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allie8973's review against another edition
4.5
This was actually pretty good. Information that Ive never read in quite the same way in any other book. Lots of food for thought
toboldlygoat's review against another edition
5.0
Smart, clear, and actionable. Packed with information and useful examples, and zero fluff.
rachelellyn's review against another edition
3.0
Good advice, but gosh, she uses so many examples when two or three will do.
writejenwrite's review against another edition
5.0
Outlining Your Novel is one of my desert island books on writing craft, and I've been looking forward to a follow-up from K.M. Weiland ever since. Structuring Your Novel is a worthy successor, covering one of the most mystifying concepts in fiction writing: story structure. Probably the biggest factor in determining a story's success, structure is a concept that puts the fear in some writers (me!), but a good understanding of it can unlock the power in your story, so I'm always in search of good books on the subject. Weiland delivers with this and more. As always, she takes an intimidating subject and makes it not only approachable, but helps you comprehend it and put it into practice.
Most structure books focus on the various turning points in the story and go deep into the theory of why they're placed where they are and what their function is. Weiland takes it a step further by also examining what story elements look like at each of the key parts of the story: what should I show about my character in the First Act? How do I show my character evolving in the Second Act, without taking away from the full transformation at the end of the story? How does the setting get deepened in the Third Act to echo and contrast what we saw in the First Act? Throughout, she gives examples from classic movies and novels to solidify each concept so each point gets reinforced and you see what it looks like when it's done well.
Structuring Your Novel will give you the blueprint for making your story more powerful. I'm taking this one with me to my desert island, too!
Most structure books focus on the various turning points in the story and go deep into the theory of why they're placed where they are and what their function is. Weiland takes it a step further by also examining what story elements look like at each of the key parts of the story: what should I show about my character in the First Act? How do I show my character evolving in the Second Act, without taking away from the full transformation at the end of the story? How does the setting get deepened in the Third Act to echo and contrast what we saw in the First Act? Throughout, she gives examples from classic movies and novels to solidify each concept so each point gets reinforced and you see what it looks like when it's done well.
Structuring Your Novel will give you the blueprint for making your story more powerful. I'm taking this one with me to my desert island, too!
kiwipen's review against another edition
4.0
I found the anatomy of scene portion of the book to be incredibly helpful. While I initially read the free snippets of it on their website, and found that to be helpful, it goes into it more in depth into the book. The book itself is amazing, but breaking down a scene has made me a better writer. Of fanfiction, original fiction, and running TTRPG sessions for my friends.
sandaru's review
informative
inspiring
slow-paced
3.0
Good reference for structuring your novel. I took a number of pointers and notes from this. But it was always unnecessarily long at times. I really liked the part where the plot structure timeline was discussed. I have already used it as the baseline for the structure of my novel.
zoethecat's review against another edition
5.0
I've found this book to be an extremely helpful guide on how to structure novels.
valerieullmerauthor's review against another edition
5.0
Out of all the books on the craft of writing, this is the most detailed. This book is filled with great examples, and each part of story structure is covered in such a detailed way, that you start to think about it when you watch movies or read. It's a great resource that I turn to almost every day. Highly recommended!!