Story Detergent

By Adam Martin

A personal "how to" book on writing. A quick read comprised of the author's personal notes on story structure. Inspired by reading several independent novels and plays that suffer from the same pool of structural errors that are easy to fix. Also contains diagrams designed to help authors structure scenes or stories for any writing medium: short stories, novels, stage plays, screenplays, graphic novels, etc.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Adam Martin
• Release date: Mar 8, 2021
• ISBN: 9781005004897

Adam Martin

Adam Martin is a recovering curmudgeon who has been fructifying his life after years as a world-weary twenty-something. After bouncing from university-to-university and job-to-job, he decided to put all his chips in on his prose writing skills. His writing is inspired by his realization that life is too short and precious to be unhappy for very long.

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STORY DETERGENT

by

Adam Martin

Copyright © 2021 ADAM MARTIN

All rights reserved.

ISBN: 9798590640133

Cover and STP logo design by Adam Martin. The STP logo is a likeness, not a duplicate of the original trademark emblem.

DEDICATION

For my father, my mother, my brother, and my immediate family who are always a source of inspiration, and for those who learn to play the violin better instead of playing it louder.

AUTHOR’S NOTE

I do most of my writing in my head. Come to think of it, I do most of my thinking in my head.

Adam Martin (1966-present)

I put a dollar in the change machine. Nothing changed.

George Carlin (1937-2008)

If you can’t find the time to do it right, when will you find the time to do it over?

John Wooden (1910-2010)

The best way to predict the future is to create it.

Abraham Lincoln (1861-1865)

We are wise enough to appreciate our contradictions. But not wise enough to resolve them.

Blaise Pascal (1623-1662)

I drank what?!

Socrates (c. 470-399 BC)

CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION

PART I: STRUCTURE

1. A Long Time Ago…

2. Salami, Salami, Baloney, Open Sesame...

3. One Star Reviews

4. Setup Tension Payoff

5. Knock Knock Joke Story Arc

6. Omit I just do this for fun

7. Breaking the Rules

8. Can You Build a House Accidentally?

9. People Don’t Read for Fun

10. The Medium is the Container

11. Movie Examples

12. Your First Novel Followed this Plot

13. The Library vs. Expensive Courses

14. Reversals

15. Narrative Control

16. Your Campfire Indian

17. Battles Exist for Subplots

18. Boring Global Adverb Passages

19. Anthropomorphic Descriptive Passage

20. Jaws Plots

21. Jaws the Shark as a Character

22. The Final Push: The Secret Act 4

23. Don’t Wait for the Engine to Heat Up

24. Law of Halves

25. We’re All Method Actors

26. You Already Understand Philosophy

27. Lies Inc.

28. Begging vs. Raising the Question

29. You’re the Same Bad Writer

30. The Good, the Bad, & the Ugly, Stories

31. Wittgenstein’s Language Limits

32. Chekhov’s Dialogue Movies

33. Indirection

34. The Second Act Prologue Transplant

35. 5 Great Scenes (2 Glasses of Wine)

36. Imitate the Investment, not the Result

37. Because You Knew the Ending

38. When You Get Bored Scenes

39. Luck Scenes

40. Are You Living in The Matrix?

41. Passion Over Precision

PART II: WRITING FAILS

1. The Special Effects Story

2. Main Character/Beautiful Girl Hoarding

3. Plot Serving Snatchers

4. The Gimmick or Gag Driven Plot

5. Padding (Get on with it!)

6. Irrelevant Tidepool Plot and Dialogue

7. Characters Doing Monty Python Things

8. The Author’s Magic Character Transporter

9. If I were President Story

10, The Space-marine F-bomb Saga

11. It’s the Reader’s Fault

12. Too Many Artificial Predicates

13. Showing Objects vs. Telling Concepts

14. The Proof of Existence Jugger-tome

PART III: DIAGRAMS AND TEMPLATES

The Diagrams

1. STP Diagram

2. Game Theory Quadrants

3. 9 Act Story Structure

4. STP Template

5. Game Theory Template

6. 9 Act Story Template

INTRODUCTION

After finishing Xenoman, I would have spent more time fleshing out the plot first, then written the novel second. I did it mixed-bag style. Though I enjoyed figuring out the plot as I went, readers found the story to be a little too complex and experimental for its own good.

In my twenties, I