top of page

How Stories Really Work


The material in this book is dangerous. In this fascinating study of fiction, which examines contemporary movies, Dickensian novels, Shakespearian plays, American sit-coms and much more, you will learn:

• what a story really is and what it is actually doing to and for readers

• the magnetic power that draws readers into a work of fiction even before the introduction of any character

• what the thing called a ‘character’ actually is, and the secrets of how to rapidly build a convincing one that attracts readers

• the things called ‘plots’, what they are and how they are actually made (rather than how you might suppose they are made)

• what ‘protagonists’ and ‘antagonists’ really are, and what the connection between them consists of

• the four categories of the powerful force that compels readers to turn pages

• the ‘nuclear reactor’ that drives all successful stories through to their conclusion

• how the four basic genres -Epic, Tragedy, Irony and Comedy- are composed and how they work to create different effects

and much, much more.

Get How Stories Really Work now!

What people said about G. P. Hudson’s earlier book The Master Author’s Secret Handbook:

‘It’s beautiful, informative, essential reading for anyone who wants to write fiction. It’s almost a responsibility point, you’re committing a crime if you don’t get it into peoples’ hands!!!’ -B.R. (Author)

‘Your book is teaching me all the stuff that the other books don’t! I can learn all about three-act structures and all that stuff elsewhere -this book is telling me exactly what to put INTO the structure! It makes writing so easy and you can immediately spot where you’re going wrong! Excellent!’ -L.J. (Professional)

‘This is an absolutely amazing achievement! I highly recommend it to anyone interested in writing fiction.’ -T.R. (Student)

‘I was extremely impressed. This is not idle flattery. You’ve done a superb job in uncovering the factors that go into making a great piece of literature.’ -B.R. (Executive)

Join the Inner Circle Writers' Group on Facebook

The Inner Circle Writers' Group is all about fiction: what it is all about, how it works, helping you to write and publish it. You can keep up to date with live contributions from members, upload your own fiction, enter competitions and so on:
Tag Cloud
bottom of page