Three-Act Structure Offers Alternate Story Plot – Inventing Reality’s Newsletter for Oct. 7, 2025

Plotting Your Book: Three-Act Structure Offers Alternate Story Plot
One common way to think about how a story is organized is the three-act structure. This approach dates to Aristotle, who stated that a story has a beginning, a middle and an end. READ MORE

Following a Writing Process for Fiction 
One of the biggest mistakes aspiring authors make is denying that they’re following a process when writing a short story or a novel. These writers often say they write “from the seat of their pants.” Yet, every story goes through five basic steps if the author finishes and publishes it. Understanding those five basic steps can help authors identify why they’re having trouble writing a story. Maybe their story idea isn’t very good. Possibly they haven’t thought through the story enough. Maybe they’re not revising it efficiently. Following a Writing Process for Fiction describes the five steps of the writing process. Among the many topics covered include brainstorming story ideas, outlining the story, drafting it, revising your drafts, formatting, and how to troubleshoot your story to find which step you need to spend more time on. SEE BOOK

Writing Tip: Which Story Setting to Use? Backdrop vs. integral
All stories contain a setting – a time and a place in which the plot occurs – but not all settings are all that important to a story. READ MORE

Self-Publishing Tip: Co-authors Can Form ‘General Partnership’
If you’re among those who’ve just co-authored a self-published book, you’re probably wondering exactly how to handle this as a business. The good news is that you can treat your joint venture with much the same ease as you could if an author who’s a self-proprietor. READ MORE

This Week’s Podcast: How to Stay Focused on Writing One Book
Sometimes inspiration strikes for an entirely different book than the one you’re working on. Unfortunately, this can create the problem of stopping one book and starting a new one so that your original work never gets finished. LISTEN TO PODCAST

Book Marketing Tip: Use Consistent Name Across Your Author Platform
As creating an author’s platform – that is, setting up all of the tools you’ll use to get word out about your book – pay close attention to the name you use. All too often, the social media sites for an author utilize different names, which can make you difficult to find. READ MORE

Client Spotlight: “Van Cortlandt Park” by Don Kellin
I edit fiction as well as non fiction manuscripts. One of the former I had the pleasure of working on was Don Kellin’s Van Cortlandt Park. A mysterious 65 year-old recluse lives in a drywall build-out in a basement but often spends the night sleeping on a blue tarp in a clearing in Van Cortlandt park’s bushes when the heat in the basement is oppressive. Something in his past makes life unbearable. Several men and women, leading separate lives, facing separate crises, drawn together by fate, attempt to rebuild their future, and this man will change all of their lives forever. CHECK IT OUT

$25 Off Your Next Edit!
For being a newsletter subscriber, please take $25 off your next edit with Inventing Reality Editing Service. When scheduling your edit, be sure to mention you’re a subscriber and give the email where you received this newsletter. Minimum order of $200. Offer expires Oct. 14, 2025. SCHEDULE EDIT

My name is Rob Bignell. I’m an affordable, professional editor who runs Inventing Reality Editing Service, which meets the manuscript needs of both aspiring and published writers and offers a variety of self-publishing services. During the past 15 years, I’ve helped more than 400 novelists and nonfiction authors obtain their publishing dreams at reasonable prices. I’m also the author of a novel, the Storytelling 101 Quick Read series, four children’s books, more than 25 bestselling hiking guidebooks, and even a book of poetry. Several of my short stories in the literary and science fiction genres also have been published.