10 Essential Lessons I Learned From Plot & Structure by James Scott Bell
Summary
TLDRDans 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
📚 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.
🤔 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.
💡 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.
🔄 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.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡Intrigue
💡Unanticipating
💡Back cover copy
💡Treatment
💡David Morrell method
💡Mindset fundamentals
💡Revision
💡Idea analysis
💡Drilling
💡Intensity scale
💡Lead character
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
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