what does a reader want

1. Story must begin with a significant change
2. A story question that they worry about
3. An answer to this question at the end
4. Anything that does not deal with the story question is boring

cause and effect

1. Order: stimulus - internalisation - response
2. Stimulus is external
3. Response similarly has to be external
4. Every stimulus has to have a response and vice versa
5. There is an internalisation step as well in between, which can be explained if needed

how to write a scene

1. Order: Goal-conflict-disaster
2. A scene starts with a stated goal, aligned with the bigger goal of what I want to do
3. Then there’s opposition or conflict
4. And finally, a no. Or minor yes. If the lead gets what they want. They are happy and that’s that.
   1. No is the least interesting.
   2. Yes, but is better
   3. No, but is the worst for the lead. And best for interest

a sequel comes after a scene

1. After the disaster of a scene comes the sequel. It gives space to the reader. As there is usually contemplation.
2. Order- reaction-thought-decision-action
3. If there is no time after disaster for a sequel, we have to think if we can recall how the lead felt at a future time

how to control pace of a story

1. Scenes are read faster
2. Sequels are read slower
3. If the story feels slow, shorten the sequels, increase a the scene length and vice versa if it feels too fast
4. It is more likely to have slower pacing as a beginner. Namely, having less number of scenes, being poetic or philosophical, etc.

planning a story

Initial plan must be in the form of scene1-sequel1-scene2-sequel2 and so on. However, when writing the actual story, there can be differences. Like,