Well, in my humble, but biased, opinion at least.<\/p>\n
Here’s why:<\/p>\n
I purposely structured my coming “Zombie Cop” novel to have 14 chapters, each with 7 “scenes” or parts.<\/p>\n
Why so precise?<\/p>\n
Because, for one, I have noticed in my copywriting & marketing ventures the human brain accepts and follows information more smoothly when it’s presented in 3’s and 7’s. This is nothing new. I have heard John Carlton teach for years on the power of putting 3 benefits, etc in headlines and bullet points. And I have done 7 part auto-responder series or used exactly 7 bullet points in short ads with a lot of success, too. And so, I decided to see if using this structure would make the book flow better and be more easily comprehended. (Can’t have you forgetting about it and not having nightmares — where’s the fun in that???)<\/p>\n
And guess what?<\/p>\n
When I did so, a funny thing happened:<\/strong><\/p>\n I noticed the plot was MUCH easier to wrap my mind around.<\/p>\n It was very easy to fit the story into this exact frame work — while it was much harder to do so before I created this structure. For example, I started the first few chapters without direction, then, later, decided to outline it — when I did the outline, the plot practically filled itself in when I limited it to 14 chapters of 7 scenes.<\/p>\n Coincidence?<\/p>\n I don’t think so.<\/p>\n And, I will probably structure the sequel(s) the same way.<\/p>\n Anyway, the table of contents is below.<\/p>\n You can sometimes tell a lot about a book by its TOC:<\/p>\n 1. Azriel<\/p>\n 2. Chief Rawger<\/p>\n 3. The Blue Pills<\/p>\n 4. The Doctor Of Death<\/p>\n 5. Dirty Revenge<\/p>\n 6. Unholy Appetite<\/p>\n 7. Belasco Woods<\/p>\n 8. The Meat Locker<\/p>\n 9. The Monster Hunter<\/p>\n 10. Too Late<\/p>\n 11. Finius<\/p>\n 12. Second Helpings<\/p>\n 13. The Zombie Cop<\/p>\n 14. Azrael<\/p>\n Two things to note:<\/p>\n (1) At a glance the first and last chapters seem to be the same.<\/strong><\/p>\n They aren’t.<\/p>\n They are different names.<\/p>\n With different meanings.<\/p>\n And, with different impacts on the overall theme. They also both play a part in the theme of future books.<\/p>\n (2) I don’t read a lot of fiction.<\/strong><\/p>\n But, I do watch a lot of movies.<\/p>\n And, when I was in community college, I was obsessed with becoming a screenwriter. I even wrote a couple papers on the subject (which forced me to read and study several screenwriting books).<\/p>\n The point?<\/p>\n This novel is not structured like a “novel.”<\/p>\n It’s structured like a screenplay:<\/p>\n Tightly plotted, action-packed, and (hopefully) fast moving.<\/p>\n (Just like effective emails are, my little ghoul.)<\/p>\n My goal is not for this to be the best “written” novel.<\/p>\n (It’s not.)<\/p>\n But, perhaps, the most entertaining novel you read this year.<\/p>\n Will it accomplish that wicked deed?<\/p>\n Only time will tell…<\/p>\n She should be published in the next 2-3 weeks.<\/p>\n I will let you know when it’s ready here:<\/p>\n