In writing class, our teachers made sure we understood how to write a five-paragraph theme: introduction, thesis sentence, points one, two, and three, followed by the conclusion. But rarely did any teacher tell us how to write fiction—they simply urged us to write a story. But how is that done? Angela Hunt has been writing and teaching for thirty years, and she has boiled plotting down to the basics in thirty pages. Not only will you come away knowing how to plot, you'll be able to point the important structural points in movies and other books you read. It's all about the skeleton, Hunt says, and every working story has one. (A condensed version of this lesson was originally published in A NOVEL IDEA, a collection of writer's tips and techniques by published novelists.) Enjoy this writing lesson for a fraction of the cost of attending one of Angela's writing classes—your writing will never be the same.