You might be thinking, Wait a minute, haven’t we done this already? Didn’t we do that when we worked out the protagonist’s misbelief and what she is struggling to achieve? Isn’t that what the ticking clock is leading to? Absolutely. Your plot will revolve around what your protagonist will do, starting on page one, in reaction to that rapidly

As you trace action/reaction to the end of the scene, a shape or pattern should emerge. In a well-designed scene, even behaviors that seem helter-skelter will have an arc and a purpose.

Principle 2: Think of yourself as a director, not a carpenter. When we work with tools, we are trained to think of them as an extension of us. A carpenter swings a hammer and gets one step closer to completing a house. He or she knows what the hammer will do each time it swings, and works accordingly. This metaphor breaks down when it comes to