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Here’s a summary of what we discussed plus more!
This material is adapted from Gala Russ’s Write Your Book class.
Evaluate the GMC — Goal, Motivation, Conflict — for all your key characters.
Not just your protagonist.
Include everyone who drives the story, including the antagonist, secondary characters, etc.
Pro tip: If your story feels messy, it’s often because characters are acting. . .but not from clear drivers, i.e., their driving motivation isn’t clear.
You want the GMSs for:
Protagonist
Love interest / Key side characters
Antagonist / Opposing force
For each, define:
Goal: What are they actively trying to achieve on the page? Make the goal specific, tangible, and not easy to obtain.
Motivation: Why does this matter to them specifically? Go deep.
Conflict: What stands in their way (externally + internally)?
Then ask the real self-editing question:
Are these GMCs colliding, or just coexisting?
Because story happens when:
one character’s goal interferes with another’s
or their motivations make compromise impossible
If not, you don’t have tension—you might have parallel storylines.
Next, stress test your story with a logline.
Pro tip: If you can’t say it clearly, the structure isn’t clear yet.
Start with the first formula, then move on to the second one, as each version reveals different problems.
Here’s the formula:
Main Character + Action + Conflict + Goal + Stakes
Examples:
Die Hard
A tough NYPD cop fights terrorists in a skyscraper to save his wife and the hostages before they’re killed.
Pretty Woman
A businessman hires a sex worker for a week, but as their connection deepens, he must choose between control and love before losing both.
This version tests your story clarity, its structure and stakes.
Here’s the formula:
When [inciting situation happens], a [character type] must [take action], but [opposition/antagonist], or else [stakes].
Examples:
Beauty and the Beast
When her father is imprisoned by a Beast, a spirited young woman must take his place and navigate a cursed castle, but a jealous suitor and the Beast’s own nature threaten them, or the curse will never be broken.
The Pitt
When an overcrowded ER spirals into chaos, a grieving attending physician must hold his team together and save lives, but limited resources and emotional strain threaten to break him—and cost patients their lives.
This version tests your story’s causality, escalation, and pressure.
Self-editing move: If the logline feels vague, generic, or bloated:
your goal isn’t specific enough
your conflict isn’t active enough
or your stakes don’t actually matter
Your beginning and ending should mirror each other—on purpose.
This is where stories gain cohesion and meaning, not just progression.
Think in pairs:
Beginning ↔ Ending
Character’s starting state ↔ Character’s transformed state
False belief /lie/limitation ↔ Truth / integration
Initial situation ↔ Final situation (echo or inversion)
First key choice ↔ Final, defining choice
Use these questions to examine your story’s bookends.
Who is your character at the start?
Who are they at the end?
What specifically changed? And what caused that change?
Inciting Incident ↔ Climax
The problem introduced is directly confronted.
First Plot Point (Break into Act 2) ↔ Third Plot Point (Dark Moment)
The commitment to the journey ↔ The outcome of that commitment.
Midpoint is the thematic payoff
What they learn halfway: different from beginning or end.
Book: Next Level Plot Structure: How to Write a Better Novel Using Advanced Storytelling Techniques (Helping Writers Become Authors Book 13) by K.M. Weiland
Event: Create Summit for Writers hosted Monica Leonelle, April 29 - May 2, 2026
Freebie: Get your Edit Your Novel Checklist by Beth Barany, Editing Demystified by Gala Russ
Author • Book Coach • Publishing Strategist
Founder, Writing Conversations
Gala helps creatives write their novels and build sustainable, values-aligned creative lives.
Email: galarussauthor@gmail.com
Location: California, USA (Pacific Time Zone)
www.galarussauthor.com
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