Register

Tutorial

Welcome to an exercise in collaborative writing. Go to the Gallery to see rooms that are reserved for genres that fit your story. When you see a genre that you like, move your cursor over to enter the room.

In the room, you will see a desk with a quill and inkwell. Hover over that to reveal three choices. You can start writing if you are ready. If you are not sure, there is a tutorial that will give you guidelines and suggestions on how to structure your story. If you want to read stories already done, you may click on that option.

One you are ready to write and enter that section, you have choices. You can initiate a story by entering the “Hook” section. Write up to 10 pages, but you can write less. You can write in the dialog box or you can write on a word processor program (like Microsoft Word) and paste it in the dialog box. Either one works. Post it and it will automatically save in the next box, labelled “Crisis 1”. You can also write some and go back if you get interrupted. Only you can change your story.

You also can select a different section than “Hook”. If you want to continue a story that was started by someone else, go to that section and find a story you want to continue. Add to that story and save it. This is where creativity arises. You will, no doubt, take the story into a different direction. You do not have to go to the last contribution. Anyone can enter any section of any story and write their version of the next chapter. Let’s say you like the story until Crisis 3. You can go back to Crisis 2 and branch off into your own direction. One story can branch out in many directions, like a tree. There is no limit. Presumably, if a contribution is not valuable, no one will continue it and it will die on the vine.

This will continue until the story has a conclusion. Then that branch of the tree is done. Other branches of the same story will be alive until they reach the conclusion. Let’s see what we get!

Step-by-Step Instructions to Write a Story Using the Fichtean Curve

Step 1: Brainstorm Your Story Concept

  • Ask: Who is your protagonist? What do they want? What stands in their way?
  • Keep the stakes high and the emotions real.

Example:

  • A journalist wants to expose a political cover-up.
  • The antagonist: a powerful senator with deadly secrets.

Step 2: Start In Medias Res (in the middle of the action)

  • Hook the reader instantly. Skip backstory for now.
  • Show your protagonist already entangled in a conflict.

Example:

  • The journalist sneaks into a private event to record a secret conversation.

Step 3: Crisis #1 – First Major Obstacle

  • The protagonist encounters a serious complication.
  • It raises the stakes and pushes the story forward.

Example:

  • The senator’s security finds the journalist’s recorder — now she’s being hunted.

Step 4: Crisis #2 – Escalation

  • The pressure intensifies.
  • New information, betrayal, or personal loss twists the story.

Example:

  • The journalist’s source is murdered. Her editor refuses to publish the story without proof.

Step 5: Crisis #3 – The Breaking Point

  • The protagonist hits rock bottom.
  • Everything seems lost — but a breakthrough is on the horizon.

Example:

  • The journalist is arrested and framed. In jail, she finds a secret connection to the senator’s past that could unravel everything.

Step 6: Climax – Final Confrontation

  • High-stakes confrontation with the antagonist or the core conflict.
  • The protagonist must make a final, defining choice.

Step 7: Denouement – Short Resolution

  • Tie up loose ends quickly.
  • Show how the protagonist and world have changed.

Example:

  • The senator resigns. The journalist receives a journalism award—but is now paranoid, knowing she made dangerous enemies.