How to Drive that Narrative Forward: Blueprint for a Book Step 7

<em>People don&#8217;t behave logically, but they are illogical in logical ways. </em><br/><br/>What makes you want to turn the page? You know how it is with some books&#8212;you just can&#8217;t put them down. Fiction, sure, thrillers, mysteries, but that&#8217;s not all. Non-fiction books can be page-turners too, even when they don&#8217;t seen to have a story. What makes <em>The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up</em> work even for people who never actually tidy up? The page-turning, reader-driving illusion that somehow they <em>will</em>. <em>The Five Love Languages?</em> The drive to figure out&#8212;<em>which one am I, and which one are you</em>?<br/><br/>Narrative drive is a key element of success in everything from romance (sure, you know the ending, <em>but how are they going to get together</em>?) to memoir to, yes, successful how-to. Your reader should be constantly asking, and then what happened, which means you should be, too. And everything has to contribute to that drive, whether it&#8217;s a plot development or an emotional twist. That&#8217;s how you pull the reader through each and every chapter.<br/><br/>This is the seventh episode in the 10-part Blueprint for a Book Series. Start with <a target="_blank" href="https://amwriting.substack.com/p/322-find-your-why-blueprint-for-a">Step 1</a>, do the work (we&#8217;ll give you an assignment every week), and in 10 weeks, you&#8217;ll have a solid foundation for a first draft or revision of your project that will help you push through to &#8220;the end&#8221;. Find details on the challenge <a target="_blank" href="https://www.authoraccelerator.com/amwritingblueprintchallenge">HERE</a>.<br/><br/><strong>YOUR ASSIGNMENT</strong><br/><br/><strong>Fiction and Narrative Memoir:</strong><br/><br/>Create a &#8220;Because of That&#8221; story summary. The Pixar rubric is in your workbook.<br/><br/><strong>Nonfiction and Self-Help/Memoir:</strong><br/><br/>Draft a table of contents. If you already did that in the last step, refine it. Tables of contents can ho