From the literary agent and author of the bestselling The First Five Pages, comes a groundbreaking new book on plot development

The art of plot development has become synonymous with having a "great idea." But a great idea is merely an abstraction without characterization, journey, suspense, conflict, and context. Analyzing the elements of classic storytelling, The Plot Thickens enables beginning and advanced writers alike to consider how these elements can combine—in many heretofore unimagined ways—to produce the kind of plot that will make their work transcendent. A veritable fiction-writing workshop, writers will find it impossible to walk away from this invaluable guide without boundless new ideas.