It’s Writing Wednesday! My weekly update on how things are going, if anything’s exploded, what’s on fire, where am I, who are you …AND MORE.

What I’m Reading

I read The D’Evil Diaries by Tatum Flynn two weeks ago. it feels like I’ve been waiting for this story for YEARS — ever since I heard about a funny, illustration children’s novel about the hapless son of Lucifer himself, I’ve been dying to read it.

And man, it did NOT dissapoint.  It’s been a while since I read middle grade (last time was Wonder, and I’m still not over it *sobs*), and this was an absolutely amazing fantasy story with a modern sense of humour that appeals to the adult reader as much as the younger fan. It’s very reminiscent of Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman’s “Good Omens”, and the artwork is GORGEOUS. Look, here’s Lucifer on a lilo:

LUCIFER. ON. A. LILO!

What I’m Writing

Editing was going smoothly, until I ran face-first into a case of the April Doldrums… and writing just felt… like so much EFFORT… a constant struggle against words that just refuse to co-operate.

But hey, as The Phantom Tollbooth taught us, ♫ Don’t say there’s nothing to do in the doldrums, ♫ The to-do list didn’t stop existing just because I was avoiding it.

Writing is hard, sometimes. Editing, for me, is especially tricky. But I’m getting there!

What Works For Me

Emma’s eight-point plot structure! My modified version of plot structure is still doing me well as I fine-tune things for this revision. I was looking through my blog archive earlier and realised I hadn’t shared it, so here you go, my modified version of Dan Wells structure, which is itself borrowed from a Star Wars RPG guidebook. (If you’re in a hurry, Chandler Baker explains his points.)

Hook: The Inciting Incident. The event that kicks the story off. Screenplay writers also like to state the theme of the story in this first moment, which can work well if done with a degree of subtlety, but isn’t always necessary.
Plot Turn 1/Call to Adventure: This is when your character steps (or is dragged) into the story properly. The point of no turning back.
Pinch Point 1: The bad guy shows up in full force.
Midpoint:  This is where the characters move from mostly reaction to action. Before they were trying to understand what’s happening, now they’re taking charge.
Plot Turn 2: THE TWIST!
Pinch Point 2/Black Moment: I LOVE THIS BIT. The Black Moment is the darkest point of your main character’s story, where everything looks impossible.  They’re broken, they’re lost, and continuing on will only make it worse for themselves.
Moment of Awesome: This is an Emma-exclusive plot point (with thanks to TV Tropes). It’s the moment just after the character’s darkest point where they keep fighting in the face of impossible odds.  This moment can clearly show how much your character has changed through the story, for better or worse.
Together with the Black Moment, these two moments make up the grand climax of a story.
Resolution/Denouement: For me, a key part of any good ending is this sense of having come full circle — the ending should reflect the beginning in some way, and show how far your characters have come. Or haven’t.

The point-by-point story structure is a godsend: vague enough for creative freedom, tight enough to stop a story going off the rails. And I love Dan Wells’s 7-point system especially because it includes ‘Pinch Points’, where your antagonist steps up their game.

Even if you’re a panster, not a plotter, and outlines and structure make you break out in the heebie-jeebies this sort of thing can be very useful in redrafts.

(Just don’t trip yourself up trying to follow it — plot formulas are tools, not rules. Use only what you need.)

What Else I’ve Been Up To

Oh man, it’s been a while, let’s see…. what have I been up to…

HAMMOCKS. WE HAVE A HAMMOCK NOW. HAMMOCKS ARE FUN.

RUNNING. I’m running again (okay, “jogging” is more accurate. “Plodding” is also accurate) and I’ve been enjoying the sights while out and about.

And of course, Mac remains adorable.

That’s it for today. I hope you’re all doing well, and I wish you good luck and great words for the writing week ahead!