Phoenix Writers Network: An Evening with Tara Ison

Using Maps for Storytelling

So, you have that great idea for your novel, a fascinating character, an intriguing environment, a compelling theme, and, yes, a stunningly original literary style—but what is this thing called “structure”? How do you move your character from A to Z through your story? In this session, we’ll examine two classic cinematic structural maps—The Heroic Journey and the 3-Act Feature Film Paradigm—from a novelist’s POV. We’ll explore how to use these templates to develop a solid structural framework and sustain momentum in a novel-length work of fiction without sacrificing character, theme, or voice.

Come join us and get started on that novel today! 

Tara Ison is the author of three novels: The List, A Child out of Alcatraz, a Finalist for the Los Angeles Times Book Prize, and Rockaway, featured as one of the “Best Books of Summer” in O, The Oprah Magazine, July 2013. Ball, a short story collection, was published in 2015, and her collection of essays, Reeling Through Life: How I Learned to Live, Love, and Die at the Movies, was the 2015 PEN Southwest Book Award winner for Creative Nonfiction.