The Absolutely Simplest Plot Structure Ever

Dogs Are Smarter Than People: Writing Life, Marriage and Motivation

A lot of the writers I teach get really freaked out about structure. They go on multiple craft book journeys trying to find the structure that resonates with them, the one that gives them that beautiful a-ha moment. Who can blame them?

Don't we all want that beautiful a-ha moment?

They learn about pinch points, rising action, falling action, subplots, inciting incidents, midpoints, themes, narrative arc, emotional arc, hamster zombies (just kidding) and they hyperventilate along the way.

There is no reason to hyperventilate if this way of looking at writing structure doesn’t work for your brain. You can simplify it a lot with no zombie hamsters involved.

Ready?

Here is the simplest structure choice.

• You have a character.
• Your character has a problem. Let everyone reading know she has a problem.
• How will she solve it?
• Make her try to solve it.
• Make her fail.
• Make her try to solve it again.
• Make her fail again.
• Do this until near the end (¾'s in) and make everything seem absolutely hopeless.
• Let her solve the damn problem.
• Let her rejoice.

How many times should she try?

In our Western culture, we like the number three for some reason. I'm personally more of a fan of the number four. But we authors tend to give the main character three big attempts to solve her issue before we let her succeed. We're mean like that.

Make it tougher

We call this the rising action, but basically it means that each time she tries to fix things, it should be harder, there should be more at risk, she should be more desperate and emotionally invested. We, the readers, should also be more invested as it goes along.

When the attempt fails, the tension gets a bit mellower until it rises again even higher for the second and third attempts. It becomes a pattern.

That's It - The Simplest Plot Structure Ever

Really. It's a pretty simple plot structure but it works. No, I didn't mention inciting incidents and midpoints and other things, because this is the simple plot structure. Key word: simple.

But, don't forget that even with the simplest of plot structures, the point of the story is to have it make sense. When your character does something, let there be consequences that logically move us to the next part of the story. Remember cause and effect? That's important to us writers.

DOG TIP FOR LIFE

Pogie says to just keep trying.

PLACE TO SUBMIT

Shenandoah. Genre: Fiction. Payment: $80 per 1000 words of prose up to $400. Deadline: Opens September 10, 2024, and closes when they reach capacity.

The Last Line. Genre: Fiction that ends with the last line provided. Payment: $20-$40. Deadline: October 1, 2024.

COOL WRITING EXERCISE

This is via Reedsy:

“The Outsider

“If you're working on a novel or short story, write a pivotal scene from an outside observer's perspective who has no role in the story.

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