In a tribute to Kurt Vonnegut, blogger Derek Sivers reproduced a series of story grids that the great novelist made during a New York City lecture. These story grids are invaluable tools during the editing process.
Follow this link to see all the charts. Writers can chart their manuscript against popular and successful story arcs–deciding how much they want to deviate from a classic structure.
Here’s more about the “Common Disaster Story” grid embedded above: “It’s an ordinary day in an ordinary town. But something horrible happens! A child falls down a well! The whole town gathers to save her … ‘People LOVE that story! This story arc has been written a thousand times in a thousand tales. And because of it, people think their lives are supposed to be like this.'”
To celebrate National Novel Editing Month (NaNoEdMo), we’ve been sharing editing tips (just like our NaNoWriMo writing tips). If you want to join the festivities, visit the NaNoEdMo webpage and follow the NaNoEdMo hashtag on Twitter.