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Punching Babies: (a how-to guide) (Write Club Series) Paperback – October 6, 2014

by Adron J. Smitley (Author)

4.5 61 ratings

Part of: Write Club Series (6 books)

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How to make writing your novel as easy as punching babies! 'Punching Babies: a how-to guide' teaches the aspiring writer of every fiction genre how to plot their perfect story from first scratch to final draft every exciting step of the way. This handy-dandy plotters guide will teach you everything from the bare essentials of Acts and how to separate them to all the detailed story steps in between that establishes gripping dramatic conflict which keeps your readers reading. Writer's block is only a prancing unicorn myth to crafty plotters, and Punching Babies will forge you into a lean, mean plotting machine! Because inside Punching Babies is the 'secret' detailed story skeleton and proven formula explaining every necessary plot point to your greatest story!

5 x 8
107 pages
black & white interior

For free articles on everything plot, character, and story structure architecture please visit: adronjsmitley.blogspot.com

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Concise and eminently useful. The insights given in this book allow an author to get not only a high level view of how their work will be broken down by publishers, editors, and in the end, readers, but also allows a reader to approach literature with a more sharply focused eye. Punching Babies has a wealth of information that will most certainly help to fine tune an author's writing, and even change the way you read or watch movies, as it cleverly unpacks many of the secrets behind the storytelling process." -Self-Publishing Review

About the Author

adronjsmitley.blogspot.com

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform; Csm edition (October 6, 2014)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 107 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1502743531
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1502743534
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 10.7 ounces
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5 x 0.25 x 8 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #2,681,629 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #2,010 in Words, Language & Grammar Reference
- #3,158 in Authorship Reference
- #5,320 in Writing Skill Reference (Books)

Customer Reviews:
4.5 61 ratings

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Adron J. Smitley

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Born and raised in Orrville, Ohio, a lover of all things fantasy and with 30+ years of writing experience, visit Adron's personal writing blog at: adronjsmitley.blogspot.com

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Customers say

Customers find the book provides a detailed breakdown of story structure. They find it concise, easy to understand, and straightforward to apply the tips.

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Content Ease of use

10 customers mention "Content"10 positive0 negative

Customers find the book's content helpful. It provides a detailed explanation of story structure with a simple, concise summary and examples. Readers appreciate the clear advice on writing a novel and find it informative, even for non-planners.

"...If reading were a drug, this book would be an excellent source of info on how to be a great drug dealer for readers." Read more

"...I'm looking to the self publish route. All in all, well done san the title! Did I mention I really abhor the title?..." Read more

"...Chapter by chapter and scene by scene. I love this stuff. Even if you’re not a “planner”’ this is very informative. Great guide to writing your novel." Read more

"...book broke down the 3-act structure into simple terms, with great examples to follow. He broke the acts into small blocks meant to be manageable...." Read more

6 customers mention "Ease of use"6 positive0 negative

Customers find the book's content clear and concise. They find the tips easy to apply and the small blocks manageable.

"...A FORMULA! And the formula is EASY to learn. Once learned, you can hide the formula so well that the reader will be wondering "What formula?"..." Read more

"...He broke the acts into small blocks meant to be manageable...." Read more

"...Thank you, Adron for putting together a simple and direct summary of story structure...." Read more

"...takes all the books I've ever learned from and combines them into an easy, concise doctrine with examples from a well known movie...." Read more

Top reviews from the United States

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Lavocat
Story Versus Writing: A HUGE Difference; This Book ROCKS!
Reviewed in the United States on April 18, 2019
Verified Purchase
Okay, let's face it, the title sucks. GET BEYOND IT. Or, better yet, understand it. The author, in his bizarre way, is telling you that learning how to tell a story - in a writerly way - is as (shockingly) easy as punching babies. Ever wonder HOW great stories are woven? THEN READ THIS BOOK! And stop the nonsense about this book being "formulaic". I've got news for you, Sunshine: everything is composed of smaller elements and to get from the smaller to the larger whole requires ... wait for it ... that's right!: A FORMULA! And the formula is EASY to learn. Once learned, you can hide the formula so well that the reader will be wondering "What formula?" Think of a novel as a series of scenes involving conflict and its resolution, all strung together, with each scene necessarily determining how subsequent scenes must occur, for the novel to not only make sense, BUT TO KEEP THE READER READING ON INTO THE WEE HOURS! If reading were a drug, this book would be an excellent source of info on how to be a great drug dealer for readers.

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3 people found this helpful

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Ray
Exactly what I'm looking for--book on plots!
Reviewed in the United States on December 3, 2015
Verified Purchase
I got this book in April, but never got a chance to finish it till now. Meteor showers got in the way. This book is exactly what I'm looking for in helping to guide me to write my book.

I had tried the Stephen King's way (book "On Writing"), but was stumped because I didn't have a guide post. I was writing from the seat of my skirt and predictably had writer block. I was worried my story has plot holes. I remembered in college it was how I write best when I had an outline. Yes, what the author shared is formulaic, but what well structured story with a plot line isn't (ehhmmm J. K Rowlings' famous series)? It's how she keep plot holes in check. The author's likening writing to unraveling a quilt comes to mind.

Like the author said, it's your choice how you want the formula to work...it's your story. He just provided a very detailed break down of how to whittle through a novel, "bits by bits". If you read his book, you'll know my reference to the bits part.

One downer, I'm not too keen on the title. When I read the title, I had a visceral reaction to it. I think you will sell more books if the title isn't so viscerally jarring and repugnant because the content is superb in my opinion.

I also appreciate the real example of the "Matrix" movie and how the author broke it down. I can also see how the formula/structure carries over for other movies and books I'd read. This writer is appreciative of the detailed guide, but can do without the title. I still rate the book a five for content. I'm also impress by the binding of the book as it's an Amazon self publish book. I'm looking to the self publish route.

All in all, well done san the title! Did I mention I really abhor the title? Had to beat a rock dead over again.

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10 people found this helpful

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SHAUN GERALD
Informative
Reviewed in the United States on June 17, 2019
Verified Purchase
Right there with Larry Brooks and Jerry Cleaver. Another author that breaks down the story process even FURTHER. Chapter by chapter and scene by scene. I love this stuff. Even if you’re not a “planner”’ this is very informative. Great guide to writing your novel.

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3 people found this helpful

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HiDee E.
Breaking the 3-act structure into simple terms
Reviewed in the United States on February 20, 2021
Verified Purchase
I stumbled on Punching Babies through a free e-book listing, and I'm really glad I did. Adron's book broke down the 3-act structure into simple terms, with great examples to follow. He broke the acts into small blocks meant to be manageable. I'm a pantser, but his method for breaking acts down into the smallest blocks really helped me see how I can improve my writing. I just finished reading his book, then went to check out his blog for more writing articles. I can't wait to put his suggestions to work on my next novel!

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2 people found this helpful

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DePlume
FANTASTIC BOOK. I HIGHLY RECOMMEND IT!
Reviewed in the United States on January 30, 2016
Verified Purchase
Despite the negative reviews, I really liked this book. I have read a ton of How-to and structure books on writing. I'd have to say this was the most organized, well-laid-out book I have read yet. Thank you, Adron for putting together a simple and direct summary of story structure. Any new writer will glean a lot of information from this book. It's a quick read and if you sit down and actually write out the workbook portion, you will have a solid outline to guide you through your book (yes, I would recommend this for pantsers too! an outline is not a straight jacket)

Two thumbs up. Read it and save time or leave it and lose valuable writing time. ;)

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2 people found this helpful

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Lee Man
My new bible!
Reviewed in the United States on April 7, 2019
Verified Purchase
This book takes all the books I've ever learned from and combines them into an easy, concise doctrine with examples from a well known movie. I love how he took elements from the snowflake method, Save the Cat, Dwight Swain's motivation/reaction units, Joseph Campbell's Hero Journey and much more and united it with concrete examples from the mivie The Matrix.

Very well done!

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One person found this helpful

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Sonny
Great step by step instructions
Reviewed in the United States on November 18, 2022
Verified Purchase
Easy to read and easy to apply the tips in this book

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One person found this helpful

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TJ Koker
Guide Dog
Reviewed in the United States on January 21, 2015
Verified Purchase
While the title nearly caused me to avoid the book entirely, I decided to dive in on a fellow writers recommendation. If you are looking for structure in your writing or a sounding board for plotting and pace, THIS IS YOUR Book. Simply put, if you are serious considering writing as a career this books needs to be a part of your resource library.

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8 people found this helpful

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Top reviews from other countries

Frank Carver
A synthesis of lots of other techniques, mapped onto the film "The Matrix"
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on February 19, 2021
Verified Purchase
As well as a reader, I also try to write. To help with that (and not at all as a way of putting off the, you know, actual writing) I have been collecting a lot of books about writing. I have read a few of them, but not recently, so i decided it was time to delve into the archive and pluck one or two out to see if they help. In the case of this one the answer is simple, Yes it did help. And very thought-provoking it was too!

I really wasn’t sure what to expect from this book when I first saw it on a discount promotion. The title was somewhat disconcerting, but the description of the contents seemed interesting, so I bought it. What I found, when I got past the disturbing cover, was an extremely interesting and practical book. The premise of most of the book is essentially very simple. It looks at one particular film, in this case the Keanu Reeves and Lawrence Fishburne classic The Matrix, and deconstructs it right down to individual scenes to show how it was put together, and how that relates to story archetypes such as The Hero’s Journey and Save the Cat.

The approach taken in deconstructing the story has echoes of Randy Ingermanson’s Snowflake Method, in that it starts at a high level, looking at the purpose of the different acts, then expands each act into progressively finer and finer chunks. By the end of the book we have 240 separate bits of story. In a typical 60,000 word novel, each of these bits would be around 250 words in length. These seem enticingly easy to get started with. As Smitley puts it “... and anyone can write 250 words”.

At every stage of the book, I could feel my mind fizzing with ideas of how to apply these insights to my current work in progress. I usually like to rush through books as fast as possible, so I can get to the next one, but this book demanded more thought than that. Even though it is relatively short at about 24,000 words itself, it took me a few days to do it justice. By the end I was already working on a detailed plan for my novel based on the ideas in this book.

Even when that part of the book is done, it’s not over yet. There is a whole load more interesting stuff at the end. The kindle formatting of this section is a bit strange, but I think the following sections would probably be best described as appendices. Each appendix contains a summary of a different approach to structuring a story. Some of the approaches I had come across before, such as Lester Dent’s 6000-word “Master Plot” for a pulp short story. Others were les familiar, but still very interesting and immediately useful for some of my other projects such as the “Classic 12 Chapter Mystery Formula”. I am sure I will keep coming back to this book and digging for treasure in these end sections.

On the whole, I think this book can best be described as a synthesis. It takes all the best and most useful story structure ideas the author has been able to find and shows them in the context of a familiar and well-structured film. The biggest omission for me is that this book has nothing to say about characters. This is probably one aspect where “The Snowflake Method” is a more useful book, as that approach develops character and plot at the same time, with each having the chance to influence the other. Even despite that, this is easily the most practical book on story structure that I have come across so far.

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Pablo Poveda
One of the best guides: straight to the point
Reviewed in Spain on January 9, 2021
Verified Purchase
If you really want to know how to plot your novel, this is a book you must read. The author goes straight to the main core of your story and explains step by step how to define and write your plot. You may not like what he says, but it's the way it's done to have a great story. I loved it.

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David
excellent read.
Reviewed in Canada on February 2, 2015
Verified Purchase
Definitely a really helpful book for anyone just starting out or even more experienced people who just need a bit of guidance.

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Sprocket
Novel Structure for High Achievers
Reviewed in Australia on June 30, 2015
Verified Purchase
Crackerjack book on structure.

However there are some challenging inconsistencies. It is as if the author began with one structure then jumped to another and then to another. For example, he says, "A small note on Sections in relation to Events: You may be asking why the chart at the beginning of this chapter does not list the 40 Events to each of their specific Sections. Well, that’s because it will vary depending on Your particular story. But for now, and if you must, just use an “average” by putting two Events into each Section. And obviously they will go in numerical order, so that’s 20 Sections each with 2 Events per Section." However that falls over in the first and second sequence as he jumps form a 20 chapter hero's journey to a 40 chapter Blake Snyder structure.

This book NEEDS a fully mapped out table - at least five columns:
1. 8 Sequences, 2. Sections (Chapters), 3. 40 Events, 4 120 Sequences, 5. 240 Scenes.
Why, because of the jumping from one system to another and by saying they are all one outline. The maths just does not work as the author suggests in the quote above.
Such a table would lift this well to the top of the Writing Craft pile.

Then, the book has the worst and most off-putting, most offensive title on all of Amazon.

The title HAS to go if this writer wants to sell his work. Not maybe - MUST.

Novel Structure for High Achievers. There, a FREE title for the author to consider.

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Graeme Kent
A 100 Page Encyclopaedia for all Writers.
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on March 13, 2019
Verified Purchase
This is a gem of a book for writers at all stages of their development. I would not have believed that so much practical information could be encapsulated in so little space. This is easily the best writers' guide I have ever read. Buy this book and use it as your essential guide to a novel writing career.

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