Aug 13, 2023
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Creating a book map
https://plottr.com/features/ As a determined pantser writer, I resist the outline and prefer to thrash out a mini version of my opus in the format of the 3DayNovelContest. Then, once I get it all down, I go back and create a structure around the blathering I’ve just completed. It takes a long time, but eventually I get everything laid out. With my latest book, Spit and Polish, I found I was…
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The Four Act Story Structure (with Black Panther)
Part 1 - Orphan
Narrative Context: Set Up the story. In the first 20% - 25% of your novel, you will: Introduce the character (backstory, their stasis, their inner demons, their strengths), establish stakes (what the character has to lose), foreshadow the imminent conflict to come.
Hook: The hook happens in the first chapter of your novel, the earlier the better. It grabs the reader, makes us empathize with the protagonist, and gives the reader something to bite into before the protag’s quest really begins.
Example: (Black Panther) Freeing kidnapped women from warlords to call Nakia back to Wakanda.
Inciting Incident: Something happens to your character that incites the coming conflicts. This could happen as early as the hook, or could happen as late as Plot Point 1.
Example: Klaw and Killmonger steal vibranium from a British museum.
Plot Point 1: At 20% or 25% in your novel, something big happens that alters the protag’s plans/status/beliefs, forcing them to respond. The first plot point defines the nature of the hero’s quest, and everything you’ve set up (stakes, inner demons, foreshadowing) has led up to this point. Imagine the first quarter of the novel as pulling back the plunger in a pinball machine, and the first plot point is when you let the ball fly. The antagonist is introduced, but their true nature will not be fully revealed until the midpoint.
Example for Plot Point 1 from Black Panther: ~35m/123m (28%), Klaw’s whereabouts are known. T’Challa needs to go on a retrieval mission, putting his leadership as King to test for the first time.
Part 2 - Wanderer
Narrative Context: Reaction. 25% - 50% of your story. Something big has just happened (Plot Point 1) and the protagonist is reacting to it, running from it, pursuing it without knowing what it is. There is a sense of indecision, or lack of knowledge. We don’t have all the answers.
Example: T’Challa, Nakia, and Okoye are after Klaw, but they haven’t been fully introduced to the true antagonist, Killmonger.
Pinch Point 1: The first Pinch Point comes in the middle of Part 1. A pinch point is a big moment that reminds the reader of the power of the antagonist.
Example: 59/123 min, 47%. Right when the gang thinks they’ve got Klaw, he escapes with the help of Killmonger. T’Challa sees Killmonger for the first time, taking notice of the ring he wears. Who is this man? T’Challa realises he doesn’t have all the answers, that there’s something bigger going on.
Midpoint: One of the biggest points in the story, and a huge plot twist that reveals the true nature of the antagonist. It is like a veil is lifted, and the character sees more clearly what they’re up against, on an external, internal, and thematic level.
Example of the Midpoint: In Black Panther, the midpoint happens from 63 min - 67 min (~52%) in two scenes. First, we get a big plot twist. Killmonger reveals that he is of Wakandan blood, and that he's going to the hidden nation. He kills Klaw and even his own girlfriend without hesitation. This lets the viewer know Killmonger’s goals and the danger he poses as an antagonist. In the second scene of the Midpoint, Zuri reveals what really happened to T’Challa’s uncle (and Killmonger’s father): he was killed by T’Chaka, leaving Killmonger fatherless. T’Challa realises that he’s going to have to pay the consequences for his father’s mistakes, and truly questions for the first time whether Wakanda’s tradition of secrecy is moral.
Part 3 - Warrior
Narrative Context: Action. 50% -75/80% of your story. Again, something game changing has just happened (the midpoint), which suddenly clarifies the nature of the antagonistic force. With this new insight, the protagonist is able to go on attack mode, actively trying to solve the issue at hand.
Example: Now that Killmonger has made himself known as the true antagonist, T’Challa has to face him and the mistakes T’Chaka made in the past.
Pinch Point 2: The second pinch point occurs halfway through the third quarter. Like the first pinch point, it is a reminder of the threat of the antagonistic force.
Example: 81 min - 82 min in Black Panther, or 66% into the story, Killmonger overthrows T’Challa.
Plot Point 2: The second plot point happens around 75% or 80% into the novel. It may be a characters realisation of what they must do to defeat the antagonist or a piece of information that allows them to face the bad guy. Whatever it is, no new information may be introduced after this point unless it is heavily foreshadowed. This is to prevent a deux ex machina.
Example: (98 min, 80%) T’Challa speaks to his forebears and realises that their actions were immoral. He says, “I must take the mantle back” and regains his power as black panther. He is ready to face Killmonger, and there is a sense that he now has a chance of defeating him.
Part 4 - Martyr
Narrative Context: Martyr. 75/80% - 100% of your story. This is the final battle, the end game. Often in a self-sacrificial way, the protagonist faces the big baddies and defeats them one by one. They are heroic, they are active, and they defeat the antagonist by their own strength.
Example: T’Challa and his crew face Killmonger to stop him from sending Wakandan weaponry to other countries. Notice that each character, T’Challa, Shuri, Okoye, Nakia, and Ross do something heroic and self-sacrificing. Occasionally something comes in that turns the tides in the heroes’ favour (this must be heavily foreshadowed) like when M’Baku decides to join sides with T’Challa.
Climax: Close to the end, midway in Part 4, the antagonist is defeated and the theme is clearly splayed out.
In Black Panther, this happens at 115 min - 118 min (or 94%) when T’Challa brings Killmonger out of the vibranium mines to see the Wakandan sunset. Killmonger chooses to die rather than live in bondage. After this point, we switch to the resolution.
Resolution Scene: Everything is wrapped up after the climax. This isn’t necessarily one scene, but can be many. May be one chapter or several depending on how many plot threads need to be tied up. Whatever happens, we enter into a new stasis and see the effect of the protagonist’s journey both physically (how the world changes around them) and psychologically (how they have changed internally).
Example: In Black Panther, we find out that T’Challa has decided to make an outreach program for African-American youth. He learns from Killmonger and decides to use Wakandan technology and resources so that the future generation does not suffer like Killmonger did.
How to use the Four Act Story Structure
On a practical level, how can writers use the Four Act Structure? I would recommend using it both in reading and in writing:
When reading or watching a movie, look out for the major plot points and act breaks. Have you ever felt that a story feels unbalanced? Rushed in parts? It is likely because it does not follow the Four Act Structure.
You can also use this structure in outlining. It will prevent you from going, “What the hell is going to happen next?” and will help you create a story that is well structured. Another reason I like this structure is because it details how to plot the middle portion of a novel.
However, keep in mind that movies are paced differently than books, and that even all books aren’t paced the same. You will not die in writers hell if you don’t follow this structure exactly. Rather, it is good to understand why this structure works so that you can better structure your own novels. For instance, Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone does not follow this structure like I’ve laid out (though many argue that the first book is unbalanced; Harry doesn’t get to Hogwarts until 40% into the book.)
If you’d like to read more in depth about the Four Act Structure, Larry Brooks writes about it in Story Engineering. But a word of warning: Brooks does seem to believe that you will die in writing hell if you don’t follow this structure, and he hates pantsers with a passion. It’s still an informative read, but please take everything he says with a grain of salt.
Short Story vs Novel Process
So, recently I’ve stepped out of the world of short stories and into the world of novel writing and, after years of writing only short fiction, the extent of the transition took me by surprise. I hadn’t expected the process to be so different. During my exploration I found many other writers doing what I was doing - but in reverse. Maybe it’s because it’s easier to sell novels to publishers, or because short stories are perceived as being “literary”? I don’t know, but regardless of in what order you are doing things, I’d like to share with you a few of the differences I’ve found between the two mediums.
Planning Stage
As with novels, short stories often originate as one small idea that the writer then builds into a coherent narrative. Short stories, being short, often require less complexity in terms of plot, and it’s therefore much easier to recognise structural issues during read-throughs. This minimises the amount of planning that is necessary, and outlining is rarely (if ever) necessary. The short space makes plot holes and pacing issues much easier to identify and fix, as opposed to novels which, due to their high word count, may take months of edits and rewrites to undo problems resulting from the lack of an outline.
Unless you want to spend an inordinate amount of time on rewrites and edits, outlining a novel is considers essential. In contrast, short stories can be written with only the vaguest of ideas and still need minimal changes.
This doesn’t mean that you can’t outline your short story, just that you can create something coherent without one. Do what feels right.
Characters
When it comes to novels, fleshed out, realistic characters are a necessity. In short stories, this area is a little grey. Realistic characters are wonderful, but stories can still be powerful and engaging without them. Short stories are known for having deep meanings, so characters are often used as metaphors or vehicles to drive home metaphors in the plot, making detailed characters nice but not always a top priority. This can be done in novels too but is usually not well received. Empathetic characters in novels keep the reader engaged, because why would they subject themselves to 300 pages about someone they don’t care about achieving a goal they don’t care about? Novels are long, so a lot of time is spent with the protagonist. Short stories are short, so it’s easy to establish the world or conflict as the focus without losing readership. Unless the story is character-focused, the importance almost always lies in what is happening, not the intricacies of who it’s happening to.
Exposition - especially in relation to characters and backstories - is also better tolerated in short fiction. Info-dumping is never the best way to do things, but if you have a word limit and need to get crucial information to the reader soon, it’s acceptable. Weaving the information throughout the narrative is always a better idea, but since there is overall less narrative to work with, short stories are definitely more forgiving than novels.
Now, again, I’m not saying you should info-dump or write bland characters, just that you shouldn’t panic if that’s what works best.
Querying
As referenced above, it’s much easier to get a novel published than a short story. This is for two reasons: firstly, novels are often pitched to publishers by agents, whereas short story writers have to do it themselves, which can be both daunting and costly (if the magazine or contest charges for submission); and secondly, because there is a much bigger market for novels than there is for short stories.
Short stories are often published in magazines and some lucky authors get their work featured in anthologies. Literary magazines are a dying genre, so finding somewhere that wants to publish your story can be incredibly difficult. My fiction writing tutor showed our class his submission map - a document where he keeps track of all his magazine submission and the results. They were mostly rejections.
The query trenches for a novel are hell, but submitting short stories are even worse, because you aren’t likely to run out of places to query.
NaNoWriMo Day 1: Prepare Your Novel Blueprint Before You Write
📅 NaNoWriMo Mastery — Day 1 — Novel BlueprintThis post is part of the NaNoWriMo Mastery Series, a 30-day journey to help you write your 50,000-word novel. Read the main guide here → NaNoWriMo National Novel Writing Month: How to Write a 50,000-Word Novel in 30 Days Welcome to Day 1 of the NaNoWriMo Mastery series — your step-by-step guide to writing 50,000 words in 30 days. Before the first…
Beginning with the Beginning
It sounds funny to say this, but the beginning needs to be in the beginning. By that, I mean the story starts either when things deviate from the normal, or just before. Personally, I like to find the deviation moment and take two steps back from that. This puts the deviation moment roughly right at the end of my first chapter. A good hook. An encouragement to keep reading. Some writers will…
Pinch, there it is; googly eyes on the train, and yes, we are on our 37th career this year
Dogs are Smarter Than People/Write Better Now Last week, we talked about pinch points both on the podcast and on the blog, and honestly? Nobody seemed super into it, but we’re finishing up this week. This post is going to be a bit more about the first part of act two of a three-act story, focusing on the time from the first pinch point to the midpoint. Pause for a plea: Look, I know plot…
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It is Super Natural: Four Basic Elements To Your Story
It is Super Natural: Four Basic Elements To Your Story
When I talk about novel structure, I talk a lot about Dwight Swain who wrote Techniques of the Selling Writer. Swain has some really cool elemental aspects that he talks about and no, they don’t have to do with inciting incidents or the climax—at least not initially, and I thought it would be fun if we had a little series where we explored this both here on the podcast and on my Write Better…
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