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Chris Andrews
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Character and Structure: The Foundations of Fiction Kindle Edition

by Chris Andrews (Author) Format: Kindle Edition
4.4 out of 5 stars 46 ratings

Is your story creating impact?

Like starcrossed lovers, character and structure are often considered polar opposites, something many writers struggle to reconcile. Yet despite their differences they’re the twin foundations of storytelling and work together to engage your audience’s heart and mind. To master storytelling, you have to master both character and structure.

Writing coach, manuscript assessor and author Chris Andrews has condensed decades of storytelling experience into an easy-to-follow guide that clearly shows you how practical storytelling works.

Easy and fun to read, Character and Structure breaks storytelling down to its basics and explains how and why those basics work.

The structural elements and story points are illustrated with examples from a range of successful books and movies across genres, demonstrating that no matter your genre or setting, successful stories share the same foundations.

If you want to master storytelling and create successful stories, buy a copy of Character and Structure today.

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  1. Book 1 of 9
    Character and Structure
  2. Print length
    195 pages
  3. Language
    English
  4. Publication date
    September 27, 2019
  5. File size
    3.0 MB
  6. Page Flip
    Enabled
  7. Word Wise
    Enabled
  8. Enhanced typesetting
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Editorial Reviews

Review

"This is an excellent resource for the beginning and intermediate writer. It cuts through the clutter and tells you what audiences want and how to hit the beats, rather than writing something and hoping it becomes a hit. It also emphasises the long term view of writing, where you will make mistakes but how to learn from them. There are no magic pills present in the book, and there are simple tasks presented to ensure that writing is not an arduous activity and you can learn from it." ~ Petar, Goodreads

"Character & Structure: An Unholy Alliance is the first writing "how-to" book I've read that focuses on this important aspect of creative writing [mastering emotion]. I wish Mr. Andrews had written it a few years ago!" Janet ~ janetswritingblog.com

From the Author

Character and Structure: An Unholy Alliance is the culmination of years of research, developed through the practical experience of giving workshops and classes, and working as a manuscript assessor. Generally speaking, successful stories are built on two key foundations:
  • delivering on your story's premise (your promise to your audience)
  • how much your audience cares about your characters and their fate.
To deliver either of those two things, you need structure. Expectations are difficult to meet, but some core values transcend genre and format, such as a beginning, middle and end, and a logical progression of events. Writing a successful story begins with an understanding how stories work, and what your audience expects. What people want is an experience - to feel engaged. This experience is delivered through the interaction of Character and Structure. This book shows you how those two parts, generally treated in isolation, fit together to create emotional engagement by breaking them down and illustrating them with examples. Success means understanding what your audience expects, knowing how to give it to them, and ensuring you can do it again. If you ask yourself the right questions before you begin, most of what's hard about preparation, rewriting and troubleshooting get simplified. The more you know the less you've got to figure out as you write. Preparation and troubleshooting can be the hardest parts of storytelling, yet they're the keys to developing insight into your story, your characters, and how they entertain your audience. Combining character (why your story matters) and structure (audience expectations) engages your audience on an emotional level. The more your audience cares, the more successful you're likely to be. If you want to create successful stories, you'll need to know how to combine Character with Structure in what many would consider An Unholy Alliance.

Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B07V83R4PD
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Creative Manuscript Services (September 27, 2019)
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ September 27, 2019
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • File size ‏ : ‎ 3.0 MB
  • Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
  • Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
  • Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 195 pages
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.4 out of 5 stars 46 ratings

About the author

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Chris Andrews

Chris Andrews

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Chris's novels have been shortlisted in both the QWC/Hachette and Varuna/HarperCollins Manuscript Development Programs.

His first novel, Divine Prey, was accepted by an agent and publisher, but true to Murphy's Law the publisher folded and the agent left the business. He has since learned a lot about self-publishing.

Throughout his professional career Chris has worked in corporate communications and content development for large government departments and businesses.

As a writing coach and mentor, his passion for fiction has helped thousands of authors thanks to his creative writing books, writing workshops and courses, one-on-one mentoring, critiquing, and manuscript assessment services.

Customer reviews

4.4 out of 5 stars
46 global ratings

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Top reviews from the United States

  • TaM D'Lyte
    5.0 out of 5 stars "Yep! Character and Structure: An Unholy Alliance is my new book bible."
    Reviewed in the United States on November 26, 2019
    Verified Purchase
    I read a lot (A LOT!) of books and articles and essays about form and structure and how to write a better story. I'm always, "Yeah, Yeah, got it," but not really. I could never truly understand them because it was dry verbage (3-act story, the Inciting Incident, the Darkest Hour, THEME! etc., "Yeah, Yeah, got it," LOL) And this one doesn't say anything different from all the others... doesn't say, if you tickle your nose while standing on your head, you will be the new shining star of authordom... but, omg, what it does say, in such a fashion as to make all the other books make sense, is enough to make me know that THIS book will be my new go-to story writing book. In Lord of the Rings fashion, the one to bind them all.

    I save my 5-star reviews for the books that move me, impress me, or really teach me something. The books that I don't want to forget that I really really liked, perhaps loved. A 4-star to me is most books that are decent, that I could probably read again and again and still enjoy but maybe didn't remember key points from or passages. Character and Structure: An Unholy Alliance makes me want to go STUDY it! In fact, I AM going to study it. I'm going to break it down and break it apart and then stick all my stories in the bits and pieces just to make sure I'm not missing anything.

    The examples are all from stories I've read and the points are clearly made. The exercises are far better than the exercises from other structure "workbooks" since he goes straight from the examples to "your" story and tells you to basically do the same thing. I've been told to write the Inciting Incident of my story before, but without an example, I could not really figure it out. "Was THIS the Inciting Incident? Was THIS?" And the motivation for the characters and why they should do the things they do? It all made so much more sense now.

    I wondered if I was just enamored with this form and function book for some reason. I read another right after, by a different author, and they basically said the same thing, but again, for some reason, it didn't resonate with me and I said, "Yep! Character and Structure: An Unholy Alliance is my new book bible."
    4 people found this helpful
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  • C J
    5.0 out of 5 stars Looking for inspiration? Motivation? Helpful tools to get you to THE END?
    Reviewed in the United States on February 26, 2020
    Verified Purchase
    I used to wonder what it is that makes a fiction author want to publish a book that claims to help writers write. Write well, write better, whatever. But I get that now. In the beginning, writing is HARD. It is debilitating. It is depressing. It is gut-wrenching. etc. etc. (Okay, so maybe it is like that in the middle and the end too, but I only know about the beginning). What's cool is that there's this wonderful community... writers helping writers. There are so many books out there about writing and I am glad this author took the time to write and publish this one.

    I read a lot of reviews before I buy a book, and that gets me to wondering what writers expect when they buy a book about the craft of writing. Are they expecting it to 'fix' all their writing problems, a magic recipe for success? Spoiler... this book is not going to write your book for you. But if, like me, you are looking for a respite from writing that will motivate you to continue your journey, one that will give you tidbits of information and simple exercises that you can come back to again and again whenever you get 'stuck'. Then this book will do that. And at a reasonable price too.

    It certainly helped me get to THE END of my first novel. Granted, there are still many hours, days, months, years(?) of editing, proofing and rewriting ahead of me. But let me tell you, the first time you write those two three-letter words at the end of your novel? It's a damn good feeling. Many thanks to Chris Andrews for helping me get there!
    2 people found this helpful
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  • Kathy Gearhart
    5.0 out of 5 stars Add this to your reading list!
    Reviewed in the United States on December 19, 2023
    Verified Purchase
    This book was packed full of good advice! Something for everyone depending on your writing experience. I know I'll read again as I always take away from a second read.
    One person found this helpful
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  • JJ Brown
    5.0 out of 5 stars Succinct
    Reviewed in the United States on October 8, 2023
    Verified Purchase
    If you have some writing experience, but are not a professional, then you will find this book helpful. It is to the point. It is more than a summary but less than a fully fledged out course in how to write. I found it enjoyable, helpful, and something to refer to if I get stuck. Read it!
    3 people found this helpful
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  • Amazon Customerkz
    5.0 out of 5 stars This Book is a real page turner!
    Reviewed in the United States on September 10, 2021
    It is an exciting story how the hightes mountain in the world was discovered.
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  • K. Moser
    2.0 out of 5 stars Fine if you've never read a better writing craft book
    Reviewed in the United States on October 11, 2022
    Verified Purchase
    I was really excited to get this based on some of the rave reviews, but in the end it was a solid meh from me. There are plenty of better, more interesting books on story structure and character out there, and this book doesn't have anything unique to offer. I also found several typos and spelling errors while I was reading.
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  • ramblingrose8
    5.0 out of 5 stars Clear & concise
    Reviewed in the United States on June 28, 2021
    Verified Purchase
    This is an all in one book about formulating a story. The author provides several examples and questions to keep the writer on track. Well done!
    One person found this helpful
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