3 Mistakes Beginner Fiction Writers Make While Applying Story Structure (and How To Fix Them)

Hi Friend,
​
Welcome to the new edition of The Storytelling Wizard!

Do you know what came into existence first?

Story

or

Story Structure?

The first story ever told (possibly in sign language or engraved in the caves) by a human did not follow a story structure.

There. I said it!

Let me make it super simple for you to grasp — stories came first, then some stories worked, and there were ones that didn’t. Storytellers and writers analyzed them and discovered that a particular narrative flow works better than others.

Aristotle conceived the first story structure, a canonical model with a beginning, middle, and end.

Sure, we can learn from all the greats and learnings from more than a hundred years of formalized storytelling, but to be confused as to which story structure to use for your story will only harm your story.

Story comes first.

Then, you can refine and craft it using the tools and techniques of a certain story structure whether it is:

• 3-Act Structure
• The Hero’s Journey
• Save The Cat
• 8-Sequence Structure
• The Nutshell Technique
• Dan Harmon’s Story Circle

All of them are saying the same thing, but the way they’re saying it is different.

Now, rather than deciding which story structure format to write a story in, the more prominent and more important decision is to write your first draft and choose which story structure format can help me craft my story better.

1/ Over-Dependency on Formulaic Structures

What beginner writers tend to do:

• Read a book about the craft of storytelling
• Attempt to learn the art of creating stories
• Attempt to write a story
• Face unresolvable issues

What they should rather be doing:

• Attempt to write a story
• Face unresolvable issues
• Try to resolve by themselves
• Read a book about the craft of storytelling (with specific problems in their minds)
• Learn the art of creating stories (it’s an ongoing process; it never ends) — the more you do, the more you learn

The issue is everyone wants everything quickly. But that’s not how you learn the art of creative writing or storytelling.

There’s a reason why great writers call it a long game.

And the more you learn, the more you’ll realize that the process of learning involves:

• unlearning
• letting go of bad beliefs
• realizing storytelling has been your most natural form

Eventually, you’ll recognize that you were a storyteller, and the process of “unbecoming” (what society wants us to become—a slave) by getting rid of the societal conditioning will make you a better storyteller again.

Story structure tools are not formulas. Think of them like tools — a hammer, nails, nuts and bolts, etc. Now, you can’t create furniture just by a hammer and a few pieces of nails.

These tools can help you join the pieces of wood in any shape or form you like.

Like I said,

Story structure can only help you bring your story elements together not write the story for you.

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2/ Inappropriate Pacing

At page number 25 of your story, an incident should take place that completely changes your protagonist’s life.

If that incident doesn’t take place at page number 25, your story will not work.

As a beginner writer, I force-fitted my incident to take place at page number 25 — it still didn’t work. Misinterpreting guidelines as rules and rules as laws of nature that you should be following, come what may have ended more writing careers than procrastination and fear ever could.

There are no rules in storytelling — there are just processes. And every writer has the right to create their own process.

• No, that incident doesn’t have to take place at page number 25 —
• if your story needs more context, that incident might take place at page 40.
• If your story needs less context, that incident might take place at page 5.
• Every choice you make to chisel your story into a more refined version depends on your story's context.

People are aware of what happens in a romantic comedy, so it’s better to quickly jump towards the scene where the meet-cute takes place — that’s the expectation.

We know the guy and the girl are going to meet, and hate each other in that first meeting. And then something will happen and they’ll meet again — this time, they’ll realize the other person is not so bad after all.

And then, they’ll fall in love, facing a common problem together (this is just an example).

If you are a rebel without a cause and decide to put that first meet cute scene at page 40, it won’t work — you’ll be losing your reader in the first few pages.

Poor pacing will cause the reader to lose interest because the key plot points will feel underdeveloped or overly sudden.

But if you’re creating a fantasy world and a romantic angle within that story, sure, take your time building the world and showing me around before starting the actual love story.

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3/ Neglecting Character Development in Favor of Plot

I tried to use the beat sheet from Save The Cat and started writing a story.

I was trying to hit every structural beat, resulting in hazardous results. One of the biggest issues I faced was — things were happening with my character, and the only thing my character could do was respond to those things.

That’s not the trait of a compelling, active character.

A compelling character takes action if he’s responding to an obstacle and doesn’t just react to it. Focusing too much on hitting those beats (like plot points and climaxes) leads to shallow character development. Characters just end up serving the plot rather than driving it.

If you’ve ever received feedback that your character feels flat or your actions are unconvincing, this is the exact reason why it happens. Characters evolve as they overcome each obstacle, but the plot evolves each time a character takes a step toward growth.

• Think of the plot as that jealous competitor for your character who always wants to pull them down.
• But in reality, it’s helping your character grow in ways they couldn’t have on their own.

There are two issues when we follow a beat sheet blindly —

• we neglect the character
• we neglect the plot evolution

Just like the character, the plot too is a dynamic element — your plot is not just an object or device you use to poke the character.

If you have read about fiction storytelling, you must have heard the term — “the plot thickens.”

As the character grows, the plot adapts to present again a more significant obstacle in front of your newly grown character.

This constant tussle between the plot and the character snowballs into a huge fight to the finish — and that’s how you land at your climax.

Even though your audience/ reader has seen or read a story a thousand times, they’re still engaged in learning how “this” particular story will unfold.

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Last

If you end up taking away just one insight from this week's edition, I'd strongly recommend you take this one:

And when you're writing your story:

• Don't judge it prematurely
• Don't read (not even a page) until you finish
• Brain dump all the possible ideas you have
• Let the characters take you on a trip rather than controlling them
• Think of the worst possible scenarios that your characters can face, and
• Once you put them in those situations, let them get out of it on their own
• Be a sadist and just witness their struggles.

When you let them make their own choices (even if they're bad), especially if they're bad - you're allowing the characters to grow organically.

Use a sticky note and write on it -

This will help you gain humility, which will help you when you feel stuck in your stories.

And believe me, you will be stuck at some point and that's not a bad thing!

If you reached the end of this edition.

I would like to thank you for taking your time to read, and wanted to ask you a quick question -

Are these emails helping you write your story?

Is there anything else I could help you with? Are there any topics related to fiction writing/ screenwriting/ or writing in general that you need help with?

Reply to this email and let me know.

Until next time,

Ciao!