Is story excellence something you "know when you see it"—or can it actually be measured? Is excellence defined by hitting bestseller lists? Filling seats at every book tour stop? Being selected for “Best Books of 2025” lists? Is excellence defined by getting gatekeeper approval? Getting agent representation? Landing a book deal? Winning awards? Is excellence defined by earning money? Getting a big advance? Earning out the advance and bringing in royalties? Or is it something else? How can we ...
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Is story excellence something you "know when you see it"—or can it actually be measured? Is excellence defined by hitting bestseller lists? Filling seats at every book tour stop? Being selected for “Best Books of 2025” lists? Is excellence defined by getting gatekeeper approval? Getting agent representation? Landing a book deal? Winning awards? Is excellence defined by earning money? Getting a big advance? Earning out the advance and bringing in royalties? Or is it something else? How can we ...
The Hidden Half of Your Protagonist's Goal (That Makes Story Structure Work)
Your Next Draft
19 minutes
3 months ago
The Hidden Half of Your Protagonist's Goal (That Makes Story Structure Work)
If your structure is perfect on paper, but your story still falls flat, this might be what you're missing. Have you ever structured a story with all the right pieces, but something still feels flat? You check all the boxes on paper: ✅ Inciting incident ✅ Progressive complications ✅ Turning point ✅ Crisis ✅ Climax ✅ Resolution And yet it still falls flat. They mostly align, probably, you’re pretty sure. But somehow, they’re not working together the way they should. The turning point doesn’t pa...
Your Next Draft
Is story excellence something you "know when you see it"—or can it actually be measured? Is excellence defined by hitting bestseller lists? Filling seats at every book tour stop? Being selected for “Best Books of 2025” lists? Is excellence defined by getting gatekeeper approval? Getting agent representation? Landing a book deal? Winning awards? Is excellence defined by earning money? Getting a big advance? Earning out the advance and bringing in royalties? Or is it something else? How can we ...
