WEBVTT 1 00:00:08.570 --> 00:00:10.939 Michelle @ ProWritingAid: Hello! Everyone. Welcome. 2 00:00:12.545 --> 00:00:13.360 Kristina Stanley: Welcome! 3 00:00:13.360 --> 00:00:20.399 Michelle @ ProWritingAid: I'm welcome. If you can see and hear me, please drop your location in the chat so we can see where you are joining us from today. 4 00:00:21.800 --> 00:00:24.759 Michelle @ ProWritingAid: I see Colorado. Hello, Bria! 5 00:00:24.980 --> 00:00:26.859 Michelle @ ProWritingAid: Utah! Hi! Mary 6 00:00:27.990 --> 00:00:32.040 Michelle @ ProWritingAid: Oregon! Hi, Joseph! Hi! Alamed in Puerto Rico. 7 00:00:35.200 --> 00:00:42.779 Michelle @ ProWritingAid: Alright! They're coming in quickly now. Hello! I see Central Arkansas, Philadelphia, Canada, Canada again. Virginia. 8 00:00:42.860 --> 00:01:02.350 Michelle @ ProWritingAid: Awesome. It looks like everyone can see and hear me. Just fine. I'm going to drop some special links in the chat for you now, and I will drop those throughout the session as well. We will get started with Christina and Lucy in just a minute. Here, just want to go over a couple of quick housekeeping notes for you, so for your replay access 9 00:01:02.380 --> 00:01:18.530 Michelle @ ProWritingAid: anything that occurred during the regular fantasy writers week Monday through Thursday. Those replays, slides, session material. Special offers from your speakers are all on the regular Hub page that we've been sharing this week. But today's sessions today's 10 00:01:18.650 --> 00:01:22.780 Michelle @ ProWritingAid: materials replays, slides. Those will all be on the premium hub. 11 00:01:22.920 --> 00:01:40.320 Michelle @ ProWritingAid: So you'll wanna make sure you're going there for today. Since this is premium day, those items will be on the premium hub only and then next week we will be also putting the replays up on our community page. So you'll be able to view the replays there as well. Everything should be up by May third. 12 00:01:41.420 --> 00:02:07.159 Michelle @ ProWritingAid: If you would like to keep talking fantasy writing, please join us in our private online writing community, you can just log in using your prorating aid account information. It's free to join. We have the live event chat going right now with all of our fantasy writers, week participants and the replays will all be there, and you can see replays from previous writers weeks as well, so there's a lot of content there to check out, and we would love to have you. 13 00:02:07.500 --> 00:02:34.879 Michelle @ ProWritingAid: We would also love it if you could. Please share your feedback with us on this week. We love hosting these writers weeks and feedback from you makes it so much easier for us to do that and keep improving things every time we do them. So it just takes a couple of minutes. I'm gonna post the links in the chat for you again. But we'd really appreciate it if you could take the time to fill that type form out for us. As we're always actively planning new events. And this does really really help 14 00:02:35.880 --> 00:02:59.350 Michelle @ ProWritingAid: reminders for this session. If you have questions today which I hope you came with lots of questions, please use the QA. Box, and Christina and Lucy will talk to you a little bit more about the format for today when they come on. But the QA. Box is where you're going to primarily want to be putting your questions. The chat moves quickly, and we don't want to miss anything, so you can use the chat to talk to the fellow attendees today. 15 00:02:59.350 --> 00:03:08.190 Michelle @ ProWritingAid: but you'll also want to make sure that you select everyone in the dropdown menu. So your messages are visible by everybody here. 16 00:03:08.730 --> 00:03:17.770 Michelle @ ProWritingAid: and lastly, all of your special offers for today will also be posted on the premium hub, so you will be able to go there and see everything. 17 00:03:18.010 --> 00:03:24.870 Michelle @ ProWritingAid: So without further ado, I'm so excited to introduce again Christina Stanley and Lucy Cook from fictionary. 18 00:03:25.160 --> 00:03:47.190 Michelle @ ProWritingAid: combining her degree in computer mathematics with her success as a bestselling, award-winning author and fiction editor Christine Christina Stanley founded fictionary, and is the CEO Fictionary, helps writers and editors with software and online community editing services and guided writing, outlining, editing courses. She is the best selling author of the right novels that Sell series. 19 00:03:47.190 --> 00:04:15.829 Michelle @ ProWritingAid: Her novels include The Stone Mountain Mystery series. Her first novel Descent was nominated for the 2,014. Arthur Ellis unhanged Arthur for excellence in crime. Writing Blaze was shortlisted for the 2,014 crime Writers, Association, Debut, dagger, the Author's Guide to selling books to non bookstores, and your editing journey are her nonfiction books. Her short stories are published in the Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine, and Voices from the Valleys. Her short story, when a Friendship fails, when the capital crime Writers Award 20 00:04:16.079 --> 00:04:45.669 Michelle @ ProWritingAid: L. Cook is a fictionary, certified story coach editor, and head of community and training at fictionary. Lucy is the co-author to secrets, to editing success. The creative story editing method and secrets to outlining a novel and secrets to winning a series, the Creative Series Writing Method. She is writing her first novel, My Fairy Assassin, and there is a special link for a new book that they have out in the chat. Make sure that you check that out. Welcome, Christina and Lucy. We're so happy to have you here for premium day. 21 00:04:46.360 --> 00:04:54.939 Kristina Stanley: Hi! We're super excited to be here, too, Michelle, before we start. The link doesn't seem to be working. There's been a couple of people who said the. 22 00:04:55.174 --> 00:04:58.690 Michelle @ ProWritingAid: I know what the problem is. I will update that for you all here and. 23 00:04:58.690 --> 00:05:01.220 Kristina Stanley: Oh, so she knows she knows. 24 00:05:01.220 --> 00:05:05.147 Michelle @ ProWritingAid: I'm missing the.co. That's what the problem is. 25 00:05:05.540 --> 00:05:06.450 Kristina Stanley: Not curl. Yeah. 26 00:05:06.450 --> 00:05:11.080 Michelle @ ProWritingAid: I will fix that in just a moment. Sorry everyone. 27 00:05:11.720 --> 00:05:25.139 Kristina Stanley: Okay, so thank you for the lovely introduction. Michelle, Lucy and I are here to answer your questions. So I'm just gonna share a few screens first. So you know who we are and why we're here answering your questions. 28 00:05:25.920 --> 00:05:35.049 Kristina Stanley: And I mean, Michelle already did a great job of introducing us, as you know, part of fictionary. That's where we both work. 29 00:05:37.260 --> 00:06:00.230 Kristina Stanley: there we are. So this is who we are. You already know that we're founder. I'm the founder CEO Fictionary, and Lucy is our head of community and training at fictionary. We're super excited that our third novel in the right novels that cell came out yesterday and is already hitting the number one list on Amazon. So yay, we're both fiction authors, and we're both super fans of pro writing aid, because 30 00:06:00.370 --> 00:06:07.940 Kristina Stanley: the 2 of us are really good at typos, and we use pro writing a to make sure that we don't have any. So that's our skill set. 31 00:06:09.760 --> 00:06:22.170 Kristina Stanley: Oh, hang on. I'm just going to do a slide share. So that shows up better. There we go. Okay. So before we get going. I just want to highlight. So in pictionary, we have a community, we have software and 32 00:06:22.478 --> 00:06:41.310 Kristina Stanley: we have live events where we teach. And next week on May first, we're hosting the fictionary magic system story Arc. And we're going to show you the 5 scenes that magic scene systems need within a fantasy novel. Our community is free to join, so come and join it. You can come to this event for free and many others. 33 00:06:42.070 --> 00:06:59.249 Kristina Stanley: We do a lot of live writing courses, and the next one coming up is 6 weeks dead at a romance novel, and that comes with our storyteller premium subscription. And anyone writing fantasy. If you're doing a romanticie or have a romance subplot, this fits perfectly into that space. 34 00:06:59.680 --> 00:07:12.050 Kristina Stanley: Then we have some one-hour sessions that we do regularly. The next course coming up that might be of interest is 6 weeks to instruct your entire book series. And this is following our process that we've put together in secrets to 35 00:07:12.326 --> 00:07:33.310 Kristina Stanley: writing a series where we help you set up a full foundation. And so at the end of that 6 weeks you'll have your series fully structured. Then we have 6 weeks to outline your novel. If you're just starting your fantasy novel, then novel editing part one, followed by novel editing part 2, and so on, and these courses run all year long repeatedly, and you can attend anyone as many times as you like. 36 00:07:33.730 --> 00:07:46.789 Kristina Stanley: So overall fictionary is outlining, writing and editing software. This is where we started as a company. We focus on structural editing of fiction. So we're looking at characters, plot and setting. 37 00:07:47.240 --> 00:08:05.069 Kristina Stanley: and we show you how to visualize it. We show you the story arc. We show you your characters per scene, your word, count per scene, your point of view characters, and so on. And so the software is really designed for you to outline evaluate and improve all of these things at a structural level. 38 00:08:05.750 --> 00:08:17.640 Kristina Stanley: Our live guided course is our fictionary live, which comes with our storyteller premium product, and all of our instructors are fictionary certified instructors. They've all been our certification course and then training. 39 00:08:17.750 --> 00:08:44.290 Kristina Stanley: Then we have our community. And Linda, who is here from our community, already posted. Kindness and kindness is our word in our community. We really, it's super important for us to have kindness in the community, and you can take advantage of this offer at providing a dash fantasy dash week, which I think the link now should be up and working, I hope. Yeah. So with that, we're going to, I'm gonna stop sharing. And we're just gonna we're gonna go straight to Q. And A. 40 00:08:44.340 --> 00:08:45.630 Kristina Stanley: On 41 00:08:46.160 --> 00:09:03.890 Kristina Stanley: Monday I hosted a. How to outline fantasy, novel session. And in that session we had a lot of questions, and so my promise. There was anyone who had questions there that didn't get answered because we ran out of time for so many questions. 42 00:09:04.177 --> 00:09:08.060 Kristina Stanley: I'm hoping you brought them here, so we can talk about outlining as well. 43 00:09:08.160 --> 00:09:11.059 Kristina Stanley: Lucy and I are both experts at story editing. 44 00:09:11.530 --> 00:09:19.519 Kristina Stanley: and so any questions on your story, structure, on how to outline on how to edit on how to revise 45 00:09:19.530 --> 00:09:28.319 Kristina Stanley: anything specific to fantasy. Novels will do our best to help you and answer. So, Lucy, I'm going to let you say a few words, because I feel like I've been talking for a few minutes now. 46 00:09:28.950 --> 00:09:53.540 Lucy Cooke: Hello, so christina pretty much summed everything up brilliantly. All I can say is, in 2021 I took the certification program at fictionary, and it changed my life. I got to meet Christina, and I just fell in love with structural editing story editing, and I went from taking the courses. I wanted to get better at writing, and I do write fantasy, love 47 00:09:53.540 --> 00:10:04.350 Lucy Cooke: fairies. They're my thing. So anybody who likes fairies, please, but it'll shout out in the chat because we gotta stick together, us fairies, and so yes, so love writing 48 00:10:04.868 --> 00:10:26.710 Lucy Cooke: but then I fell in love with editing so hopefully. By the end of this session you will be just as in love with structural editing. Oh, thanks, Sheena, love the picture. Yes, bring on the fairies. love structural editing as much as Christina and I do, Christina, and designed and came up with fictionary, which is 49 00:10:26.780 --> 00:10:49.249 Lucy Cooke: the only way. I think you can be objective. And when you're self editing, being objective, objective is critical because you wrote it because you love it. And so how do you manage to get it so that the readers love it to? Yes, love fairies, leader. Yes, love fairies, give the good fairies a shout out for everyone in fantasy. 50 00:10:49.540 --> 00:11:12.809 Lucy Cooke: Yes, never tick off a fairy. That's I've got that written with a different letter at the front of it above my back door, so that when you go into the orchard at the back that everyone remembers not to upset, I think is a. It's a 4 letter word, but it stops rude anyway. Not going there anyway, but yes, never tick off a fairy. Yes, always give a good cut for them, and 51 00:11:13.370 --> 00:11:22.328 Lucy Cooke: well done, Melanie. Well done for being yes, and but the fairies are all around us, and we love them dearly. So that's my 52 00:11:22.810 --> 00:11:46.200 Lucy Cooke: chat and fixery, and being objective is critical. Now, because you want to be like the reader when you're going through your story and going, will the reader love this story as much as I do. And then, when you see objectively that you can make it better, making those changes is easy, because you know you're doing something for your story that'll improve it 53 00:11:46.320 --> 00:12:02.060 Lucy Cooke: when you're story editing. And you're like, I don't know which way is going to make it stronger. That's when you get that jug not stopping, and instead, we want to be cruising along and getting you to the destination of a published book. So that's what we're about right. Should we go to the questions, Christina. 54 00:12:02.060 --> 00:12:08.500 Kristina Stanley: Yes, and I love the first one from Nancy. So my character is is boring by design, getting a life. 55 00:12:08.996 --> 00:12:35.889 Kristina Stanley: Getting a life is his character. Arc, how do I write him? So the reader isn't bored with him. And that is a great question. So I'm gonna show you a trick. I'm gonna share my screen for a second. So in in fictionary, we've got example manuscripts on the bookshelf. And one of them is evolution. And it's full. It's a fully edited novel, so you can see what an edited novel looks like, what an editor would do when they evaluate your manuscript. 56 00:12:36.320 --> 00:12:43.800 Kristina Stanley: And so the manuscript is here, and what I want to show you is storytracking. And this is how you're going to help 57 00:12:43.830 --> 00:12:45.250 Kristina Stanley: with your 58 00:12:45.340 --> 00:12:55.069 Kristina Stanley: protagonist. So what this graph is showing about this story is every time the graph shows up. It's taking the protagonist closer to the story goal. 59 00:12:55.260 --> 00:13:17.470 Kristina Stanley: and every time it goes down it's taking them farther away, and this is applicable whether the protagonist is in the scene or not, and many fantasy novels are written from 1 point of view. So the protagonist is in every scene, or it's written from multiple points of view, like game of thrones. And so there's there's still one protagonist. But 60 00:13:17.690 --> 00:13:20.359 Kristina Stanley: those the protagonists might not be in every scene. 61 00:13:20.760 --> 00:13:24.330 Kristina Stanley: and so the way to keep the reader from boring is, have them do something 62 00:13:24.450 --> 00:13:26.020 Kristina Stanley: they they can't 63 00:13:26.490 --> 00:13:38.350 Kristina Stanley: they can be a boring character, but they still must be active. They have to do something, and there's something. So if you have your story and it's about character A must 64 00:13:38.380 --> 00:13:42.560 Kristina Stanley: find the magic object, otherwise he will disappear. 65 00:13:42.610 --> 00:13:43.900 Kristina Stanley: For example. 66 00:13:44.520 --> 00:14:05.732 Kristina Stanley: that's the that's the external goal. So even if the the character is is boring character themselves. They need to have an external goal, and this is how you track it. If this is flat, meaning a scene doesn't take them closer to or farther away. This is where a story is gonna drag, and the reader's gonna get bored. And so you wanna look at the scenes where 67 00:14:06.130 --> 00:14:11.790 Kristina Stanley: it's. It's just a flat. It's not taking the protagonist one way or the other and edit those scenes. So 68 00:14:11.930 --> 00:14:24.509 Kristina Stanley: the point of view character in that scene has a goal, and there's something at risk for that goal, and that will take your boring character by design. That's their internal character flaw and give them an external action on that. 69 00:14:25.190 --> 00:14:26.040 Kristina Stanley: Okay? 70 00:14:26.040 --> 00:14:27.079 Lucy Cooke: Can I add to that. 71 00:14:27.260 --> 00:14:28.980 Kristina Stanley: Yes, if you can. Of course we can. 72 00:14:28.980 --> 00:14:34.020 Lucy Cooke: We go into Scene one and evaluate it and go into. Just ask fictionary 73 00:14:34.794 --> 00:15:01.089 Lucy Cooke: because Christina has managed to get her development team to do the most amazing thing. So what this is is it's Christina was talking about. Make sure there's action in every single scene, and you can press the evaluate button. And the point of view goal is that external action for that particular scene. And so, whilst you're tracking it across the story. 74 00:15:01.090 --> 00:15:16.140 Lucy Cooke: you can see? Do they have an external goal in in each scene? So even if they are boring by design, they still are doing something. So you can say, yes, this scene. They're doing something. Oh, this scene! They're not. 75 00:15:16.140 --> 00:15:32.680 Lucy Cooke: and you can do that just by pressing the just fiction button in the tension and conflict. So when you press that, it'll give you. Yes, please, please, please. Sorry. Yes, yes will be. Yeah. It's so exciting. I it's been here since January. 76 00:15:33.040 --> 00:15:50.099 Lucy Cooke: but it is beyond exciting, because it tells you what the average reader would see there as the point of view goal, and then you can say whether or not that is what you want for that part of your story. Is it story critical? 77 00:15:50.530 --> 00:16:02.759 Lucy Cooke: Yes, Letisha, I love it too. So we all have to tell Christine and send her loads of hearts, because and the development team, who are amazing. At that. Yes. 78 00:16:03.595 --> 00:16:06.569 Kristina Stanley: You're so funny, Lizzy. Okay. 79 00:16:07.010 --> 00:16:08.970 Kristina Stanley: so that's that question. 80 00:16:09.780 --> 00:16:22.209 Kristina Stanley: I'm gonna say from Kara, not ipad does fictionary work in German. Yep, so it works for any language that is Roman character based. We do have German novels in their Swedish, French, Spanish. 81 00:16:22.330 --> 00:16:23.950 Kristina Stanley: Dutch. 82 00:16:24.560 --> 00:16:25.380 Kristina Stanley: and 83 00:16:26.330 --> 00:16:31.260 Kristina Stanley: what you'll see, like everything in fictionary, is in English. But 84 00:16:34.750 --> 00:17:01.349 Kristina Stanley: it will. It will actually pull out and analyze the scene and give you analyze a foreign language scene and and interpret it for you. So it's pretty cool that way. The courses? Very good. Question. The courses come with a fictionary storyteller premium subscription, which is 39 a month, and you, of course, get the 25% off. So it's 25% off the 39 a month. And as long as your subscription you have access to the courses. 85 00:17:02.580 --> 00:17:04.269 Lucy Cooke: Absolutely. Can we do the next one? 86 00:17:05.957 --> 00:17:11.649 Lucy Cooke: Should I use fictionary just for editing, or write from scratch. 87 00:17:12.200 --> 00:17:13.616 Kristina Stanley: Oh, I missed that one. 88 00:17:14.251 --> 00:17:20.920 Lucy Cooke: Yeah, leads and and it's a such an amazing question. So if we go into my bookshelf. 89 00:17:23.899 --> 00:17:26.159 Kristina Stanley: My bookshelf. Yes, I'm there. 90 00:17:26.160 --> 00:17:31.350 Lucy Cooke: Are you? Christina? Is there a a brilliant button on here that we could press, perhaps to. 91 00:17:31.830 --> 00:17:34.149 Kristina Stanley: Like this one outline and write a novel. 92 00:17:34.310 --> 00:17:34.930 Lucy Cooke: Anna. 93 00:17:35.340 --> 00:17:39.450 Kristina Stanley: That what should I call my novel? So who sees 94 00:17:39.800 --> 00:17:42.120 Kristina Stanley: wet Lucy's 95 00:17:43.750 --> 00:17:46.069 Kristina Stanley: adventure? That's that's my novel. 96 00:17:46.110 --> 00:17:49.780 Kristina Stanley: It's Lucy's adventure. We don't. I don't know what it is, but that's my novel. 97 00:17:50.540 --> 00:18:15.470 Lucy Cooke: So what this does is it brings up a outline which is the one from Christina and my book and in there you'll have a basic universal outline, so you can make sure that you're hitting structurally what's needed in a story. You don't have to have them. You can merge them together. This is just there to help guide you, to make sure that the structures there for you. But then you go in there. 98 00:18:15.470 --> 00:18:25.560 Lucy Cooke: and then you start to write your story in there for you, and coming up in the example manuscripts. There is also a romance one, and 99 00:18:25.560 --> 00:18:26.240 Lucy Cooke: I am 100 00:18:26.700 --> 00:18:28.240 Lucy Cooke: have to say it. Christina. 101 00:18:29.170 --> 00:18:35.809 Lucy Cooke: Okay, there's coming up. There's going to be a fantasy one in there, coming up very soon as well. We're not recorded, are we? 102 00:18:36.141 --> 00:18:39.640 Lucy Cooke: Yes, but there will be so yeah, so it's very exciting. 103 00:18:41.250 --> 00:18:57.520 Kristina Stanley: Okay? So the next question, it's late here, wherever here is not sure if this answers yet, which plan gives you the ability to search the scenes to show the keywords. Do do you mean the word, Count? The there's not enough words in this. Let me go to a manuscript that actually shows something 104 00:18:57.710 --> 00:19:01.769 Kristina Stanley: like that has a book. We'll go to evolution here 105 00:19:02.100 --> 00:19:10.139 Kristina Stanley: and in here. We'll look at this scene and you can. This pulls out the most used words. I'm not sure if that's the question. 106 00:19:10.150 --> 00:19:16.800 Kristina Stanley: but I love this to help me see naming, or or to help me to see if if a scene is focused or not. 107 00:19:17.560 --> 00:19:20.519 Kristina Stanley: Or if I'm over using words, etc. 108 00:19:20.520 --> 00:19:44.435 Lucy Cooke: There's also in. If you want to have a look at the story map, and then, once everything's filled in, you can use the story map in a really amazing way. And so the story map you fill in all the story elements. And then Christina came up with this beauty, and this is one of the moments that I fell madly in love with, and fictionary. Can we put objects on? Can we put 109 00:19:45.510 --> 00:19:47.085 Lucy Cooke: just pop in? 110 00:19:48.680 --> 00:19:49.330 Lucy Cooke: The. 111 00:19:49.330 --> 00:19:50.919 Kristina Stanley: Objects are right. 112 00:19:51.100 --> 00:19:52.449 Kristina Stanley: So if we pull in here. 113 00:19:52.450 --> 00:19:57.999 Lucy Cooke: Objects. So in here. What you can do is if we just 114 00:19:58.040 --> 00:20:01.912 Lucy Cooke: yeah. So if you're wanting to go in there and 115 00:20:02.420 --> 00:20:25.910 Lucy Cooke: making sure that you're tracking objects because objects are so critical to a story. And you've got something in the climax scene in the story, and you don't want it just to magically appear. You want it throughout the story, and when you're in this story and you're you're reading it, and you'll notice the grandfather clock is in the climax scene, and it's story critical in this climax scene. 116 00:20:25.910 --> 00:20:34.559 Lucy Cooke: And then when you scroll across, you check to see which scenes the grandfather clocks in. Is it in enough 117 00:20:34.560 --> 00:20:36.532 Lucy Cooke: so that the 118 00:20:37.350 --> 00:21:00.010 Lucy Cooke: the reader will be like, Oh, yeah, no, I thought. And and the this this Christina wrote this for this to have an unfinished book so that everyone can see what it's like to have a book that's not quite up to scratch yet, but the object was done so brilliantly, and that and it just teaches you how to put it in, because each time you think oh, that's why it's there. 119 00:21:00.010 --> 00:21:08.559 Lucy Cooke: Oh, that's why it's there. Oh, that's why it's there. So when it comes back into the climax, it's like, Oh, well, I didn't expect that. So it's inevitable. 120 00:21:08.690 --> 00:21:11.710 Lucy Cooke: but the reader's still surprised by it. 121 00:21:11.740 --> 00:21:17.609 Lucy Cooke: and so you can track it through there. It is so cool, Katie, it is unbelievably cool. 122 00:21:17.840 --> 00:21:20.638 Kristina Stanley: Okay, so Lacy's not excited. We'll just, you know. 123 00:21:22.090 --> 00:21:42.840 Kristina Stanley: Okay, Chrissy says one of the things pro-writing a points out in my writing is the need for more transitions? Can you provide examples, suggestions on how to transition, to smooth out the flow of the chapter without becoming narrative heavy? And B. When would you recommend the scene? Break? Okay, so here's how you look at this. First we go and we look at 124 00:21:44.360 --> 00:21:45.700 Kristina Stanley: We're count. Proceed. 125 00:21:46.130 --> 00:22:02.260 Kristina Stanley: So when you have scenes now, there's not really one in this novel. But we'll we'll just pretend this was a really big, long scene. Say, it was 4,000 words compared to the others, you know. Here you've got a problem with this scene. It's too long relative, and this is where you're going to be looking for scene break characters. 126 00:22:02.440 --> 00:22:06.380 Kristina Stanley: So when you do that, so I'm going to answer B, and then lead back to A. 127 00:22:06.950 --> 00:22:12.352 Kristina Stanley: So if we look at the evaluate page, and on the plot tab we have here. 128 00:22:13.050 --> 00:22:24.390 Kristina Stanley: The point of view is set. Well, we don't know the scene time, because it's seen one, and the scene setting. So we know if we've anchored our scene. So those those are the key things. And then the other thing you want to look at 129 00:22:24.940 --> 00:22:49.809 Kristina Stanley: on the setting is, is there a location split? So let's say, we took a really long scene, and we'll just pretend that's a really long scene. We we have a location split here. These are places where you can look to break your scene up into 2 scenes. And so the long transition comes. For example, I'm sitting in my office. There's a there's a murderous screen upstairs in my house. 130 00:22:50.310 --> 00:23:01.490 Kristina Stanley: and the long transition is. Christina got up. She walked around the corner, went up these stairs. La, la, la, la, la! La! Nobody cares. People care about what happened up there. And did I get there? 131 00:23:01.490 --> 00:23:23.300 Kristina Stanley: Instead of describing this long transition for me to get from A to B. You end with. Whew! What just happened. And then the next scene is Boom! I'm right there, and the reader's smart enough to know. Of course I walk there. I'm in my house right, or I'm in a car. Of course I drove there, or the reader's smart enough to know they don't need to know the full transition between, and so if you split your scene. 132 00:23:23.430 --> 00:23:35.110 Kristina Stanley: you can just go to the next place, if you don't split your scene, you have to do a transition, or the reader is lost in a scene. They expect to be in the same location, or shown how to get to the new one. 133 00:23:35.767 --> 00:23:37.499 Kristina Stanley: Or scene break. 134 00:23:37.860 --> 00:23:47.809 Kristina Stanley: and the other thing you can do is you can look at your chapter. How many scenes per chapter, and see, how are you transitioning from one chapter to the next? 135 00:23:47.820 --> 00:23:52.260 Kristina Stanley: And when you're looking at flow, you want to look at an entry hook 136 00:23:52.600 --> 00:23:54.009 Kristina Stanley: and an exit hook 137 00:23:54.040 --> 00:23:57.049 Kristina Stanley: and an entry hook is at the beginning of a scene. 138 00:23:57.120 --> 00:24:19.470 Kristina Stanley: and all it's doing is making the reader ask a question. It's as simple as that. What question is the reader gonna ask at the beginning of the scene? If there's no question they're gonna start to kind of meander, and maybe go make a cup of coffee. So here somebody's at the door, and it's right behind somebody else. Nobody's expected, so that the she's very. This character is very nervous 139 00:24:20.170 --> 00:24:24.359 Kristina Stanley: right now, because of what's going on in her life. And so who's out the door? Is a big question. 140 00:24:24.700 --> 00:24:47.550 Kristina Stanley: And then, at the end of the scene, she sicked her stomach. And so why is she sick to her stomach? And so you have something at the beginning and something at the end. So the beginning entry hook makes the reader want to come into the scene and read it, and by the end there's another question, and the questions are going to vary in strength. They can be soft questions, really hard questions, cliff hammer questions. 141 00:24:47.878 --> 00:24:58.730 Kristina Stanley: So that not every scene is ending in the same way. And you don't want to put a question, mark. You want the reader to interpret that there's a there's a question there, Lucy, anything you want to add to that one. 142 00:24:59.283 --> 00:25:23.670 Lucy Cooke: Jenna Maretchi's really amazing one, which is one word long in italics, and it says, Run from the saviors champion. And so from that, you start asking the questions. Who's thinking this? Where do they have to run to? What are they running from? And you can start to see that you've got character related, and you've got plot related. You've got location related. 143 00:25:24.047 --> 00:25:37.619 Lucy Cooke: Why are they running? You've got so many questions that you start asking because of that very simple and entry hook. And so that's the transition that you what is the the reader asking from 144 00:25:37.620 --> 00:25:48.480 Lucy Cooke: this first sentence or last sentence, and that will really strengthen your transitions up another aspect as well. If you scroll up, you can see this. 145 00:25:48.730 --> 00:25:52.081 Lucy Cooke: You just scroll up the plot supergroup. 146 00:25:53.140 --> 00:26:20.469 Lucy Cooke: yep, you've got the opening type and the closing type, and you can choose from 4 different types. And it can be thought like the run, or it could be action or it can be description, or it can be dialogue and what you don't want to have is if we click on the opening types. So we go to the insight. Sorry. Note to the insight. Then 147 00:26:20.470 --> 00:26:49.820 Lucy Cooke: then you can see down at the bottom. Here, have you got 10 scenes in a row that start identically. So your transitions? You want them asking questions, but you also don't say, see? Scene 33 to 36. Every single one starts with dialogue, and this is where we, as a structural editor, you can strengthen it by just going. Oh, I need to have a different one. What you want to have across the whole story is a variety of those 4 different types. 148 00:26:49.950 --> 00:27:12.109 Lucy Cooke: And it's as simple as that. I remember seeing those 4 types going. Christine's a genius to have just boiled it down to that. Can you just imagine, that's just so amazing. And it makes it so that a reader's experience and we always come back to that at fictionary. What's the readers experience, they are always taken somewhere new, and so that there's a variety in there. 149 00:27:12.300 --> 00:27:13.760 Kristina Stanley: Yeah. 150 00:27:14.220 --> 00:27:18.520 Kristina Stanley: awesome. Okay. Now we got we got a long question from 151 00:27:18.550 --> 00:27:36.410 Kristina Stanley: an anonymous person. My novel is long, but it happens. But a lot happens. It's a very complex book, with a lot of world building and character relationships, action, romance, mystery. And there are powers in this world. But this story is a little dark, a little spicy. People keep telling me to make it shorter, but I've already done that. 152 00:27:36.410 --> 00:27:49.380 Kristina Stanley: This is the first book of at least 5 and there's a really good place to stop. Stop it before this unsure. If I take the advice of others, or stick to my guns. Alright. So first of all, you're the artist. 153 00:27:50.360 --> 00:27:57.310 Kristina Stanley: You're the artist. Everybody else has an opinion that's great. The one thing I would look at is 154 00:27:58.270 --> 00:28:11.740 Kristina Stanley: the word count for a first book in a fantasy series. You want to get your readers hooked, and so you want to be careful. It's not too long. 350 words is a very long book, and you could actually have 3 books there. 155 00:28:12.690 --> 00:28:21.290 Kristina Stanley: and in which case you want to look like, look at where the breaking points are. But without reading your story it's very difficult 156 00:28:21.490 --> 00:28:31.200 Kristina Stanley: for me to assess, because I don't know the pacing. I don't know if I could. If it's written in a way that I'm going to be able to to read through 350 words. 157 00:28:31.270 --> 00:28:39.600 Kristina Stanley: you know. Is it written with strong reaction scenes. So say, for example, in a fantasy, the first time a 158 00:28:40.220 --> 00:28:52.130 Kristina Stanley: protagonist interacts with magic like they actually use it. Or it's used on them. What's the reaction to that? Is their reaction, seeing yes or no? These are hooks. These are things that draw the readers forward. 159 00:28:53.405 --> 00:28:54.290 Kristina Stanley: So 160 00:28:54.430 --> 00:29:05.410 Kristina Stanley: it's a really difficult question to answer, because, of course, it depends on your book. And if you look at the length of the first book of Hunger Games versus the first book of Fourth Wing. 161 00:29:05.650 --> 00:29:10.290 Kristina Stanley: one's way shorter than the other, and they're both extremely commercially successful. 162 00:29:10.860 --> 00:29:13.200 Kristina Stanley: so could be either. 163 00:29:14.510 --> 00:29:36.619 Lucy Cooke: So my question is, is it maybe a trilogy cause? It has a romantic in there which is one of my favourite. So could it be that you've got a space at the 100,000, or the 100 1,002 20 or 2 30? And then then you've got this 3 50, is is it? Maybe a trilogy in there? And it's a super long 164 00:29:37.330 --> 00:29:42.660 Lucy Cooke: single book. But in actual fact you've got breathing points that are there. 165 00:29:43.020 --> 00:30:07.850 Lucy Cooke: Because it's it's not about the fact that you're gonna break this story up. And it's just their separate books. But this is. Maybe it's a closed series that you've got, and it's and then the rest of the books are in the same universe. And so you've got more trilogies in there. Maybe it isn't. Maybe it is, but it's just something to be open to. So you've got that, too. 166 00:30:07.850 --> 00:30:08.889 Kristina Stanley: And then 167 00:30:09.200 --> 00:30:14.920 Kristina Stanley: a skeleton blurb is a thing of beauty to help with this. So a skeleton blurb is just 168 00:30:16.520 --> 00:30:19.490 Kristina Stanley: The protagonist must do something. 169 00:30:19.590 --> 00:30:21.420 Kristina Stanley: So they have a story goal. 170 00:30:21.500 --> 00:30:43.169 Kristina Stanley: and there must be something at stake. And when you're writing a fantasy series, you're going to have a series. Skeleton blurb. So hunger games. Katniss Everdeen must take down the capital, otherwise everyone she knows will either die or live a life of misery. That's the series, Goal or Sorry. The series Skeleton Blurb Book. One is catnes 171 00:30:44.214 --> 00:30:47.049 Kristina Stanley: win at the Hunger Games. Otherwise she dies. 172 00:30:47.100 --> 00:30:55.189 Kristina Stanley: That's it. That's only book one. And so if you can pull out skeleton blurbs for your series, then you can pull out 173 00:30:56.346 --> 00:30:58.419 Kristina Stanley: skeleton blurbs 174 00:30:58.600 --> 00:31:15.798 Kristina Stanley: for each book and see where they fit. Okay, we're gonna keep going on the questions. I'm gonna do the next really quick cause they're super easy. Difference between fictionary and pro writing a awesome question works on the structure of your story. So it answers the question, do you have a story? It looks at? 175 00:31:16.460 --> 00:31:29.490 Kristina Stanley: the story arc. So do you have the 5 scenes required in a story arc inciting incident, plot point one middle plot point 2. Climax. So do you actually have a story? Are the scenes in the right place, doing what they need. Pro writing a looks at the pros 176 00:31:29.620 --> 00:31:40.159 Kristina Stanley: and looks at is the actual text. So pro writing aid is looking at this level to make the pros really strong. And when you put the 2 together you've got a whammy, powerful book. 177 00:31:40.521 --> 00:31:46.349 Kristina Stanley: Is the price reduced forever. It's for your first year off, and yes, it's for annual as well as monthly. 178 00:31:47.290 --> 00:31:52.060 Kristina Stanley: Katie says he showed us on the presentation earlier this week to find scenes that showed you things 179 00:31:52.220 --> 00:31:56.710 Kristina Stanley: to maybe name the scenes. Yes, okay. So naming scenes here. 180 00:31:58.630 --> 00:32:01.179 Kristina Stanley: is here. I'm going to. Just 181 00:32:02.650 --> 00:32:07.769 Kristina Stanley: I can re-import this. I'm gonna name the scenes in this novel so pretend they're not named over here. 182 00:32:07.800 --> 00:32:09.499 Kristina Stanley: so they would just be empty. 183 00:32:10.770 --> 00:32:32.000 Kristina Stanley: And when we click, name my scenes. What's happening now is fictionary is going through, and it's scanning the novel. And this is fictionary using AI. We don't ever touch the text. And AI. We don't use it to write. We only use it to evaluate. We don't use it to train. You always have a choice. So if you're going to just ask, you're choosing to use AI 184 00:32:32.210 --> 00:32:42.859 Kristina Stanley: to help you edit and revise. But you can also do all of this manually. So if you're not comfortable with AI, you don't have to use it, and you, as the artist, get a choice. 185 00:32:43.780 --> 00:32:54.829 Kristina Stanley: And so you can see here the morning widow flees a funeral. Well, that is what this scene is, so AI has named it for me. If it had named it. Lucy gets a cup of coffee. 186 00:32:54.940 --> 00:33:00.109 Kristina Stanley: and that's not what my scene is about, even though she drinks tea, I'd know it'd be really off. But 187 00:33:00.240 --> 00:33:01.060 Kristina Stanley: it's 188 00:33:01.070 --> 00:33:25.040 Kristina Stanley: if this, if AI can't name it, there's something off about the scene that it's worth going and having a look at to see why it didn't name it. You can always rename it to something you prefer, and once it's named. It draws all of the scene names in the context of the story, arc scenes, and so you can see your whole story laid out in front of you with with 189 00:33:25.305 --> 00:33:40.730 Kristina Stanley: your scenes around the story arc, and every time you make a revision all of these insights update. And so if you move a story arc scene around. If you rename a scene, if you cut a scene, split a scene, whatever you want to do, all of this changes, so you always know if you're on track. 190 00:33:41.840 --> 00:33:52.720 Kristina Stanley: Okay, Alden says, I'm currently outlining a fantasy novel. You mean using Jenny Nash's inside outline. How does fictionary work with other outline methods. 191 00:33:54.360 --> 00:33:55.550 Kristina Stanley: Do you want me to answer you. 192 00:33:55.790 --> 00:34:20.189 Lucy Cooke: Absolutely so that's really easy. For you to do. You go into the the new one that you've set up, and then you just go into your scene names and in the scene names you can just rewrite it. The scene name to the one that you're using as Jenny Nash. The other is, you go into purpose, and you can add any of the the purpose of it. 193 00:34:20.219 --> 00:34:23.108 Lucy Cooke: So when you're outlining you can 194 00:34:23.770 --> 00:34:26.624 Lucy Cooke: have at that. And when you're 195 00:34:27.409 --> 00:34:51.490 Lucy Cooke: then going into the edit, you can then bring it down away from the scene name. And so you've got both options open to you. And it really helps so that you know that you're getting your story right. And then Christina showed you the purpose insight which you click on any any button that goes, and that lovely teal blue. You click on that, and then it'll take you to an insight. 196 00:34:51.489 --> 00:34:58.069 Lucy Cooke: and this insight will show you the scene name, and then it'll go down and say, Are they in the right order for you? 197 00:34:58.070 --> 00:35:09.390 Lucy Cooke: And then it'll show you whether or not you've got all the ones that you want in there, and if there's any that you just don't have any idea why, it said, that's a really big blazing plaque, and saying. 198 00:35:09.670 --> 00:35:21.559 Lucy Cooke: Go and have a look at that scene. Why is that one there? If you can't find what its purpose is for, and those editing cutting scissors where you cut it out and put it into a save file. That's really critical. 199 00:35:22.150 --> 00:35:28.660 Lucy Cooke: And I write in Scrivener. How are you able to import even brilliant questions? Alden? 200 00:35:29.940 --> 00:35:31.850 Kristina Stanley: You want me to answer, or you answer? 201 00:35:32.090 --> 00:35:32.860 Lucy Cooke: Yeah, second. 202 00:35:32.860 --> 00:35:52.969 Kristina Stanley: So yeah, scrivener has a beautiful export. I think it's called compile. It is the actual command they use. And it and you can. You can have it formatted. So it exports to Dock X. It puts the word chapter at the beginning of a chapter. It puts scene, break characters between your scenes, and then that imports beautifully right into fictionary. And so you just you just import the Doc X file. 203 00:35:53.540 --> 00:35:54.980 Lucy Cooke: Can I do? Letisha's. 204 00:35:55.494 --> 00:35:56.599 Kristina Stanley: You gonna read it out, though. 205 00:35:56.600 --> 00:36:24.429 Lucy Cooke: I will read it out. Throughout the throughout the conference we've talked about the importance of building up and ramping up the stakes through a series love stakes. But for Dp authors we're caution to have a complete and stand alone. Able story. How would you recommend introducing and including series plot points while not leaving the readers feeling let down by the lack of resolution to them. Is it possible for fiction to handle series paths? 206 00:36:26.270 --> 00:36:36.683 Lucy Cooke: This is so exciting, so so what you need to have a look at is hunger games as we've spoken about, and 207 00:36:37.340 --> 00:36:45.520 Lucy Cooke: so much, and then if you go into the example manuscripts and you'll see that we've got 208 00:36:45.910 --> 00:37:10.237 Lucy Cooke: the outline that you could be using for this. So that first book you've got stakes, and you're building them up. And if you've read fourth wing, which has the best stakes in every single scene, I will not die today, and then you're you're you're glued to it. It's no wonder it's such a good patron, because you just want to make sure, will she? Will she die today? 209 00:37:10.580 --> 00:37:26.869 Lucy Cooke: and so you're reading it. And so you've got the scene level stakes, and then this not to die. The first year is the first book, and at the end of the book you know whether or not she was successful at her story, and whether or not those mistakes are paid out. 210 00:37:26.870 --> 00:37:34.164 Lucy Cooke: and it could end there. But it doesn't, because it's obviously a closed trilogy that 211 00:37:34.780 --> 00:37:52.099 Lucy Cooke: Rebecca Ars brilliantly wanted to do. But it's strong enough to go there that that they would be a ruckus if they didn't close it off. So for your first one look at going into your scene level stakes, and how strong are they? 212 00:37:52.100 --> 00:38:16.799 Lucy Cooke: Yes, you have to ramp them up over the whole of your story. Of your series, but looked first at the scene state. So I've just read a stand alone. Romance. I know we're in Fantasy Week, but it's called Funny Story and romance, and that one has a date until this person leaves the the place that they're in. And so you've got that stakes of will there? Won't they leave 213 00:38:16.800 --> 00:38:40.659 Lucy Cooke: all the way through the book, and so the stakes are still there at the beginning of every single scene. So if you're looking to try and figure out how to get your stakes in read in your genre, and also read out of your genre and get inspiration of how do they get the scenes and the scene stakes in and then in the evaluate page in the character supergroup. You've got the scene level goal. 214 00:38:41.569 --> 00:38:52.049 Lucy Cooke: and and you've got the scene level. What if goal fails, and that, then, is your scene stakes? So you go down to the character supergroup, is it? 215 00:38:52.958 --> 00:39:05.180 Lucy Cooke: Then the what if goal fails? And then, then, in that one. Now, the really great thing about all these elements is is, there's a little question mark next to them. And if you're thinking, what is this you get to 216 00:39:05.190 --> 00:39:34.449 Lucy Cooke: have a look at all of this, and then it'll give you more advice on how to use this when you're editing, or when you're outlining your story so hopefully, that helps you. And then you can obviously go back to that story map which is marvelous that we showed you before, and then you can track your what if goal fails across the whole of your story and see if they are ramping up through that story, and see at the climax whether or not it was paid out or not. And then then it tells you whether or not you've completed your story. 217 00:39:34.770 --> 00:39:36.449 Kristina Stanley: Okay. So just to add to that 218 00:39:36.778 --> 00:40:03.530 Kristina Stanley: secrets. The book we just released yesterday secrets to writing a series shows you exactly how to do this, and we give you a process for it. Inside the app we have a story outline which shows this is for a 3 book series. It shows you the inciting incident for the series. Plot point one for the series, Plot, the middle for the series, Plot point 2 for the series and the climax, and you can outline your books around your series story. 219 00:40:04.590 --> 00:40:16.669 Kristina Stanley: your whole series story, Arc, and then do your individual visual books within the series, and so secrets to writing a series takes you through this full process step by step, and and gives you actions all the way through on how to build this? 220 00:40:16.770 --> 00:40:42.369 Kristina Stanley: Okay? Next question, because we're we're already at 12, something 40. Okay, I'm writing a short story in which main character is nameless and anonymous. What do you recommend to prevent the overused pronouns when revising and editing? It's a question I wanted to ask. Okay, so there, what you can do? In the book evolution that we we use for teaching. It's got a character who's nameless, and he's referred to as the boy. 221 00:40:42.830 --> 00:40:51.689 Kristina Stanley: That's it. So if you can find some way. It could be the magician, it could be the Wizard. It could be so some way to to 222 00:40:52.250 --> 00:41:02.400 Kristina Stanley: give a visual about that character. The reader will remember him if if you say he too often the reader's going to forget who it is, so you need, so you need some way to connect it. 223 00:41:03.420 --> 00:41:09.830 Kristina Stanley: Pam is the $39, the regular price with a discount. It's the regular price. So it's 25% off that 224 00:41:09.950 --> 00:41:13.739 Kristina Stanley: we talked about Scribner. We don't have a lifetime membership. 225 00:41:14.218 --> 00:41:16.849 Kristina Stanley: We just have an annual and a monthly 226 00:41:17.960 --> 00:41:25.610 Kristina Stanley: other than how does premium differ? So? Premium has 10 manuscripts. So if you see on your bookshelf I'm going to show you the bookshelf. 227 00:41:25.800 --> 00:41:30.730 Kristina Stanley: So here I think I'm not in a premium. I'm only in the advance. Hang on. Let's go. 228 00:41:30.830 --> 00:41:33.580 Kristina Stanley: Let's go to example. So we can actually see something. 229 00:41:34.039 --> 00:41:39.309 Kristina Stanley: So premium will have active 10 manuscripts here on your active bookshelf. 230 00:41:39.700 --> 00:41:45.700 Kristina Stanley: You can archive them at any time and fill them up. Storyteller itself only has 3 manuscripts. 231 00:41:46.480 --> 00:41:57.140 Kristina Stanley: Premium is more for people who are writing multiple books and also in premium. We've got track changes and storyteller doesn't have any track changes at all with it. 232 00:41:58.390 --> 00:41:59.260 Kristina Stanley: Okay? 233 00:41:59.750 --> 00:42:07.780 Kristina Stanley: So I would write the book. This is from Amy. I would write the book, using a and then bring it into pro writing aid for editing the text. 234 00:42:08.010 --> 00:42:09.085 Kristina Stanley: So 235 00:42:10.260 --> 00:42:18.980 Kristina Stanley: you can use pro writing aid within fictionary. You can export and then do it. And the reason we recommend copy editing after story editing is that 236 00:42:19.880 --> 00:42:36.399 Kristina Stanley: many writers get stuck on scene one, and rewrite it to perfection. And then, when they perform a structural or a story edit, they end up cutting that scene. That's not where the story starts. And so we spent hours and hours and hours perfecting a scene that's not even in the book. And so if you perfect your story first. 237 00:42:36.650 --> 00:42:49.519 Kristina Stanley: then you go to copy editing. It saves time, and particularly if you're paying a copy editor, you want to make sure that your story is done. You don't want to go to a copy editor until you are finished with your story. And now you're just looking at Pros. 238 00:42:49.840 --> 00:42:54.909 Kristina Stanley: So by doing a story on it first, it it just saves you a lot of time. 239 00:42:55.930 --> 00:42:59.270 Kristina Stanley: Difference between Scribner and fictionary fictionary is visual. 240 00:42:59.410 --> 00:43:07.730 Kristina Stanley: So Scribner's a writing tool. We are writing, and a evaluating tool to help you actually see your see your manus manuscript? 241 00:43:11.040 --> 00:43:19.009 Kristina Stanley: Can the author share in a fictionary with their draft? Sorry? Can an author share their draft in fictionary with to their editor. 242 00:43:19.200 --> 00:43:33.130 Kristina Stanley: So when and if you hire an editor who's using our story coach software to perform a professional edit, you send them your manuscript. They import it, they edit it there and then they send a full edit, including all of the story arc elements filled out. 243 00:43:34.660 --> 00:43:36.960 Kristina Stanley: So if we look here. 244 00:43:37.280 --> 00:43:51.520 Kristina Stanley: you would receive in your storyteller premium account a full edit that includes all of this filled out, plus all of the notes per scene about your story, so it gives you. It almost gives you, like a nonfiction book on your on your book. 245 00:43:52.860 --> 00:43:59.279 Kristina Stanley: Katie. Lucy, you can answer this. I do. Pansters often wait until a book is complete before using fictionary. 246 00:43:59.548 --> 00:44:24.240 Lucy Cooke: So no lots of pants has just go in, and if you go into the one that we've just which has the outline in it. What you can do is that you can add new scenes. And you can just say, Okay, there's an outline there, and I can just write as on a scene by scene basis and just add them in ad hoc as you would going right? I I'm just gonna write scenes. And then I'm gonna organize it later, because when you go down the purple 247 00:44:24.240 --> 00:44:49.210 Lucy Cooke: side, you can lift up any one of those scenes and move it around. So it's where you want it to be as a writer. So if we lift up scene 8 and say, actually, scene 8 should be in scene three's position, it does lift it up and move it around. So if you write as a scene by scene basis, you can use this if you're a pancer, or if you're an outlier in between 248 00:44:49.210 --> 00:45:04.240 Lucy Cooke: some people, they quite like to have the very bare bones of an outline. Other people want just blank pages, and so that's completely up to you. But it is really very simple. You just press the little pencil button. 249 00:45:04.240 --> 00:45:31.389 Lucy Cooke: and then it says, Create a new scene, or create a new chapter. And then you've just got blank pages from there. And I write in fictionary because I love it. And I liked being reminded, look for a point of view goal when I'm thinking about. And I I you know I'm Dave dreaming about my, I'm a story and I go. Oh, I've gotta have a point of view goal here. Oh, I wonder what the entry hook is, and it gets me going because it triggers me in my creative process. That's why I adore it so much. 250 00:45:31.998 --> 00:45:37.470 Lucy Cooke: Does the discount only work for new members or can existing members use it? Thanks. I love fiction. 251 00:45:38.600 --> 00:45:40.959 Kristina Stanley: That is, it's for new members. Yeah. 252 00:45:41.170 --> 00:45:55.400 Kristina Stanley: And there's another one on the Letisha's also asking, Does it apply to annual? Yes. So you've got a I mean, I haven't calculated it out, which I probably should have before this. But yes, it's 25% off each month for the first year, or 25% off the full annual price 253 00:45:55.940 --> 00:45:57.100 Kristina Stanley: for that year. Yeah. 254 00:45:57.520 --> 00:46:14.559 Lucy Cooke: Okay. So sherry, Ann has asked, will this work to split a large story file into 20 separate files? As I currently can't do this, and I'm not tech savvy? It would mean that I could upload it quick it and then you'd have to answer. But keep. 255 00:46:14.900 --> 00:46:27.280 Kristina Stanley: Oh, I understand the problem here, Ann, so this is a really great question. So because you in storyteller, because you can use pro writing aid right there. You don't have to. 256 00:46:28.923 --> 00:46:43.680 Kristina Stanley: You don't have to separate it out. So in this part of the screen here, I've got all my extensions turned off because it just slows my computer down too much when it combines it with zoom. But if I had the pro writing aid extension on you would see here the 257 00:46:44.070 --> 00:46:50.680 Kristina Stanley: changes it's recommending, and you can do it right here on a scene by scene basis. And so you don't have to go to that 258 00:46:50.740 --> 00:47:05.339 Kristina Stanley: tedious work of splitting your manuscript up and looking at each scene individually, and I believe with their premium product. It'll work on a full word file as well. So again you don't. You don't have to split it and and load it up. 259 00:47:06.540 --> 00:47:31.010 Lucy Cooke: Okay, so we've got here. All the chapter titles written by fictionary, all the authors. So we did show that that's your choice. You can either have fictionary. Write them out for you, or you can write them. I find a mixture of both is absolutely brilliant. Pam, because get fictionary to write them. Then you read through and go. Why is it saying that? And then, instead of going, Oh, oh, well, it's it's 260 00:47:31.320 --> 00:47:56.289 Lucy Cooke: It's what have I written there that that's is that overshadowing? Or have I underwritten what I wanted that scene to be about? So I use it as a as a benchmark and measurement of yes, it's the average reader would see what I want them to see, or oh, I overwrote because we love our protagonist, or we love our point of view, character, and sometimes, if it's a difficult situation, we might underwrite. 261 00:47:56.290 --> 00:48:11.840 Lucy Cooke: write that difficult bit, and then overcompensate and write the nice bits, whereas that's not the point of what the purpose of that scene. So that's why I'm using the chapter titles. And when just asking fictionary is really useful, and then you can go and tweak them afterwards. 262 00:48:12.260 --> 00:48:12.960 Kristina Stanley: So. 263 00:48:12.960 --> 00:48:13.679 Lucy Cooke: Let's read the 264 00:48:13.860 --> 00:48:15.239 Lucy Cooke: chat to get answer questions. 265 00:48:15.240 --> 00:48:23.039 Kristina Stanley: I know there's there's a bunch of stuff buried in there, and I wanted, you know, before we run out of time I wanted to talk about the story arc just a little bit. 266 00:48:23.540 --> 00:48:31.789 Kristina Stanley: and if we look at so, every every story needs a story arc. And so if we just go and look at the story arc here. 267 00:48:31.860 --> 00:48:57.070 Kristina Stanley: and we can see that an inciting incident. That's just the scene that shakes up the the characters world. So in a fantasy, that's typically the scene where they start their new journey. It can be before the book starts, or anywhere up to say 15. These are just ranges that you you can work with, and without an inciting instant. There's no story. The character doesn't go on a journey. Nothing happens. You don't have a story 268 00:48:57.220 --> 00:49:02.744 Kristina Stanley: on Plot Point one. It's where they accept the story goal. So when you look at 269 00:49:03.490 --> 00:49:19.930 Kristina Stanley: a fantasy book, it could be where they decide. Yep, I've got magic, and I'm gonna use it. It could be where they've crossed into a new world, and they can't go back. And so they have to accept that story goal. There's many different things. 270 00:49:19.930 --> 00:49:35.039 Kristina Stanley: But if they don't accept the story goal again, there's no story. They have to accept the story goal. Somewhere between 20 and 30%, there are ranges. And fourth wing goes right out of the range and does it beautifully. So you have to do what works for your book. 271 00:49:35.150 --> 00:49:47.589 Kristina Stanley: The middle is typically where in a fantasy, in in all genres, it's where the protagonist changes from a reactive. So something happens. They react, something happens, they react to proactive. They're now leading it 272 00:49:47.600 --> 00:50:00.049 Kristina Stanley: in a fantasy. Often something happens that almost kills them or someone really important to them. It's quite often a devastating scene and a turning point in a fantasy novel. 273 00:50:00.730 --> 00:50:11.789 Kristina Stanley: If they don't change from reactive to proactive, the story gets boring. The character isn't driving it enough, and the reader loses interest. So there must be a middle plot point in there somewhere. Making that change. 274 00:50:12.100 --> 00:50:26.569 Kristina Stanley: Plot point 2 is usually where the protagonist is at the lowest of the low in the book. When you're writing a series, it can't be the lowest of the low in the series, but just for that book, and they learn the final piece of information, they need to move to the climax. 275 00:50:26.570 --> 00:50:51.459 Kristina Stanley: and there, if and spoiler, alert. If we look at Fourth Wing, her plot point Violet's main character. She's got her dragon powers. She doesn't know what her power is, but she knows she can do something she doesn't know yet at this point she learns one. Her power is, she can create lightning and 2 she kills somebody, and so it's the lowest of the lowest, her first time killing someone, and that that just drops her right down to the 276 00:50:51.460 --> 00:51:02.330 Kristina Stanley: bottom. She also learns that she can wield lightning, and that takes her to the climax scene, and without that piece of information she can't get to the climax. So the plot point 2 has to be there 277 00:51:02.770 --> 00:51:10.920 Kristina Stanley: and then at the climax. This is where they either succeed or fail at achieving their story goal. So in hunger games. 278 00:51:11.770 --> 00:51:26.150 Kristina Stanley: Katlis doesn't die. So she's achieved her story goal for book one in that series, not for the series, only book one. If it's the series, the series is over. It can only be the book one in in that series. 279 00:51:26.700 --> 00:51:34.870 Kristina Stanley: And so with fourth Wing, for example, which, if you haven't read it, it's a great example of a of a fantasy novel with a ton of 280 00:51:34.950 --> 00:51:40.980 Kristina Stanley: at magic and a ton of romance. So it's it's all mixed in and in the genres. But 281 00:51:42.740 --> 00:51:59.379 Kristina Stanley: The win is for the first year of Violet's life, but not for her Series school. She hasn't got there yet, and she's so. There's a hook at the end of the book that leads you into the next book, and I'm trying to say this without giving away, like really giving away the ending. But 282 00:51:59.908 --> 00:52:02.600 Kristina Stanley: the story. Arc is extremely important 283 00:52:03.320 --> 00:52:11.000 Kristina Stanley: for having those 5 scenes. So the thing I recommend you do first, when you're editing a fantasy, is you? Go and look. 284 00:52:11.070 --> 00:52:12.720 Kristina Stanley: if you have those 4 285 00:52:12.760 --> 00:52:27.709 Kristina Stanley: 5 story arc scenes, are they doing what you need them to do? And if you remember, on my bookshelf we have examples. And here we have this manuscript fully edited, and if we go, this is the inciting incident here 286 00:52:27.960 --> 00:52:50.809 Kristina Stanley: and in the notes we talk about. Well, what is an inciting incident. What does it do? And what is this seeing, doing, or what does it need to do to meet those requirements? And so we've given you a ton of the theory here on how to do this and how to find your story. Arc scenes fictionary draws the story arc for you. It takes a guess at it, based on what it's seeing in your novel. 287 00:52:51.230 --> 00:52:56.600 Kristina Stanley: But you. Then, as the artist can decide, you agree with fiction, and if you, don't you just reset those scenes 288 00:52:57.050 --> 00:53:12.959 Kristina Stanley: to the story arc scene that you want it to be? And then, you know, do you have a story? And is this? Is it? Is it based on a really strong structural foundation? If the answer is yes, then you go forward and you start editing your scenes 289 00:53:13.020 --> 00:53:21.029 Kristina Stanley: around the story arc scenes in the beginning and the end. I personally like to do the opening image last, because usually by the time I get to the 290 00:53:21.120 --> 00:53:29.560 Kristina Stanley: closing image. I know what I want my opening image to be, but when I first write it I don't know. It doesn't make any sense with the story. But when I'm done, because I'm kind of a 291 00:53:29.800 --> 00:53:41.939 Kristina Stanley: I'm a bit of a pancer, and so I like to have the structure around me. But then when I come back and I'm actually, I'm revising my story. I want to focus on does that structure work? And that was a very long 292 00:53:42.308 --> 00:53:44.101 Kristina Stanley: description of the story. Arc. 293 00:53:45.360 --> 00:53:57.159 Lucy Cooke: So Lauren said I loved Fourth Wing can't wait for Book 3. And then the energy in this seminar has given me a serotonin boost. I can't wait to get writing tonight. Bring it on. 294 00:53:57.160 --> 00:53:57.770 Kristina Stanley: Guess you're happy. 295 00:53:57.770 --> 00:54:08.419 Lucy Cooke: Absolutely. We've got a fantastic question from Yamalu how to make sure a scene or a chapter isn't too long or too short from the others. 296 00:54:08.760 --> 00:54:10.970 Kristina Stanley: How should we do that, Lucy? 297 00:54:11.120 --> 00:54:14.860 Kristina Stanley: Navigate the app? You may talk to it. How about that? 298 00:54:14.860 --> 00:54:38.820 Lucy Cooke: Okay, so every single person has their own creativity, and they have their own fingerprint. Author. Print of what your normal scene length will be, and and you can't really fight against that. But you can use it to your benefit, so that Christina, on average, writes about the 299 00:54:38.820 --> 00:54:49.900 Lucy Cooke: 1,000 word mark somewhere between 9 50 and 1,100. That's where she's on average. And if you see it across the story, so any outlier. 300 00:54:49.900 --> 00:54:55.700 Lucy Cooke: there's going to be something that you need to go. That's right. The first scene you'd pop in there, and you'd have a look 301 00:54:55.810 --> 00:55:00.410 Lucy Cooke: short scenes. You would go in, and you would see 302 00:55:00.410 --> 00:55:28.539 Lucy Cooke: that there's always an area that you go and have a look in. And it's your setting super group. That's my first port of call. If I see a short scene, have they cut back on the setting? Has someone cut that on the setting? And when I say they, that's me. Without fictionary I would never have known that I needed to put in so much setting in a subjective way. So that's way to deal with something that's too short is is that story critical? That it's short? 303 00:55:28.630 --> 00:55:39.929 Lucy Cooke: If it's too long, you go in and say it. Does. This need a split in here is there. Are there 2 point of view goals? Are there 2. And and so that can be happening in there? 304 00:55:40.050 --> 00:55:55.230 Lucy Cooke: Another factor on the scene is. Are you aiming for like hunger games? 5,000 words all the way through? Or are you wanting to give a roller coaster? So when it comes to a story. Oxine you. 305 00:55:55.270 --> 00:56:23.489 Lucy Cooke: There's a lot of word real estate, and it is an important scene. Or do you speed up? So you have shorter scenes coming up to then. Bang! Pay attention to this. And so it's the experience that you can visualize using fictionary. To say, this is the experience I want my reader to have. So you're going in there. You're not following a rule you're following. You're writing what you want to create for the reader. 306 00:56:23.710 --> 00:56:34.829 Lucy Cooke: And then chapters. If you've got a chapter that's an outlier again, then you go in there and have a look at those 7 scenes, and you say to yourself. 307 00:56:35.260 --> 00:56:51.800 Lucy Cooke: for chapter 10. Let's have a look in there. What's happening in Chapter 10, and then you go to Chapter 10, and you can see that there should probably be a split in there, and I think that in there is one of the the story, ox scenes. Is it? Scene 37. 308 00:56:53.042 --> 00:56:55.870 Lucy Cooke: So seen. That should always be 309 00:56:55.920 --> 00:57:04.559 Lucy Cooke: the the scene. 37. A story I've seen should either be at the beginning of a chapter, or at the end of the chapter, because if it's sandwiched in the middle. 310 00:57:04.610 --> 00:57:10.759 Lucy Cooke: that's telling structurally, the reader that anything that's in the middle of a chat isn't as important as bang. 311 00:57:11.116 --> 00:57:11.830 Kristina Stanley: You're ready. 312 00:57:11.830 --> 00:57:36.050 Lucy Cooke: And so anybody like a court of thorns and roses. Where you see Reese being introduced, he's introduced, and she sees him for the first time at the end of a chapter break. It's one of the most brilliant introductions that Sarah J. Mass has. I've ever done, because in that first book, is he? You know we don't know how important he is to the series. 313 00:57:36.070 --> 00:57:46.929 Lucy Cooke: but his introduction is so powerful you cannot help but see him read the book for that introduction. It is amazing, and that structure 314 00:57:46.950 --> 00:57:54.619 Lucy Cooke: that shows that this person is going to be really important by putting him in there. But you do the same with Chapter Len hopefully. That helped. 315 00:57:54.620 --> 00:57:59.020 Kristina Stanley: There, so I just wanted to say so. All I did was inserted a sa, a chapter break 316 00:57:59.450 --> 00:58:12.230 Kristina Stanley: here where, right before plot point one. So now we have chapter 10, chapter 11. And if we go back to the scenes per chapter insight, we can see scenes per chapter. We'll go over to chapter. 317 00:58:12.870 --> 00:58:24.980 Kristina Stanley: So now we have 1011, we've got 5 and a 2. It's a much better balance. Plot point 2. Now starts plot point one. Now starts there. So, Lucy, we have 2 min left. 318 00:58:24.980 --> 00:58:26.640 Lucy Cooke: Wanted. Yep. Sorry. 319 00:58:26.640 --> 00:58:45.180 Kristina Stanley: Remind everybody of next week. Coming up is the magic system story arcs. So come, it's a free event. We're gonna talk about the inciting instant plot. Point one, the middle plot, point, plot point 2, and the climax for your magic system in your fantasy. Novel, fictionary live 6 weeks to structure. Your entire course is coming up. 320 00:58:45.720 --> 00:58:58.140 Kristina Stanley: And you know, here's your your link to your 25% discount. And I just wanna remind you that secrets to writing a series is brand new and out. So if you are writing a fantasy series, this book will help you drive through it 321 00:58:58.840 --> 00:59:04.789 Kristina Stanley: and thank you for all the fabulous questions. We are about 30 s to go see. 322 00:59:05.060 --> 00:59:13.100 Lucy Cooke: Fantastic. Thank you so much for coming along. Export your book. Come into the community and we'll talk to you all about how that is just a flick of a button. It's easy, Peasy. 323 00:59:13.550 --> 00:59:14.320 Kristina Stanley: Take a button. 324 00:59:14.320 --> 00:59:33.330 Michelle @ ProWritingAid: Thank you so much, Christine and Lucy, this is such a great session. Thank you. To everybody who came and brought all your great questions. This replay will be up on the hub soon, and all of the links and special offers are on the premium hub as well, so you can check them out there, and we have another session starting in just an hour, so we will see you. Then. 325 00:59:33.530 --> 00:59:34.480 Michelle @ ProWritingAid: I always understand. 326 00:59:34.480 --> 00:59:35.930 Kristina Stanley: Funny! That was fabulous.