Story Structure

As a followup to yesterday's discussion of outlining vs. organic writing, basic story structure deserves a few words. The relationship is fundamental. If you're a planning writer, the act of outlining your story gives it structure by default. Even if you write organically your narrative will have to adopt some logical order so readers can relate to it.

What are a writer's options for structuring a story? Here are some of the most common options.

Three act structure organizes the story into three sections. Generally act one deals with introductions and setup. Act two confronts the protagonist with challenges. Act three shows how these obstacles are overcome. Western literature and cinema strongly emphasize raising and resolving tension in a conflict bell curve.

The original Star Wars trilogy represents the epitome of three act structure.

The Hero's Journey is often cited as a structural template for storytelling. It's actually an observation by Professor Joseph Campbell about recurring plots points, characters, and themes in western myths. I'm discussing Campbell's monomyth here to caution writers against following it too slavishly. The hero's journey isn't a one size fits all story mold. It's a set of norms against which a story can be measured after it's written (i.e. it's an interpretive tool, not a composition tool).

Boy meets girl, boy loses girl, boy finds girl again is the basic plot of almost every romance novel and romantic comedy film. However, invoking TV trope rule zero, Shakespeare did it first. Boy meets girl, etc. is also called the idiot plot due to how often it's used to drive characters instead of the characters driving the plot. As the Bard of Avon proves, it can be done well as long as characterization isn't neglected.

Other types of plot structure exist, and all are capable of framing successful narratives. The most important caveat to using established plot structures is to regard them as guidelines; not laws. Choose the structure that will best fit your story. Don't contort your story to fit a specific mold.