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Writing Article 3 - Story Structure Part 1 (Patreon)

Published:
2015-10-28 11:52:16
Imported:
2026-06
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Content

Before you even start writing your own story there's nothing more important than knowing how to structure a story. You wouldn't try to build a house without knowing how to lay foundations, and this is the same.

Here we will look at the 3-Act Structure, which is commonly used in Movies, Books and TV Screen-writing.


Structure is something many authors don't like to read about, but also something woefully lacking from most writing (especially fanfiction). A solid grasp on how it works, and how you can adapt your story to take advantage of it, will turn a piece from good to great!


Any question about the contents, please feel free to message me directly, or comment below - and I will answer.

Comments

The Anime Sage

How do story arcs fit into the three act structures and can they sometimes be unnecessary like filler?

Coeur
>>5144858

Story arcs actually straddle the three-part structure and don't have to sit within one particular part. For instance, you might consider the Lord of the Rings to be three individual books, each one being a single part of the "Three Part Structure." However, within those books you have individual arcs. The "Journey to Rivendell" is one arc, and this arc basically begins after the Hobbits have to leave, and ends when they reach Rivendell. It then changes into the "fellowship arc", which you could argue has a "Moria Arc" soon after. Arcs can start in the middle of the 1st part of the structure and end in the middle of the 2nd part, and as such can cross over the structures themselves. However, they should always support the structure of the story and should push the plot onward towards the end of the story. Romance arcs are a good example mostly because they can last through huge swathes of the story. If you imagine the graph within this article, then you might draw structures underneath it. The important thing is, an arc is nothing more than a small segment of the story. It supports. it does not overtake or overpower the structure. The problem with filler arcs is that they often do not support the structure. For instance, the accursed hot springs scenes in anime or manga. You could make it part, by having a relatively unassuming reason (like relaxation) cause them to go to the hot spring, where they later find other reasons to be there which DO support the plot. It is tricky, however. In a book, you have limited word count - often 60,000 words. It is hard enough to fit a story in that without addressing things like filler.

The Anime Sage

Thanks for clarifying that. Is there a part two to the plot structuring besides the Romance article? Like the Hero's Journey and Fictean Curve.

Coeur
>>5146221

There will be soon. It's a slightly more complicated topic, however, so I need to gather some real-world examples, which has taken a while since it means reading through a lot of books in search of them.