@Larry Thanks so much for commenting! I agree that story architecture is the foundation of writing well. Beginning writers–or even advanced writers who haven’t quite “gotten” it yet–can benefit from a reeducation in the basics.

Be sure to check out Larry’s site, which has tons of awesome advice. I read it everyday.

The best tip any writer of fiction can hear is this: you need to study and understand story architecture. You need to know your way around four-part story structure, and you need to own the various milestones and criteria that make it work.

Story architecture is like ground school to a pilot, medical school to doctor, law school to a lawyer. That may sound obvious, but now many writers do you know that just set off down the storytelling path armed only with an intuitive understanding of story, based mostly on their reading experience? Professional athletes go to “spring training” yearly, they ground themselves in fundamentals throughout the entirety of their career.

If you don’t know what I mean by “story architecture” — I mean, really know — than perhaps this is an opportunity for you to take your writing to the next level. Because there IS a standard story template, and there ARE specific criteria for a variety of elements that comprise and effective story. Are you guessing? Hoping? Not caring? Published writers GET it.

Once you get story architecture, you can actually evolve an idea into a fully-fleshed out story, sometimes even in your head, quickly and efficiently. No longer will you be forcing good ideas into bad stories. Which means that what comes out of your head is solid, and your drafts are less a search than a realization.

Forgive the shameless plug here, but I think it relates: my site, http://www.storyfix.com, is all about story architecture. In fact, I expanded on these tips and many more — some of them completely new — in my new ebook, “101 Slightly Unpredictable Tips for Novelists and Screenwriters,” which comes out later this week.

Thanks for frequenting this site, Procrastinating Writers, which is a terrific resource that I’ve just discovered, and will visit often. The more we study storytelling, the better we get at it.

PS the tips on standing out are awesome! : )