Structure

A commercial fiction novel has a pretty textbook structure.  Things vary from genre to genre with romance, thrillers, and epic fantasy being fairly dissimilar.  Keeping my machine analogy, we might be talking about the difference between a sexy convertible, a Humvee, and a dirigible.  But the fact remains – an engine is an engine.  If you want your story to go, certain parts are critical.

In general, we are talking about works of a length between 50,000 and 150,000 words – 50K being the minimum for a YA or category romance, and 150K being the maximum for a debut fantasy.  That might even be stretching it, so to be on the safe side, I recommend keeping your story between 70K and 120K words.  Within that 100K (give or take) words, you MUST have (at a bare minimum) the following:

1. A beginning, middle, and end clearly discernable by the reader. 
2. At least one protagonist with a goal, motivation, conflict, and arc.  
3. At least one antagonist with a goal and motivation. (Protagonist provides conflict.)   
4. A definite POV (or limited multiple POVs) to tell the story through.
5. A setting/backdrop/world in which the story takes place.    

This is the bare minimum it takes to get a story off the ground, but it is by no means everything you need.  Some would argue that a theme should be on this list; however, I disagree.  I think your arc can stand in for a theme, and that sometimes there is no higher message, just a good, fun story.  A theme is important, but I don’t believe it is mandatory.  I’ll go over the things I do consider mandatory  in more detail below. 

A Beginning, Middle, and End

Otherwise known as a plot, your story must have a logical sequence of events that carries your character through their arc.  Lucky for us, the details of this element of story structure have been analyzed and catalogued to death.  There are many different ways to break this down and you’ll have to find the one that speaks to you best, but you’ll see consistently the same pattern: beginning, middle, end, as follows:

Beginning:  Set the stage, introduce characters, inciting incident, plan to move forward.

Middle:  Introduce conflict, put the characters through tests and trials, give a minor victory.

End:  Raise the stakes, push the characters to the edge, black moment/climax, complete arc. 

There is no secret formula, so if you’re waiting for the big reveal, you’re wasting your time.  But if you’re willing to work, there are plenty of different ways to plot a book and some mish-mash of them is probably the exact right process to use to plot yourbook.  Screenwriting expert Michael Hauge defines these stages in his 3 Act Structure, Christopher Vogler studied mythology to develop The Hero’s Journey.  Both are excellent examples of very different approaches to the same end result.  Nowadays there are 100s of books on the market to help you build your novel from scratch.  Methods abound, from novel-generating software, to storywheels, to plotboarding, to Snowflakes.  I encourage you to try them all and find the one that works best for you.  Another recommendation if you’re struggling with plot:

Break Into Fictionby Mary Buckham and Diana Love - This book takes the classic novel structure and makes sure every end of it is tied into your character’s GMC.  It’s a good tool for pansters and anyone who is stuck in their plotting and not sure why.  Uses universal movie examples and provides templates.  It is workbook-heavy, but worth the effort. 

Breaking things down a bit further, within that beginning, middle, and end, your book is going to be divided into chapters, and those chapters will be divided into scenes and sequels.  I won’t go into details on this, but I suggest you get familiar with the terms.  You can read Jim Butcher’s explanation of scenes and sequels here, and if you still want more, I strongly recommend reading two books out of the Writer’s Digest Elements of Fiction writing series:  Scene and Structureby Jack M. Bickham and Plot and Structure by James Scott Bell. 

A Protagonist with a Goal, Motivation, Conflict, and Arc

If you don’t already own it, go and order Debra Dixon’s Goal, Motivation, and Conflict right now.  Read it, understand it, apply it.  The other component, the arc, simply means that your character must be changed by the end point of your story.  They are now a new person, reborn, with a new perspective and outlook on life.  Your story serves as the catalyst for this change, but this change – or arc –  is really the purpose of your story, also known as your theme. 

An Antagonist with a Goal and Motivation

Did you read Dixon’s GMC yet?  No?  Go do it!  When you get back you’ll understand that the antagonist, or your protagonist’s opposition, doesn’t need an arc.  They don’t need to grow or change, but their actions against the protagonist need to be properly motivated and their goal must be in opposition to the protagonists (hence the conflict is built-in).      

A Definite POV to Tell the Story Through

Have you ever read a story that hops from an action sequence with the bomb-dismantling hero in the first scene, to the debutante heroine at the salon in the next, to some random guy in the Belize jungle in the next?  You weren’t really sure what was going on, right?  Or who you should be rooting for?  That’s because the POV stayed too wide for too long and you weren’t able to “plug in” to a particular character.  I bet you stopped reading, didn’t you?  POV is one of the most important structure elements of your story.  It defines how the reader experiences everything.  Know how to write in different POVs, how to switch between them, and when each is appropriate.  If you’re lost, check out my series of essays on POV for starters.  Then, I recommend reading The Power of Point of Viewby Alicia Rasley. 

A Setting/World in Which the Story Takes Place

A lot of people skimp on this element and still others go overboard.  Even if you’re writing a contemporary, it’s important to create a vivid world in the background.  This makes your book rich with tastes, textures, and images that will feel real to the reader.  It’s also an opportunity to show the reader more about the POV character by demonstrating how they perceive and experience their world.  That said, taking things too far will slow your story down.  Your mileage may vary, but I don’t recommend writing complete histories of your made-up world or epic descriptions of your castles and valleys into your story.  Limit the information to what immediately serves the scene and make it count.