WWW Wednesday, 31-May-2023

Welcome to WWW Wednesday! This meme was formerly hosted by MizB at A Daily Rhythm and revived here on Taking on a World of Words. Just answer the three questions below and leave a link to your post in the comments for others to look at. No blog? No problem! Just leave a comment with your responses. Please, take some time to visit the other participants and see what others are reading. So, let’s get to it!

The Three Ws are:

What are you currently reading?
What did you recently finish reading?
What do you think you’ll read next?

Note: For users of Blogspot blogs, I’m unable to comment on your posts as a WordPress blogger unless you’ve enabled Name/URL comments. This is a known WordPress/Blogspot issue. Please consider enabling this to participate more fully in the community.

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Currently reading: I have a plan to finish The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss. I got the physical book again from the library. With all the on-again-off-again of my Buddy Reads, I’m going to come to this inbetween. When one of them wraps up, I’ll grab something else, but I want to keep moving forward here.
I’m working through the next section of The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V.E. Schwab after my Reading Buddy and I met last Thursday. We had such a cliffhanger that we were both excited to get started on this one again!
Second Reading Buddy and I got through the first section of Seeing Sideways by Kristin Hersh and met on Monday evening. I’m glad I have someone else to read this with because I tend to struggle with very poetic prose. I struggle to slow down and read with emotions. Reading Buddys are so helpful.
I was able to start the audio for How to Find Your Way in the Dark by Derek B. Miller. I was so relieved no one had checked it out right before I needed it! It’s fun to be reading Miller again.

Recently finished: I was able to wrap up Scene & Structure by Jack M. Bickham before it was due back to the library! I’m glad I read this one and I was able to write a review and post it yesterday. Please let me know your thoughts! I gave it Three out of Five Stars.
I finished Broken (in the best possible way) by Jenny Lawson during my Saturday morning run and it feels so good! It’s been a long time since I’ve had two books here and finishing the second in a week was such a relief. It was great to read something funny that kept me laughing, too. I enjoy getting a laugh from Lawson.

Reading next: I’m going to take a break from looking into the future this week. I’ve got a lot of books in the works or newly started and thinking of even more to come is too much right now!

Leave a comment with your link and comment (if you’re so inclined). Take a look at the other participant links in the comments and look at what others are reading.

Have any opinions on these choices?

Until next time, write on.

You can follow me on Goodreads, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and Instagram. I’m available via email at SamAStevensWriter@gmail.com. And as always, feel free to leave a comment!

Some of the links on this post may be affiliate links. Taking on a World of Words is a participant in affiliate programs designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by linking to products. If you purchase a product or service through an affiliate link, your cost will be the same but Sam will automatically receive a small commission. Your support is greatly appreciated.

Book Review: Scene & Structure by Jack M. Bickham (3/5)

I don’t remember when, but another blogger recommended this book to me years and years ago. It was in the days where my blog was more evenly balanced between writing and reading. This must have been in my early days of Goodreads as well as I shelved it in 2013. And now I feel ancient. It took a while to get to it because my library didn’t own a copy, but the Interlibrary Loan system made that a breeze.

Cover image via Amazon

Scene & Structure by Jack M. Bickham

Summary from Amazon:

This book is your game plan for success. Using dozens of examples from his own work – including Dropshot, Tiebreaker and other popular novels – Jack M. Bickham will guide you in building a sturdy framework for your novel, whatever its form or length. You’ll learn how to:

   • “worry” your readers into following your story to the end
   • prolong your main character’s struggle while moving the story ahead
   • juggle cause and effect to serve your story action

As you work on crafting compelling scenes that move the reader, moment by moment, toward the story’s resolution, you’ll see why…

   • believable fiction must make more sense than real life
   • every scene should end in disaster
   • some scenes should be condensed, and others built big

Whatever your story, this book can help you arrive at a happy ending in the company of satisfied readers.

I both liked and didn’t like this book at the same time. Let me explain. I appreciated having the insight and advice about writing structure. Bickham did a great job of explaining the structure lesson in the first few chapters. However, it seemed like there was far too much time spent on exceptions to the rules that seemed like minutia and made the later half of the book drag. Since Bickham is an action writer, there were mostly examples from this genre. It felt a little self-serving that he continued to use examples from his own work. And the other examples made the time period very obvious as well. There aren’t a lot of books about the KGB any more!

The person who recommended this book to me did so because they thought I could benefit from learning more about the difference between scene and sequel. They were completely right. I have a much better understanding of both and how they work together to tell a story. It helped me to think of them as separate and not feel like they needed to be combined into one. It was really great to have this broken down and spelled out to the degree it was because it’s not a concept I would have completely understood with a brief read.

Jack M. Bickham. Image via Fantastic Fiction

I felt a decent undertone of sexism in the book that frustrated me. Bickham alternated between he and she when referring to writers and readers, but his plot examples were what got me. It was most obvious in the sample plot he shared where there’s a weak female love interest and the strong male protagonist is saving the day. I know this book is 30 years old, but I wonder how much the action adventure genre has changed. I don’t read it much, so I’m not sure.

Writer’s Takeaway: There was a lot of great things I got out of reading this book, even if the format it was presented in wasn’t for me. Bickham had a lot of great knowledge to share about structure and what makes a satisfying read for a reader. I loved thinking about Scene Goals and how there’s always a disaster for the character. Giving them time to process their feelings and resolving on their next steps is such a logical way to structure a book, I really enjoyed having that explained to me more.

A really useful read, one I’m glad I read. Though it could have been a bit shorter and perhaps updated with more relevant examples. Three out of Five Stars.

This book fulfilled the 1980-1999 time period of the When Are You Reading? Challenge 2023.

Until next time, write on.

You can follow me on Goodreads, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and Instagram. I’m available via email at SamAStevensWriter@gmail.com. And as always, feel free to leave a comment!

Some of the links on this post may be affiliate links. Taking on a World of Words is a participant in affiliate programs designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by linking to products. If you purchase a product or service through an affiliate link, your cost will be the same but Sam will automatically receive a small commission. Your support is greatly appreciated.

Related Posts:
Scene and Structure Part Two | Louise Bergin
Story Structure – Writing in Scenes Part 1 | Rewrite, Reword, Rework

WWW Wednesday, 24-May-2023

Welcome to WWW Wednesday! This meme was formerly hosted by MizB at A Daily Rhythm and revived here on Taking on a World of Words. Just answer the three questions below and leave a link to your post in the comments for others to look at. No blog? No problem! Just leave a comment with your responses. Please, take some time to visit the other participants and see what others are reading. So, let’s get to it!

The Three Ws are:

What are you currently reading?
What did you recently finish reading?
What do you think you’ll read next?

Note: For users of Blogspot blogs, I’m unable to comment on your posts as a WordPress blogger unless you’ve enabled Name/URL comments. This is a known WordPress/Blogspot issue. Please consider enabling this to participate more fully in the community.

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Currently reading: Slow going again on The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss. I really like this one, but it’s long! I’ll get through it eventually and I’ll keep enjoying it, I’m sure.
I flew through the next section of The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V.E. Schwab! I had predicted what happened but it was still exciting to see it happen. Reading Buddy and I meet tomorrow to talk about it and I’m excited to hear her thoughts.
I’m still moving well through Broken (in the best possible way) by Jenny Lawson and I think it’s reasonable to say I’ll finish it this next week. I’m running again which is giving me good time for it. Just hoping the weather stays nice!
I’m on the last push of Scene & Structure by Jack M. Bickham! I’m optimistic this one will be finished by next week as well!
Because I can’t stop, I started co-reading with another friend. We’re picking up Seeing Sideways by Kristin Hersh after hearing her speak recently. We both have toddlers so reading a book about motherhood seemed perfect!

Recently finished: Next week… next week.

Reading next: I feel silly talking about yet another book with how many I have going. For audio, I’ll grab How to Find Your Way in the Dark by Derek B. Miller. It seems forever away, but I think it’s closer than I expect.

Leave a comment with your link and comment (if you’re so inclined). Take a look at the other participant links in the comments and look at what others are reading.

Have any opinions on these choices?

Until next time, write on.

You can follow me on Goodreads, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and Instagram. I’m available via email at SamAStevensWriter@gmail.com. And as always, feel free to leave a comment!

Some of the links on this post may be affiliate links. Taking on a World of Words is a participant in affiliate programs designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by linking to products. If you purchase a product or service through an affiliate link, your cost will be the same but Sam will automatically receive a small commission. Your support is greatly appreciated.

WWW Wednesday, 17-May-2023

Welcome to WWW Wednesday! This meme was formerly hosted by MizB at A Daily Rhythm and revived here on Taking on a World of Words. Just answer the three questions below and leave a link to your post in the comments for others to look at. No blog? No problem! Just leave a comment with your responses. Please, take some time to visit the other participants and see what others are reading. So, let’s get to it!

The Three Ws are:

What are you currently reading?
What did you recently finish reading?
What do you think you’ll read next?

Note: For users of Blogspot blogs, I’m unable to comment on your posts as a WordPress blogger unless you’ve enabled Name/URL comments. This is a known WordPress/Blogspot issue. Please consider enabling this to participate more fully in the community.

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Currently reading: I switched back to a digital copy of The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss and was glad to get my hold renewed again! I’m about three quarters done with it and making some steady progress so I will remain optimistic on this one and finishing within the year (preferably this summer).
Reading Buddy and I met yesterday to talk about the second section of The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V.E. Schwab. I’m back into hitting this one hard! Love the mystery of what’s going on and with what just happened in this section, I think we’re in for some major action soon!
I’ve hit half way through Broken (in the best possible way) by Jenny Lawson and the laughs keep rolling in. It’s fun to have a comedy and nice to have one I can pick up and put down a bit more as I need to. The chapters are completely independent so if I zone out a bit, I can come back in fully caught up quickly.
I’ made a big push with Scene & Structure by Jack M. Bickham before my Reading Buddy and I met yesterday but I still have a little bit to wrap up before I finish this one and get it back to the library. It’s so nice to have a short book for once!

Recently finished: Yet again I’m blank here. I think I can have one next week, though!

Reading next: Because I’m still thinking of picking up yet another print book with Seeing Sideways by Kristin Hersh. There’s no such thing as too many read-alongs, right?
I also need to start planning for another audiobook. I think it’s going to be How to Find Your Way in the Dark by Derek B. Miller. Of the three Miller books I’ve read, I liked two and was ‘Meh’ on a third. So I’m optimistic here!

Leave a comment with your link and comment (if you’re so inclined). Take a look at the other participant links in the comments and look at what others are reading.

Have any opinions on these choices?

Until next time, write on.

You can follow me on Goodreads, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and Instagram. I’m available via email at SamAStevensWriter@gmail.com. And as always, feel free to leave a comment!

Some of the links on this post may be affiliate links. Taking on a World of Words is a participant in affiliate programs designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by linking to products. If you purchase a product or service through an affiliate link, your cost will be the same but Sam will automatically receive a small commission. Your support is greatly appreciated.

WWW Wednesday, 10-May-2023

Welcome to WWW Wednesday! This meme was formerly hosted by MizB at A Daily Rhythm and revived here on Taking on a World of Words. Just answer the three questions below and leave a link to your post in the comments for others to look at. No blog? No problem! Just leave a comment with your responses. Please, take some time to visit the other participants and see what others are reading. So, let’s get to it!

The Three Ws are:

What are you currently reading?
What did you recently finish reading?
What do you think you’ll read next?

Note: For users of Blogspot blogs, I’m unable to comment on your posts as a WordPress blogger unless you’ve enabled Name/URL comments. This is a known WordPress/Blogspot issue. Please consider enabling this to participate more fully in the community.

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Currently reading: I’m back to print for The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss but really trying to hurry it along! I’ve gotten more into the story over the last few chapters and I’m pushing myself to find snippets of time to enjoy it and so far, it seems to be working!
I had my first meeting with my Reading Buddy to talk about The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V.E. Schwab. She’s loving it as much as me! I finished the second chunk as well and I’m waiting for her to catch up since I sped through it. There was a lot of time where I felt like not much was happening, but the writing kept me moving forward. Now things are changing and I can’t wait to see where they go!
Listening to Broken (in the best possible way) by Jenny Lawson on audio should come with a warning. I was running while listening last week and had to stop and walk because I started laughing so hard. I adore Lawson’s sense of humor and will keep pushing forward with this one!
I started in on Scene & Structure by Jack M. Bickham, slowly but surely. I’ll get to it between other books and I hope to finish before I have to get it back to the library!

Recently finished: Nothing new this week but I did post my review of The Rebel Wife by Taylor M. Polites. This book wasn’t a win for me and I ended up giving it only Two out of Five Stars.

Reading next: Because I don’t have enough books in progress, I’m starting another Buddy Read with another friend. We’re going to read Seeing Sideways by Kristin Hersh together. We heard her speak at the Midwest Literary Walk (which is reminding me I owe y’all a post about that) and thought this one would speak to the two of us because we both have young kids. We’ll be starting soon!

Leave a comment with your link and comment (if you’re so inclined). Take a look at the other participant links in the comments and look at what others are reading.

Have any opinions on these choices?

Until next time, write on.

You can follow me on Goodreads, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and Instagram. I’m available via email at SamAStevensWriter@gmail.com. And as always, feel free to leave a comment!

Some of the links on this post may be affiliate links. Taking on a World of Words is a participant in affiliate programs designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by linking to products. If you purchase a product or service through an affiliate link, your cost will be the same but Sam will automatically receive a small commission. Your support is greatly appreciated.

WWW Wednesday, 3-May-2023

Welcome to WWW Wednesday! This meme was formerly hosted by MizB at A Daily Rhythm and revived here on Taking on a World of Words. Just answer the three questions below and leave a link to your post in the comments for others to look at. No blog? No problem! Just leave a comment with your responses. Please, take some time to visit the other participants and see what others are reading. So, let’s get to it!

The Three Ws are:

What are you currently reading?
What did you recently finish reading?
What do you think you’ll read next?

Note: For users of Blogspot blogs, I’m unable to comment on your posts as a WordPress blogger unless you’ve enabled Name/URL comments. This is a known WordPress/Blogspot issue. Please consider enabling this to participate more fully in the community.

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Currently reading: I found a new technique to finish up The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss in a reasonable amount of time. I’m still waiting on an interlibrary loan and instead of starting something new, I got a physical copy of this to read. I’m reading it before bed at night and getting through it much faster than I was on my phone. I’ll try to find the right spot in the ebook should I need to switch back, but I think this might be how I finish it up.
My reading buddy and I started The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V.E. Schwab and I’m in love so far! We did a short first section to see how fast we’d read it, but I think we’ll have to do longer sections on this so we’re not meeting multiple times per week! This is a really fast read for such a long book.
I needed a new audiobook and something to make me laugh sounded like a good plan. I grabbed Broken (in the best possible way) by Jenny Lawson. I’m a big fan of Lawson and looking forward to this one! I have a signed copy at home, but she reads me the audiobook, so I still think it’s an upgrade.

Recently finished: What a big week for me! Lágrimas en el mar (Salt to the Sea) by Ruta Sepetys late last week which was an amazing feeling. It’s always great to finish my Spanish read of the year! This one took me almost two months, though I had some interruptions. I posted my review on Monday so please go check it out! I gave the book Four out of Five stars.
I was able to finish The Rebel Wife by Taylor M. Polites, too! I went for a longer run on Saturday and knocked out the last bit of it. I really wasn’t a big fan of this one. The confusion I had at the beginning about who was who was a bad first impression. However, the character relationships didn’t develop in a way I found believable and I never connected with the main character. I’ll write my review this weekend but my initial rating is Two out of Five stars.

Reading next: I’m waiting on my loan of Scene & Structure by Jack M. Bickham. Hopefully it will be in soon and I can get started! It’s been a while since I had some non fiction on my plate.

Leave a comment with your link and comment (if you’re so inclined). Take a look at the other participant links in the comments and look at what others are reading.

Have any opinions on these choices?

Until next time, write on.

You can follow me on Goodreads, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and Instagram. I’m available via email at SamAStevensWriter@gmail.com. And as always, feel free to leave a comment!

Some of the links on this post may be affiliate links. Taking on a World of Words is a participant in affiliate programs designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by linking to products. If you purchase a product or service through an affiliate link, your cost will be the same but Sam will automatically receive a small commission. Your support is greatly appreciated.

Recently Added To My To-Read List (Part 1)

If you are a follower of this blog, it will come as no surprise to you that I added a total of 13 books to my to-read list since I last did an update of this type. In order to get my tired self to sleep sooner rather than later, I’m going to do this in two parts. Here are the first six.

1. Not Without My Daughter by Betty Mahmoody. When I was in Northern Michigan visiting family, my cousins took me to the house where Mahmoody lived in Aplena. I was intrigued and decided that I had to read the book of a woman who was stuck in Iran and refused to leave (you guessed it) without her daughter.
2. The Color Purple by Alice Walker. I forget who already, but someone told me I have to read this book. It’s a classic so I completely agreed. Funny enough, one of my co-workers told me I needed to read it last week. I guess I really need to.
3. Empire Falls by Richard Russo. This book was yet another of the book calendar recommendations that are crowding my list. I saw that it’s an option for my library’s book club packs and the story reminded me just enough of the character I wrote during NaNoWriMo, so I thought I could call it research.
4. Scene and Structure by Jack M. Bickham. This was recommended to me by Kristen Lamb when I had trouble understanding the elements of a scene. I hope reading it will help my writing. Thanks, Kristen!
5. When I Crossed No-Bob by Margaret McMullan. McMullan is a professor at my alma mater and I thought it would be appropriate to check out one of her books.
6. Abraham by Bruce Feiler. I did a post a few weeks ago about meeting Bruce Feiler. This is the book I had him sign. I’m unsure if I want to let it out of my apartment!

So there you are, my next six books added and waiting for me to commit to them by checking them out from the library. Any winners on the list? Anything that you think might be a dud? Leave a comment and let me know.

Until next time, write on.