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The 5 Sentence Method: How to Write Your D*mn Book, Already.
Experience TikTok's viral 5 Sentence plotting method, written by bestselling author Rebecca Thorne!
Discover the game-changing 5 Sentence Method in this straight-talking, no-BS guide to crafting fantastic fiction. In just 5 SENTENCES, you'll nail your plot points and tie them to specific word count goals, ensuring your story has the pace and rhythm to keep readers hooked.
Even better, this bite-sized book explores a 4 round editing strategy that will make your revisions a breeze. Expect comprehensive examples, a few curse words, and a ton of valuable insight! Whether you're a newbie or a seasoned author, this guide will transform the way you write, edit, and think about storytelling.
It's time to make your book shine!
----Feedback for The 5 Sentence Method:
"I had so many ah-ha moments reading it." - Chris B.
"Incredibly helpful and immensely valuable." - Sara M.
"So many eureka moments here!" - Amy N.
Discover the game-changing 5 Sentence Method in this straight-talking, no-BS guide to crafting fantastic fiction. In just 5 SENTENCES, you'll nail your plot points and tie them to specific word count goals, ensuring your story has the pace and rhythm to keep readers hooked.
Even better, this bite-sized book explores a 4 round editing strategy that will make your revisions a breeze. Expect comprehensive examples, a few curse words, and a ton of valuable insight! Whether you're a newbie or a seasoned author, this guide will transform the way you write, edit, and think about storytelling.
It's time to make your book shine!
----Feedback for The 5 Sentence Method:
"I had so many ah-ha moments reading it." - Chris B.
"Incredibly helpful and immensely valuable." - Sara M.
"So many eureka moments here!" - Amy N.
- GenresWritingNonfiction
242 pages, Kindle Edition
Published December 18, 2023
77 people are currently reading
206 people want to read
About the author
Rebecca Thorne
9Ìýbooks1,550ÌýfollowersRebecca Thorne is a USA Today, Indie, and Sunday Times Bestselling author, specializing in fantasy and sci-fi with romantic subplots.
She is a proud member of the LGBTQIA+ community, lives near Denver, Colorado, and uses her ADHD as a superpower to write multiple books a year. When she’s not writing (or avoiding writing), Rebecca can be found traveling the country as a flight attendant, hiking with her dogs and lovely fiancée, or basking in the sun like a lizard.
She is a proud member of the LGBTQIA+ community, lives near Denver, Colorado, and uses her ADHD as a superpower to write multiple books a year. When she’s not writing (or avoiding writing), Rebecca can be found traveling the country as a flight attendant, hiking with her dogs and lovely fiancée, or basking in the sun like a lizard.
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Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews
January 13, 2024
Short, accessible, and easily-digestible crash course on craft for the modern writer. Thorne's work was engaging, informed, and resourceful - and included a helpful list for further reading and research. Despite not being an annotating type, I found myself with pencil in hand underlining, circling, and labeling with my sticky tabs because there were excellent pieces I wanted to remember and come back to. It made me excited to get back to, and improve, my own work.
5 stars.
5 stars.
February 20, 2024
Review - Rebecca Thorne has a wonderful way of explaining something that seems so complex and confusing in a very simple way. The 5 Sentence Method had me replotting my WIPS super easily and it gives me the flexibility to be as detailed or as minimal as I need, while still following a basic plot structure for my novels.
I will report back again after I actually finish writing one of my WIPS.
I will report back again after I actually finish writing one of my WIPS.
January 5, 2024
I’d been following Rebecca talk about the 5 sentence method for a little while on Tik Tok and found myself constantly drawn to wanting to know more. I’ve read other craft books and none have quite done what she managed to do in such a short amount of pages. Rebecca gives you the starter pack to figuring out writing and doesn’t trying to tell you this is the only way. She also includes loads of examples so you can see exactly what she is talking about with a popular movie or book. If you have been a fan of save the cat I think you will enjoy this book and still be able to pull something useful out of this book. If you like the idea of save the cat but the book or method feels too daunting then definitely get this book. I’m excited to take what I have learned and try it in my own writing soon.
November 3, 2024
Subtitled "How to Write Your D*mn Book Already," this is one of many books which purport to tell you how you can actually get from an idea to a publishable story. As such it isn't too bad an idea.
The idea is that you begin by writing five sentences which define the core of your book, then expand from there, and expand again -- rather like the 3-Act Structure, or Ingermanson's well-known "Snowflake Method" -- until eventually you have something you can write from.
What, you may ask, are the five sentences?
The first lays out an "inciting incident," that is, the thing that causes your protagonist or main character (Thorne continually uses the acronym "MC") to begin doing whatever they'll be doing for the rest of the book.
The second sentence describes a moment called "leaving home," and is basically a moment where MC begins taking some definite action in respone or reaction to the inciting incident. It doesn't necessarily involve actually going anywhere, but it means acknowledging that things cannot remain the same as they have been - leaving one's comfort zone.
In the third sentence, you define a "midpoint reversal" -- the place where MC has some dramatic revelation about both the situation and theirself. Thorne puts it this way: "at this point in the novel, everything your character thought they knew changes."
I deeply question the necessary validity of this concept as stated. There is, for example, no such "reversal" in The Lord of the Rings . Frodo and the rest of the company (except for Boromir, who is really and sincerely dead) belive much the same things at the end of The Two Towers that they believed ... let's say, about a quarter of the way into The Fellowship of the Ring . Their situations have undergone some dramatic changes and reversals; but their basic beliefs about good and evil are unchanged. (The only character who might have such a moment, really, is Sméagollum, who seems to be on the road to healing/conversion until a thoughtless remark by Sam demolishes it.)
The fourth sentence is about "the beginning of the end." This (per Thorne) is the moment where everything becomes inevitable, after which "your MC couldn't stop what happens next if they wanted to." I kind of understand what she's getting at here; one of her examples is the moment when "The couple realizes the serial killer is inside their house, and it's fight... or die." Lots of stories do have such a moment; but it isn't really "the beginning of the end" in all of them. For Frodo, it comes when he says "I will take the Ring to Mordor," only about a third of the way through LotR .)
The fifth and final sentence is the "Conclusion," where you "wrap up everything and tie it in a nice little bow."
Thorne also propounds (approximate) percentages of the way through the book where each should take place -- 5%, 25%, 50%, 75%, and 95%. My first thought was, "his seems a bit formulaic to me," especially when I applied it to some books I know well and love deeply. Now, she admits that it is formulaic, and makes a case for the formula, which boils down to "this is what a (Western) reader wants and expects from a story."
I don't know. I don't think she's giving readers a great deal of credit.
I will acknowledge this: a lot of bestselling novels -- at least of those I've read -- seem to come fairly close to these percentages. But something being popular doesn't necessarily mean that it's good: cue Dan Brown, or Danielle Steele, as my witnesses for the prosecution.
What I've summarized above is one of eleven chapters, but it's the heart of the book. Much of the rest is preparation, examples (she spends an entire chapter showing how this skeleton applies to several Disney and Pixar movies), and applications. There's one quite excellent chapter on editing and why you should do it only after you have a first draft (personally, I can't do that, which is why I am a very slow writer), and another, almost as good, on how to manage diversity in your writing.
So in the end, is this book worthwhile, or is it just another gimmicky how-to book? And I have to say -- some of each. I will almost certainly never use the 5-sentence method as described, but I think I've picked up a few things that made it worth my while. I can't speak for anyone else!
The idea is that you begin by writing five sentences which define the core of your book, then expand from there, and expand again -- rather like the 3-Act Structure, or Ingermanson's well-known "Snowflake Method" -- until eventually you have something you can write from.
What, you may ask, are the five sentences?
The first lays out an "inciting incident," that is, the thing that causes your protagonist or main character (Thorne continually uses the acronym "MC") to begin doing whatever they'll be doing for the rest of the book.
The second sentence describes a moment called "leaving home," and is basically a moment where MC begins taking some definite action in respone or reaction to the inciting incident. It doesn't necessarily involve actually going anywhere, but it means acknowledging that things cannot remain the same as they have been - leaving one's comfort zone.
In the third sentence, you define a "midpoint reversal" -- the place where MC has some dramatic revelation about both the situation and theirself. Thorne puts it this way: "at this point in the novel, everything your character thought they knew changes."
I deeply question the necessary validity of this concept as stated. There is, for example, no such "reversal" in The Lord of the Rings . Frodo and the rest of the company (except for Boromir, who is really and sincerely dead) belive much the same things at the end of The Two Towers that they believed ... let's say, about a quarter of the way into The Fellowship of the Ring . Their situations have undergone some dramatic changes and reversals; but their basic beliefs about good and evil are unchanged. (The only character who might have such a moment, really, is Sméagollum, who seems to be on the road to healing/conversion until a thoughtless remark by Sam demolishes it.)
The fourth sentence is about "the beginning of the end." This (per Thorne) is the moment where everything becomes inevitable, after which "your MC couldn't stop what happens next if they wanted to." I kind of understand what she's getting at here; one of her examples is the moment when "The couple realizes the serial killer is inside their house, and it's fight... or die." Lots of stories do have such a moment; but it isn't really "the beginning of the end" in all of them. For Frodo, it comes when he says "I will take the Ring to Mordor," only about a third of the way through LotR .)
The fifth and final sentence is the "Conclusion," where you "wrap up everything and tie it in a nice little bow."
Thorne also propounds (approximate) percentages of the way through the book where each should take place -- 5%, 25%, 50%, 75%, and 95%. My first thought was, "his seems a bit formulaic to me," especially when I applied it to some books I know well and love deeply. Now, she admits that it is formulaic, and makes a case for the formula, which boils down to "this is what a (Western) reader wants and expects from a story."
I don't know. I don't think she's giving readers a great deal of credit.
I will acknowledge this: a lot of bestselling novels -- at least of those I've read -- seem to come fairly close to these percentages. But something being popular doesn't necessarily mean that it's good: cue Dan Brown, or Danielle Steele, as my witnesses for the prosecution.
What I've summarized above is one of eleven chapters, but it's the heart of the book. Much of the rest is preparation, examples (she spends an entire chapter showing how this skeleton applies to several Disney and Pixar movies), and applications. There's one quite excellent chapter on editing and why you should do it only after you have a first draft (personally, I can't do that, which is why I am a very slow writer), and another, almost as good, on how to manage diversity in your writing.
So in the end, is this book worthwhile, or is it just another gimmicky how-to book? And I have to say -- some of each. I will almost certainly never use the 5-sentence method as described, but I think I've picked up a few things that made it worth my while. I can't speak for anyone else!
December 28, 2023
I find most craft books difficult to read and it takes months to finish one. But it’s definitely not the case of this one! I finished it in two days and took tons of notes even though I am a published author of 10 books. Rebecca’s “conversational� writing style is very easy to read and she cuts all of the bullsh*t and goes straight to the point. I started my writing career as a pantser and always wanted to become a planner but never really succeeded. When I learned this book is for “plantsers�, I couldn’t be happier! It’s like it was written directly for me. I write romance and most of the examples were for fantasy authors but I still enjoyed it very much. Also the chapters on editing, diversity, beta and sensitivity reading, very useful. If you are a “plantser� and want to write books more quickly, I hugely recommend!
April 17, 2024
I read this and promptly re-outlined the WIP I had stalled on before sitting down and suddenly being able to write again. That was a few months ago and I have used this for other works in progress, but I also think it's just really helpful as an acknowledgment of where and other outlining styles (and this one too) can be adjusted to suit your own needs. I've continued to use this in part along with a version of this that I have modified a bit and it's really been helpful. This is short enough to hold your attention while also being packed with information.
December 28, 2023
If you’re looking for a logical & intentional guide to help you tackle plotting your novel, this book is perfect for you! It’s full of well-known examples and a range of other suggested resources. Not only that, but Rebecca touches on other important aspects of writing a novel, such as the publishing world, editing, and honing your scene and sentence level writing skills (plus more!).
Thank you, Rebecca! This plantser is grateful for this book!
Thank you, Rebecca! This plantser is grateful for this book!
March 28, 2024
insightful and fun craft writing tools
Perhaps my favorite thing was finding a type/grammar error in the section on sentence level edits. Why? A reminder that no matter how polished your work, and after multiple edits and passes ... stuff happens.
I love Rebecca's online community, and her advice here is spot on - I'm in the middle of a cozy fantasy book now and so many of the exceptions ring true while still keeping to the core method.
Perhaps my favorite thing was finding a type/grammar error in the section on sentence level edits. Why? A reminder that no matter how polished your work, and after multiple edits and passes ... stuff happens.
I love Rebecca's online community, and her advice here is spot on - I'm in the middle of a cozy fantasy book now and so many of the exceptions ring true while still keeping to the core method.
January 13, 2024
4.5 stars
I honestly feel like this plotting method might be one to actually work for me...but I won't know until I try it, which I will be doing very soon. This book was a quick read, easy to follow, and very approachable. I liked all of the examples from movies and books, and the list of extra resources on writing craft.
I honestly feel like this plotting method might be one to actually work for me...but I won't know until I try it, which I will be doing very soon. This book was a quick read, easy to follow, and very approachable. I liked all of the examples from movies and books, and the list of extra resources on writing craft.
March 25, 2025
A few very helpful tips, but not what I expected. The 5 Sentence Method is a solid plotting tool, and I really appreciated the information about revision, sensitivity reads, diversity, and what to do if you accidentally offend someone in your book. All that said, I picked up the book in order to get more information about plotting and this book is kind of all over the place.
January 11, 2024
Rebecca Thorne's conversational writing makes it seem less intimidating while encouraging authors to do the thing and write. The method works wonderfully for me and has helped me with two projects so far.
July 13, 2024
An informative read
Easy to understand metrics with well thought out examples. I'll definitely need to do a reread to make sure I digested everything in the first half of the book. A definite recommended read.
Easy to understand metrics with well thought out examples. I'll definitely need to do a reread to make sure I digested everything in the first half of the book. A definite recommended read.
December 26, 2023
Great Craft Book
Just enough of a mix of craft and useful that you should probably just get it. Yeah it's not expensive and it hits the sweet spot.
Just enough of a mix of craft and useful that you should probably just get it. Yeah it's not expensive and it hits the sweet spot.
December 28, 2023
Great info and easy to follow
Read
February 1, 2024Brilliant
Thank you for writing this!! It's exactly what I needed to get me going. Simple 'directions' on creating the outline I've been struggling with.
Thank you for writing this!! It's exactly what I needed to get me going. Simple 'directions' on creating the outline I've been struggling with.
August 26, 2024
Fast, helpful, insightful.
August 30, 2024
Genuinely the best craft book I've ever read! Finally got me started on the real planning work I was too afraid/daunted to do. Also a great resource for other resources!
September 17, 2024
Amazing, easy to comprehend guide. Even on my third book I gleaned important ideas and insight!
January 9, 2025
Tickled all the right parts of my brain with outlining my next novel.
Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews
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