Write for Readers Using Story Structure

It’s easier to write for readers when you use story structure as your guide. Boiled down, the story structure empowers you to write a book regardless of your writing preferences. Story structure makes sure you include all the pieces to the narrative’s puzzle that readers expect.

Time-proven story structure helps you do just that. For example:

1. Genres: Sets the readers’ expectations of key scenes and conventions.
2. Premise: Organizes what the writer wants to write into a writing strategy.
3. Characters: Delivers the emotions readers crave through fictional people.
4. Plot: Forces characters to show the desired emotions during key events.
5. Themes: Gives readers the experiences that can shape their lives.
6. Beats: Creates a familiar story flow so twists can surprise and delight.
7. Scenes: Packages all the puzzle pieces into page-turning mini-stories.

I’m reminded of the importance of story structure as I knock the dust off an earlier manuscript, making sure the audience is my priority.

Reasons to Write for Readers with Story Structure

This quote from Gene Roddenberry suggests excellent reasons to put your readers first, and story structure helps you achieve that goal.

“I consider reading the greatest bargain in the world. A shelf of books is a shelf of many lives and ideas and imaginations which the reader can enjoy whenever he wishes and as often as he wishes. Instead of experiencing just one life, the book-lover can experience hundreds or even thousands of lives.”

Story Structure Guides as You Write for Readers

There are many paths that lead to a published book.

Readers love story structure because it gives them a sense of the familiar, encouraging them to suspend disbelief and enjoy the tale. Like Roddenberry suggested, the audience also wants to experience more than one life, embellishing their existence with information and lessons while avoiding the inherent dangers.

Story structure guides the writer to fulfill readers’ expectations, even though authors may begin the project using different techniques.

Fulfill Expectations as Your Write for Readers

People solve a 1,000-piece puzzle differently.

• Some look for the edge pieces.
• Others sort by color.
• Many assemble based on patterns.

Regardless of the method, all want the assembled puzzle to look like the image on the box. That, my writing friend, is what story structure does for you. Use whatever process you like, but at some point, the assembled narrative must resemble what you promised to readers.

Like algebra’s commutative property of addition (i.e., A + B = B + A), you can work the seven categories in your preferred order, but before you publish, write for readers like a bestselling author by using story structure to arrange the narrative’s puzzle pieces.

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