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Two summers ago, as I was fleshing out an outline for my 5-book Recompense series, I decided to use the time between series to take my storytelling to another level. So I slung my hammock and spent a few weeks reading how-to-write books. I'd already completed fourteen novels at that point, so much of it was review, but I struck gold in one stupendously helpful book. In Story Structure Basics, Alexandra Sokoloff uses her background in screenwriting to help novelists view the building blocks of story in a totally new way. The book is meaty and fun to implement. Alexandra recommends watching specific movies in which you can identify the techniques she teaches, along with advice on how to utilize them in a novel. Since Recompense debuted, I've received many compliments on the pacing and consistent action that builds throughout the series. Both are directly attributable to the tricks I gleaned from this book. If you're a writer, Story Structure Basics is priced at only 2.99. (The other books in her screenwriter series go up from there.) I highly recommend grabbing a copy. If you're a reader, Recompense is free everywhere.
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