Save

Save

Paula Wynne's picture
Paula Wynne

Pinned 6 years 3 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

Psychological Thrillers That Will Mess With Your HeadDecide Your Novel Length12 Point Hero's JourneyBreaking Down Story StructureBest Visual Verbs For Writerslearning to write a killer thrillerPsychological Thriller Checklist For WritersWriting a Psychopathic CharacterWriting Thrillers To Scare The Pants Off Your ReadersSwearing For Writers
Writing A Psychological Thriller
Originally pinned by

Paula Wynne

The Time Traveller's Guide to Medieval England: A Handbook for Visitors to the Fourteenth Century
Firstborn Fantasy Novel Giveaway
The Dead Ex Review Giveaway
The Devil's Trinity Historical Thriller Giveaway
A Secret Is Deadly in the Wrong Hands
Pinned onto the board

Writing Advice

A Comparison of Seven Story Structure Models
Breaking Down Story Structure
3 Acts to Your Story Structure
World War Two Timeline
12 Point Hero's Journey
The First Complete History Of Mobile Phones For Writers
Scroll to top