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    Serial Structure For Fiction

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    DianaCastle
    The document describes a serial structure for fiction called the "ABC Way" that involves three types of storylines: A storylines are the central plot that spans from the beginning to the end of the novel. B storylines are subplots that present a problem at the end of a chapter to be resolved in the next, enticing readers. C storylines resolve problems within a single chapter. This structure provides options to vary incidents from chapter to chapter with the A storyline carrying through, B storylines spanning chapters, and C storylines contained within.

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    Serial Structure For Fiction

    Uploaded by

    DianaCastle
    83 views2 pages
    The document describes a serial structure for fiction called the "ABC Way" that involves three types of storylines: A storylines are the central plot that spans from the beginning to the end of the novel. B storylines are subplots that present a problem at the end of a chapter to be resolved in the next, enticing readers. C storylines resolve problems within a single chapter. This structure provides options to vary incidents from chapter to chapter with the A storyline carrying through, B storylines spanning chapters, and C storylines contained within.

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    Serial Structure for Fiction

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    Serial Structure for Fiction

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    The document describes a serial structure for fiction called the "ABC Way" that involves three types of storylines: A storylines are the central plot that spans from the beginning to the end of the novel. B storylines are subplots that present a problem at the end of a chapter to be resolved in the next, enticing readers. C storylines resolve problems within a single chapter. This structure provides options to vary incidents from chapter to chapter with the A storyline carrying through, B storylines spanning chapters, and C storylines contained within.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as pdf or txt
    83 views2 pages

    Serial Structure For Fiction

    Uploaded by

    DianaCastle
    The document describes a serial structure for fiction called the "ABC Way" that involves three types of storylines: A storylines are the central plot that spans from the beginning to the end of the novel. B storylines are subplots that present a problem at the end of a chapter to be resolved in the next, enticing readers. C storylines resolve problems within a single chapter. This structure provides options to vary incidents from chapter to chapter with the A storyline carrying through, B storylines spanning chapters, and C storylines contained within.

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    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
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    Serial Structure for Fiction the ABC Way

    Here’s how the serial structure works. You have three storylines, an A, B, and at least one C
    storyline, or arc in each episode. I moved these arcs into my chapters in the complete book.

    The A arc is a traditional structure with the central plot line going from the novel’s beginning
    to its end. For instance, boy meets girl, girl hates boy, boy wins over girl, girl ditches boy, girl
    realizes she loves boy, happily ever after.

    The B and C arcs are traditional subplots, but with a twist in the miniseries formula.
    The B story arc presents a problem to the hero or other character in one chapter. The
    dilemma hangs at the end of the chapter, leaving the reader in suspense. With a tease that
    carries over into the next chapter, where that story line is resolved. You recognize this from any
    miniseries, of course. It’s a technique that goes all the way back to the chapter shows at the
    Saturday matinee, made famous by Stephen King and Annie Wilkes in his novel, Misery.
    Every Saturday, the little mini-drama chapter show before the main attraction would end with
    the hero’s girlfriend wrapped in chains inside a car with the doors welded shut, the car flying
    over the cliff, a literal cliffhanger. You had to come back next Saturday to find out how she got
    out of her dire situation — and she always did, right?

    The B story arc works the same way in a set of serial novels, enticing you to buy the next
    installment. If you use this technique as a part of your internal structure in your own novel, it
    invites the reader to turn the page to the next chapter and find out what happens.

    In the Cstory line, a problem presents itself in a given chapter and gets resolved within the
    chapter. You might have more than one such situation in a given chapter, or none at all.

    For instance, you might carry a Bstory arc from one chapter into the next and resolve it. But
    you invented such a great character in the course of that story segment that you don’t want to
    write her out of the novel. So she crops up later in another Bstory line. And again, each time
    with suspenseful teases. Before you know it, have what we call a subplot, don’t you?
    The idea is not to over-complicate your ability to write a story. The idea is to simplify the way
    you structure your novel from chapter to chapter by giving yourself options..

    The A Story Arc carries over the course of the entire novel.
    The B Subplot Arc structure carries over into the succeeding chapters.
    One or more C Sub-Subplots Arcs can start and end within a chapter
    Just use the ABC arcs to remind yourself to vary the incidents going on in your book.

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