Dan Wells on Story Structure, part 5 of 5

Dan Wells at Life, the Universe, and Everything, February 13, 2010.

Category:

Howto & Style

Tags:

• Dan Wells
• I am Not a Serial Killer
• Story Structure

[DAREtheVEGETABLE]

5:09 In the Lord of the Rings trilogy, the romance plot is totally Sam and Frodo's bromance! >D

[ehrensw]

Dude, I'm huge in Europe.

No, but seriously. Good talk.

[saluk]

@windward51 I think a real skill is to take this 7-point system (or 3 act, or 5 points, or whatever formula you use) and use that to weave many plots together. They don't have to be all at the same stage in the format at the same time. So yes, a trilogy will have 7 points in each book, but also 7 points across the series. (He also showed this when he used Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi).

[ItsyBitsyChelly]

This really helped me with my subplots! Great lecture!

[FlamingCamera]

@windward51 Well, yeah. Look at Dan's books. The character arc that he set up is spread across three books. The end of I Am Not A Serial Killer is a resolution to that plot, but John's plot is more toward the early middle, probably at Plot Turn 1. Mr. Monster is out, that's the Plot Turn. Mr. Monster starts with the first Pinch, he's struggling to contain Mr. Monster, and ends with the Midpoint, finding a way to distract Mr. Monster by chasing more demons. Won't spoil the end for you, though. :)

[windward51]

Awesome lecture. Thank you for posting it!

One question - could this formula be adapted for the framework of a series? Like, each stand alone novel has it's own beginning/middle/end, but the over reaching plot follows what you outlined in this video?

[windarr]

Fantastic work, thanks for sharing.

[justmeandmyopinion]

Great seminar! Thanks for posting this; really helpful!

[MrHomemadefilms1]

awesome seminar!

[SilverAmbit]

Thanks for posting! Some very useful things here.