| Introduction | 1 |
Part I | Character Development | |
1 | From Protagonist to Hero | 8 |
| Exercise: Adding Heroic Qualities | 12 |
2 | Multidimensional Characters | 14 |
| Exercise: Opening Extra Character Dimensions | 18 |
3 | Inner Conflict | 19 |
| Exercise: Creating Inner Conflict | 24 |
4 | Larger-Than-Life Character Qualities | 25 |
| Exercise: Creating Larger-Than-Life Qualities | 31 |
5 | Heightening Larger-Than-Life Qualities | 33 |
| Exercise: Adjusting the Volume | 35 |
6 | Character Turnabouts and Surprises | 36 |
| Exercise: Reversing Motives | 38 |
7 | Personal Stakes | 40 |
| Exercise: Defining Personal Stakes | 48 |
8 | Ultimate Stakes | 50 |
| Exercise: Capturing the Irrevocable Commitment | 54 |
9 | Exposition | 56 |
| Exercise: Deepening Exposition | 59 |
10 | Creating Secondary Characters | 60 |
| Exercise: Secondary Character Development | 64 |
11 | Antagonists | 66 |
| Exercise: Developing the Antagonist | 69 |
| Exercise: The Antagonist's Outline | 71 |
12 | Enriching Your Cast | 73 |
| Exercise: Combining Roles | 76 |
Part II | Plot Development | |
13 | Public Stakes | 80 |
| Exercise: Raising Public Stakes | 86 |
14 | Complications | 88 |
| Exercise: Making Complications Active | 91 |
15 | Plot Layers | 93 |
| Exercise: Building Plot Layers | 97 |
16 | Weaving a Story | 99 |
| Exercise: Weaving Plot Layers Together | 104 |
17 | Subplots | 106 |
| Exercise: Adding Subplots | 109 |
18 | Turning Points | 111 |
| Exercise: Heightening Turning Points | 115 |
19 | The Inner Journey | 117 |
| Exercise: Inner Turning Points | 120 |
20 | High Moments | 122 |
| Exercise: Creating High Moments | 127 |
21 | Bridging Conflict | 129 |
| Exercise: Developing Bridging Conflict | 132 |
22 | Low Tension Part I: The Problem With Tea | 134 |
| Exercise: Brewing Tension | 139 |
23 | Low Tension Part II: Burdensome Backstory | 141 |
| Exercise: Delaying Backstory | 146 |
24 | Low Tension Part III: Tension on Every Page | 148 |
| Exercise: Adding Tension to Every Page | 152 |
Part III | General Story Techniques | |
25 | First Lines/Last Lines | 156 |
| Exercise: Enhancing First and Last Lines | 161 |
26 | Moments in Time | 163 |
| Exercise: Freezing Moments in Time | 168 |
27 | Inner Change | 170 |
| Exercise: Measuring Inner Change | 174 |
28 | Setting | 176 |
| Exercise: The Psychology of Place | 180 |
29 | Point of View | 182 |
| Exercise: Strengthening Point of View | 185 |
30 | Character Delineation | 187 |
| Exercise: Improving Character Delineation | 191 |
31 | Theme | 193 |
| Exercise: Alternate Endings | 200 |
| Exercise: The Larger Problem | 202 |
| Exercise: Same Problem, Other Characters | 204 |
| Exercise: Making the Antagonist's Case | 206 |
32 | Symbols | 208 |
| Exercise: Creating Symbols | 211 |
33 | Brainstorming | 213 |
| Exercise: Developing Brainstorming Skills | 217 |
34 | The Pitch | 218 |
| Exercise: Constructing the Pitch | 223 |
| Appendixes | |
Appendix A | Outlining Your Novel | 225 |
Appendix B | Follow-up Work Checklist | 228 |
| Index | 229 |