Every storyteller has a plan, however vague it is.
The writer will start with an idea which may be wrapped around a character, an event or a theme. In the process of developing the idea, the storyteller shapes a framework of sorts.
This book provides common frameworks that have been used since stories came to be an important part of culture, education, and entertainment.
The popular heroic journey, one of the frameworks included, is an essential plot that numerous writers have used whether consciously or not. It offers opportunity for originality while meeting the reader's desire for more of this type of story.
This book provides seventeen such frameworks, broken into three general types:
traditional (ex. dream vision)
fairy tale (ex. sleeping beauty)
character-design (ex. code hero).
Each framework is explained in simple terms and is followed by a worksheet to help the writer develop the initial idea into a plot. Included in the description of each framework are suggestions about how to tweak for freshness.
Every storyteller has a plan. What's yours?
