Creating a Story Structure

Have you ever wondered how an author can just write a story with a start, middle and end that just works out every time? That's definitely something I've thought about through my years of reading. As it turns out, almost every successful novel (and movie) follows a very similar story structure. For some reason, our brains really like and respond to a story structure where the timing of certain events and how a story unfolds tends to follow a certain pattern. But that doesn't mean that the story itself will feel formulaic.

When I started writing my first novel, I remember getting out a blank sheet of paper and dividing it into thirds and planning out when events would happen. I didn't really know what I was doing but because of all the books I'd read throughout the years, I had a pretty good idea of how a story should flow. While attending a writer's conference last fall in Seattle, it was drilled into my brain to pay attention to a three act structure. Another story structure some authors follow is called the Hero's Journey, but when you break it down, it's basically three acts! I was relieved to see that my story got pretty close to this structure without actually having articulated it. Whew!

This last week, as I started planning my outline for a new story, this structure was at the forefront of my mind. Having a framework to work within made planning a lot easier. I didn't just sit down and start to plan a story though. It took time to get to the point where I wrote anything down at all.

I'm learning that my process lives mostly in my head for several months. I had a new idea last summer for a book and another one in the fall and I thought they were two separate stories. However, I woke up a couple of weeks ago with the opening lines of a story in my hazy half-awake head and it was a combination of both ideas. I quickly wrote everything down and went back to tossing ideas around in my head for another week.

Finally, I pulled out a blank paper and started to plan the sequence of events. From that brief outline, I wrote a three page synopsis of what I'd like to happen in the story. I know it will probably take turns I haven't thought of yet, but it's a nice feeling to go into this book with a better plan than my last one! Hopefully I'll get it written a little faster too! :-)

What about you? When you're planning out your stories, do you use this framework? Even if you've never written a book, have you noticed this structure play out?

xo

Bonnie