Use Your Story’s Structure to Satisfy Readers

Regardless of whether you like to free-write and then tidy up, or outline first and then write, your readers have pre-established expectations of their preferred story structure.

Increase your skill to fulfill those expectations by hitting each of the Story Beats.

The Problem with Unstructured Stories

Long before written languages, the best storytellers adopted and then adapted the narrative structure to please their listeners.

Historical events established expectations of the story structure.

• People codified the structure of oral stories in books.
• The invention of film spread story structure to a wider audience.
• Decades later, the widespread use of television ingrained those expectations.
• Along the way, the marketplace labeled story styles with genre tags.

If you choose to ignore readers’ expectations, especially those based on popular genres, you risk disappointing your target audience.

Story Beats Guide Fulfilling Readers’ Expectations

To be clear, Story Beats are like a map of your story’s plot, and you can choose to follow the guide or take a detour.

If followed, the process encourages you to tie your content to the story structure at strategic points. However, Story Beats are merely guides, serving as a framework to arrange your story’s essentials (e.g., characters, plot events, genre conventions and key scenes).

Once you have the basic details tied to this framework, you’ll have created an outline of your entire novel that’s arranged in a pattern familiar to readers.

The Prompt-based Worksheet Delivers Results

Readers expect you to deliver the story as a familiar pattern.

For example:

• Open with an attention grabbing scene compelling them to turn the page.
• Keep them engaged with rising action during the story’s middle.
• After the climax, provide a satisfying ending that leaves them wanting more.

However, writers often find that ideas for scenes and dialogue come in random order. There’s nothing wrong with that. Whether your muse hangs out with the boys in the basement or your creative influence lives in the clouds, record the thoughts whenever inspiration hits.

Then use the prompt-based worksheet to organize your many inspirations.

1. Story Spine: Like the piers sunk into the bedrock below a river, the Story Spine produces a firm foundation to bridge the chasm between the beginning and end of your narrative.
2. Story Body: Like the name implies, the Story Body fleshes out the spine, adding the details needed to build that bridge.
3. Story Beats: The Story Beats add and arrange the details your readers expect, encouraging them to bridge the gap from the story’s hook to resolution.

Once you’ve collected and organized these details, you’re prepared to write scenes.

Read the Workbook and Complete the Worksheet

Follow the detailed workbook, designed to inspire your thoughts and prepare you to complete the worksheet.

You’ll learn while you write, and best of all, the workbook’s design shows the very structure proven to please readers. The benefits are many, helping you to:

• Envision the entire story.
• Create a synopsis of your novel.
• Gather and organize the detailed notes you’ll need to write scenes.

The step-by-step process empowers you to write with greater confidence.

Avoid Disappointing Your Target Audience

Avid readers often think it’s easy to sit down and write a book readers will love.

It’s not. A full-length novel requires hundreds of small but important details, and if they’re missing, readers notice. That’s why many top writers adopt and adapt a writing process that helps them build the story’s spine, flesh out the narrative’s body, and add details needed to hit each of the expected story beats.

You can avoid disappointing your audience by working through this process.

Way Forward

I know you’re champing at the bit to write, but think about how the Outline Beats step can help you achieve your goal to write a book readers will love.

• If you like to write by the seat of your pants, you don’t need permission. Just do it, but then come back to this step and put your work through the process.

• If you love to outline before you write, this step is a match made in heaven. Go for it, but don’t forget outlining is just another way to organize before you write scenes.

In summary, this lesson will help you:

• Understand what your story is all about.
• Create a summary of the narrative.
• Collect all the details needed to write key scenes.

---