Reviews

GMC: Goal, Motivation and Conflict: The Building Blocks of Good Fiction by Debra Dixon

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annerollins's review

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informative medium-paced

5.0

meowerplay's review

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informative reflective medium-paced

4.0

sreddous's review

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challenging informative fast-paced

5.0

Simple, straightforward, not cluttered! Breaking a plot down into three categories actually makes a ton of sense and leads to some good brainstorming.

I also enjoy this author's writing style -- the way they describe THEIR own processes to learning this stuff is easy to connect with.

Good stuff! I'll be practicing the "GMC" approach to characters and plot in my writing!

upturnedroots's review

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5.0

Really helped me see that character motivation/decision clarity makes it easier to plot actions that make sense for the motivation and streamlines the drafting process, because there's less indecision about the next scene. Excellent for synopsis and pitch building, and I'm hoping it'll cut down my drafting time!

crimsonsparrow's review

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3.0

Concisely written, Dixon provides a method for charting a work in progress to identify/clarify the story essentials: Goal, Motivation, and Conflict. She explores both internal and external, character and plot GMC, ending with short instructions for writing a pitch and query letter.

Dixon demonstrates the use of the GMC chart in both developing a plot idea from scratch as well as refining a manuscript that is already written. While I wouldn't place this craft book on a writers' MUST READ list, it is a great refresher and clarifier on craft basics, or a nice introduction for the beginner.