5YP Biggest Takeaway from Q1

I’m on my fourth month of the Five-Year Plan. My short stories up until now have all been during a specific moment in time, where the story itself revolves around how a character responds to said moment; there has been little to no plot in them.

But, upon reading Write Your First Novel by Steve Laube and Gilbert Morris, I found one of the first chapters—which breaks down the guidelines of the "W" plot—to be tremendously helpful. That chapter, along with reading Plot & Structure and listening to Save the Cat! on Spotify, has helped cement in my mind the beats of a “commercial plot,” as James Scott Bell calls it.

Last month, before I had learned about these guidelines, I wrote my first short story with commercial plot. I knew where I wanted to end up, but had little to no plan of how to get there: I would simply ask myself, What should happen next? and write what came to mind. However, upon revising it, I would feel somewhat overwhelmed by my inability to address the lack of forward momentum in my story. I was just going with my gut, and my gut was often like “I don’t know man, this is what your brain is for—use that instead.”

But now that I have a solid understanding of the plot points, I ask myself, How can I convey the next plot point in the sequence? and feel far more equipped and motivated to tackle the task. In Save the Cat! Blake Snyder says, "True originality cannot take place until you know what rules you're breaking" (paraphrased, but the point still stands).

So, now that I know “the rules,” I may consciously make decisions that do not stick to the guidelines; I let the story and characters take me where they may. But I’ve learned to check where I stand in comparison to the formula.

All that to say: it is really comforting—and freeing—to have this guide in place while I learn to navigate the endeavor of entertaining storytelling.

Really glad I signed up for this course. Thank you @Thomas Umstattd Jr. & @James L. Rubart—I’m already worlds ahead of where I was, and this is only the beginning!