In fact, one could argue that the skill of the fiction writer boils down to the ability to exploit intensity.

Writer’s confession: I am currently mired in my Work In Progress. I think the story’s basic idea is a winner, but I’ve lost my way; I keep trying to make things happen, but nothing is leading anywhere.

I shall pause, I thought to myself. I shall spend my morning writing time auditioning for book narration jobs. And I shall find a good book about plotting to read.

I discovered that James Scott Bell, one of my favorite authors, wrote one. It’s not a new book (I think it goes back to around the time, long ago, when he wrote the Fiction column for Writer’s Digest Magazine), but he knows his craft, and the basic principles are eternal. So I bought Plot & Structure. I’m glad I did.

James Scott Bell is a generous writer. He’s generous to other authors, providing numerous recommendations for other people’s books on the writing craft. He’s also generous to the reader, not only explaining essential principles of storytelling, but providing examples to compare, and exercises for building creative muscles.

Bell’s primary insight (though there’s much more here) is his foundational pattern for plot, which he expresses with the acronym L.O.C.K.: Lead, Objective, Confrontation and Knockout. (For further explanation, read the book.)

Did the book help me? I’m pretty sure it did. I haven’t put my new insights into practice yet (I only finished reading the book a couple hours ago), but I think I see where I went wrong, and I have some ideas on how to fix the problem.

So I speak as a satisfied reader when I recommend Plot & Structure.