By J. Thorn and Zach Bohannon

So this theory is so simple, yet so often ignored, that it’s worth building a whole book around. A whole theory around. In fact, I have recently become a certified Three Story Method Editor by taking a weekend long course. You can get a lot from the book without taking a course, though.

Conflict, Choice, Consequence. That’s what story is, going all the way back to Aristotle. Some conflict happens to disturb the status quo. It gets worse and worse until the protagonist must make a choice, and then the resolution of the story is the consequence of that choice. Beginning, middle, end. Easy, right?

Sure, but what this book does is drills down to show you that this simple idea of storytelling is present not just in your global story, but in each act of your story, and in each scene of your act – like Russian Dolls.

When writing, you need to make sure that each scene has conflict, because that is what moves the plot forward, AND it’s what connects your reader to your protagonist. As readers, we empathize when we witness a character being forced to make hard choices.

I could go on, but you should really read the book. It will changed the way you write your scenes.

Two big thumbs up!!