There are too many books about Story Structure. It’s an entire wall at the bookstore for goodness sake.
And all you wanted was a little help improving your writing passion project.
Structure can really help, but it doesn’t need to be complicated.
Maybe you’re a screenwriter, or into fan fiction, or you want to improve your anecdote skills. Or you’re in marketing, social media, or simply journaling. Story Structure can help in all instances.
But do you really need the Hero’s Journey? Does Robert Mckee’s “Story” really need to 480 pages? Or is it as simple as Stephen King’s epiphany that he can write whatever he wants and then “remove the bad stuff”?
I’m here to share the story structure that I teach and use, which is so simple it can and should be a two page article:
Yup, four steps. It’ll be a simple story, but it’s a start, and I find it a lot more useful than the whole Rising Action Pyramid thing we learned in school.
Shrek wants his swamp back. He goes on an adventure to do this. He succeeds in getting the swamp back. But he learns that he values having friends and invites everyone to come live with him.
Simple! But maybe not that useful. So let’s build it up a bit:
Okay, now for the article part. It can’t be all diagrams and pictures. Don’t worry, I use lots of examples.
1. Someone Wants Something Interesting
The difference between Shrek and your coworkers story about getting sunburned last weekend is that Shrek’s “want” is interesting. The more interesting (and personally devastating and vital) the better. Nemo’s Dad NEEDS to find Nemo — he’s the last son remaining from a tragedy that killed all the other eggs AND his wife. Nemo is literally all the poor guy has left. It’s pretty obvious why he’ll risk it all to go save him.
What does your main character want? Why do they want it? Or if this is a personal story intended for wowing a date, what did YOU want in the beginning? Is there an interesting reason that will draw people in?
Your coworker could enhance their tale if they were sunburned because they took a wrong turn hiking and spent four hours bushwhacking while fearing for their life. (Their want? To get back home! Why did they go out in the first place? Because they had never solo hiked and wanted to prove they could do it.)
2. They Go Out of Their Comfort Zone and Face Conflict to Get It
Shrek has to fight a dragon and (even worse) face his emotions. Nemo’s Dad has to face the big scary world. Your coworker had to tackle their mortality and personal fragility. The more personal the conflict, the better. It doesn’t necessarily have to be bigger (though people do like Mission Impossible), as long as it’s personally challenging for the character.
This is why “what is your most embarrassing moment” stories are fun. It’s a time when someone was forced out of their comfort zone.
Ideally, the best stories find a character literally facing their worst fear. However, if you’re constructing an instagram story about your holiday in Istanbul, it’ll probably be engaging to see you navigating ferries and figuring out the market. Share the struggle!
3. They Either Succeed or Fail (But Learn A Harsh Truth)
Shrek gets his swamp back… but now he’s lonely. Nemo’s Dad finds his son… but now sees that Nemo has matured and needs to go out into the world on his own. Your coworker finds the parking lot… but now realizes they are terrible at being alone and independent. It was a simple hike and they almost died! Maybe they’re destined to have their hand held through life.
This is the moment that leads to what the books call a “climax”. It’s where a character realizes something about themselves and must make a choice to CHANGE or REMAIN. It’s also where most aspiring writers (and some professional ones) fall short. In my day job as a script reader (where I read over 1000 scripts a year) this is the biggest mistake. Characters achieve their desire… and then go home and it’s over. They learn nothing and never change. Sure, it’s realistic, but we humans read stories in order to share experiences and learn; we want to see character synthesize and act on their epiphany.
4. They Go Home, Changed
Kid’s movies tend to have a moment where the characters say what they’ve learned. When I teach oral storytelling, I encourage my students to literally state their lesson this at the end of their stories. The difference is magical. Audiences lean in, eager to hear how the person changed. For some reason saying, “And that’s how I learned not to put my finger too deep in my nose”, the final piece is delivered to a story that had, frankly, a very obvious moral.
Most movies and books don’t literally state this. Instead they show it. This is the moment where Shrek invites his friends back to live with him. Nemo’s Dad lets him go alone to save the day at the end. Your coworker, driving home (sunburnt) realizes that even though they almost died, they still got through it, and they did it all by themselves. Next week… a slightly easier hike!
All stories are about change. In the rare stories where the protagonist doesn’t change, it’s because they changed the people around them. Or, it could be a “tragedy” where the character chooses to NOT change, which still counts.
How does your character change? How did you change as a result of your favorite anecdote? If you’re editing, can you make the change more personal and pronounced? It’ll make all the difference.
There you have it. A simple, four beat story structure.
One cool thing about this is that It also works on an act, chapter, and scene level. As you get smaller, the “wants” are smaller and the change less profound, but it’s always there. Or at least it should be. It’s also present in our life: we cycle through want, go, succeed/fail, learn over and over and over again. Every time a character (or you) walk into a room, you’re going through the cycle.
Now, once you’ve mastered this feel free to go read all those story structure books I mentioned. Because I wasn’t totally honest — those books are awesome. It’s super fun to go deeper into story and figure out exactly how everything works. But do you need all that to get started? No way. You don’t even need THIS structure! But if it helps, then I’m happy. It certainly helps me.
Good luck writing. I can’t wait to read your stuff.