Story Structure and Character Development
It occurred to me that I haven’t written anything about structure and character development. What follows is my way of handling it. I’m not a teacher, and this isn’t a class. I’m just sharing what I’ve picked up along the way, and what guided me in a general sense as I worked through the first draft of my first novel.
There is more than one way to think about story structure and character development. Do your own research, see what works for you, and chart your own course.
My educational background is in theatre and film. I’ve mostly written for the entertainment industry so I adopted what I’ve used for decades: a three-act structure, scenes based on a three-act structure, and a “wants, needs, and major flaw” starting point for character development.
I’ll go through all this in two parts. Part 1 covers story structure. Part 2 covers scene structure and character development.
Part 1: Story Structure
There are a variety of ways to structure a story, probably as many ways as there are writers. I doubt there is any “right” way to do it. Whatever works best for you is your “right” way. Here are some ways I think about it.
Build Story Structure with Character Arcs
A character arc is a character’s transformational inner journey over the course of a story. The character begins as an interesting person with a relatable character flaw. Events in the story force the character to acknowledge and address the flaw, causing personal growth. This change is often substantive, for example, from greed to benevolence. In most stories, protagonists are the characters who most often experience character arcs, but it enriches the story if secondary characters have simple arcs too.
Antagonists can have character arcs too. Anakin Skywalker’s character arc in the Star Wars saga is one of a dark transformation that ultimately culminates in redemption. Initially a heroic Jedi Knight, Anakin Skywalker falls to the dark side and becomes the feared Sith Lord Darth Vader. His son, Luke, and his own inherent goodness, ultimately redeem him, which leads Vader to sacrifice himself to save his son.
Character arcs help form complex, nuanced characters who feel real and relatable to the reader. They help illustrate how motivations and actions are driven by your characters’ internal beliefs, flaws, and desires. Character arcs help make characters read like real people with depth and complexity.
Consider the changes you want your characters to undergo, then consider what series of events will make those changes possible. If you figure that out, you’ll be on your way to structuring your story and developing your characters. Pretty sweet—one process creates progress on two fronts.
Half of Part 2 focuses in more depth on character development. Here, character arcs are simply offered as one way to start thinking about how to structure your story.
Build Story Structure with Narrative Point of View
Narrative point of view is the perspective of the storyteller, or narrator. When you write a story, you must decide who is telling the story and from what point of view. For example, you could tell the story in the voice of a character involved in the story, or from a perspective that sees and knows all the characters but is not among them during the events of the story.
There are three primary types of narrative point of view: First Person Point of View, Second Person Point of View, and Third Person Point of View.
First Person Point of View: one of your characters is narrating the story. “I” sentence construction and first-person pronouns reveal first person point of view. For example: “I asked him who the troublemakers were.” The reader assumes this character is closely related to the story’s action—the protagonist, a main character close to the protagonist, or perhaps a chronicler of the events of the story. A classic example of a chronicler is Dr. Watson chronicling the cases of Sherlock Holmes.
First person narrative can provide intimacy and a deep look into a narrator’s mind. It’s limited by the perceptive abilities of the character and confined to what the narrator would realistically know and be able to see in each moment. I am writing my novel in first person point of view. The protagonist relates events of his recent past.
Second Person Point of View: second person point of view “breaks the fourth wall” by directly addressing the reader with the pronoun “you.” The term “fourth wall” comes from live theater and has to do with the most traditional and common theater structure, the proscenium stage. It features a large, usually rectangular stage, often with three set walls. An arch, called the proscenium arch, frames an invisible fourth wall through which the audience watches the play unfold. In a film or TV show, the fourth wall is where the camera stands. Breaking the fourth wall refers to a character from the drama directly acknowledging the audience or speaking to the camera, thereby dispelling the traditional illusion that the audience is not present.
The second person point of view makes the reader another character in the action of the story. For example: “You feel your heart race. You break out in a cold sweat. You can’t put your thoughts together, but you know the only way forward is to move your feet. And they’d better move fast.”
Second person point of view comes with extra challenges. The overuse of "you" can become monotonous and pull the reader out of the moment, making the story less engaging. Focusing solely on the reader as the protagonist makes the development of other characters and subplots more challenging. The reader may develop an uncomfortable “puppet” feeling as they’re manipulated and controlled by the story. The reader’s lack of agency could be irritating. However, if your project were an interactive story, which allows the reader to choose their own path from a variety of options, the reader would retain some agency.
Third Person Point of View: third-person point of view follows multiple characters and their narrative arcs and is free to change time and space perspectives. A third-person narrator can be all-knowing, aware of all character’s thoughts and feelings, aware of only what certain characters say and do, or be focused on a single character. There are three types of third person point of view.
Third-person omniscient point of view: The omniscient narrator knows everything about the story and its characters. This narrator can enter any character’s mind, move freely through time, and give the reader their own opinions and observations as well as those of the characters.
Third-person limited omniscient: This point of view (often called a “close third”) is when an author sticks closely to one character but remains in third person. The narrator can do this for the entire novel, or switch between different characters for different chapters or sections. This point of view allows the author to limit a reader’s perspective and control what information the reader knows—great for holding interest, mysteries, and to heighten suspense. What if the narrator proves untrustworthy?
Third-person objective: Third-person objective point of view has a neutral narrator that is not privy to characters’ thoughts or feelings. The narrator could be a chronicler or set a voyeuristic tone where the reader may feel as if they’re eavesdropping.
In general, third-person point of view, regardless of the type, has a lot going for it, such as a wider narrative scope than first and second-person point of view. It can shine the spotlight on more than one character. It offers a view of the plot from many angles. All this works towards a rich, complex narrative.
Knowing your narrator’s point of view can suggest how to structure your story.
Build Story Structure with Free Association
Free association is a way to harness the power of unconscious processes. The idea is to enhance creativity by allowing yourself to explore a wide range of ideas and connections. It involves generating a chain of associations, where each thought leads to the next, without censorship or judgment. This encourages access to the right brain’s ability to process information holistically and identify patterns missed by the left brain's analytical approach to problem solving.
While plot outlines can work beautifully for some fiction writers, as can notecards on a tackboard and various virtual tackboard apps, sometimes these processes can be unhelpfully cerebral. The primary advantage to using free association at the start of the writing process is its intrinsic affinity for facilitating discovery. Start with a basic premise, or story summary, then add elements by free association.
Word association is one way to start. You can begin with a trigger word related to a problem you’re trying to solve, a theme, a character, a place, or anything you’d like to start with. Let go of judgments or preoccupations. Don’t dwell on whether the words that come up make sense or not. Just keep writing down whatever words come to mind. Let each word trigger the next.
I’ll write down a word on a piece of paper and then draw arrows and doodles to associated words. For me, it helps to doodle while I’m free associating. I think it gives the linear part of my brain something to do while the patternmaking part free associates.
Don’t be reluctant to consider unusual or surprising ideas that come up.
Read more about using free association in creative writing here.
Build Story Structure by Understanding and Subverting Genre Conventions and Expectations
Genres (Fantasy, Horror, Science Fiction, Romance, Mystery, Thriller, Magical Realism, Action, Dystopian, Adventure, Speculative Fiction, Western, Detective, and the many subgenres, etc.) follow common structures, and readers expect certain things of each genre. For example, thrillers usually contain suspense, unexpected plot twists, turning points, and cliffhangers. If you fully understand genre structures and reader expectations, you can fulfill the expectations, or subvert them in a meaningful way.
If you’re considering writing in a specific genre, read a good many books in the same genre. Learning how other authors working in the same genre have structured their stories and handled the expected genre tropes* will give you a roadmap to follow for your first draft, and give you a sense of common elements that you can subvert to keep your readers guessing.
*Tropes
A trope refers to a common and recurring elements such as theme, character type, plot device, or narrative pattern. While sometimes described as clichés, tropes aren't inherently bad. They can be effective tools for authors to guide readers' expectations, create familiarity, and to subvert to surprise with the unexpected. Genre readers recognize and expect certain tropes.
For example, some common urban fantasy tropes are: the chosen one, magical artifacts, the dark lord, the mentor, magic, prophecies, quests, supernatural creatures, and secret heirs. Every single one of these tropes helped structure the urban fantasy I’m writing, and most of them are purposefully subverted—not enough to be unrecognizable, but just enough to create my own take on an urban fantasy—and hopefully keep my readers surprised and engaged.
Build Story with a Three-Act Structure
The three-act structure divides a story into three parts representing the beginning, middle, and end.
The first act introduces the protagonist, provides their backstory, and concludes with an inciting incident. Science fiction and novels will usually include worldbuilding up front as well.
The second act includes rising action (escalating problems and ever-increasing stakes) that leads to a midpoint crisis. Often, if the protagonist loses the midpoint crisis, they will win the final crisis, or vice versa.
The third act contains a climactic confrontation, which is the point in the hero’s journey where they must prevail or perish. The story ends with the climax, followed by falling action and denouement, in which the author ties up any subplots and loose ends. The events of the climax wind back into normal life.
Seven-point Structure
The seven-point structure is a more detailed approach to a three-act structure with key moments indicated: the hook, first plot point, first pinch point, midpoint, second pinch point, second plot point, and resolution. Let’s look at each:
The Hook
The hook is the first scene of act one. An event built specifically to immediately engage the reader happens. The rest of act one establishes the setting and the protagonist.
In every well-told story, the protagonist goes through a transformation. The writer must give readers a good idea of who the protagonist is and what their life is like before their transformation begins. Otherwise, how will we know the character has changed? In a three-act structure this exposition takes place in act one.
Plot Point One
In a traditional three act structure, plot point one is the transition between act one and act two. After you’ve introduced readers to the protagonist, people, and places of your story, something consequential happens: the inciting incident. It’s an event that fuels the plot and forces the protagonist out of their comfortable or status quo existence and off on their journey of transformation. The inciting incident must be very compelling, in the context of the character you’ve created, that forces them to, if sometimes reluctantly, accept a challenge. Once your character has accepted the challenge, there’s no turning back.
Pinch Point One
As act two gets underway, your protagonist begins to encounter an escalating set of problems and challenges. These external conflicts apply pressure on your protagonist. Act two is also where you introduce your antagonist(s). The escalating challenges and the introduction of the antagonist(s) provides a good deal, though not all, the narrative for the first half of act two. There can also be the introduction of allies, mentors and more.
The Midpoint
A major event occurs about halfway through a story. As a result, the protagonist targets a prize or objective and pivots their stance from reaction to action. The story begins an upward climb through progressively difficult situations with higher and higher stakes leading to an apparent inevitable climax—and then something goes wrong.
Pinch Point Two
As the protagonist races forward, they hit a significant obstacle. It’s a turning point that creates suspense as the reader question whether the protagonist will succeed. The protagonist doubts their own abilities as they gird themself to face the obstacle, which seems unbeatable. But as the action builds towards a climactic showdown, the protagonist gains a new perspective, which provides the confidence necessary to persevere as the end of act two draws to a close.
Plot Point Two
The story plunges towards its climax in act three. This is where the protagonist may finally meet their nemesis face to face. It’s the peak of a story’s dramatic and emotional intensity and must provide a big payoff for readers.
The Resolution
Also known as the denouement, this is the conclusion of act three. It’s where each of the narrative threads, the individual storylines that weave together to create a cohesive narrative, resolve. These threads can be main plots, subplots, and parallel narratives, which each contribute to the overall story by adding depth and complexity. Character arcs conclude. The protagonist has undergone a transformation that leaves them noticeably different from where they started. The protagonist returns to some semblance of normalcy or accepts their new normal.
Obviously, you can use all these ideas for getting a handle on story structure, no need to choose—flip back and forth between them and see what kind of ideas immerge.
Onward to Part 2: Scene Structure and Character Development.