Your world-building is brilliant, your magic system flawless—so why are readers dropping your book after three chapters? The problem isn't your ideas. It's your plot structure. Blake Snyder's Save the Cat beat sheet offers sci-fi and fantasy writers a flexible roadmap to balance stunning world-building with compelling narrative momentum that keeps readers hooked.
November showed me I can always do a bit more. With the challenge of writing 50,000 words in one month, I found I needed to use every free moment to write. Once I filled every moment with writing, I was easily hitting my word count each day. I believe you can do it too.
After years of sharing writing advice, I'm making the leap every writer dreams of: becoming the author I've always wanted to be. This October, Myers Fiction launches with original stories, starting with an eco-thriller that'll make you question what lurks in the shadows of our changing world.
Starting in medias res isn't about explosions or car chases—it's about emotional impact. True mastery means dropping readers into a moment that already matters, whether that's an emotional crisis, a conversation that changes everything, or a discovery that reshapes the story. It's meaningful disruption, not mindless spectacle.
"Backstory is like seasoning—a little goes a long way, but too much ruins the dish. The 90/10 rule suggests readers only need to glimpse 10% of your character's history. The key is revealing past details when they become emotionally or narratively necessary, not when you think they're interesting."
Kenneth W. Myers 