Story Trumps Structure by Steven James

All too often, following the “rules” of writing can constrict rather than inspire you. With Story Trumps Structure, you can shed those rules—about three-act structure, rising action, outlining, and more—to craft your most powerful, emotional, and gripping stories. Award-winning novelist Steven James explains how to trust the narrative process to make your story believable, compelling, and engaging, and debunks the common myths that hold writers back from creating their best work. When you focus on what lies at the heart of story—tension, desire, crisis, escalation, struggle, discovery—rather than plot templates and formulas, you’ll begin to break out of the box and write fiction that resonates with your readers.

Story Trumps Structure will transform the way you think about stories and the way you write them, forever.

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“Steven James is the best teacher I’ve ever worked with. I’ve been keenly awaiting STORY TRUMPS STRUCTURE since I first heard it was coming out. Like Steven’s lectures, the book is an invaluable resource for aspiring authors and published novelists alike.” ~Robert Dugoni, New York Times best-selling author of THE JURY MASTER

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Steven James is the bestselling author of nine novels that have received wide critical acclaim from Publishers Weekly, New York Journal of Books, RT Book Reviews, Booklist, Library Journal and many others. His psychological thriller THE BISHOP was named Suspense Magazine’s book of the year. Steven is an active member of International Thriller Writers, the Authors Guild, Mystery Writers of America, and International Association of Crime Writers. He is also a contributing editor for Writer’s Digest and has taught writing and storytelling principles around the world. Publishers Weekly calls James “[A] master storyteller at the peak of his game.”

To learn more about Steven, please visit his website.