Description
Without story momentum, readers stop turning pages. Whether writing a novel, memoir, or screenplay, writers need to design a structure that not only suits their particular project but also produces a falling-forward energy based on a reader’s desire to find out “what happens next.”
E.M. Forster said of structure, “It has only one merit: that of making the audience want to know what happens next. And conversely it can only have one fault: that of making the audience not want to know what happens next.” Some stories stall in the middle or take meandering detours that lead readers to stop wondering “what happens next” and put books down. This workshop will address and correct those potential risks by introducing two powerful momentum-generating tools to help writers develop and control narrative momentum.
A Central Story Question, established early on, has the power to keep the reader wondering “what will happen next,” provided that question is story-worthy enough to not be answered easily, and not until the end of the story. April’s Deep Story Design methodology works in concert with the Central Story Question to delay an answer to the Story Question and create augmenting tension as the story progresses. Hands-on exercises will solidify each writer’s understanding of the two tools as well and guide writers to apply them immediately to their works-in-progress. Writers will come away with greater clarity and confidence, and perhaps renewed inspiration, about what it takes to sustain a long-form narrative project.
