STORY, Part 1

I've been reading Robert McKee's STORY. Though it's geared toward screenwriters, novelists can learn much about creating an engaging story. It gives example after example (from many different movies) about how to keep your audience riveted.

I'm not finished with the book yet, but when I do, I'll re-read all the penciled-in underlines, circles, and stars on the dog-eared pages.

Reading STORY has made me aware of many ways to make my stories better. I liked studying how to analyze a scene. I learned about the gap between expectation and result. I also like what he wrote about subtexting.

One thing I'll work on in my story is developing more clearly the gap between audience expectation and the on-screen (or on-page) result.

Next week, I'll post a practice scene to show what I learned.