After introducing two popular story structures in the last articles — the three-act structure and the five-act structure — today I’ll show you a metastructure that you can mix with the other two, very specific structures. Welcome to the Hero’s Journey. — The hero’s journey is a timeless narrative structure that has captivated audiences for centuries. This structure, which was popularized by mythologist Joseph Campbell, involves a protagonist who goes on a journey, faces challenges and obstacles, and ultimately emerges victorious and changed.

Every professional writer should know the basic toolbox of storytelling. — Last week I wrote about the essential characteristics of stories written according to what we call the three-act structure. But of course, this way of storytelling is not the only one possible. At least as well established is the five-act structure, which is the subject of today’s discussion. The five-act…

Today, I want to give you a brief but complete overview of what the famous three-act structure in literature is all about and how it can help you improve your writing and engage your readers. — What is the three-act structure? Three-act structure is a storytelling technique and dramaturgical structure divided into three parts: (1) the setup, (2) the confrontation, and (3) the resolution. Typically, each act is marked by a climax of some sort, which marks the transition between each act

I asked Chat GPT about the sources it was trained with. Here are the answers — I was curious what datasets ChatGPT was fed during its training phase, so I asked. It turns out that asking this question just once is not enough. The more I asked, the more detailed the answers became. Here comes the question session where I got ChatGPT to give me a…

990 dollars in the first five days Disclaimer: In this article, I state all amounts in US dollars, although I publish in Germany, and the relevant currency for me is the Euro. I decided to quote in dollars because most of the readers on Medium are probably better at calculating in dollars than in euros. My best start since I started working as a writer The current…

Higher frequency equals higher earnings. — After experimenting with longer intervals between my novel releases in 2021, I returned to a two-month frequency this year. The impact on my earnings has been dramatic. After taking in $37,138.93 for the entire year of 2021, my KDP dashboard already shows revenue of $41,543.16 on October 12, 2022. …

If you want to make a living from writing, focus on the real moneymakers. — Over and over again, you read the advice not to depend on a single source of income. If you make a living writing books alone, build a second leg up on the side with a blog, they say. At first glance, this advice seems plausible. I followed it, and that’s…

I’ve been writing series for seven years. Do you know why I will continue to do so for the next seven years? — My most extended book series is now 20 volumes long, and in a few days, volume 21 will be published. Another series now has nine parts, and the shortest one is so far three books long. Many authors tell me that it’s not for them. I understand that. But even…

A few hours of uninterrupted writing time in the day is something we all wish we had. But what if your day-to-day life doesn’t allow for that? — Even if you don’t have a regular job because you only make a living from writing, focused work can sometimes be very difficult. If you work from home, it’s often much easier to get distracted than someone who sits in an office from nine to five, because you don’t have…