour améliorer la compréhension des intrigues, consistant à lire et analyser en détail plusieurs livres du genre que l'on souhaite écrire. Cette technique permet de repérer les相似ités et de comprendre la structure des histoires, comme illustré par l'exemple de Bell dans le script.

💡Intensity scale

L''échelle d'intensité' est un outil pour apprendre quand montrer et quand raconter dans une scène, en ajustant le niveau de description en fonction de l'intensité de l'événement. Le script utilise cette échelle pour montrer comment équilibrer l'utilisation de 'show don't tell' et éviter la surcharge pour le lecteur.

💡Lead character

Le 'personnage principal' est le personnage central autour duquel s'articule l'histoire. L'établissement d'un lien fort entre le lecteur et ce personnage est crucial, car il conditionne l'engagement émotionnel du lecteur dans l'intrigue. Le script détaille les éléments clés pour créer cette connexion, tels que l'empathie, la sympathie, la sympathie et le conflit interne.

Highlights

Unanticipating: To create surprising story scenes, discard the first idea and brainstorm for unexpected outcomes.

The Plotting Systems Medley: A collection of writing lessons including writing back cover copy before the book, creating a detailed treatment, and using the David Morrell method of journaling story ideas.

Writing Back Cover Copy: Helps in conceptualizing and marketing the book effectively.

Story Treatment: A 20 to 40-page overview that aids in detailed planning while leaving room for enhancement during writing.

David Morrell Method: Continually questioning and exploring story ideas through journaling to uncover their full potential.

Choosing the Right Idea: The importance of selecting ideas worth the time and effort, and the technique of setting aside weekly idea time.

Mindset Fundamentals: The significance of a growth mindset, self-signaling, and applying knowledge for skill improvement.

Revision Process: Bell's comprehensive step-by-step approach to revising a story, emphasizing the importance of spacing, preparation, and big picture elements.

Analyzing the Idea: Ensuring personal passion and market interest in the story idea before writing.

Drilling for Plot Understanding: Using targeted practice with books of the chosen genre to improve plot construction.

Making Scenes Interesting: Techniques focusing on the hook, intensity, and prompt to engage readers.

Connecting Readers with the Lead Character: The importance of identification, sympathy, likability, and inner conflict for reader engagement.

The Intensity Scale: A method to determine when to show and when to tell in a story to maintain reader interest and intensity.

Importance of Rewriting: Embracing the rewriting process as a necessary part of improving writing and plot strength.

Creating Memorable Characters: Techniques to make characters stand out and surprise readers.

The Emotional Craft of Fiction: Mention of another book with impactful writing lessons for emotional storytelling.

Transcripts

what's going on I'm John and today I'm

going to be sharing the most intriguing

and impactful lessons that I learned

from Reading plot and structure by James

Scott Bell this book is full of lessons

that would benefit both story structure

and newbies and experts so I went

through took some notes and extracted 10

most impactful lessons for me in this

book and I'm sharing them with you right

now oh and I'll be sharing the most

valuable lesson last so stick around for

that one the first lesson is pretty

simple but it's something that's good to

keep in mind when you're creating a

story and this is the concept that he

calls unanticipating basically people

have had so much exposure to stories

through movies and books and all sorts

of other media and because of that

people have an inherent guess of what is

going to happen in any one scene and you

obviously don't want to give them

exactly what they think is going to

happen because that's going to lead to a

boring story to combat this Bell

suggests that when you're figuring out

ideas for a scene throw out your first

idea and after you've done that then

start brainstorming for ideas that would

be surprising to readers and that would

really catch them off guard number nine

the plotting systems medley this is

actually a collection of lessons that

came from one of my favorite parts of

reading this book the first is something

that I think is vital for writers and

this is the concept of writing your back

cover copy before you write the book and

the reason why I think this is so

valuable is because first it forces you

to come up with a very concrete idea of

what this book is going to be about and

secondly and perhaps more importantly by

getting a very clear Focus for the book

it's easier to market the book later

down the road whether it's you marketing

it or a publisher marketing it and that

means that it's easier for people to

find your book and to read it and also

there is a worksheet for creating this

back cover copy in the end at the

appendix I thought the worksheet looked

pretty good and I would like to use it

when I'm getting ready to write to the

next book now the second part of the

plotting systems medley is something

that I had heard about before but I

always had this vague idea about and

never really saw a clear example of and

this is the concept of writing a

treatment for a story and basically what

a treatment is is a present 10 overview

of the story it's usually pretty long 20

to 40 pages and you're just going over

what's going to happen in the story in

its entirety and because you're taking

all this space to do it you're getting a

very detailed idea about what's going to

happen in the story but still leaving a

lot of what the story is going to be out

of it and thus making it faster to write

than just writing a first draft in more

of a enhancing style nothing against

panzing of course but this is about

plotting systems so you can imagine who

it's for and part of the process for

creating the treatment is actually

editing it until you think the story is

solid and this is a concept that I

really am looking forward to trying out

myself because I think this could be

super valuable we'll have to see what

happens with that in a future video and

now the third and final piece of this

plotting system medley is something that

he calls the David Morrell method and

what this is is basically journaling

about your story idea continually asking

yourself questions about it to follow

all those rabbit holes and find out the

true potential for your story and I

actually did this one time inadvertently

before I even heard of this I was on a

run and I was just thinking about the

story and trying to figure out different

ideas for it and just continually asking

questions and this helps me create one

of my favorite character arcs in the

second book of my Epic Fantasy series so

it was really useful and I can

definitely vouch for this method okay

Number Eight coming up with the right

ideas first I'll let Belle communicate

why choosing the right idea is so

important not every idea is worth

writing about why spend six months a

year 10 years hammering out something

that editors agents and not to mention

readers will not care about this is so

true because even if you're a very fast

writer who can take a book from the idea

phase to the proofreading phase in just

one month that's still a whole month of

your life and to be honest most of us

are not able to write books that quickly

yet so it takes us even more time and

more commitment to an actual idea so you

want to make sure you choose the right

one the technique Bell describes

basically goes like this first you want

to have weekly idea time set aside you

want it to be around 30 minutes or you

don't have any distractions you want to

get yourself into a relaxed State and

just start letting the ideas flow

letting your imagination go wild not

having any censorship not having any

judgment and letting the ideas come

trying to be playful and even silly with

it and just enjoying the process as much

as possible and after you've finished

with your idea time that is when you

look over the ideas that you had and you

analyze them and pick out the ones that

you think are the best and then you

decide which ones you want to develop

further and this technique definitely

has a cumulative effect because if you

were only able to come up with say 20

ideas per week in that 30 minute block

then by the end of a year you would have

1040 ideas and a lot of them might not

be very good but there would definitely

be ideas in there that you were super

excited to write about number seven I'm

calling this a mindset fundamentals

although I was already familiar with all

of these Concepts I thought that they

were so important that I had to include

them anyway these are the foundations to

becoming great at any skill and of

course that includes writing one of the

main things Belle talks about is the

concept of a growth mindset and

basically this is the belief that you

can gain new skills that you can grow

and change and improve and that your

level of ability is not fixed at Birth

and you can imagine how necessary this

is if you actually want to improve your

skills as a writer you have to believe

it's possible first second he talks

about a concept called self-signaling

This is basically using various things

to remind yourself of your goals and

your identity so he recommends writing

down your goals and putting them from

somewhere easy to see as well as

surrounding yourself with things that

remind you of your identity as a writer

for instance he has a poster that

reminds him and a cup a mug that reminds

him all of his identity as a writer and

this last one is vital it's about

applying the knowledge that you actually

learn rather than just engaging in empty

sort of Education Without actual

application and the reason why this is

so important is because say that you're

just learning something you're reading

various books about writing and you're

not actually applying them not actually

applying any of the lessons in them

likely you're not going to remember any

of that stuff and that's going to make

it so much harder to make progress and

actually benefit from the things you're

learning lesson number six this is

Belle's take on on revision and I like

Bell's take on revision because it's

very comprehensive and gives you a

step-by-step approach to actually

revising a story so I'm thinking about

using this next time I'm doing revision

because I currently don't really have

that defined of a process my process is

pretty vague and just being able to plug

into something that's step by step would

be easy and then I can adjust as I go so

these are the basic steps that he talks

about first he advises you to let the

story sit so you can get some space from

it it is an advised a ton of time to let

the story sit he says two three weeks is

enough second he asked you to get

prepared for revision because the

revision process can be pretty lengthy

and it can be hard especially if you're

not the type of person you really likes

their Vision process so this part of the

process is all about getting yourself

excited about how you're going to be

improving your story so much with each

step of the process and knowing that by

doing this you're going to get something

amazing at the end the third step is

reading through the actual story and he

says to focus on the big picture

elements at first just pay attention to

big things like story three characters

and potential alternative directions for

the plot pay attention if the stakes are

being raised if your story is getting a

three-act structure all these sorts of

high level things at this space then he

advises to ask yourself questions about

the different aspects of the story for

example here are some of the questions

He suggests you ask about the lead

character is the character memorable

compelling enough to carry the reader

all the way through the plot does this

character avoid cliches is HE capable of

surprising us what's unique about the

character after you've done all this

stuff he advises you to brood over all

that you've thought about and to journal

about the observations you had at the

start of each day and after doing this

brooding for the few days we move on to

the next step which is writing the

second draft and he mentions that here

you want to do whatever you can to

implement the changes you just came up

with in the previous step whether that's

starting from scratch or just copy and

pasting a lot and inserting scenes and

taking things out whatever you've got to

do to implement these changes now the

second last step is the refining stage

for the refining phase is you want to

set the draft aside for another week and

then read through it one more time then

you can start working on tightening and

cutting scenes deepening characters and

expanding and revising subplots and this

step is really about making all of those

big picture elements of the story as

good as you can you want the elements of

character plot and theme to be nailed

down by the end of the step and the last

step is what he calls the polishing step

and this is about really just putting

the final touches into this story and he

talks about two major passes one with

regard to dialogue and making the

dialogue as good as it can be and the

second with regard to scenes and really

getting those scenes to the point where

every single one is interesting and

leads to the next one and Bell

highlights one of the most important

aspects of rewriting when he says learn

to love rewriting because it's a

necessary part of the craft you are

going to be a better writer every time

you go through the process and your

plots will be stronger by far and now

we're ready to move on to lesson number

five and this is something I think most

people don't do but that they would

greatly benefit from doing and this is

analyzing the idea before you start

writing and the main ways Bell talks

about analyzing an idea are first to

make sure that you actually care about

this idea enough to spend a long time

with it and I really like the part where

bell talked about how important it is to

make novels personal why are so many

novels rejected one reason is that they

seem cookie cutter they follow the crowd

because the writer often thinks gee if I

write something like something else that

is successful I can get published this

is a major mistake without a passionate

commitment to the plot as story you're

burning to tell your voice will not be

original or compelling the second part

of the analysis process is making sure

that the market AKA readers care enough

to actually read it you want to look at

the story at this point from a

perspective of publishing company or an

investor is this something that you

think would be worth investing time and

money into and I really love this

because I think a lot of people who are

trying to publish traditionally don't

even really consider this they think the

publisher will handle all the marketing

for them but the problem is if the book

is not written in a way that the market

actually wants it then it will be hard

for the publisher to Market in general

and even if they do pick it up it'll be

harder for them to sell and the third

step is making sure to narrow down the

idea to something that is easy to

understand so for instance with the

series that I'm writing it's not just

normal fantasy it is also Epic Fantasy

and you can even go into more Niche

markets here as well a good place to

find out some of these is by looking

into the Amazon best sellers they have

all sorts of different subgenres that

you can see there whether it's military

fantasy or swords and sorcery fantasy or

whether it's cozy Mysteries or all those

sorts of things and now one of the most

important lessons in this video number

four make sure to smash that like button

if you're enjoying this video so that

YouTube knows here with other writers

like you and now for the real Lesson

Four and this is actually one of my

favorite Concepts and ideas from this

entire book this is the concept of

learning more about plotting through

Drilling and by drilling Bell is

basically talking about using very

targeted practice to improve your

understanding of plots so here's how he

says to go about it first you choose six

books of the type that you want to write

and this can also include some novels

that you've already read you make a

schedule that you can stick to to get

all of these books read through and

analyzed you read the first book for

pleasure and then after you finish it

you take a day to just let the idea spin

in your mind about it to percolate on

this book you want to think about how

this book made you feel what sorts of

themes it contained how the plot was

constructed did it ever drag those sorts

of things then you go back and you

repeat that last step for all the

remaining books once you know with that

then you go back to book one and you

record the critical information for

every single scene so some examples of

this information might be the setting

POV character summary scene type whether

the scene made you want to read to the

next scene or not and why and then you

repeat this last step for all of the

remaining books as well and once you've

got all of these detailed outlines of

the plots you read through each of the

plots in order to really solidify your

understanding of how the plots work and

be able to look for similarities and see

how stories like the ones you want to

tell are constructed okay now number

three and this is a big one this is

making scenes more interesting in this

lesson Bell is giving us tactics to make

earth scenes so much better he focuses

on three main things the hook intensity

and a prompt here's how Bell explains

the importance of the hook the hook is

what grabs the reader's attention from

the start and gets him pulled into the

narrative and here is where many a

writer stumbles feeling there needs to

be adequate description of the location

first then the characters a writer May

tend to start his scene slowly this of

course is a logical choice we think in a

linear fashion and we figure we have to

get the readers seeing the location then

the characters in location before we can

get all the good stuff like action and

dialogue don't fall into this trap

readers don't care about the natural

order if they're intrigued the second

step is the intensity step and this is

all about making sure that after the

reader has been hooked that you keep the

intensity up high enough so that readers

want to continue reading through the

scene and this third step is really more

about the next scene than it is about

this one and this is the prompt making

sure that you leave readers with

something that's going to make them

curious enough to want to read the next

scene so some good examples are a

mysterious line of dialogue a secret

reveal a major decision and announcement

of a huge event surprise or a question

lingering in the air you can imagine

some of what I'm talking about here

number two is in my opinion one of the

most important lessons that you can

focus on in writing in General and if it

weren't for how impactful number one was

personally for me this might have been

the number one lesson so pay attention

and this lesson is all about connecting

readers with the lead character this is

vital think about it if your reader

doesn't care about the lead character

then even if you have the most exciting

stakes in your story it will be

meaningless because those Stakes are

happening to a character that they don't

care about so Belle talks about four

important elements of creating this

connection between the reader and

character the first is identification

better known as empathy and this is

basically making sure that you give the

character relatable traits that the

reader can understand and see the

humanity in so for example giving your

character goals fears and weaknesses

these are the main things that are

really going to allow readers to connect

with the character but the second

element is going to deepen that

connection and this is sympathy and

basically creating sympathy is kind of

about being mean to the characters a

little bit you want to put them in

Jeopardy whether this is physical or

emotional you you want to put them

through hardship give them challenges

that are hard to overcome you want to

make them the underdog give them an

opponent that is so much stronger than

them and you want to make them

vulnerable you want to show weaknesses

that could lead to trouble for them now

the third element is likability and this

one is not as necessary as the previous

two those previous two are vital but

likability is a way you can boost that

connection with lead character even

further and the main things to think

about here is basically like is this

character somebody that you would want

to be friends with think about the

traits you like in a friend and that's

kind of what you want to amplify with

likability is this character witty are

they kind and supportive do they care

about others these sorts of things focus

on bringing out those to make the

character likable and fourth is inner

conflict this is showing the doubts that

your character has giving them those two

competing voices in their head so the

reader is not so sure which one is going

to win out all of us can definitely

relate to that experience where we have

two competing interests and we don't

know which one to choose and now my

personal favorite favorite lesson from

this entire story was something he calls

the intensity scale and the reason I

love this lesson so much is because it's

really all about learning when to show

and when to tell so when introducing the

intensity scale Belle says one of the

best plot rules of course is show don't

tell but this is not a law sometimes a

writer tells as a shortcut to get to the

needy part of a scene showing is

essentially about making scenes Vivid

but if you try to do it constantly the

parts that are supposed to stand out

won't and your readers will get

exhausted and I think this is something

that is really hard for a lot of writers

we all hear that phrase show don't tell

but honestly it's a very vague concept

and it's hard to know what it means so

that is where the intensity scale comes

in basically in your scenes there's

going to be an intensity level that

varies throughout the length of the

scene and usually it's going to build

throughout the scene the reason why this

is important is because you want to

visualize the moments of the stories

having a rating and intensity and this

rating would go from 0 to 10 10 being

the most moments of which you would only

have a few in the entire story and zero

being super boring and dry moments which

you probably wouldn't want to have any

in your story basically when the

intensity goes above a five on the scale

is when you want to focus on showing and

really bringing out the intensity of

those moments and when the intensity

drops below five is when you want to

focus more on telling and just using

that narrative summary to get us to

those more important moments where we

are showing and this lesson was really a

light bulb moment for me because you

always hear your show don't tell you

always hear about showing versus telling

but you never really hear anybody talk

about when to show versus when to tell

and that is why I think this lesson is

the most important lesson in this book

and I'm curious what is your favorite

piece of writing advice let us all know

in the comments below so that we can all

benefit from this piece of advice too

and make this community a place where we

help each other and if you're looking

for another writing craft book with some

of those light bulb moment lessons then

you want to check out the video I made

on the emotional craft of fiction next

I don't know see you later