The 8 point story arc or What my writing was missing

[Former Member]

I'm sure we understood.  We just feel the need to discuss. <3

[Thorn Wilde]

What Myiege said.

[Uplifted Spirit]

Kenny, thanks for the tip.  I'm going to check it out.

[Timothy M.]

Often reading those sort of 'how to' books is interesting in two ways (I think).

1. They may put into words something you've done or felt intuitively, and you suddenly realize 'Oh that's why this worked' or 'So that's what I was doing'. Some people find this insight great, and others would rather be without. Only you can decide how you feel about experiencing that and if you'd rather not know (and to me both choices are fine).
2. They may give you a tip on how to overcome a specifik problem, whether it's about writing or something else. Some people like to read an instruction manual (mostly after numerous failures ;-), others prefer to work it out themselves. I can respect both choices.

So I think it's OK that there are different views on this topic, and you should do whatever works for you. But there is probably no harm in sometimes changing the way you do things and try something new - even if your old ways work fine. You might learn something that you can take back, when you return to 'normal'.

And I think those sort of books and lists and classes or whatever are easily accessible ways of collecting such knowledge. So it's nice when people make the effort to recommend things, so I know what to look for in the huge sea of such books (of which I'm sure many are a waste of time).