Why Use Story Structure?
Story structure can make new writers nervous because they worry about following a formula.
How can you be original if you are essentially following a recipe?
No need to worry, writer.
Story structure is in no way formulaic.
As Shawn Coyne, author of The Story Grid, puts it, story structure is form, not a formula.
I think of story structure like scaffolding or rebar. It provides the structural integrity necessary for the book to work. And the reason it works is based on neuroscience. Humans are neurologically wired to interpret stories a certain way. It goes back to survival. We pay attention to what will keep us safe.
There is a rhythm to story, and readers subconsciously expect it. If they don't get it, they will be disappointed but not know why.
Applying story structure to your writing is a way to make sure you deliver a satisfying reader experience.
Looking around, you'll notice that all creativity has form:
Flowers have stems and petals.
Trees have a root system, trunk, and branches.
Paintings have a canvas.
Confectionary delights have a shape.
Story structure is not dull, same-old-same-old, formulaic rhetoric. It's creative bioengineering at its finest.
Multiple methods explain the nuts and bolts of story development, and many are based on the three-act structure.
There are, of course, others: Freytag and Fitchean, for example. But I find most works of commercial fiction use some variation of the three-act.
I'm partial to a four-act story structure because it makes the middle chunk of the novel feel more manageable But, if you have a favorite, cool. Stick with it. I don't care what it is: Three-act or Four, Hero's journey or Heroine's, the W plot, or Save the Cat Writes a Novel.
They may use different language, but pretty much all say the same thing:
In the container story (beginning, middle, end), you start with a character, present them with a problem and make it progressively worse until the crisis peaks at the climax. Then, the character either solves the problem or doesn't.
The most important things to know about story structure are a) it is not a formula, b) you need it, and c) find a method that works for you and apply it!!
