Feb 20 - Structure

Feb 20
Structure

“Structure is about timing – where in the mix those elements go.”(1)

“There is something fundamentally sound about the three structure. As Buckminster Fuller taught, the triangle is the strongest shape in nature (thus it is the foundation of the geodesic dome he invented)….
In a novel, we must get to know some thing in Act I before we can move on in the story. Then the problem is presented, and the Lead spends the greater part of the book wrestling with the problem (Act II). But the book has to end sometime, with the problem solved (Act III).”(1)

“Beginning are always about the who of the story…. The entry point is the Lead character, and the writer should begin to connecting the reader to the Lead as quickly as possible.
….
Middles
The major part of the novel is the confrontation, a series of battles between the Lead and the opposition….
This is also where subplots blossom, adding complexity to the novel and usually reflecting the deeper meaning of the book.
The various plot strands weave in and out of one another, creating a feeling of inevitability while at the same time surprising the reader in various ways. In addition, the middle, …, should:
Deepen character relationships.
Keep us caring about what happens.
Set up final battle that will wrap things up at the end.
Ends
The last part of the novel gives us the resolution of the big story…. The best ending … also:
Tie up all loose ends. Are there story threads that are left dangling? You must either resolve these in a way that does not distract from the main plot line or go back and snip them out. Readers have long memories.
Give a feeling of resonance. The best endings leaving a sense of something beyond the confines of the book. What does the story mean in the lager sense?”(1)

Patterns
Quest
“-The Lead is someone who is incomplete in his ordinary world
-The thing searched for must be of vital importance.
-The must be huge obstacles preventing the Lead from gaining it.
-The quest should result in the Lead becoming a different (usually better) person; a fruitless quest, however, may end in tragedy for the Lead.”
Revenge
“-The Lead should be sympathetic since revenge is usually violent business.
-The wrong done to the Lead or to someone close to the Lead is usually not his fault; if it is, the wrong is out of proportion to fault.
-The desire for revenge has an effect on the Lead’s inner life.”
Love
“-Two people have to be in love.
-Something has to separate them.
-They either get back together or tragically do not.
-One or both of the lovers grows as a result of the pattern.”
Adventure
“-The Lead sets out on a journey. Rather than a quest for some object, this is a desire for adventure alone- to experience what’s “out there.”
-There are various encounters along the way with interesting characters and circumstances.
-The Lead usually has some insight into himself or his life after the adventure.”
Chase
“-Somebody has to be on the run for a strong reason.
-The Chaser, who can be the Lead or the opposition, must have a duty or obsession (or both) with catching the person he’s chasing.
-Often the chase is based on a huge misunderstanding.”
One Against
“-The Lead embodies the moral code of the community.
-There is a threat to the community from the opposition, who is much stronger than the Lead.
-The Lead wins by inspiring the rest of the community.
-The Lead’s inspiration may come through self-sacrifice.”
One Apart
“-The Lead is an anti-hero, one who does not wish to be associated with a larger community but rather lives according to a personal moral code.
-Something happens to draw the Lead into a larger conflict.
-The Lead must decide whether to take a stand or not.
-The Lead either retreats to his own, self-enclosed world again; or he decides to join the community.”
Power
“-The Lead usually begins in a position of weakness.
-Through ambition and the gaining of strength, the Lead rise.
-There is a moral cost to gaining power.
-The Lead may experience a fall or be willing to sacrifice power to regain morality.”(2)


Master Structures

“Traditional Structure has a clear beginning, middle, and end that happen in clear three-act sequence.” p28

“The Roller Coaster Ride is just that-a story that takes the audience on a ride of tension and suspense, never letting up on the gas.
Instead of having one major Climax at the end of the story, as with Traditional Structure, this structure has several Climaxes throughout the story. Each one builds upon the previous one, holding the reader in its thrall until the very end.” p34

“The Replay is defined as having two to three versions of events in one story. These versions may come from the point of view of one character over and over again as in Run Lola Run and Groundhog Day, where one character lives out the events in her life several times, or from several characters, one after the other as in He Said, She Said and Rashomon where there are two to three characters who related their version of the same story.” p39

“In the Fate structure, the Climax takes place at the beginning of the story as well as at the end. What follows from the Opening Climax is a flashback, or two, of events that led to the Climax just seen. Following the Final Climax is Resolution, which is what reader has been waiting for. “What happened to the character after the Climax?” is the real question that keeps the reader reading.” p44

“The Parallel plot structure is defined as having two or more stories going on at the same point in time. They are not flashbacks or subplots but two distinctly different plots with a complete beginning, middle and end all their own. The Parallel plot is a simultaneous multi-plotted story that eventually intersects all plots presented.” p49
“The Episodic plot structure is made up of a series of chapters or stories linked together by the same character, place, or theme but held apart by their individual plot, purpose, and subtext. In fact, the chapters or stories could be shuffled around and placed in a different order because there is no overall beginning, middle, and end to the book or story as a whole.” p55

“The Melodrama plot structure is sometimes referred to as “women’s fiction” as soap operas and television movies fall into this category, but this is not entirely accurate.
While both women’s fiction and Melodrama primarily focus on women’s lives, relationships, family, and the female point of view and are emotionally engaging, they differ in that women’s fiction also encompasses books such as Bridget Jones’s Diary, which is not considered Melodrama at all and has a fairly a fairly traditional plot structure to it.
Melodrama is at its core just that – melodramatic. In fact there are two types of Melodrama – the Female Melodrama and the Male Melodrama. This is why Melodrama is not considered women’s fiction.” p60

“The Romance plot structure is defined as having a structure around two Main Characters who are falling in love. This structure focuses on the content of the structure rather than on structure design.” p66

“The Journey plot structure is defined as having one Main Character either go it alone through a major internal growth experience – as with the Feminine and Masculine Journeys – or go it alone through a major series of events that courage and resolve – as in the Joseph Campbell model. This structure focuses on the content of the structure rather than on structure design.” p73 (3)



Bell, James Scott. Write Great Fiction: Plot & Structure. FW Publications. 2004. pp 22-25.
Bell, James Scott. Write Great Fiction: Plot & Structure. FW Publications. 2004. pp 181-191.
Schmidt, Victoria Lynn, Ph.D. Story Structure Architect. Writer’s Digest Books. 2005.

Feb 6 2006
Outline or not?

For Outlines

“You have to be able to construct your brilliant sentences into paragraphs and chapters that work as a whole on all levels.

“One reason that an outline makes this work is because it’s an example of things on the micro level controlling the macro level. Picture each chapter as a state and the book as a country. If the infrastructure of a bunch of states is out of order, the country is in disarray. The smaller makes up the larger, and the smaller not only influences the larger, but also actually drives and controls it.

“It is much easier to make changes in an outline and then guide the overall book than to just start writing and figure it out later. The latter attitude drives the creation of a lot of crappy books.”(1)

“Beginnings and endings are usually shorter than middles, but in a way are more important. Beginnings pull you in. If a paragraph, chapter, or book has a lame beginning, there is a chance that some people won’t even finish it. The end of a chapter is the part that has to segue smoothly into the next chapter, and the ending of a book is the part people remember the most. On the other hand, with a lot of book, the first line is the one people remember.”(1)

“You will use information on beginnings, middles, and endings later when you’re actually writing the book, but keep it in mind when you are writing the outline. It will help you flow your micro thoughts in a direction that will flow your macro ones in the same direction later.”(1)

“Good writing sets up things to flow from one thing to another thing in a way that makes sense to the reader. It is generally accomplished by having the end of one idea remotely related to the next idea. If they are not related, it is good to relate them with some sort of “glue,” such as a sentence or two that explains why the reader should be willing to make the jump from one to another.”(1)

“Basically, an outline is a blueprint. It’s a recipe for a meal you are making our of words. It’s not absolute, in the same way a good cook will use a written recipe but then improvise on the fly as she’s working, adding her own flourishes to make it art”(2)

“One mark of a beginner is his impulse to push language around to make it accommodate what he has already conceived to be the truth, or, in some cases, what he as already conceived to be the form.”(3)

No Outlines

“To write…you must have a steak of arrogance-not in real life I hope. In real life try to be nice. It will save you a hell of a lot of trouble and give you more time to write. By arrogance I mean that when you are writing you must assume that the next thing you put down belongs not for reasons of logic, good sense, or narrative development, but because you put it there. You, the same person who said that, also said this. The adhesive force is your way of writing, not sensible connection.”(3)

“You look up and stare out the window again, but this time you are drumming your fingers on the desk, and you don’t care about those first three pages; those you will throw out, those you needed to write to get to that fourth page, to get to that one long paragraph that was what you had in mind when you started, only you didn’t know that, couldn’t know that, until you got to it. And the story begins to materialize, and another thing is happening, which is that you are learning what you aren’t writing, and this is helping you to find out what you are writing.”(4)

“Almost all good writing begins with terrible first efforts. You need to start somewhere. Start by getting something-anything-down on paper. A friend of mine says that the first draft is the down draft-you just get it down. The second draft is the up draft-you fix it up. You try to say what you have to say more accurately. And the third draft is the dental draft, where you check every tooth, to see if it’s loose or cramped or decayed, or even, God help us, healthy.”(5)

Your Choice

“I used to find myself in this predicament: I have a “plot,” I write it down, and then I say “So what?” The story has not come to life; I failed to generate the details, the scenes. I thought too mush in terms of plot outline rather than in terms of character and place and event. Sometimes students ask me, “What do you think of this story?” And they proceed to tell me a plot outline. I tell them I’d be able to say what I thought only after I read the plot outline developed in drafted story. The plot outline is like a game plan in basketball or football. It can look good on a chart, but one the ball flies, it does not suffice. You must have the players. If a player trips, other players may have to come up with a new plan, the pan is not sacred: it shifts, depending on the position of the players on the field and on the flight of the ball in the wind.

“Although plot outline is not the same as plot, it’s good to have a guide as you go through all the story details. Image-making is a forest in which you can easily get lost unless you have a map and compass – an outline. Some people don’t work from outlines, yet they conceive plots because they have interconnected their characters, places and events.
If you don’t write from an outline, once you have finished a story, you still should be able to see its outline, the way after a touchdown it’s easy to draw a chart of what happened in the play. Something must happen, and in the end, we must know why it has happened.” (6)



1) Dean, Michael W. $30 Writing School. Thomson Course Technology. 2004. pp 53-55.
2) Dean, Michael W. $30 Writing School. Thomson Course Technology. 2004. p 62.
3) Hugo, Richard. The Triggering Town. WW Norton & Company. 1979. p 4-5.
4) Lamott, Anne. Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life. Anchor Book. 1995. p 9.
5) Lamott, Anne. Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life. Anchor Book. 1995. pp 25-26.
6)Novakovich, Josip. Fiction Writer’s Workshop. Story Press. 1995. pp 90-91.