Y01M05-Y01M7 Book take aways

Because of some writing commitments I had, I was juggling these three months at once, so I’m putting my book takeaways in the same post:

Writing the Breakout Novel:

I enjoyed this one. I liked how Maas worded things, and I felt he got to the point and gave important information very well. One of my favorite takeaways was the question he asks writers during pitching appointments: “If the character doesn’t achieve their goals, so what?” It’s been a good reminder for me that I need the stakes to be strong. Another favorite takeaway is his thoughts on ensuring that there are both public and private stakes connected to the character succeeding or failing in achieveing their goal.

The Anatomy of Story:

When I was done with the book, I liked being able to flip back through the book to hit the seven steps for making a strong short story. It was a bit more wordy and dense of a book than I normally like reading, though. It’s been a few weeks, but I think this was the book where I read the advice to make the most interesting character into your protagonist; I really liked that advice.

The Plot Skeleton:

I loved this book! It was so short and to the point. Hunt did a fantastic job making a book with important information, but making it so small that you can quickly reread it any time you are drafting. My three main takeaways were:

• How she included the hidden and obvious problems for the character, as well as their likable trait/s

• The reminder to have a character to come along and encourage the protagonist at a pivital point

• The clear and concise nature of the book. I’ll definitely refer back to it when drafting other projects.