Introduction
Last week, we discussed plot, ‘what happens.’ It’s the basic gist of your story. Can you sketch out your plot like we did with Cinderella last week?
Can you summarize your plot into a single paragraph that is intriguing, even gripping, for a query letter to an agent or publisher, or for the book description on the back cover that helps sell your book to the reader?
That’s the plot.
Structure is how that plot is organized.
Structure: How it happens
If plot is “what happens,” structure is “how it happens.” The structure is the organization of the events and scenes in the plot. The structure unfolds the plot in a way that keeps readers engaged and wanting to know what happens next, with a satisfactory conclusion.
There are numerous potential structures, so we’ll only touch on a few of the most common ones here.
Chronological or linear
The most basic structure and one of the most common is chronological. It begins at the beginning and ends at the end. Sounds simple enough.
Makes perfect sense, but you have to know when the “beginning” should start and when, and how, to end it.
The temptation is to start at a point long before the beginning of the actual plot, to provide the reader with all the background, family history, growing up, what life was like before the story really kicks off and gets interesting.
Will readers stick around for several chapters or even several pages before the story kicks into gear and hooks their interest?
There can also be a tendency to let the end of the story go on too long.
The plot itself has been resolved, but the writer goes on (and on and on) to tell about how things are after the plot has concluded, where all the characters are now, how life has changed since the events of the story, and trying to wrap everything up in a tidy little bow.
Dragging out the beginning may mean readers never get past the first chapter or two.
Dragging out the ending too long leaves readers with a less than powerful ending to a story they may have loved up to that point. It ends with a weak impression.
Caveat: Some genres and some readers love that extended ending, so know your audience.
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