Plot Your Story

Stories have dramatic structure. To ensure yours does, take the on-line course How to: Plot Your Story. This course will show you how to outline your story's plot so that you have an inciting incident, rising action, a climax, and falling action. Whether you are writing a script, a short story, or a novel, this course will teach you how to outline and structure your story.

After taking the course, Emily Rose Lacy-Nichols said: "The calling out of characters, settings, and objects was useful. It prompted me to ask where the story might lead, which characters to give POVs, and when to introduce an important object. It also made me reconsider a major aspect of worldbuilding that had been bugging me, and I think the revised worldbuilding makes more sense and is more interesting. I like the concept of traveling between two settings to establish a thematic arc. It helped me decide where/when to end the first book, as well as what the midpoint should be. Your thoughts on character arcs and transformations were also really helpful, as was the suggestion to start w/ falling action and use that to determine where the character begins. I wasn’t sure how far back in my main character’s life to go, but the start-at-the-end strategy helped me pick a good point of contrast to highlight her arc. The point about making sure the important prop is transformed at the climax got me thinking about what specifically I want this part of the story to accomplish, and how that will contrast with the second book. I had been waffling about its usage, but now I think I know what I want to do with it. I’m still in the outlining process (haven’t charted all the meetings of characters and props yet), but you’ve given me new ways to envision a path forward and I’m in a place where I can continue with more direction than I had previously. Thank you!