OPWA: Episode Six · 6:37pm May 10th, 2016

Overpriced Writing Advice
Where you can learn the stuff I paid thousands of dollars to have taught to me, for free.

Story Structure
(Or "7 Easy Story Points To Build Your Plot With")

So what have we covered so far in this series? First, we covered the research that can take place at any point in your narrative planning. Then we tackled how to find your story’s theme. Then we did character archetypes. Now? Let’s talk about plot structure.

The idea of plot structure is old. 3,000 years old, to be exact. Aristotle first put forward the idea that each story has a beginning, middle, and end in The Poetics. That’s three acts. First act sets up the story. Second act complicates things. Third act resolves it all. But the acts need to be connected to allow for smooth transitions. We do this with plot points, also known as turning points.

If you’re a writing nerd like me, you’ve probably encountered Blake Snyder’s beat sheet from his book, Save the Cat! The website on this school of thought provides great storytelling examples of this narrative theory at work. (Don’t be turned off by the fact that its focus is on screenplays--plot structure can be universal!) Of course, we can’t go two steps into a narrative structure discussion without Joseph Campbell and his monomyth being brought up. I’m not going to talk about either of these things, though. For this post, I’ll be using Dan Wells’ seven point story structure. If you’re unfamiliar with Dan Wells and enjoy fantasy horror-themed adventure, then please check out I Am Not A Serial Killer. Great book!

LAST NOTE: Some of you might be turning your nose up at this post already, because you know about alternative methods, like the two act, one act, or five act story structures, or even out of sequence stories, or blah, blah, blah… If you know that stuff, then great. But this series is geared towards helping beginners or people who just want to review those basic (but less common) writing questions. If you want to drop some knowledge in the comments, then by all means, feel free to.

Ahem, anyway, onto the important stuff.

Seven Point Story Structure

ACT ONE

1. Hook
2. Plot Turn 1

ACT TWO

3. Pinch 1
4. Midpoint
5. Pinch 2

ACT THREE

6. Plot Turn 2
7. Resolution

Before Wells’ came out with this structure, Billy Mernit came out with a model that was geared towards romantic comedies in his 2001 book, Writing the Romantic Comedy. It’s very similar to Dan Wells’ ideas, though when I watched Wells’ power point presentation he made no mention of Mernit at all. (Please, please, please watch Wells’ presentation. It’s easy to understand and if you’re a nerd, like me, it’s very relatable.) That isn’t so shocking. Thanks to Aristotle, most narrative theories share some key similarities. If someone reinvents the wheel any time soon, I may just keel over and die. But just for giggles, here’s Mernit’s story structure. It’s pretty much the same as Wells’, so if you were scratching your head at what the above meant...well first of all, you shouldn’t have been, because I was going to explain it to you, but this should give you a clearer idea of what the seven point structure really entails:

ACT ONE

1. The Setup (Status Quo)
2. The Inciting Incident

ACT TWO

3. The Turning Point
4. The Midpoint
5. The Second Turning Point

ACT THREE

6. The Dark Moment/All Is Lost
7. Resolution

There! That’s it. So simple.

Next we’re going to start at the beginning...

The Resolution

Syke! We’re starting at the end!

Wells explains the reason behind starting at the end, and it’s this: Everything in your story is leading up to this moment. So it only makes sense for this to be an established point already, right? If you want to argue that you dislike outlining before you write, and that writing should be about discovery… Wells talks about that in his presentation too. Fact is, whether you’re doing this before you start typing out your tale, or if you’re doing this during your revision process, it can help you strengthen your story’s structure.

The cool thing is, some of my previous episodes can help you figure out what your resolution will be, even if you just have general ideas about your plot. Just as a quick reminder: your story’s resolution should be the completion of your protagonist’s inner and outer journeys.

Since I’m not really willing to spoil the specific plot points for my ongoing fanfiction, I’m going to use an industry example instead. For funsies, let’s do Disney’s Beauty and the Beast...because I love that movie.

I’ve seen this movie dozens of times, but it’s been a while and I don’t have a copy on hand (nor the time to watch it anyway) so I used a plot summary to supplement my memory.

SO...the movie’s resolution. This is where we find our climax. Please remember that climax =/= falling action. Many stories have falling action. Most do, in fact. BUT, you can finish your story at its climax. Falling action is technically optional. Personally, I wouldn’t recommend leaving it out as today’s audiences expect to have a little more closure once the high point of the story has been reached.

In The Beauty and the Beast, the rising action leading to the climax comprises of the battle for the castle. Beast’s servant army of living objects rises to battle the villagers. Belle, her father, and Chip arrive to lend aid. The castle is successfully defended from the villagers, but that’s only part of the struggle. Gaston moves in to kill Beast, who is so despondent he doesn’t put up a fight. When Beast realizes that Belle has returned to him, he starts to fight back. Gaston is defeated, but Beast is mortally wounded in the process.

The climax of the film is when Belle tells Beast that she loves him, giving him a kiss just before the final petal falls from the magical rose beneath the glass case. This sets Beast free from his curse, transforming him back into a man, and effectively saves his life. (NOTE: See that? Belle didn’t directly participate in Gaston’s battle against Beast, but her arrival was so inspiring to Beast that it helped turn the tide of the fight. Also, her confession of love and subsequent kiss is what saves Beast and breaks the curse. THIS IS WHY SHE IS THE PROTAGONIST. She drives the plot forward!)

It’s a completion of Belle’s inner and outer journey as a heroine. At the beginning, her misguided goal is to find a “prince charming” that can take her away from her humdrum life to one of freedom and adventure. Conflicting with this wish is society’s assertion that she should want the handsome, but cruel and arrogant hunter, Gaston. When she is able to look past appearances to fully embrace Beast, thus standing firm in her rejection of Gaston, her character arc reaches completion, bringing the story to its highest point.

THE HOOK

So going back to Wells’ terminology, the first step is the Hook. What should our story be doing at the beginning? This:

Illustrating the status quo.

This stage of the story presents to the audience the protagonist’s (or even the antagonist’s) unfulfilled desire. For Belle, it’s her wish to find true love on her terms, and to simultaneously escape her mundane life. This is her internal conflict. The external conflict reveals itself to be society’s pressure for her to marry the man “she’s supposed to”, which everyone says is Gaston.

If you’re going to use the tips provided in episode four, try to remember that external/internal conflicts are different than external/internal problems.

THE FIRST PLOT TURN

Also known as the Inciting Incident. This is the major event that throws the starting world out of whack. What disrupts the status quo. What propels your protagonist onto his journey.

For Belle in The Beauty and The Beast, the inciting incident occurs when her father encounters Beast, and is held prisoner against his will. When her father’s horse returns without him, Belle knows something is wrong, and tries to find him on her own. She then arrives at Beast’s castle, where she meets her love interest and manages to negotiate for the release of her father.

Belle’s status quo, where her desire to find true love via a prince charming in a life of freedom and excitement, is thrown out the window the moment she agrees to be Beast’s prisoner for an indefinite amount of time. Gaston’s wish to be her husband is also put at risk when she is taken away from him, putting him on a path to cause conflict further down the line.

THE FIRST PINCH

The first pinch is where the stakes are raised. In The Beauty and the Beast, we see this escalation both in the inner and outer conflicts.

When Belle disobeys Beast and explores the forbidden wing of the castle, she discovers the magical rose, but is in turn discovered by Beast, who flies into a violent rage. Belle is so frightened that she breaks her promise to stay at the castle and flees into the forest, where she is then attacked by wolves. It seems she is doomed when Beast suddenly arrives to save her. He is seriously wounded, and Belle’s compassion is stirred. She takes him back to the castle where she tends to his wounds. This sets them on the path to overcoming their differences and becoming true friends.

For the outer conflict, Gaston is stewing after his recent rejection from Belle. After the townsfolk encourage him to keep trying, the hunter decides to reignite his efforts in wooing our protagonist.

THE MIDPOINT

By this point in the story, things have further complicated and we should have moved closer to our resolution (though we obviously are not there yet.) We should see an event that binds the protagonist to the antagonist somehow. If you’re writing a romance, this should have further important implications for the primary relationship.

In The Beauty and The Beast, Belle’s father arrives at the village tavern and begs for help in freeing Belle from Beast. Gaston and the villagers listen to his tale, then swiftly mock him. They kick him out, laughing all the while. Angry and determined, Belle’s father decides to go back for his daughter himself. He once again enters the forest.

Belle and Beast have become friends. They share a romantic evening together, but afterwards, the girl is very depressed. When Beast asks what’s wrong, Belle answers that she misses her father. In an attempt to cheer her up, Beast gives her his magic mirror, which allows her to see where her father is at that very moment. As it turns out, Belle’s father is lost and sick in the forest. Belle is distraught. Beast, having fallen in love with her, releases her from her promise and allows her to go to her father’s aid. He does this knowing that he is perhaps letting go of his one true chance at breaking his curse.

Because of the nature of the plot, Belle and Gaston have a physical separation that might feel confusing to beginners. How can these two be linked for conflict when they are so far apart? Once Belle becomes Beast’s prisoner, she doesn’t see Gaston again until the end of Act Two. Still, the two have become strongly linked thanks to Belle’s father. Belle loves her father dearly, and Gaston’s cruel treatment of the man leads to Belle rushing to his aid. This puts them on a collision course.

THE SECOND TURNING POINT

The second turning point is when the stakes are raised even higher. This is where a “swivel decision” occurs that leads to the next story point. This decision is a major decision or action taken by the protagonist that should in some way backfire or fail.

Belle just went to save her father in the forest. After finding her father and bringing him back to the village, she encounters an angry mob intent on throwing the old man into the insane asylum. The mob is being led by Gaston, who is only spearheading this effort to blackmail Belle into marrying him. Belle is determined to escape this fate, and so she uses the magic mirror that Beast gave her to reveal that what her father was saying was true.

The choice to reveal Beast via the magic mirror to the angry mob is Belle’s “swivel decision” that leads to...

THE SECOND PLOT TURN

Also can be considered the “dark moment” or the “all is lost” moment in your story. This is when the shit has hit the fan for your protagonist, and they appear defeated. The antagonist has somehow pulled ahead in some way thanks to a decision the protagonist has made. The “swivel decision”. At this point the situation should not look good. Joseph Campbell refers to this point in a hero's journey as being "in the belly of the whale."

In The Beauty and the Beast, Belle’s dark moment arrives after Belle uses her magic mirror to reveal that Beast is, in fact, real. This has unforeseen consequences when the angry mob’s attention turns from putting her father into an insane asylum, to attacking Beast in his castle. Gaston realizes with disgust that Belle actually loves Beast, and in a jealous rage, leads the mob in its dark quest...but not before locking Belle and her sick father in their cellar. Our heroine is distraught by this turn of events and feels powerless.

BUT, while this point of the story is known as the low point for your hero, it should end on an uptick (unless it’s a tragedy I suppose, but then your goal still should be in moving towards the culmination of your story’s theme. Obviously the story can’t continue if the protagonist just stops here.) For Belle, her uptick happens when Chip reveals that he had stowed away in her bag all this time, and with his help, Belle and her father escape the cellar and use one of the old man’s inventions to race back to the castle.

And if you’ll recall, we already covered the resolution, so we’ve come full circle!

I hope you guys found this useful! If you’re wondering why I did two advice posts so close to each other, it’s because I’m working on a new story and I figured the review would help me.