Writing the Breakout Novel, by Donald Maass

“In one-on-one meetings at writers conferences, I can usually stop a story pitch dead in its tracks by interjecting the following: 'Hold on, your protagonist wants to [insert goal here}.], but let me ask you this, if he is not successful, so what?'” (Maass 60)
Story: Substance, Structure, Style, and the Principles of Screenwriting By Robert McKee

Self-Editing for Fiction Writers, By Renni Browne and Dave King
