Plot Structure: give yourself Jelly Babies...

I get loads of writers come to me half way through their novel and struggling to get past the middle, saying it feels like they're wading through treacle... but that should be the exciting bit, the point of no return, the moment of truth, a huge reveal that throws you into the rest of the story so that before you know it, you're writing the end. And usually, when I go through this with them, they feel enthused and can't wait to get back to it.

So what is plot structure and do we have to use one?

The simple answer is no. I didn't even come across any of this until I'd finished book two or so of my sci-fi series (I didn't study English Lit or Creative Writing, I went off adventuring for my degree and climbed volcanoes). But I did have a feel for turning points and pacing, because I'd been reading my whole life and I wanted to write a book I wanted to read (that was much faster-paced than anything I could find at the time).

I was introduced to the idea of plot structure when I was working in industry and my sister gave me a book called Inspirational Leadership by Richard Olivier who uses Shakespeare's Henry V to analyse the secrets of good leadership.

He follows the five acts of the play and discusses the stages that every project can be expected to go through quite naturally in life - the call to the imagination - allocating resources - dealing with traitors - first steps - first blocks - the dark night of the soul - inspiring the troops - achieving the vision - so that by understanding these stages, leaders and team members can adapt and succeed.

"O for a muse of fire, that would transcend
The brightest heaven of invention..." William Shakespeare, Henry V

Needless to say, I loved this idea because I love Henry V and an analysis that makes so much sense when applied to the real world could surely be applied to any story... I ran off and mapped the key turning points in my books and, yay, it worked... by happy chance.

This led me to look into it some more. If you google plot structure, loads comes up. I'm not going to go into it all as some don't appeal to me. So this is more a quick intro to some of my favourites with links for more reading if they sound like they might appeal to you too.

Having said that, I'll mention Joseph Campbell's Hero's Journey but it's not one I'm overly fond of. This is the famous twelve step cycle that takes the hero from the ordinary world, through to a world of adventure and then back to the ordinary world, changed. Star Wars, Lord of The Rings, Harry Potter and the Hunger Games, amongst many more, are all said to use this structure. Again, Joseph Campbell likened his structure to real life, and that's why it works.

"What I think is that a good life is one hero journey after another. Over and over again, you are called to the realm of adventure, you are called to new horizons. Each time, there is the same problem: do I dare? And then if you do dare, the dangers are there, and the help also, and the fulfillment or the fiasco. There’s always the possibility of a fiasco. But there’s also the possibility of bliss." Joseph Campbell

The problem I had with the hero's journey was the idea of starting and spending a quarter of the book in the ordinary world. I'm too impatient. I want to jump straight into the action - in media res and all that - not write page after page of nothing happening. But I must admit to a later epiphany where I realised that the 'ordinary world' in my books for my characters was full of action and running around getting shot at, and then the threshold to the adventure leads them into this particular adventure...

But before I had that epiphany, I discovered the seven point structure which was popularised by Dan Wells that led me to the Secrets of Story Structure by KM Weiland, which with its structure that starts with - hook - inciting event - first plot point - had me hooked. I love this structure because it maps onto how I write anyway, and how I want to read. I won't try to explain it here because if you want to know more, read KM Weiland's insights in depth. (I like the way she discusses character arcs too if you want to read more about that.)

"The fear that story structure is formulaic and difficult couldn’t be further from the truth." KM Weiland

The full seven points, with a few bits added in, goes like this (slight variations depending on who you are reading):

hook 0%
inciting event 12%
first plot point 25%
first pinch point 37%
midpoint 50%
second pinch point 62%
second plot point 75%
duel 90%
climax 100%

The way I do describe this structure when I talk to writers is by using my story of the Great North Run, an annual half marathon from Newcastle upon Tyne to South Shields if you don't know it, and the jelly babies.

I'm not a runner, I shouldn't run for medical reasons, but a few years ago I completed the Great North Run four times in a row to help my sister raise money for Cancer Research UK (after the year she didn't show up at the finish line until everyone else had left because she'd dislocated her hip - I kept her company after that) and I learned about the jelly babies.

If you haven't ever done it, the start of the Great North Run is amazing. Most people are raising money for good causes that are close to everyone's hearts. You line up in Newcastle city centre, the PA system blasts out Abide With Me, everyone gets teared up and the Red Arrows fly overhead. This is our hook, our call to arms, our call to adventure. We can do this.

Once you cross the start line, it doesn't take long before you are running across the iconic Tyne Bridge. This is it. After all the training (I never got past 4 miles in training but heyho), now you are doing it for real. Bring on the rest of the 13.1 miles. This is our inciting event.

For a non-runner, this is where the story starts to get tough, even this early. The road leads up hill and before you know it, you're slowing to a walk, you're wondering what on earth possessed you to think you could do this, and the pains are setting in. And then... lovely people pop out in front of you and give you jelly babies (they might have been jelly beans but in this story they're jelly babies). This is our first plot point. You need something to happen to spur you on and there they are, the jelly babies.

Between that and the midpoint, it gets really tough - non-runner, remember. This is the first pinch point, the reminder of the antagonist, a raising of the stakes, the first of the real obstacles...

But... just as you're not sure if you can go on any further... the midpoint, music, cheering, drums, a DJ on a microphone calling out names and shouting encouragement, and, yes, more jelly babies. The midpoint is a huge point of no return. You're committed to this, you might have to adjust your pace, you might have to dig deep, again something has to happen and those jelly babies keep you going... into second half of the run.

When you hit the second pinch point and the stakes rise again, the pain is getting unbearable, the obstacles are escalating, the miles stretch on ahead of you and it's tough to see a way to the end...

Which is where we hit the second plot point and enter the dark night of the soul. In some discussions of plot structure, I've read that this should be where you give your hero a critical decision, make them drive the plot, give them a choice they can't make, a no win, doomed whatever they do kind of decision. This is the point where it's as bad as it gets, it can't get any worse... and then it gets worse (as we all know from Disney and Pixar movies). In the Great North Run, this is the point where there is a bus to the finish line. Yes, a bus. To the finish line. (It might not be exactly at that three quarter way point, but it's not far off!). The temptation to veer off the road and stagger onto that bus to end the agony is ridiculous. And it's right there, at the darkest moment when the runners dressed in banana suits finally catch you up and run cheerfully past, rattling their fundraising buckets.

But this is our story and it's not going to end there. This time it's not jelly babies, it's biscuits and juice and residents who line the way, not so much with cheering by this time, late in the day, when most people have finished long ago, but with gentle words of encouragement. And you keep going. You keep fighting through and that's what your heroes have to do.

You see the road signs to South Shields, you stagger up that rise, feeling a faint sea breeze and you top the crest to the see the sea. You've made it. You've done it...

But this is only the 90% mark. The road turns a sharp left and the finish line with everyone starting to pack up and go is still a mile away. A mile away. This is the point where you've fought off all the aliens and you are safe on the ship, about to head home... when... yep, alien queen and you have to dig even deeper to overcome this last confrontation. Hopefully you still have some jelly babies in your pocket. You fight through and when you do make it to that finish line, the feeling is incredible.

And that's how you want your readers to feel when they finish your book.

So that's my favourite go to if I'm struggling with where a story is heading. I have a tendency to race ahead and throw everyone into pickles that are too big, too soon, and when I take a step back, and grab a bag of jelly babies, I can see where those big events and turning points belong and it all falls into place.

One last link for more reading before we leave it at that and the idea of mirrors and patterns, which I love playing with (hence my sister, at the start of this post and the end...), and chiastic structure. Again KM Weiland describes it brilliantly so here's the link.

"Story structure, in all its many posited forms, is simply a record of the long-recognized patterns that have emerged from humankind’s millennia of stories." KM Weiland

Hope that was useful. If you want to talk through your story and your plot, if you're stuck and need some inspiration, give me a shout. I'm happy to chat, or if you want more in depth feedback, I offer mentoring.

Happy writing
CGH xx