Pantsers and Everyone in Between - A New Approach for Plotters

Really interesting approach to writing a novel.

My problem is that i start off with a gangbuster opening, get to the middle and then can't figure out a logical end. Using Bell's technique, you start with the middle of the story and work out.

He lays out very clear steps and lots of prompts to think differently about how you organize your writing. Well done.

This book was recommended to me by another author to help make my writing better. I am so glad I picked it up. This is a great resource for writers of any kind, and I will refer back to it regularly when I write.

An interesting take on story telling. Starting at the middle helps you understand what your story is all about. However, the part where he tells you how he develops the scenes leading up to, and after, was kinda small. This was a disappointment after how much effort placed into the "mirror moment." I was hoping to learn how he builds the scenes, rather than what kind of scenes he typically includes. Hell, even some detail on what those scenes encompass would have been great.

I really liked looking at crafting a novel from the middle. It never occurred to me to look at a book like this , but I could see it really working! I also appreciated the extra tips at the end. Worth the read!

The easy-to-follow format, the conversational language, and the clear examples make Write Your Novel From The Middle a must for beginning writers like me. There are check lists and charts to help it all make sense. I leaned as much from this book as from a semester course . . . and I get to dip into it again and again. Highly recommended.

Any time James Scott Bell talks about writing, you can take it to the bank that you will find something useful. But this is beyond useful. It is groundbreaking.

It changes good to exceptional. Well-drawn characters will become people that you know intimately. Once he said it, the concept was so simple that I couldn't figure out why it hadn't been taught before. But I have never heard it mentioned much less explained so lucidly. It will change your writing dramatically.

I am so grateful that he shared this technique with us.

I was recommended this book by an online friend when I talked about not liking the stiff structuring of a novel. I was pleasantly surprised to find my mind already working as I read. Mr. Bell shows us a unique way of looking at a story and its characters to develop a rich and unique plot. He also helps us 'pantsers' in seeing the plus of using and developing an outline. I look forward to using his method to see the difference in my writing.

The book has been displayed before me in many articles about writing tips. Plus the title itself is so intriguing, so I finally got to read it. The book is so short and to the point, I finished it in few hours and of course the title is only but literal, all you need to know about your story is its heart, what the story is all about and you come to that when you reach the middle of it. Yet all in all it is a nice read

The mushy middle is what so many writers have trouble with and this book helps us conquer that. Bell provides specific details and examples of how to write in the three act structure, bolster your novel with "pillars," make every scene compelling, strengthen your plot, and make the stakes high for your lead character, no matter what genre you're tackling. He also explains clearly why the midpoint of any good story is critical to both the beginning and the end, and how we can make the middle the glue that holds the story together. The specifics are reassuring because Bell tells you exactly what to do and what questions to ask yourself as a writer to be sure your book is on track.

a lot of good advice, the trick of visualizing were you want to be at the middle of the story, then going back to before the story and then the impacted of the middle on the main character is a good starting place for a story.

Absolutely the best and easiest to follow advice about writing I've ever read! This will help me immensely with my books. Easy to understand, and makes so much sense, I will get the rest of his books too.

Excellent new way to look at this strange thing writing class tutors call the "midpoint" of a book or screenplay. I really liked the humor and asides and this has given me a fresh approach to structure in my writing. Thank you so much!

Much shorter than I'd anticipated. Once you know the basic concept, you're pretty much good to try it out. A few blog posts on the subject will give you all you need to know. Spends plenty of pages detailing how brilliant and universal the method is, though.

This book was a quick read about a basic concept, but it was very well presented. Mr. Bell was clear and concise, rather than rambling and roundabout, like a lot of writing craft books. He uses a *ton* of examples from popular books and film to make his point, and this makes it easy to understand the concept. I'm going to keep the "golden triangle" in my mind as I plot and write, and I know it will sharpen the focus of my stories and especially, my character development.

This is a great "think outside the box", get your muse going guidebook. The information within is presented simply and concisely. I found this book to be paradigm shifting and is bound to help my writing process. I cannot wait to implement what I learned. Well worth the cost!!!

This book helped me finish writing my book. The concept of the triangle made it so much easier to not only figure out the midpoint of my story, but to figure out how my story should end. And the fourteen key scenes were a lifesaver when it came to reworking my outline. I would definitely recommend it to others.

Most of the general writing advice in this book is not new to me, but the concept of the Mirror Moment and the triangle has really helped me understand a few critical things about story structure, which no other writing advice book has accomplished before. That concept alone (and the clarity with which James Scott Bell nails it down) was woth buying/reading this book a thousand times over. Thank you so much!

Great book! Presented an entirely new approach to my writing which is much better than what I've been doing. Gave tips that will make it far easier to structure and write my next work.Good for novice and experience writers.

Once again, Bell distills concepts into quick, easy to understand, easy to use and EFFECTIVE techniques. I immediately checked my latest work against the Golden Triangle and somehow I managed to do it without knowing (and maybe this is why my beta readers say they are really connecting with the story. Now that I know it exists, I expect I'll be using the Golden Triangle quite often for future projects.

A quick read, containing some very good advice in easy to understand and easy to apply format. My style is to write without planning and plot as I go along, and I found his ideas very easy to apply to my writing. He contains suggestions on how to apply his advice to writers who outline everything, writers who don't outline at all and writers who are somewhere between those extremes, so I think I can safely recommend this book to anyone wanting to improve their writing!

One of the most helpful concepts I discovered prior to reading this book was Lajos Egri's explanation of premise in his classic, The Art of Dramatic Writing. As with Egri's three part premise, Bell gives us a model for developing/discovering the crucial components of any story, how they support and complement each other, and how, once defined, they can help guide us to a successful conclusion. This is a quick read so you can start using the techniques right away.

If you're trying to write a novel but are unsure how to go about it, start here. If you're in the middle of writing one and feel suddenly lost, this book might be the breadcrumbs out of the dark woods.

This book is writer’s alchemy—it can help you turn your manuscript into pure gold. Jim Bell not only teaches a simple plan of action that anyone at any level can utilize, he creates a strategy that is so flexible, it will never restrict your creativity, whether you outline or go with the flow. In fact, it can boost your writing power with the solid tips at the end. A must for any novelist. -- Joe Moore, international bestselling and #1 the store bestselling author of THE PHOENIX APOSTLES and THE GRAIL CONSPIRACY

The author provides new insight into how to write your novel. I was intrigued by his suggestion of skipping to the middle of a movie to see his concept in action. The looking in the mirror theory holds true proving that you should practice this in your writing - intentionally.

I would recommend this book to anyone looking to add depth to their writing.

Quick, precise, and useful! Bell knows how to deliver salient points on structure and content. And he does it fast! His style is accessible and his method on writing is the best I have read. I will certainly use this "writing from the middle" approach in my longer fiction. I'd be curious to see what advice he would have for the short story writer! This book and Conflict & Suspense are the two main resources I always refer back to.

Though shorter than I expected, Scott Bell lacked valuable information into a tight space. I’d never heard the midpoint described the way he does and it gives me lots of new ideas for the novel I’m working on.

This book was an interesting read, and his basic idea is solid. With that said, I'm not sure it requires an entire book to put it across (on the other hand it's not that expensive, so I won't complain about that too much).

One good thing: I'm in the middle of writing my own first novell right now, and this book made me rethink a couple of things, hopefully making the book better and more enaging.

One thing that could be better: When the author talks about "writing from the middle" he means that literally. Not just "somewhere in the middle", but dead center. To prove his point he talks about what happens in movies and books exactly in the middle, and to be honest I think he over-interprets those exact mid-points. That doesn't take anything away from the overall point of the book though.

The book seems to really focus on the character ARC, which is something I struggle with in my own WIPs and this book offers helpful suggestions on how to really make those moments more critical to the storyline. Loved the bonus maternal at the end, too.
*Highly recommend!*

Finally, a how-to book that clearly tells you how-to. Bonus: a delightfully readable read. If you're serious about writing a book that someone other than your best friend or your family professes to have enjoyed, and if you need a bit of help, this the book for you.

I attended one of JSB's workshops where he touched on this concept of the mirror point in the middle, and I remember being struck be the depth of the insight then. This book expands upon that idea, making it something you can really grasp and use - in fact, I'm using it right now in the novel I'm writing. I highly recommend this quick-read book for anyone at any stage of their novel writing.