One of the things I did when structuring “Zombie Cop” was purposely divide the plot into 14 chapters, with 7 “scenes” (parts) each chapter.
I wrote about this before in February.
(Before publishing it.)
And, yes, I did the same with “Vampire Apocalypse” — which I’m working on the second draft of currently.
Why?
Three reasons, Van Helsing:
1. When information is presented in 3’s or 7’s it’s very easy for the (uneaten, at least) human brain to accept and follow.
I don’t know why this is.
But, I just know it works.
(At least I noticed it does in advertising.)
2. It made the book a lot easier and faster to write.
When writing these novels I am striving for a “24” pace.
I really dig that show.
And the reason why is, it’s so quick.
You barely even notice the time going by when watching it. Something is ALWAYS happening — and it keeps you on the edge of your seat and begging for more the next week.
So my goal was with “Zombie Cop”.
And so it is again with “Vampire Apocalypse”, too.
Fitting the story into this structure just… works… for my storytelling style. It fits so well when writing I don’t even have to consciously think about it. In fact, it just works out to be that exact length (14 chapters, 7 parts per chapter) no matter what I do.
Why fight it?
3. It makes it a fast read.
Here’s the troof:
“Zombie Cop” is definitely not high literature.
It’s not “deep” as far as characters go, either.
(Although I argue the plot has a lot more depth than other zombie and monster stories out there these days.)
And, it’s certainly not “great writing.”
(Nor does it pretend to be.)
But, what I hope it is, and what it was always intended to be… was entertaining. The kind of book you read and get sucked into the story and have a hard time not reading it in one sitting because you can’t look away.
And you know what?
I think it succeeds on that front.
At least, according to the amazon reviews.
Anyway, the point of all this?
I dunno.
I just felt like writing about this.
And, talking a bit about the process of writing novels, as I think more copywriters and email marketers should try their hands at it.
That said, let’s get down to bid’niz:
“Vampire Apocalypse” will be ready by Christmas.
If you know someone who loves vampire stories, I think I have a somewhat unique take on the monster they’ll enjoy, just as I believe “Zombie Cop” has a unique take on zombies you’re not seeing in Hollywood or anywhere else.
Makes a good stocking stuffer for ’em.
Just make sure they read “Zombie Cop” first.
That way, they know what’s going on.
To read the first couple chapters go here:
Ben Settle
