+ MORE from Amy: My book isn't available for another two weeks. If any of your blog readers leaves a comment on one of my two blogs, and mentions he or she read about Story Template from your blog, he or she can receive a free article: How to Publish on Kindle without Knowing HTML (either .mobi for kindle or PDF). The readers will need to send me an email addy, either posted in the comment or they can email me privately. I'll then be able to send announcements of Story Template release to those who get in touch with me, and send the copy to the winner of your drawing.
THE STORY TEMPLATE: CONQUER WRITER’S BLOCK USING THE UNIVERSAL STRUCTURE OF STORY by Amy Deardon
THE STORY TEMPLATE: CONQUER WRITER’S BLOCK USING THE UNIVERSAL STRUCTURE OF STORY by Amy Deardon
Release: August 2011
Publisher: Taegais Publishing LLC
ISBN: 978-0-9818997-3-2
$15.95 hardcover
$7.99 e-book (Kindle, Nook, and other e-readers)
Welcome, Amy. What would you like for our readers to know about you personally?
I'm married with two children, and spend much time taking care of our family. In my life BC (before children) I was a scientist who did bench research. I am a Christian who came to faith under protest through studying the historic circumstances surrounding the death of Jesus. I've written one novel that I'm honored to say has won two awards.
What is your book about?
The Story Template is a programmed learner that allows the writer to develop her story from chaos. The book uses a series of exercises for the writer to construct her story’s four foundational pillars, learn how to use the “secret weapon” of story structure: the story template, build character depth and believable change, and construct subplots. The Story Template then reviews writing techniques, and finishes with discussions of editing, writing the synopsis and query letter, submitting one’s work to agents, and types of publishing that the writer may wish to pursue.
Tell us about your family.
I’m very fortunate. My husband and I have been married over twenty years, and we have a girl and a boy. Our daughter is getting ready to go to college to study engineering, and I’m going to miss her although I know she’ll be having the time of her life. She loves to draw, compose, sing, and build robots. Our son is going into tenth grade. He loves running and building amazing contraptions.
Have you written other nonfiction books?
Not unless you want to count my dissertation, which I guess technically is considered a publication. I’ve published a few scientific and other nonfiction articles under a different name.
I’ve also written one novel, A Lever Long Enough, about a small military team that travels back in time to film the theft of Jesus’ body from the tomb. I wrote this book to be an outreach for nonbelievers – it’s not religious, but hidden within are fairly presented arguments for and against the resurrection. I like to think it demonstrates how surprisingly strong is the case for the resurrection. In a funny it describes my own journey to faith.
Do you have any other books in the works right now?
I’m anxious to get back to a novel that I was working on until March. I’ve also been kicking around the idea of doing a prequel and sequel for Lever, and possibly a children’s allegorical series based on a mysterious Time Peddler. (Don’t ask). So many possibilities, so little time. My family keeps me plenty busy, so it may be a little time before I can immerse myself into a new project.
What kinds of hobbies and leisure activities do you enjoy?
Writing is my main love, and I always am grabbing a few minutes to put down some words. I do all sorts of handcrafts – knitting, crocheting, sewing – and enjoy studying theology, science, and story structure. I bought a Kindle a year ago, and carry it with me from room to room – this is the most amazing invention for a bibliophile. I make it to Curves a few times a week. In my “spare” time I coach fiction writing: I love guiding students to shape their unique ideas from chaos.
Why did you write the featured book?
This is the book I wish I’d had while writing my first novel. Having written a lot of nonfiction, when I started my novel I was surprised by how difficult it was to get the words down. Although I liked my scenes, the story itself didn’t seem to be going correctly, even when I outlined prodigiously. I threw out more pages than I care to remember, and it took sheer grit to finally finish. When I thought about writing another novel I decided there had to be an easier way, so took a detour to understand how story worked.
How did you develop your understanding of how story worked?
I decided to use my scientific background to analyze story. To do this I chose to dissect twenty entertaining, modern novels in different genres, and fifteen more-or-less recent films. For each story I made a list of scenes, then did a word count or timed the scene, calculated percentages and other statistics, and graphed each story onto a five page chart. I studied each story’s progression, then compared the progressions of different stories to determine common pathways. My biggest surprise was finding just how unvarying were the underlying levels of the story. I also read all that I could on constructing stories. The writing how-to literature was heavy on techniques (plotting, point of view, characterization, dialogue)—all of which are important—but there wasn’t much on blending it all together. Screenwriting how-to books were stronger on structure, but still didn’t give me all I needed.
Once I had my background knowledge, I coached students to develop their stories, and thereby constructed an algorithm for the practical application of this theory.
What do you want the reader to take away from the book?
I want the reader to be encouraged that she can productively write and finish her story instead of staring at the computer and not knowing what to do next. The Story Template gives a step-by-step series of exercises that allows the writer to develop his untamed ideas into a complete, compelling manuscript.
Where on the Internet can the readers find you?
My website is http://www.amydeardon.com. There is a contact form there – if you want to drop me a note, I’d love to hear from you! I also have two blogs with links from my website. The first blog at http://thestorytemplate.blogspot.com discusses writing and publishing topics. The second blog at http://amydeardon1.blogspot.com collects fun and serious topics that I write about as my fancy leads me. I post twice a week on each blog. I hope you come visit!Thank you for sharing this with us, Amy. The book sounds like a valuable resource for all authors.
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