For Story

Structure


Story Structure

Library


Videos on

Structure



For Story

Development


Writing

Tips

Library


Articles on Writing






Read the Science Fiction Thriller

From the founder of Storymind

Man Made follows a mysterious force as it sweeps around the globe erasing anything man made - from buildings, vehicles, and technology to medicines, clothing, and dental work.

Governments stagger under the panic, religions are at a loss for an explanation, scientists strive for any means to stop or divert the phenomenon, and the world’s population from families to individuals struggle to prepare for The Event, which will drive humanity back beyond the stone age.

The Event is coming.

Are you prepared?

Copyright Melanie Anne Phillips


Storymind

Free Writing Resources

By Melanie Anne Phillips

creator StoryWeaver, co-creator Dramatica

Novice Writers
Intermediate Writers
Advanced Writers
Basic Story Structure

Characters    
Plot
Theme
Genre

Creative Writing
Story Development
Story Structure
Narrative Science    

Story Development
Story Structure

Dramatica Software 
Dramatica Theory

Articles on Writing

Realize that your mind is a narrative-generating machine. That is why narratives exist in the first place: because they mirror the processes of the mind. But the mind is also a repository of topical information – subject matter – and it engages in the process of synthesizing two or more old ideas into a new one. The new ideas may or may not fit into the narrative the mind is constructing. And yet the heart is drawn more to the new ideas, just as the mind is drawn more to a balanced and complete structure.


And so, in waking and in sleeping our conscious and subconscious selves - one driven by reason and the other by passion - each rule for part of our lives, with the other side being the opposition party for a few hours. And in the term of office for each, they push through their agendas: more subject matter, ever-expanding or more accurate structure, ever in conflict yet working toward the same goal - a sound and meaningful narrative for life.


The act of creation is a political war between our conscious and sub-conscious selves – our hearts and our minds – between our love of a subject and our need to put that subject in a contextual framework.


Only when negotiations commence and compromises are made can a balance between topic and framework achieved. And then, though neither our heart nor mind will ever be fully satisfied with the treaty between them, they will let the narrative go out into the world.  For in the end, it is better to put the imperfect to work in the world than to keep the perfect only within one’s heart and mind.


That, is how art is made.