There are few things harder than writing a novel. The Architecture of Narrative is an inspiration and revelation for every writer who has struggled with the development of their novel. It links character to plot and plot to structure in a unique way.
Sydney Smith asks: What is the relationship between character and plot? And she explores how a writer can structure this relationship to build a compelling story. Using two very different sources, Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen and the movie, The Bourne Identity, Smith demonstrates how the principles of structure in successful pieces of fict on transcend genre and medium. This book explains how character development is integral to plot development through aspects of fiction such as conflict, clashing goals, internal antagonists, motives and plot triggers.
Throughout the book are questions for the writer, questions to help see how a manuscript is working.
While the analysis is thorough, this is not a prescriptive ‘how to’ book. There are no magic formulas passed on.
Rather, the reader gains through the analysis of the two sources a new understanding of how novels work, and the key mechanisms in every successful piece of fiction, whether novel or film or television drama.
