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How does this novel work?
story structure
Jul 4, 2026
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10 min read
How Layne Fargo uses chapter endings to control a novel's intensity
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Jun 14, 2026
8 min read
McFadden builds her bestsellers around a single surprise twist. What does it take to pull one off—and what does it cost?
Apr 30, 2026
14 min read
What Emily Henry gives up—and what she gains—by giving her family saga more page time than her romance
Apr 11, 2026
12 min read
How 'frontstory' action and backstory mystery work together to control tension across three acts
Mar 24, 2026
22 min read
How to use chronology, world-building, and POV shifts to establish themes and sustain tension
Jan 11, 2026
15 min read
How McEwan uses narrative reversal to question what we can know about the past
Jun 1, 2025
What happens when you shift your starting point forward to trap high-stakes events in backstory
May 3, 2025
9 min read
How three narrative strands create different intensity patterns and reader expectations
Feb 22, 2025
How tracking plot mysteries reveals the architecture of a thriller
Oct 28, 2023
6 min read
Learn how Mick Herron uses cliff-hangers, surprise endings, and scene breaks to keep readers turning the pages of The Secret Hours.
Oct 21, 2023
See how Mick Herron splits a quiet premise into four plot strands to keep The Secret Hours tense from start to finish.
Sep 24, 2022
7 min read
See how Rebecca Roanhorse uses time jumps to create suspense in Black Sun.
Aug 27, 2022
Follow Jesse Q. Sutanto's model in Dial A for Aunties and use multiple plots to keep your readers engaged.
Jun 18, 2022
Discover the plot techniques Laura Dave uses to maximize suspense in her novel.
May 28, 2022
5 min read
See how Casey McQuiston uses fictionalized primary materials to bring additional voices into I Kissed Shara Wheeler.
May 4, 2022
See how Lauren Groff brings Matrix to a close by resolving the plot and ringing her central theme one last time.
Apr 1, 2022
Learn about plot structure and the interplay between internal and external plots through an analysis of Tana French's The Searcher.
Feb 18, 2022
13 min read
Why and how can you use multiple point-of-view narration in your novel? We’ll analyze NK Jemisin’s The City We Became to find out.
Jan 28, 2022
How Patchett uses a shuffled chronology to tell a story that is also about the act of telling stories.
