Reddit reviews Techniques of the Selling Writer

Pick up a book on structure, for example Save the Cat!

You should be aiming towards highs and low points, with a slow progression between each where the character struggles and fails towards transformative crescendos. Failure is how your character changes, not successes - so keep legit stamping on your protag's face.

Act 1 - 25% of the book - Establish the world, the rules, the principle character and its relationship to them. Halfway through this act you should throw them into the adventure then spend the rest of the act getting them to accept their role in it. This is setting up the story you want to tell.

Act 2 - 50% of the book - Do the fun and interesting stuff that makes up the body of the book. If its a detective story, this is where the crime scene inspections happen and the witnesses are met a few times. If its a cliche fantasy series this is the "journey" to the evil castle. Halfway through the act you should have a false high (everything looks great but isn't) or a false low (everything is hopeless but isn't). This is where you develop a love interest and character interactions. Act 3 is when the point of no return is passed and you enter the endgame.

Act 3 - 25% - the Endgame. The character recovers from a crippling loss and "transforms" spiritually. This is the scenes at and inside the evil castle where the changed protagonist uses what he learned from act 2 to beat the villian. This is where the twists go since you are breaking rules you have solidly established and where you have the mature protagonist to properly digest those twists.

In terms of how to connect scenes and order them, alternate the scenes where your character is trying to accomplish a goal and then recovering from the failure to achieve it. ABABAB. As in another thread I'd recommend Tecniques of a selling writer for this. However you can find a synopsis by more modern writers if you just search with "scene and sequel", which are the terms he coins in the book.

Check out Wired for Story and Techniques of the Selling Writer. The latter is dated - as in the guy wrote it from a white, male perspective in the 60s - but the advice on craft is solid. Good luck.

ETA: This is a decent podcast series so far.

I own each one of those books and I would only cosign on the Amy Cooper and the Emily Baker. I also got a lot of helpful info from Unsilenced's first book.

For Erotica in general - I would also skip the Susie Bright. Instead I would go with Stacia Kane Be A Sex Writing Strumpet. Also this website also helped me helped me think stories through.

I would suggest you start learning story structure and outlining early. Dan Wells is an awesome free source - through his youtube videos, and Dwight V Swain Techniques of the Selling Writer. Also Gwen Hayes Romancing the Beat.

As a writer I would keep reading additional sources, once you find a story structure that you like - as in 3 part or 4 part, then find an ultimate resource for this.

When I first started I didn't really understand pinch points so I read a book on screenwriting that helped.

First read through this.
Joseph Campbell's Monomyth
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monomyth
Second is a book by Dwight Swain' "Techniques of a Selling Writer" despite the cheesy title it is the best book I have ever read on story telling.
http://www.amazon.com/Techniques-Selling-Writer-Dwight-Swain-ebook/dp/B0099P9UI0/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1397194942&sr=1-1&keywords=techniques+of+a+selling+writer