Reviews for Plot, story, and the novel

The average rating for Plot, story, and the novel based on 2 reviews is 2 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2018-02-25 00:00:00 William Hicks Jr Plot is a matter of choices instead of an outline of writing skills. It provides four questions for testing a story idea. Plot discusses the difference between scene and exposition, and the need for both. It highlights techniques such as mirroring and echoes, braiding plot and subplots, melodrama, pacing, transition, frames, and flashbacks and flashforwards. Plot discusses how to recognize the end of a story. Finally, it goes beyond the cause and effect plot to the mosaic, collage and revelation strategies. This book is a good introductory to plot and a good reference book.

Review # 2 was written on 2008-06-28 00:00:00 Jake Rodney The chapters on beginnings and endings were superb and very helpful. So many writers guides are catered to genre fiction and churning out the next bestseller - I appreciated Dibell's treatment of short story collections and literary works. She used extensive examples from books and movies that I have seen and liked (Lord of the Flies, Jane Eyre, and Star Wars), so that probably helped too - many of the other guides I have read cite examples of plotlines and character arcs that I am just not familiar with, and the references are lost on me. A few of the middle chapters were too tedious for me, but they may be applicable later in the process, but it ended with a strong ending and how to craft the conclusion of your book that leaves readers satisfied... I've just read too many books that were so great until the last 50 pages...