From the award-winning author of Edit Your Own Romance Novel comes this essential guide to help writers in all genres. Writers looking to add that special ingredient to their fiction need to use The Ticking Clock device. It's like an engine for your story, powering it along. More than that, it's a technique to keep your readers hooked all the way to the last page. The Ticking Clock is an excellent way to raise the stakes for your protagonists, by giving them a fixed deadline to 'do the thing'. Deadlines can be deeply emotional and personal (a must for romance) or world-shattering for action/adventure. This writers' guide offers troubleshooting suggestions and plenty of examples from popular books and movies of all kinds, to show writers how they can incorporate this structural essential into their work. No matter what story you're writing, The Ticking Clock can help.