Hate Story Structure? Try Fractal Storytelling!

I used to hate story structure, but today, I’ll share what changed my mind. The concept will help you reframe your thinking with fractal storytelling.

By: Grant P. Ferguson

Last Update: August 13, 2025

What Is Fractal Storytelling

In nature, you see many fractals, such as the leaves of a fern plant that show striking similarities despite different sizes. As another example, trees repeat the growth of branches, and each fork is similar but not necessarily identical.

Writing Principle: In stories, familiar patterns please readers, enticing them to keep reading long enough to encounter a surprising and delightful twist.

You may have seen videos of fractal art. Like me, were you amazed at the way the patterns repeated as the view zoomed into the deeper levels?

When you view a fractal in an app (e.g., Frax for Apple’s iPad), you’ll notice repeated patterns that look the same while zoomed out.
By using the app to zoom in on the image, you can see with magnification how variables change the results.
While zooming out, the similarities coalesce around a single source.
In every fractal, you’ll discover what I call the “seed pattern,” and for writers, that’s the equivalent of story structure.

Note: See the example on Wikipedia of a Mandelbrot set, what I’ve referred to in image #4 as a “seed pattern.”

Use of a Fractal Storytelling Seed Pattern

In writing, we see similarities to fractals in the structure of scenes, sentences, and words.

For example, the 8-beat Scene and Sequel Sequence is an example of a fractal storytelling seed pattern used by writers to please readers.

Top writers weave these patterns into reader-pleasing stories, linking one to the next like pearls strung together to create a narrative necklace.

In my book review of D. Wallace Peach’s latest novel, Tale of the Season’s Weaver, I noted how her novel serves as an example of weaving these patterns into a story.

Patterns Support and Enhance Creativity

The variables of characters, plots, and themes drive a story’s arc, similar to the way mathematical variables drive the shapes and color of fractals.

Minor alterations in the variables for both stories and fractals create remarkable changes in the results.

Writing Principle: Top writers use familiar patterns to draw audiences, while varying the details to produce fresh approaches that exceed expectations.

I’ll illustrate this writing principle with a fractal gallery that shows examples resulting from changes to variables.

Discover how variables plus story structure can give your readers what they want!

Your thoughts on using story structure in your novel?

Writing Is Thinking

The Trellis Method: Use the Content Lens and Scene Lens to Inspect for What Readers Expect

Use a Story Structure Chart to Spot Problems

13 responses to “Hate Story Structure? Try Fractal Storytelling!”

Wynne Leon

What an interesting breakdown of the pattern. Love the fractal gallery, Grant! Thank you!

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1. Grant at Tame Your Book
  
  After writing this post, Wynne, I realized that fractal storytelling and the Trellis Method are like wet and water.
  
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Dana at Regular Girl Devos

Great analogy, Grant!

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1. Grant at Tame Your Book
  
  Thanks, Dana!
  
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Jacqui Murray

I love tessellations which sound much like fractals (a few differences). What a clever way to approach story writing.

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1. Grant at Tame Your Book
  
  Thanks Jacqui, and I’m always on the look out for ways to explain the writing process so it doesn’t sound like a formula. Principles, not rules!
  
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John Buckner

I love human/nature connections—physical repeating patterns, the epitome of nature’s genetic efficiencies and expression of electromagnetic wave “action” creating “reactions” in physical form. Since human beings share an emotional spectrum, which is the writer’s currency, we load stories with repeating patterns of different emotions for paced reader endorphin hits using common human behavioral motives to drive and add structure to the story plot. Timing and pacing the story scenes with the greatest emotional intensity expands or compresses the story structure at crucial times (physical branches) between the first and last page. The more compressed the scenes, the faster the emotional pacing such as you would experience in a thriller genre—or the generation of smaller repeating parts of a fractal. I wonder how my book would look as a fractal work of art? How might fractal art differ across the genres? Thanks for the brain teaser, Grant. This will stick with me for some time.

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1. Grant at Tame Your Book
  
  Well said, John. Thank you!
  
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Priscilla Bettis

Fractals are cool. I do think the pattern within a good scene and then within the next and the next is like a fractal design.

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1. Grant at Tame Your Book
  
  My mind started seeing fractals in so many facets of writing. Now I’m thinking fractals, not formulas!
  
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Lisa Troy

This was an interesting read! It definitely made me think of story structure in a new way.

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1. Grant at Tame Your Book
  
  Thanks for commenting, Lisa. The self-similarity angle is so true for writers, reframing the writing process.
  
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mediarteducation

Smart and sophisticated! thanks for sharing.

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