Episode Twelve: You’re Thinking About Story Structure the Wrong Way

This week, I’m talking about mistakes writers make when it comes to story structure. Story structure is vital. It gives our stories shape and ensures we are keeping readers hooked and entertained throughout.

Given that reality, you  might be expecting me to talk about structural issues, and yes, those definitely happen, but there’s a deeper issue holding writers back: misusing or misunderstanding story structure from the start.

Too often, writers try to turn story structure systems into something they aren’t. In this episode, I’m offering a new way to think about structure while avoiding the biggest structure/mindset mistakes.

You can listen to the full epsiode here. Or, watch here.

You’ll Hear: 

• The three mistakes writers make when thinking about structure

• Why sticking to strict percentages could be holding you back

• The myth that there is one universal structure that applies to all stories

• A new framework for thinking of story structure holistically, not rigidly 

• And more!

Resources Mentioned: 

• Save the Cat Writes a Novel by Jessica Brody

• The Heroine’s Journey by Gail Carriger

• Anatomy of Story by John Truby

• The Writer’s Journey (hero’s journey) by Christopher Vogler

• The Virgin’s Promise by Kim Hudson

• Subscribe to the Better Writer Weekly newsletter here: https://olivia-helps-writers.kit.com/better-writer-newsletter

Transcript

Please Note: This is an automatically generated transcript that has not been edited.

Olivia Bedford (00:19)

Welcome to episode number 12 of the Better Writer podcast. Today's topic is one that is very near and dear to my heart because I think it is one of those things that trips writers up so much. Not because they're not trying, not because they aren't smart or intelligent or creative, but because there's just so much misinformation out there about this particular topic. And that topic is story structure. 

I want to be clear, story structure is key. you do need to have some kind of internal logic holding your story together. However, I think the problem comes in when writers use those systems ineffectively. And I think there are three mistakes that I see people making when they think about structure, that I want to talk about today.

Before I dive into the actual mistakes, I do want to note that right now I'm really focusing on the defined story structure systems that get packaged and sold to writers. So I'm thinking of things like Save the Cat right now, where Save the Cat has a very specific structure system that is being taught and sold to writers. And please know, I am not hating on Save the Cat. I think it can be really, really helpful for writers if you are thinking about it and using it the right way. Unfortunately, I think that people misuse it or they misunderstand how they're supposed to use systems like that.

So let's dive into the three mistakes that I am seeing writers make with those structure systems. First off, the big mistake that I see is people thinking that it's all they need. As long as you check off the 15 steps of the Save the Cat beat structure, as long as you check off every beat of the hero's journey or the heroine's journey or whatever you're using, you have a story and that's all you need. And unfortunately, I think there is a lot that often gets missed within that structural framework. Any structure system is really only pointing out key plot moments. It is not giving you a comprehensive guide to every single scene or sentence or moment of your story. There are going to be subplots. There are going to be small moments where maybe there isn't something big happening action-wise, but your character's having a moment of realization or a moment that changes them internally, or a moment in which they are simply building a relationship with another character. So maybe it's not one of those big plot moments, but something important is happening internally for your character, and therefore something important is happening for your reader. And I think that can sometimes get missed in those structure systems. I think a really great example of that is in the Save the Cat system. We have three beats out of the 15 that cover 50% of the story. So Fun and Games and the bad guys close in. Those two beats take up pretty much 50% of the story and then in between those two you have the midpoint. And of course in Save the Cat, as they explain, those are multi-scene beats.

So I do want to be clear, within that structure system, they're not saying that this one scene is fifty percent of your novel. There are supposed to be multiple scenes within that. But I think for a lot of people, when they look at a system like Save the Cat, or even when they look at something like The Hero's Journey, where they're seeing these individual moments in the beat structure, but those moments are supposed to happen over multiple scenes, or there's going to be multiple scenes involved in making that moment happen, it can be really confusing. And then the question becomes, what the heck do we actually do in those multi-beat scenes that aren't giving us this clear guidance, even though this was supposed to be the only thing we needed? And oftentimes what's happening in that middle section is, you are developing a character arc, are developing conflict, and think a lot of writers struggle with middles because they've been told that all they need is a great structure, all they need is to save the cat beat sheet, all they need is the hero's journey, and then that's not actually true. There's a lot more that goes into it, and most novels are going to have subplots.

And think if you're going into it with a mindset, that structure is all-encompassing. It is going to be very disappointing when that ends up being untrue. And then you're scrambling to figure out, what do I do in the middle of my book? What do I do with the subplot? What do I do with my secondary characters? And I see that causing a lot of frustration and getting people into trouble.

The second mistake that I see people making is that they stick way too rigidly to the percentages, to a specific number. And I think that it's kind of built into the way that we are taught to think of these structure systems. We're taught that every successful novel follows this pattern. Every successful novel follows a series of steps in this order at these percentage points. And that's just not true. And I think even in Save the Cat, there is a moment in Save the Cat Writes a Novel, which is a book by Jessica Brody, that says, you know, I believe it was The Hunger Games, and she says, you know, this book was the closest to hitting these percentages dead on, and maybe that's why this book is so successful. And that might be true, that's great, but what I really noticed there is that, underneath that statement is the fact that all of the other books that are cited in Save the Cat, weren't as close to those percentages. They weren't exactly hitting those numbers, but they were still successful. And even the book that is closest to hitting those percentages exactly isn't exact either.

So we have to understand that those numbers are never exact. Even for the books that we are being shown as examples of what to do, the numbers are not perfect and we don't need to be perfect either. And I think that people sometimes forget is that every single book that was used as an example in Save the Cat Writes a Novel existed before that book was published. So this is a framework for analysis being turned into a planning system. So I'm not saying that you can't use Save the Cat to plan your story, but you need to remember that the authors who being cited as examples of how to use this system weren't actually using this system because it is being used retroactively to analyze their books post publication.

So the Stephen King novel, Misery, which is used in Save the Cat Writes a Novel as an example, was written before that framework existed, So he was not using this system, And Stephen King is a pantser actually. So he definitely was not using Save the Cat to plan out his novels, So we need to remember that it is not exact.

The authors who are being held up as examples did not use Save the Cat to plan. Someone else came along afterwards, looked at their stories, analyzed them, and then applied this framework after. So I want to be really clear. I think Save the Cat is helpful. I think it can be helpful as a way to check in on your structure, check in to make sure that things are happening in a consistent and clear way. But it is not the be-all end-all. It is not going to make or break your story whether your catalyst moment happens at exactly the 10 % mark or whether you are breaking into act two at exactly the 25 % mark of your book, it doesn't matter. is a framework, it is a guideline, but it is not a mandate and it is not going to make or break your story.

And then the third mistake that I see people making, and I think this one is very closely aligned, is trying to force their story to serve the structure instead of using structure to serve their story. Ultimately, your job is to give readers a great experience. And where you place your plot beats, the way that you organize your story is all in service of readers. You want to create a fast pace for your story, and maybe that means your inciting incident happens on page one and that you don't slow down and shows the normal world first. Maybe your climax is going to happen right before the end and then you are just going to end with an ambiguous ending, end with a bang and that's it. It really depends on the story you're trying to tell. It really depends on your audience, what they are looking for, what type of story you're trying to tell. And if you try to force your story to fit a structure system because you think you need to be using one or because you think you need to be using a particular system that all of your other writer friends are using, you could end up creating a weaker version of your story because of that structure, even though that's supposed to be the thing that is helping you. Which brings me to another point that I think sometimes gets missed in the way we talk about structure. There is no universal story structure. I don't care what anyone says, no story structure system is universal because genres are so different, stories are so different. And if you are trying to shoehorn your story into a framework that doesn't actually fit your genre,

Again, it is just a recipe for disaster. So I think one of the biggest culprits in this area is the hero's journey. I remember being told growing up that the hero's journey applies to all stories. False. That is not true. The hero's journey applies to a lot of Western stories. It applies to a particular type of Western story and Western framework of the lone hero who rises up to save the day on their own. But that is not the only story that exists out there. That is not the only mythic framework that has been handed down through the generations. And if we keep pretending that it is, we are doing a disservice to our stories, to other writers, to people who don't write in that narrow box of what the hero's journey actually applies to. So if you haven't already, I highly recommend checking out Gail Carriger's book, The Heroine's Journey. Check out the Virgin's Promise is another mythic structure that, again, is not the hero's journey. It's totally different.

And also consider looking at some other structure systems that you maybe have not considered yet. For example, if you are a romance writer and you have not yet heard of Romancing the Beat, first of all, what are you waiting for? Second of all, that is a really great example of a structure system that is appropriate for a very specific genre. And, you know, obviously you're not going to use Romancing the Beat if you are writing a mystery novel. But if you are writing romance, don't worry about the hero's journey. It doesn't apply to you.

There is something else that is specific to your genre that is going to help you tell the story that your readers want to hear. But again, it is not about hitting a rigid set of numbers. It is not about having a certain story event happen exactly on a certain page. And if we get hung up on those numbers, we end up serving the structure, not our story. And I understand the impulse to want to check off all the boxes and follow all the rules. I would consider myself to be a bit of a rule follower. I am definitely the kind of person who if I'm given clear guidelines, I want to do the work right. I want to get that A+. I was that student where I always was chasing the 4.0. If you gave me a rubric, I was going to be highlighting the rubric, underlining it, creating a little checklist for myself so I could hit all the boxes and do it right. So I get it. I get that impulse.

That we want to be excellent, whatever excellence is for a particular assignment or task or whatever. And I think that is what gets people in trouble when they start writing creatively, because there isn't a rubric anymore, at least not in the way that we're used to. You're no longer writing for an arbitrary task. There is no longer an audience-less, purposeless assignment that you're trying to complete. Your number one.

One and only job is to create a story that delights your future readers. And structure is a tool that can help you get there. Structure is one thing we have in our arsenal as fiction writers to help us create a story that resonates with someone else. But structure is the tool. It is not the goal. It is not the end game. And if we treat structure as more than it is, we're going to run into problems, especially because structure typically focuses on the plot. It doesn't focus on the character arc.

it doesn't focus on all of the other things that make a novel rich and complete and compelling. So if you are one of those people who's been sticking too close to your structure, you have been really beating yourself up trying to fit into this narrow box of what you think your story should look like or what it should flow like, I just want to give you a different perspective.

And this is something that I'm talking about in the revision course that I'm currently teaching. But instead of thinking of structure as this rigid framework and there's a rigid set of rules that you need to comply with. I like to think of structure instead as jobs to be done. Jobs that each part of your story needs to fulfill in order to create a great experience for your readers. And I think using structure in that more flexible way is really helpful, especially when we get to the revision process. I think trying to force your story into a certain structure after the fact can be really difficult, it can be really hard, it is definitely possible and you know if you are a pantser you are definitely going to want to go back to see if your story is structured appropriately but that doesn't necessarily mean rewriting your entire story just so you can get to a certain percentage point or make sure that you you know hit x thing in a certain number of words. Instead you just want to go back and make sure that each part of your story is doing its job.

Your beginning has to hook readers. has to introduce the main conflicts. It has to introduce your characters and their world in an active and engaging way. Your middle has another job. Your middle has to keep people hooked. And that means continuing to escalate the conflicts, continuing to build characters, build the arcs, and your ending then has to create a satisfying payoff. So it is a more streamlined, more flexible way to think about structure that I think can be helpful, especially in the revision process that we are not going to get hung up on. Did I have my inciting incident happen at exactly word number 10,999. That's not the goal. We want to just think about it a little bit more flexibly. Think about it in a way that is going to be more helpful to your story as a whole, more organic. And hopefully, if we can make sure that each part of our story is doing its job, we will create a story that readers love.

And if the idea of just thinking about your structure that fluidly does not work for you, that's totally fine. Again, I still think that Save the Cat can be super helpful. I think Anatomy of Story is super helpful. The Hero's Journey can be really helpful. As long as you are not letting that structure system take over, as long as you are not letting that become something that stops you from writing or something that you're so paralyzed about getting it right that you're not moving forward, as long as you are using structure as a tool, and as long as it is not becoming a hindrance or your main goal, then keep doing what you're doing, use structure, explore different systems, figure out what works for you for your stories. And again, do not get hung up on what structure isn't, focus on what it is. And that is just one of the tools in our toolbox to create a great story that our readers love. 

All right, thank you so much for listening to another episode of the Better Writer podcast. If this episode resonated with you, please share it with a friend, post about it on social media or maybe this episode has you feeling some type of way, whether you love structure or hate it, please message me on Instagram. I'm @oliviahelpswriters. I would love to hear your thoughts on this episode about structure or anything else writing related. Just reach out again. It's @oliviahelpswriters on Instagram or threads or Facebook or wherever you're hanging out online.

Alright, thank you again for listening to another episode. Have a wonderful week. Keep writing and keep getting better one word at a time. See ya!