Structure of a short
Monday, February 20, 2012

I've finished the first "complete" version of When the Music Stops. With complete I mean that I have written everything that I want, compared to the raw, compressed version I wrote first.

Now I wanted to check if the structure was right. I did a print out, but of a special kind. I printed six pages on one sheet of paper. This was not a matter of reading, but a matter of getting an overview of the structure.

I saw that the happiest moment, the mid point, was too far back in the story. I inspected the place where it should have been. To my amazement the scene fitted much better there - a switching of places between two scenes.

Before it was more like happiness - doubt -happiness peak - despair.

From turning point one to midpoint there is now happiness, peaking at the midpoint. And between midpoint and turning point two there comes doubt and despair reaching its low-point just before turning point two.

Much better.

Now it is time to proofread and polish.