Preptober Class Part 3: Structure

Nanowrimo starts in less than two weeks!

Mindset, motivation and inspiration for novelists—with a dash of instruction about writing craft added in. There’s no one approach to writing that works for everyone, but I can help you find what works for you. Subscribe (free or paid) to get the fuel you need for your writing career.

Photo by Jack B on Unsplash

Note to subscribers: this post will remain free for one week and then it will be available to paid subscribers only. My lovely paid subscribers also get a PDF of the post when I switch it to paid.

Not gonna lie, when my brain visualizes story structure, it looks like the picture above. So many parts connected to one another in a vast maze. And that’s exactly why it’s a good idea to give yourself at least a loose idea of how you’re going to structure your story before you start Nanowrimo-ing. (Or writing any novel, at any time.)

But, because structure can be so overwhelming I’m going to tread lightly and give you what I think is the bare minimum you need to know to get started, give you a rundown of various schools of thought on story structure, and then offer some resources on the topic. (And believe me, there are many.)

If you’re rarin’ to go and can’t be bothered with structure at the moment, you can do a bare-bones outline with the information given in the “what you need” section. Read it, apply it, and then move along. But if you desire more at any point in the novel-writing process, come back for a shallow dive into the topic. (A deep dive would take a whole book, and so many have been written already, I have no desire to follow suit.) But before we start that diving, a brief lecture on why you need structure in your novel-writing life.

Why you need it

Story structure focuses your work so it’s not just one overwhelming glob of words that may or may not lead anywhere. It identifies the most important points along the way, so that you can write to those. And by writing to those, I mean anticipating them so you can build suspense and interest. (I sometimes read client manuscripts that are good but lack pizzaz. Often, this comes from a sameness of tone. There’s no build-up to plot points, no highs or lows. It’s like somebody reading in a dull monotone. Don’t be that author.)

I like to visualize structure as a clothesline strung between two poles. If the line is saggy, you will not easily be able to hang things (plot points) on it. But if the line is taut, you can clip those scenes to it with ease.

Photo by Félix Prado on Unsplash

That taut line—structure—can be as simple as a loose list that you scrawl on the back of a envelope, or it can be an intricate chart arrayed in glorious color-coded complexity. Most writers choose a path in between.

What you need to get started

All stories have a beginning, a middle, and an end, and you will need to know those. Or at least have a vague idea of them. As we look at various structures below, you’ll see how the beginning, middle, and end are represented in acts. Knowing the middle (called the midpoint) and end gives you points to write to and that prevents you from getting lost in the vast sea of words of a story.

You also need to have rising action, which means that the conflict needs to get more intense as you go along. Think of it as a diagonal line from lower right to upper left, with all your scenes points along the way.

And because the conflict needs to get more intense, you need to know what that conflict is. Thus, figure out what your character wants and what is in the way of it. (See the first class in this Preptober series, which is still available to paid subscribers.Yes, I know that falls into the category of character, but people, character and structure are inseparable.

Okay, all you pantsers and devotees of not following a structure, you’ve got the basics, so you can look away now. Carry on with your word count while the rest of us keep working.