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Writing as a Second Career #1
Super Simple Story Structure: A Quick Guide to Plotting and Writing Your Novel
Struggling to start your novel? Stuck in the middle?
Finished a first draft, but it doesn’t really grab you?
This short, easy-to-read book helps you speed through your first draft, minimize major rewrites, and keep readers turning the pages.
Using specific questions and prompts to expand and focus your story idea, plus examples from plots as diverse as The Terminator, The Awakening, and Gone With The Wind, bestselling author L. M. Lilly walks you through the five simple steps she’s used to write every novel she’s published. Keep your pen, keyboard, or phone at your side as you read and you’ll learn to create:
- Strong Conflict
- Characters The Reader Cares About
- Five Basic Plot Points
- Compelling Subplots
Most important, Super Simple Story Structure walks you through what should happen in the middle of the novel–-that spot that many writers approach with dread.
What you’ll create won’t be so structured that you'll feel hemmed in and stifled, but it will be enough that you can write your first draft quickly, without getting stuck staring at a blank screen for an hour, then giving up and checking your social media accounts.
Get started today by downloading Super Simple Story Structure: A Quick Guide to Plotting & Writing Your Novel.
Finished a first draft, but it doesn’t really grab you?
This short, easy-to-read book helps you speed through your first draft, minimize major rewrites, and keep readers turning the pages.
Using specific questions and prompts to expand and focus your story idea, plus examples from plots as diverse as The Terminator, The Awakening, and Gone With The Wind, bestselling author L. M. Lilly walks you through the five simple steps she’s used to write every novel she’s published. Keep your pen, keyboard, or phone at your side as you read and you’ll learn to create:
- Strong Conflict
- Characters The Reader Cares About
- Five Basic Plot Points
- Compelling Subplots
Most important, Super Simple Story Structure walks you through what should happen in the middle of the novel–-that spot that many writers approach with dread.
What you’ll create won’t be so structured that you'll feel hemmed in and stifled, but it will be enough that you can write your first draft quickly, without getting stuck staring at a blank screen for an hour, then giving up and checking your social media accounts.
Get started today by downloading Super Simple Story Structure: A Quick Guide to Plotting & Writing Your Novel.
- GenresWritingNonfictionHow To
78 pages, Kindle Edition
Published October 1, 2019
190 people are currently reading
76 people want to read
About the author
Lisa M. Lilly
42 books154 followersIn addition to the Q.C. Davis Mysteries, a traditional detective series that includes The Worried Man, The Charming Man, The Fractured Man, The Troubled Man, The Hidden Man, and the novella No Good Plays, Lisa M. Lilly also is the author of the four-book Awakening supernatural thriller series.
Like her character Quille C. Davis, Lilly lives and works in Chicago, Illinois. Under L.M. Lilly, she is the founder of WritingAsASecondCareer.com. She also hosts the podcast Buffy and the Art of Story.
Lilly also writes horror, including When Darkness Falls, a gothic horror novel set in Chicago’s South Loop, and the short-story collection The Tower Formerly Known as Sears and Two Other Tales of Urban Horror, the title story of which was made into the short film Willis Tower. Her stories and poems have appeared in numerous publications.
Her non-fiction books, written as L.M. Lilly, include Super Super Simple Story Structure: A Quick Guide to Plotting and Writing Your Novel; The One-Year Novelist: A Step-by-Step Guide to Writing Your Novel in One Year; and Creating Compelling Characters From the Inside Out.
A resident of Chicago, Lilly is an attorney and a member of the Alliance Against Intoxicated Motorists. She joined AAIM after an intoxicated driver caused the deaths of her parents in 2007. Her book of essays, Standing in Traffic, is available on AAIM’s website.
For information on new releases and to get free bonus fiction, including a Q.C. Davis Mystery novella, join her email list at LisaLilly.com/QuilleStories.
Like her character Quille C. Davis, Lilly lives and works in Chicago, Illinois. Under L.M. Lilly, she is the founder of WritingAsASecondCareer.com. She also hosts the podcast Buffy and the Art of Story.
Lilly also writes horror, including When Darkness Falls, a gothic horror novel set in Chicago’s South Loop, and the short-story collection The Tower Formerly Known as Sears and Two Other Tales of Urban Horror, the title story of which was made into the short film Willis Tower. Her stories and poems have appeared in numerous publications.
Her non-fiction books, written as L.M. Lilly, include Super Super Simple Story Structure: A Quick Guide to Plotting and Writing Your Novel; The One-Year Novelist: A Step-by-Step Guide to Writing Your Novel in One Year; and Creating Compelling Characters From the Inside Out.
A resident of Chicago, Lilly is an attorney and a member of the Alliance Against Intoxicated Motorists. She joined AAIM after an intoxicated driver caused the deaths of her parents in 2007. Her book of essays, Standing in Traffic, is available on AAIM’s website.
For information on new releases and to get free bonus fiction, including a Q.C. Davis Mystery novella, join her email list at LisaLilly.com/QuilleStories.
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Displaying 1 - 19 of 20 reviews
July 3, 2018
A true student of the craft will appreciate these tidbits. Yes, it’s not a whale of a book like many in its category, but contains much solid information. I’ll expand by saying it simplifies what most writing books drag out, on and on, get to the point already! This book gets to the point, fast.
I wouldn't consider this an in-depth study guide, but worth the time.
Now that we have all of that out of the way, let’s get right to it.
Don’t use books like these to procrastinate.
“I can’t start writing, I’m still reading how-to books,” said YOU.
Now you have enough information to get you going, and you’ll learn the rest on the way. Putting your study into action is the best way to learn. Will you suck? Maybe. Will you get better? Absolutely.
PRESCRIPTION: Read widely, whether it’s paper, kindle, audiobooks, whatever. I read William Faulkner in the bathroom, and everything else in sips throughout the day. Make an achievable reading goal and stick to it.
Write with ferocity. Reading about writing isn’t writing, talking about writing isn’t writing. Only writing is writing. Set an attainable writing goal and stick with it. Even at 250 words a day, you’ll end up with a 60,000 word novel in a year. That’s even taking weekends off!
Get this through your head! The whole world isn’t going to love your work, you are going to have haters and naysayers, ignore them.
When I told my father I wrote a novel he replied without hesitation, “For what purpose?”
Let that be a lesson for us all, most of the world won’t care, and most of those who don’t are the ones closest to us, the ones we think should care.
Now go write something that speaks to your heart. Because if you write from the heart, your true voice, readers will find your work, and it will speak to theirs.
I wouldn't consider this an in-depth study guide, but worth the time.
Now that we have all of that out of the way, let’s get right to it.
Don’t use books like these to procrastinate.
“I can’t start writing, I’m still reading how-to books,” said YOU.
Now you have enough information to get you going, and you’ll learn the rest on the way. Putting your study into action is the best way to learn. Will you suck? Maybe. Will you get better? Absolutely.
PRESCRIPTION: Read widely, whether it’s paper, kindle, audiobooks, whatever. I read William Faulkner in the bathroom, and everything else in sips throughout the day. Make an achievable reading goal and stick to it.
Write with ferocity. Reading about writing isn’t writing, talking about writing isn’t writing. Only writing is writing. Set an attainable writing goal and stick with it. Even at 250 words a day, you’ll end up with a 60,000 word novel in a year. That’s even taking weekends off!
Get this through your head! The whole world isn’t going to love your work, you are going to have haters and naysayers, ignore them.
When I told my father I wrote a novel he replied without hesitation, “For what purpose?”
Let that be a lesson for us all, most of the world won’t care, and most of those who don’t are the ones closest to us, the ones we think should care.
Now go write something that speaks to your heart. Because if you write from the heart, your true voice, readers will find your work, and it will speak to theirs.
July 23, 2019
I liked this book only because it pulls everything together for a simple five-point plot and advises a beginning or a slightly advanced writer on how to settle into his craft. Moreover, it isn't too long or droning, and the information in it is easy to remember.
The argument or the step one in the book is to start with conflict since, without any conflict, there is no story. Then the book gives the select points on developing the protagonist and the antagonist and asks the writer to ask a few sample questions to them, while giving pointers along the way, such as “don’t use yourself as a model,” which I think is smart.
Also, after the detailed description of the five-point plot – consisting of the story spark or the inciting incident, one-quarter twist, mid-point, three-quarter turn, and the climax--, the author advises the writer on the point of view elements. The book proves its points by giving examples from other well-known but diverse books such as The Terminator and Gone with the Wind.
The writing is factual, clear, and the points and the advice are easy to follow. There wasn’t anything new I already didn’t know about since in a NaNoWriMo group in Writing.com, we covered just about everything, but still, this is a good book to have for consulting and re-reading from time to time, until a writer becomes grounded in finding his own way. Especially the questions the writers are urged to ask themselves and their characters are eye-opening especially at the end after the climax, and as referrals, I wrote them down in a note-book for myself.
The argument or the step one in the book is to start with conflict since, without any conflict, there is no story. Then the book gives the select points on developing the protagonist and the antagonist and asks the writer to ask a few sample questions to them, while giving pointers along the way, such as “don’t use yourself as a model,” which I think is smart.
Also, after the detailed description of the five-point plot – consisting of the story spark or the inciting incident, one-quarter twist, mid-point, three-quarter turn, and the climax--, the author advises the writer on the point of view elements. The book proves its points by giving examples from other well-known but diverse books such as The Terminator and Gone with the Wind.
The writing is factual, clear, and the points and the advice are easy to follow. There wasn’t anything new I already didn’t know about since in a NaNoWriMo group in Writing.com, we covered just about everything, but still, this is a good book to have for consulting and re-reading from time to time, until a writer becomes grounded in finding his own way. Especially the questions the writers are urged to ask themselves and their characters are eye-opening especially at the end after the climax, and as referrals, I wrote them down in a note-book for myself.
April 29, 2023
I’ve had a few ideas for a fiction book rolling around in my brain, but I always choke when it comes to getting the plot and plot points where they should be. In fact, I’ve read many books on the art of story structure. So, when I found the Super Simple Story Structure on KU, I wanted to read it. The reviews were great, and I had to read what this author suggested. After the first few chapters, I realized I finally understood the examples the author presented.
One of her examples came from her own series, The Awakening. The reason why this book helped me understand the plot structure process is because the examples were so easy to understand. Nothing is complicated, and written in an easy-to-understand language. She also uses examples from “Gone With the Wind,” one of my favorite movies and books of all time.
I enjoyed this book so much; I had to read the Awakening Series and see for myself if Lilly’s structure could work!
One of her examples came from her own series, The Awakening. The reason why this book helped me understand the plot structure process is because the examples were so easy to understand. Nothing is complicated, and written in an easy-to-understand language. She also uses examples from “Gone With the Wind,” one of my favorite movies and books of all time.
I enjoyed this book so much; I had to read the Awakening Series and see for myself if Lilly’s structure could work!
May 29, 2017
Useful Ideas
This is a great book on the basic framework that will set the pace, plots, and conflicts of your novel, using five points in the text, plus the end as the focus points. This is a simple but powerful idea, and I intend to try it with my next fiction novel.
This is the pre-outlining structuring of your book. It will reduce the amount of rewriting, and reduce procrastination, according to the Author. It looks very useful.
This is a great book on the basic framework that will set the pace, plots, and conflicts of your novel, using five points in the text, plus the end as the focus points. This is a simple but powerful idea, and I intend to try it with my next fiction novel.
This is the pre-outlining structuring of your book. It will reduce the amount of rewriting, and reduce procrastination, according to the Author. It looks very useful.
June 1, 2021
Picked this up on Kobo. It's okay; if you've read many books on story structure, there's nothing new here. But it is a good introduction.
She raises a valid point, and that is when you have finished your work, you might experience a feeling of let down; there are no fireworks and no parades on publication, and you've lost the company of your imaginary friends. Family and friends might be thrilled but some may belittle your efforts.
3 stars
She raises a valid point, and that is when you have finished your work, you might experience a feeling of let down; there are no fireworks and no parades on publication, and you've lost the company of your imaginary friends. Family and friends might be thrilled but some may belittle your efforts.
3 stars
June 13, 2022
A book for life
I loved how systematic this book was. It helped me to get my first, and second version of a plot I wanted. Having changed my mind (again) on the plot-due to unforeseen holdups in my life that now have given me a new look on life in general-I am rereading this book for the third time as I find it the best way to arrive at a plot.
I will use this book from now on for each new story I write. I love L.M.Lilly’s style and approach to writing.
Thanks Lisa
X
I loved how systematic this book was. It helped me to get my first, and second version of a plot I wanted. Having changed my mind (again) on the plot-due to unforeseen holdups in my life that now have given me a new look on life in general-I am rereading this book for the third time as I find it the best way to arrive at a plot.
I will use this book from now on for each new story I write. I love L.M.Lilly’s style and approach to writing.
Thanks Lisa
X
August 23, 2025
This book guides you through approaching the dreaded middle of the story hiccups and more. It gives sound but not original advice on how to write your first draft quickly, without getting the good old writers block dread.
Some really helpful advice and lots of info for the would be writer.
Worth a read.
Some really helpful advice and lots of info for the would be writer.
Worth a read.
December 27, 2017
I am in the process of planning out my own novel, and Ms. Lilly's book really helped to put things in perspective, using references to popular pieces of fiction to explain the different plot mechanics that she points out.
It definitely will point a budding author in the right direction.
It definitely will point a budding author in the right direction.
October 11, 2020
Easy to follow
I got this book to help refresh my memory. It was definitely that unlike some of the others I read it When into detail that I forgot all about. This book helped me get back on track and it helped my kids with some of their homework.
I got this book to help refresh my memory. It was definitely that unlike some of the others I read it When into detail that I forgot all about. This book helped me get back on track and it helped my kids with some of their homework.
January 17, 2021
Solid advice, although not new
This isn't an end all book, but it's a good start on plotting conflict. It's similar to the advice on writing pulp fiction, get it out of your head and onto paper quickly and don't obsess over getting it perfect the first time. Well worth the read.
This isn't an end all book, but it's a good start on plotting conflict. It's similar to the advice on writing pulp fiction, get it out of your head and onto paper quickly and don't obsess over getting it perfect the first time. Well worth the read.
February 1, 2021
Super easy to read and clearly brought the main topics of writing a novel together in short, easy steps. I think it works better if one already has a decent grasp on novel writing basics as this ties all the knowledge together.
October 24, 2021
As I prepare for NaNoWriMo, I enjoyed this audiobook and the way she simply breaks down the story structure into digestible pieces. I’m not naturally a plotter but she keeps it simple and uncomplicated.
December 30, 2024
Helpful and Short
I found it helpful to read this book while reading a good novel so that you can pick it apart using this author's method.
I found it to be short but insightful. It's definitely worth your time.
I found it helpful to read this book while reading a good novel so that you can pick it apart using this author's method.
I found it to be short but insightful. It's definitely worth your time.
July 27, 2017
Good source
This is a good source for new writers. Has lots of good suggestions and tips. Good information. Also good for writers that need a refresher.
This is a good source for new writers. Has lots of good suggestions and tips. Good information. Also good for writers that need a refresher.
March 22, 2019
Interesting
I like this book. It gives me ideas on how to write a story. I would recommend this book to anyone who is interested in writing.
I like this book. It gives me ideas on how to write a story. I would recommend this book to anyone who is interested in writing.
September 20, 2020
This is a really good resource. Well written, thoroughly explained and easy to understand. 4/5 stars - a good resource
November 21, 2021
Excellent four point strategy for novel writing!
July 28, 2023
Very helpful book with lots of good, usable, workable tips and suggestions. Highly recommend.
January 16, 2019
I found this an excellent read with references made to a modern day and old classic liturature. I think this will help students in secondary school and college with their story plotting.
Displaying 1 - 19 of 20 reviews