Reviews for The poetics of plot

The average rating for The poetics of plot based on 2 reviews is 4 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2017-02-28 00:00:00 jonathan winter The Plot Thickens is a quick and comprehensive read that makes simple suggestions for improving one's written work. Stories are necessary. Like food or water, stories have always been of supreme importance to the human race. They speak to us on a primal level, and they fill a need. Life can seem aimless, structureless, unjust, without resolution. Stories are the antidote to life: they offer purpose, structure, justice, resolution- not to mention romance, suspense, conflict, adventure. They offer meaning. If our lives cannot always have it, our stories can. The book is divided into eight chapters, and each chapter explores one of the following topics: the outer life of characters, the inner life of characters, characterization, the journey, suspense, conflict, context, and transcendency. Each chapter briefly explains one of the aforementioned topics, then provides several examples that are easily understood and digested. The author then presents a rapid fire array of applicable questions to push writers toward examining their own work-in-progress to discover where improvements can be made. Chapters conclude with pertinent exercises. The author sometimes relies on well-known books for his examples, but in many instances he makes reference to popular television or movies, making his examples accessible to a broader audience. I [reference films] because my chief concern is illustrating (sometimes abstract) points, and by referencing films there is a greater chance that more readers will recognize the reference. I also reference films because film is a medium that has devoted itself to plot, and I would be remiss to ignore them. The Plot Thickens earns its rightful place in the collection of books owned by any published or aspiring author.

Review # 2 was written on 2013-09-08 00:00:00 John Corrigan With an unusual approach to plotting, Lukeman uses a holistic, rather than a didactic, method. There is plenty of instruction and practical examples, as well as exercises, in the book, so it is a "teaching" book, but what Lukeman achieves is more than just teaching a reader "how to plot." Although this book is mainly about plot, it's doesn't take a step-by-step approach to plotting. Rather, one gains a sense of how the elements of a novel are all connected and multi-layered. Characterisation drives plot; but plot deepens character. Each chapter does deal with a specific element to strengthen plot, but ultimately what Lukeman conveys is that to achieve a work that goes beyond the norm - to write a transcendent book - one needs to understand that writing a novel is more than just technique. The final chapter "Transcendency" reflects on what differentiates a great book from a good book and is a salutary lesson writing, not from the intellect, but from the soul. Lukeman says:"... it will entail putting yourself on the line ... passion is magnetic. Writing from a place of truth and love, you can never go wrong ...[there is] a difference between a writer who writes because he wants to and one who writes because he has to... the transcendent work is the work you know is the best you can offer." As inspiring as Lukeman's The First Five Pages: A Writer's Guide To Staying Out of the Rejection Pile