Posted on by Chris Sarantopoulos · 1 Comment

7 point story system

Today’s post deals with another way to structure a story and it’s called 7 Point Story System. According to writer Dan Wells, who made a presentation of it a while back, this particular structure system can be applied to almost any story. He doesn’t take credit for it (nor do I), instead he said he found this structure from the Star Trek RPG (trekkie fans, rejoice!). Without any further ado, here it is:

Hook
Plot Turn 1
Pinch 1
Midpoint
Pinch 2
Plot Turn 2
Resolution

The interesting thing about the above structure is that it works backwards (you’ll see that when you watch the video). For this structure to work, it is essential to know how your story or character arc ends, in other words you need to have a Resolution first. I should stress here that the Resolution isn’t the end of your book but rather the tidying up of your arcs (character and story) and in the case of a novel it may well span more than one chapters.

Once you have that, you then move to the Hook of the story. Mr Wells says that what the Hook and the Resolution show in terms of the story or the character are usually directly opposite to one another. For this example he uses the first Harry Potter book and compares Harry’s initial state (Hook) with what Harry has become (Resolution).

Once these two points are established, the writer then identifies the Midpoint. In my mind, the Midpoint acts as a transition between the character of a story being reactive (from Hook up to Midpoint), then changing to active (from Midpoint to Resolution). When I first saw that, I thought the Midpoint and the inciting moment are related but once I started working with this system a bit, I realised I was wrong. The Midpoint doesn’t also need to be in the middle of the story. The Midpoint is that one thing that connects to your Resolution and gives meaning to the story. It is the one thing your protagonist finds out about something and propels him/her into doing something about it, using everything he/she has picked up along the way (from Hook to Midpoint).

Once that’s done, Plot Turn 1 needs to be addressed. This is a another transition, one that exists between the beginning to Midpoint. This is the part where you have to introduce the conflict. It’s also the part where something happens that changes things around your main character. In the two short stories I’m writing at the moment, this is where my protagonist realises how important a waitress is for him (for the first story) and for second one it’s where the main character gets debriefed by his superiors and thus telling us what has happened.

Following that, Plot Turn 2 needs your attention. This is the point where everything leads to the Resolution. If your story is about your character having to do something, then this is the point where he/she will decide to do it. It’s what launches things towards the Resolution. In Poe’s short story Tell-Tale Heart I recently read, this is the point where the main character still hears his victim’s heart beating. That will propel him to the Resolution. If your Resolution is tragic and negative for the protagonist (as is the case with one of my short stories), this is the point that enables that tragic ending.

You then have to deal with the two Pinches. Pinch 1 is something that forces the character or the situation into action. It’s what leads to the Midpoint. Sometimes a villain is introduced or a problem inflicts the character that will push him/her forward. In the first Harry Potter book, that something is the appearance of the troll and that there’s no one around to deal with it, so the kids have to gain enough confidence in their abilities to deal with it.

Pinch 2 is all about applying even more pressure to the character. Either the problem will look impossible to solve or a supporting character will die or the character will realise he/she is left completely alone. Whatever you make it to be, it has to up the stakes significantly in order for your Resolution to have the maximum impact on the reader. It doesn’t matter if your story is going to be a sad one or a happy one (I prefer the first), as long as the stakes have gone so high that the Resolution is satisfying.

Naturally, there’s a lot more to a story than just this outline, things like well-developed characters, good environment set up, using all the senses for the reader to be fully immersed in your story and of course subplots (if you apply the system to longer works).

I have only used it twice so far, both times for short stories, one of which I’m in the process of writing and appears very difficult even with this system. But I’ll make it work one way or another. For my longer works I prefer to work with the snowflake method BUT the 7 point system can help tremendously in identifying the key elements of a story and space them properly before using a more detailed structure system. I find it very handy and very helpful in arranging my thoughts in the right order and I like having a guideline when I write.

Next week I’ll either start giving writing prompts or, if I’m still stuck with my second short story, beg for your help. I’m really stuck 🙁

Posted on by Chris Sarantopoulos

Status update: the closer I get to finishing, the further away I am from it.

It seems the closer I get to finishing the first draft, the longer I am from actually doing it. 7 more scenes/chapters remain before the last full stop, the so painfully sought-after “The End” and yet never in these past 4 months have I felt more tired and the end further away from me than now. I don’t know what’s wrong. Perhaps I’m fed up with it, perhaps something inside me tells me that the story sucks, that there are too many plot holes or the plot points are too far-fetched (it’s a post-apocalyptic story, which means people assign it the “sci-fi” tag, thus some parts of it, should be far-fetched to a certain extent, right?). Perhaps I feel that I have often led the (potential) reader by the hand too much, instead of letting him/her think about some things, perhaps it’s because a lot of my character development is done by showing his inner thoughts (going over the top with italics, perhaps?). The point is, where at one point a month ago I could sit down and write 1700 to 2000 words in a couple of hours (usually between 10 in the morning and be done by 1 in the afternoon with a 30-45 minute total break), now I can barely write 1000-1200 words up to 2 or 3 in the afternoon. The fact that I have exceeded my originally planned word limit for the draft doesn’t help either. The uncertainty I see before me, doesn’t help either.

125,147 words. Two scenes away from reaching the climax of the story and closing the main character’s arc. Seven scenes before the draft is over.

Any of you, dear readers/fellow writers, know if having only 5 chapters left for what follows the climax all the way to the end of the story is enough? I keep having the feeling that all the key points are in the wrong place, either too soon in the story or too late. Every time I read a technical book related to structure, I see things in my book that are wrong, when the previous structure-related book said it’s ok. It’s so frustrating! If I ever get to finish this thing, I’m so going out and celebrating it with the few friends who know I’m writing.

Of course, try as I might, I can’t see myself feeling relaxed after it, ’cause I will have to find beta readers or editors who know the craft of writing better than me. Wouldn’t things be sooooooo much easier if every one of us aspiring writers had two mentors by our side? One also aspiring writer or newly published who could help with the big, eye-hurting mistakes and then another one who would be a well known writer who’s been at it for years? How helpful would that be? Both could benefit noobs like me so much.

Too much whining. If you have an answer to my previous question, please let me know. Need to prepare the synopsis for the next scene/chapter for tomorrow. Until next time, I bid you all adieu.

Posted on by Chris Sarantopoulos · 3 Comments

The importance of writing on a daily basis

Now that the excilaration, thrill and happiness of the previous (and so far only) publication eases, I found myself not knowing what to write here in the blog. So today I thought it might be a good idea to say a thing or two about the importance of daily routine in writing.
When in late March 2013 I took the “leap of faith” and started writing for the first time, I kept reading advice about how important it was for not only the professional writer but for the aspiring one to have and maintain a daily routine around writing. The people who advocated that said that it helped them to be in touch with the story or finish the story in time or not get bored by it etc etc.

I on the other hand advocated at the time that inspiration and, to a certain extent, willingness to sit down and write was not something that would come to the writer whenever he/she summoned it but when it chose to visit the writer. The phrase “I’m not your whore to summon me whenever you desire me” (unfortunatelly I can’t seem to remember who said that reffering to his/her muse but I think it was a Greek poet) was the phrase that kept coming to mind back then. I knew I had to write something each day to be in touch with the joy I got out of writing but I wouldn’t push myself to extremes to write a thousand words. I did however force myself for a time to write a very short story (flash story some would say it) of about 700-1000 words almost each day so I wouldn’t get rusty, IF and only IF I had an image to describe (I like coming up with stories derived from images or photos). I did this thinking that IF I ever manage to land a contract to publish my work, I would have deadlines to follow and it would be better if I were to have some practice on writing on a daily basis. Too many ifs were in my head at that time. Not many things can happen with ifs…

All this changed when I read Stephen King’s memoir/advice called “On Writing”. In it, King said that writers should write each day (weekends and holidays included) up to 2000 word and read as much as possible. He too mentions the reasons I wrote earlier but he also argued that one couldn’t aspire to be a writer without doing that. And for some reason, it was THEN that I decided I wanted to not only write for my pleasure, content on dreaming of being a published writer (at some point in the oh-so-distant-future) BUT I also had to make it happen. I don’t know what kicked in or what happened that moment when I read that line in that book but it was enough to shove me into a different mode. If one was to argue that book failed to teach me anything new, regarding techniques used to write decently, it certainly did NOT fail to motivate me. I don’t know how or why, I just know it did.

I’m glad it did.

Now I write each day 1500-2000 words each day, unless I have some editing to do for a rejected short story (they come in heaps). But, given that I’m not Stephen King nor will I ever be, I have found that working on a project day in, day out for longer than 1 month, I get bored and when that happens I can’t produce more than 300 words. It is then that I take a break and work on something else, usually a new short story or edit something else previously done. I do that for a week or maybe two. Then I’m back at the project I took a break
from. If for whatever reason I have to miss a day’s writing, the rest of the day turns sour, I’m grumpy and I feel guilty for not writing.

Does it work? So far, yes. Does it pay off? YES! Without a doubt, yes! Once I call it a day, I start reading for an hour or an hour and a half (in addition to my reading before I go to bed which is another hour or so). Have I seen improvement on my writing quality? Yes, but that is subjective. Rejections keep coming. I know, however, that it’s probably due to me being at the beginning of a very long and arduous road and due to me writing in a different language than my own.

Knowing that most people who decide to write have day jobs, families etc, I would add to Mr. King’s statement that it’s not important just how much one writes BUT it’s important that it happens on a daily basis, even if it’s for no more than 20 minutes.

I now firmly believe this road leads somewhere. Don’t know where yet.

Hello everyone,

This last week has been the hardest for me, as far as writing is concerned. Though I had material to write about, I just couldn’t write it the way I wanted to. For some reason, the words just slipped my mind, the moment my fingers started typing the first word. Everything that followed the first word seemed dragged, forced and blunt to the point where frustration took hold of me.

You know that inner voice that stems from lack of self-confidence and usually screams at us when we try something new that is big or something we try for the very first time and we don’t want to mess it up? Well, that voice inside me, had a party going in my head. I hadn’t heard that voice since the first month or two when I first decided to write. I thought I had quelled it, especially after the email I got from the magazine that wanted my short story. I was wrong. It’s still there and it’s getting stronger.

For the past 40 days I have been following a new daily schedule and I have set a new word limit per day. I decided to follow Stephen King’s program that I read on a book of his, titled “On Writing, A Memoir Of the Craft”. In it he suggests that writers should aim for 2000 words on a daily basis, 7 days a week. I thought it was an ambitious goal, one that only pros would manage to do. Nonetheless, I tried it and, as it turned out, I too could do it. With the exception of 4 or 5 days out of those 40, each day I wrote 2000 words, which really made me happier than I can describe. Alas, this last week I have only managed to write no more than 3500 words. It was terrible.

I don’t know what the problem was. Probably my characters and my plot lack that certain something, which in turn makes me unwilling to write. I know I have to correct my characters and my plot (for some reason I seem to have a really hard time coming up with minor events that happen to my main characters that will make them more real to the readers – myself included – and at the same time never drifting off from the main storyline). Quite frankly, at this moment I’m at a loss.

Tomorrow I want to wake up and write 1500+ words of decent prose. I want to continue this for the rest of the week. That’s my goal. I want to succeed in this.