Cal's [Writing] Craft Book

2.1 - Plot: Story Structures

"I'm not a plotter, I'm a pantser, so I don't need to know about story structures"
 - someone who hasn't figured out the cheat codes to pacing.

I'm not going to get into the plot vs pants because 1) that argument pointless. The answer is and always will be: Do what works for YOU for your STORY. 

Some stories are emotional journeys that build on character interactions rather than planned plot moments, and the freedom of discovery writing allows those moments to feel natural. Others, like mysteries and thrillers, need to have a plan or they won't make sense to the reader. 

Personally, I make an outline to get the basic points down and give me a destination, but leave the moments in-between open for exploring character moments and building their rapport with the audience. That's what works best for me, though it changes slightly from story to story. The thriller 'Taking Names' needs more plot sorted out ahead of time so I can drop the right clues at the right moments, while the sci fi 'Entropic Horizons' is more freewheeling fun. 

So why would a wattpad book need a story structure? Well, I know something a lot of us struggle with is the vague idea of 'pacing'. We can get feedback that the story takes too long for things to happen or the everything is always happening all the time and it's hard for a reader to figure out what's actually happening. Structures are kind of like a road map that helps us balance out the story so the reader has time to breathe, but is still hooked on the story you're telling.

So! Let's go over a few things that almost every story structure has. You could even use these as a very bare-bones structure if you prefer being a panster!

Beginning

This is where the story starts. Not the start of the day when the story starts, not the day the hero is born, unless that's extremely vital to your plot. This is where the reader opens your story and starts to read the first line.

Usually the beginning sets up the world for the reader and introduces the main character so the reader has a chance to understand the character's everyday life before things go haywire.

Inciting Incident

This is that moment when everything changes. Luke finds the droids. Harry gets a letter. Frodo gets a ring or something. I just realised these examples are all about acquiring something. Uh. John Wick is robbed and they do the horrible thing. 

Inciting incidents are the pebble dropped in the snow that rolls and starts to collect more and more snow until it's this massive boulder of a snowball that crashes into the climax. 

The hero doesn't have to agree to the adventure yet, this is before that. This is where even if they return to their daily life, they know there's more out there. Their life will never be the same again, even if they want it to be.

Rising Action/building Crises

The meat of the story. This is where the hero goes out and does stuff. Maybe they try getting a makeover, maybe they find an old dude that lives in the desert and then learns how to fly stuff and saves a princess. Maybe they stumble through crisis after crisis, narrowly escaping each.

Make sure to include breathing room between these crisis points so both the hero and reader can absorb what just happened. Throw in surprise directions, a lot of plot structures are depicted vertically, but life is messy. What might happen that can knock a character sideways? Maybe the villain they were chasing dies in the first half of the book, but the hero still has to resolve who killed them? There's plenty of ways to make this story yours while still using a structure.

Climax

This is the big confrontation, the showdown between Luke and whichever bad guy it is, or in a heist, it's the moment the plan goes wrong and the crew needs to scramble to find a way to get out with their loot and their lives intact.

The climax should be tied to the inciting incident in someway, otherwise it feels like the story has gone off the rails (in a bad way). Ex: Frodo gets the ring and then the climax is him tossing it into the volcano. Harry gets a letter to a wizarding school and then in book 1 he has to use his knowledge and newfound friends to defeat a bad guy. Luke and one of the droids blow up the deathstar.

The link doesn't have to be as obvious as those ones, but the reader should at least understand how the hero got from the inciting moment to the climax.

End

Where the story ends. Some stories have a denouement, or a relaxing period where everyone breathes out and laughs at what just happened. Maybe ewoks sing, maybe Harry gets back to his crappy home with the Dursleys but now he has friends, maybe John Wick gets another puppy.

Readers usually need a bit of time to absorbe the climax and want to see what life is like for the characters afterward. Just, don't do that Lord of the Rings Return of the King thing where there's like ten different endings in that last book because Jesus that's too many.

Popular Story Structures

I'll go into more detail for each and you can find examples in the "Resources" Section.

1. 3 Act Structure
2. Save the Cat
3. Hero's Journey
4. 7 Point Structure