Save

Save

Paula Wynne's picture
Paula Wynne

Pinned 6 years 5 months ago onto Writing Advice

8 Point Story Arc

Source: https://writinggoals.com/pimp-my-fiction-free-book

This all sounds extremely formulaic, but it doesn’t have to be. Yes, having some kind of basic structure woven around your novel and plot threads is important, but they are meant to be flexible.

The ‘Blueprints’ chapter of Pimp My Fiction provides templates for writing your novel, which are certain to show you a light at the end of the writing tunnel.

This 8 point arc was created by Nigel Watts, and it’s a perfect tool for keeping your story on track. When you start a new novel, this template is a good exercise to guide you into writing up a very loose and basic idea of how your story is going to pan out.

You may find that your plot hits on all these points, and you’ll feel great knowing that you’re on the right track.

Nigel’s eight points:

1.    Stasis
2.    Trigger
3.    The quest
4.    Surprise
5.    Critical choice
6.    Climax
7.    Reversal
8.    Resolution

If you make notes straight into a document which describes each stage, it is pretty easy to plot out your storyline. It acts almost like a synopsis of how your story progresses with character growth points. Once you have established the basic plan, you can continue to add sub plots and any other notes into the eight stages as they come to you. This bare outline slowly builds into the skeleton of your novel.

Find more on Story Structures.

Grab your copy free copy of Pimp My Fiction here.

Upvote this Pin: 
0

Log in to vote
Pinned onto the category

Writing Advice

Write Villains Readers Love to HateBreaking Down Story StructureOnline Etymology Dictionary For Historical Fiction Writerslearning to write a killer thrillerSwearing For WritersWriting A Suspense Conspiracy ThrillerWhen Is The Inciting Incident In A Story PlotStructure Your NovelHow to Evoke Character Emotion in Every SceneSecrets To Creating A Dynamic Character ArcStory Structure Humour
Excel Worksheets For Writers
Originally pinned by

Paula Wynne

Three Are One Romance Giveaway
5 Romance Novels To Be Won
Paperbacks For UK Readers To Win
The Dragon's Woman Paranormal Romance Giveaway
List of Paid-For Book Promotion Sites
Pinned onto the board

Writing Advice

Story Structure Humour
Swearing For Writers
5 Rules Every First-Time Author Needs To Know About Planning A Novel
Uniting Story Structure and Character Arc
The First Complete History Of Mobile Phones For Writers
What Is Story Theme?
Scroll to top