Linking to links
On Publisher Weekly's Genreville, rosefox links to three great writing posts.
All of them made me think more deeply about my craft, but HULK PRESENTS: THE MYTH OF 3 ACT STRUCTURE gave me some serious meat to chew over. His "But what does it really mean?" about 'rising action/conflict' echoes my own problem with the prescribed 3-act structure. But he doesn't just bemoan the vagueness of it; he offers an alternative structure.
As anyone who has ever had me crit for them can guess, Hulk's style drove me up. the. freaking. wall. and it took me twice as long to read the post as it should have because of it; however! I still recommend it. As rosefox points out, Hulk is talking about movies in particular, but good storytelling advice is good storytelling advice.