Understand the shape of your story—within a single book and across an entire series.
Every novel has a shape, and so does every series. Readers sense it from the first page and feel it most when something disrupts it—a midpoint that doesn’t land, or a third book that doesn’t deliver on what the first one promised. Understanding that shape, from the overall structure down to individual scenes and sentences, is one of the most powerful skills a fiction writer can develop.
In this FREE one-hour session, you’ll discover:
- How classic story structures work across genres—and how to design a novel that satisfies on its own while serving a longer series arc
- How the midpoint plot twist reframes your story and raises the stakes for everything that follows, both within a book and across a series
- How emotional reactions inside a scene—a sigh, a tightening throat, a moment of hesitation—carry the arc on the page
- How to keep plot lines varied from book to book, and how word-level choices reinforce (or quietly undercut) the bigger structure you’ve built
Perfect for:
- Series writers wrestling with how to give each book a satisfying ending while building toward something larger
- Writers across genres—mystery, thriller, romance, fantasy, literary fiction—who want their stories to feel both familiar and fresh
- Authors whose structure looks fine on paper but whose scenes feel flat, or whose prose is strong but whose arc loses momentum
A live Q&A follows the presentation to answer your questions.
Fill out the form below to reserve your FREE virtual seat.
Sorry! Sign-ups for this event are closed. However, you can check my Webinar Replay Library for a replay of the presentation or view my latest event offerings on my Events Page to join me for a future topic.
Story Arcs:
A Big Picture View of Storytelling
A story arc is the agreement between writer and reader about what kind of experience this book—or this series—is going to deliver. The opening sets the promise, the midpoint complicates it, and the ending pays it off. When that shape is clear, readers feel it as momentum. That through-line runs from macro to micro—from overall arc to scene to sentence—and, for series writers, from book to book. When any part of it slips, they feel that too, often without knowing why.
Each book needs its own complete arc while contributing to something larger. Fourteen Josie Prescott Antiques mysteries have taught a clear lesson: vary the plot lines to keep the series fresh, give every book a satisfying ending, and plant threads that pay off three or four books later. Whether you’re writing a standalone or deep into book seven, you’ll leave with a clearer picture of what your story is doing at every level.
Join us at our FREE virtual discussion:
August 15, 2026 at 1 p.m. Eastern
Reserve your spot at this FREE virtual workshop. I’ll send you the access details shortly before the event!
In Beat the Bots: An Author’s Guide to Surviving and Thriving in the Age of AI, published in August, Jane K. Cleland shares practical exercises to nurture imagination, spark original thinking, and resist creative conformity. Her other books on the craft of writing, Mastering Suspense, Structure & Plot and Mastering Plot Twists, both won the Agatha Award.
Jane has also written fourteen novels in the multiple award-winning Josie Prescott Antiques Mystery series [St. Martin’s Minotaur, with short fiction published by Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine]. The series has been optioned for film and TV.
In addition, Jane is a contributing editor for Writer’s Digest magazine and the chair of the Black Orchid Novella Award, presented by the Wolfe Pack in partnership with Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine. Jane has served as President of the New York Chapter and Vice President of the Florida chapter of Mystery Writers of America, and was on the national board.
