Hello Eleanor,
Please read the reviews for my YA-adult novel, SHINE ANNIE by Betty Oglesby Payne, at www.amazon.com SHINE ANNIE is also available at www.barnesandnoble.com www.booksamillion.com and NewSouth Books http://www.newsouthbooks.com/ Consider recommending SHINE ANNIE for Black Histor... more

Hello Eleanor,
Please read the reviews for my YA-adult novel, SHINE ANNIE by Betty Oglesby Payne, at www.amazon.com SHINE ANNIE is also available at www.barnesandnoble.com www.booksamillion.com and NewSouth Books http://www.newsouthbooks.com/ Consider recommending SHINE ANNIE for Black History Month (February), bookclubs, class assignments, etc.

Hi Eleanor,
I love your questions. What is a character arc?
Character arc is the physical, psychological, and societal transformation both internal and external that a character undergoes from the beginning to the end of the story. It humanizes a character, causes us to care about the ou... more

Hi Eleanor,
I love your questions. What is a character arc?
Character arc is the physical, psychological, and societal transformation both internal and external that a character undergoes from the beginning to the end of the story. It humanizes a character, causes us to care about the outcome and provides us with satisfaction at the close. Without a complete and believable character arc the characters come across as two-dimensional and the audience doesn’t connect with the character’s goals and struggles. This complexity makes a character more appealing and engaging – the good guy isn’t all good and the bad guy isn’t all bad. The protagonist must have a strong character arc. It often happens that the arc for the antagonist is less strong or clearly defined. The opposing arcs don’t have to be equal. But that is drifting into what makes a truly heroic protagonist and a genuinely villainous antagonist. A couple of good examples of weak arcs would be found in characters that are stereotypes and many of the action heroes. I could go on about character, but you get the idea.

Hi Eleanor,
Your question "What elements of story structure were so vital to know?" is huge. I could do an entire seminar on the subject but here’s what I can give you off the top of my head. I came to this workshop with a background as a novelist and picture book writer.
Th... more

Hi Eleanor,

Your question "What elements of story structure were so vital to know?" is huge. I could do an entire seminar on the subject but here’s what I can give you off the top of my head. I came to this workshop with a background as a novelist and picture book writer.
The focus of the workshop was screenplays and it gave me an entirely new perspective on fully developing character arcs for both the protagonist and antagonist, writing a tight first act, sustaining a powerful second act (which is often the greatest weakness in a screen play) and creating a satisfying third act. I now break down all my work into three acts and it really helps me pinpoint the strengths and weakness in my plotting. Creating high-concept stories and powerful loglines was emphasized and that really taught me to keep my story focused on the essential elements. Because screenplays demand a real economy of words in both narrative and dialogue, I learned to be acutely aware of word choice.
Everything in a screenplay – action, dialogue and emotion has to translate from the words on the page to visuals on the screen, but those word pictures are acutely important in fiction books as well…whether as mental pictures in a chapter book or translated/interpreted by an illustrator. There’s a great deal more of course: the set-up, turning points, complications, setbacks, climax, aftermath, etc. but that gives you the idea.

Hello Eleanor,
Thanks for the kind words. I used to teach a course called Film as Literature. A few years ago I was invited to participate in a private workshop taught by the Executive Story Editor at ICM. I learned a lot about story structure and all of my writing since then, including my ... more

Hello Eleanor,
Thanks for the kind words. I used to teach a course called Film as Literature. A few years ago I was invited to participate in a private workshop taught by the Executive Story Editor at ICM. I learned a lot about story structure and all of my writing since then, including my picture books, has been influenced by that knowledge.