A Dive Into Darkness

Hello, I’m Paul Franks and I’ve written a conspiracy-thriller called ‘A Dive Into Darkness’, based upon my four years researching HIV/AIDS. In this original podcast series, I’ll tell you everything you need to know about the story behind the story, the four-year research and writing process from inspiration to publication, and all points in between.In Episode Thirty-Three of ‘A Dive Into Darkness’, I will tell you about how I was influenced by the American writer, Dan Harmon.By October 2022, I had re-plotted ‘A Dive Into Darkness’ into what I felt was a compact, 5 day, ‘all-thriller, no filler’, novel. I had watched dozens of Reedsy advice videos and many other novel-writing videos as well.Still, I wasn’t happy. There are many different forms of novel structure, some of them such as the ‘3-Act Structure’ being incredibly simplistic. The three-act structure is a model used in narrative fiction that divides a story into three parts (or acts), often called the Setup, the Confrontation, and the Resolution. Basically, a beginning, middle and end – that to me wasn’t going to help me write a densely plotted thriller. It was then I discovered Dan Harmon and his ‘Story Circle.’Harmon’s ‘Story Circle’ has 8 elements:1) A character is in a zone of comfort,2) But they want something.3) They enter an unfamiliar situation,4) Adapt to it,5) Get what they wanted,6) Pay a heavy price for it,7) Then return to their familiar situation,8) Having changedI found when I applied these elements to Anne-Sophie in ‘A Dive Into Darkness’ it worked beautifully.So, from Dan Harmon, I got the knowledge of how to plan a more detailed plot and also to produce a ‘character arc’. The protagonist had to be a different person by the end of the novel. Anne-Sophie is certainly that! In addition, Dan Harmon gave me the title ‘A Dive Into Darkness.’ In his fantastic ‘Story Structure 102: Pure, Boring Theory’, he says:‘Whereas the health of an individual depends on the ego's regular descent and return to and from the unconscious, a society's longevity depends on actual people journeying into the unknown and returning with ideas. In their most dramatic, revolutionary form, these people are called heroes, but every day, society is replenished by millions of people diving into darkness and emerging with something new (or forgotten): scientists, painters, teachers, dancers, actors, priests, athletes, architects and most importantly, me, Dan Harmon.’I’d been unhappy with ‘The Red Book’ as a title for a while. I wanted something that captured the book’s genre and theme: ‘A Dive Into Darkness’ was perfect as Anne-Sophie finds herself presented with a live or die, sink or swim, scenario.If you’re interested in how to write a story, or just want to read some very funny articles, please read the Dan Harmon links I’ve included below. Thank you, Dan.And, thank you for listening to Episode Thirty-Three of ‘A Dive Into Darkness’. I hope you enjoyed it. If you did, please tell your friends about it. In Episode Thirty-Four of ‘A Dive Into Darkness’, ‘John Truby’, I will tell you about another writing guru’s influence on ‘A Dive Into Darkness.’Till the next time, goodbye and happy reading.A reminder that ‘A Dive Into Darkness’ is available both as an ebook and paperback, with Barnes & Noble and Amazon and all the references/links connected with this podcast can be found at my ‘A Dive Into Darkness’ Substack page.https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/a-dive-into-darkness-paul-franks/1145527746?ean=9781917129855https://www.amazon.co.uk/Dive-Into-Darkness-Paul-Franks-ebook/dp/B0D32DP97Shttps://channel101.fandom.com/wiki/Story_Structure_104:_The_Juicy_Details Dan Harmon’s Story Circlehttps://channel101.fandom.com/wiki/Story_Structure_102:_Pure,_Boring_Theory Dan Harmon Story Circle: 8 Proven Steps to Better Stories This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit cascades.substack.com