Forget The 3 Act Story Structure; The Innovative Approach to Outlining Your Novel You Need to Know!

Devlin Blake Author

Forget The 3 Act Story Structure; The Innovative Approach to Outlining Your Novel You Need to Know!

Transcript:

This how to write a novel video is about why the narrative structure you learned in school is dead wrong. If you’re looking for a novel outline template, then the three act story structure will never serve you. Let’s find out exactly what you need to know about how to outline a story.

Have you ever tried to write a story only to run out of story in the middle?

There’s a reason that happens and it’s because school lied to you.

Specifically, the three act story structure, that tells us a story has a beginning, middle and end, is dead wrong.

And this is why you run out of story in the middle of the story; you were taught wrong.

In this video, I’m going to go into detail on why the three act story structure is sabotaging your story, what you should do instead, and how an outline can make your writing better, faster, and more fun.

Hi novelteer, I’m Devlin Blake, Novel Writing & self publishing Expert, Coach, published author, and former ghostwriter of over 200 books.

And if you stick around until the end, I’ll reveal my little known method for filling in that outline, fast.

So what the heck am I talking about? How is the three part story structure you were taught in school wrong?

Stories do have a beginning, middle and end, right?

Actually, no they don’t and here’s why. Your brain likes things to be equal. When you tell it that a story has a beginning, middle and end, it things ‘ahh, three equal parts.’

Only, that’s wrong. Take a look at a story sometime, I mean REALLY look at it. The beginning and end are equal parts long, but the middle isn’t.

The middle is actually twice as long as either the beginning or the end. It’s not an equal part. This is why your story runs out of story halfway through. A story is actually 4 equal parts, not 3.

Did that blow your mind?

It did me when I first discovered it after reading 100’s of stories. If it did for you too, put it down in the comments. Also mention if your story has ever run out of story.

So let’s look at the 4 parts better and answer the question; so what are the parts?

Simple.

It’s a beginning, reactive middle, proactive middle and an end.

What the heck does that mean?

Well, the beginning is where you introduce the characters, their world and their problems. Let’s take a look at that in a little more detail.

At the very start of the book, we discover that today is not like yesterday in a significant way. As the start ramps up, this continues. An escalation happens that changes the character’s life. Then they make a decision or take an action that forever changes their default future.

For this example, let’s take a look at Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone. It opens with the family heading out to the zoo because it’ Dudley’s birthday. That’s how today isn’t like yesterday.

Once they arrive, that whole snake thing happens and Harry discovers that he’s a wizard. He’s even invited to Hogwarts. That’s the issue ramping up.

Then, Hagrid arrives since the mail wasn’t getting through. That’s the escalation. He tells Harry about himself and about his new future.

The decision Harry makes isn’t whether to go with Hagrid, but whether or not to go on that train. Up until that point, he could have turned around, forgot this happened and lived his default life. Once he gets on that train, there is no turning back.

Is this making sense so far? Comment below.

Then, we move onto the reactive middle. This is where the characters react to the things going on around them, but aren’t really in charge of their life yet. It consists of making friends, making enemies, and discovering the problem they didn’t even know was going to be a problem yet. It’s also about watching the character settle into their new circumstances.

In Harry Potter, this is where Harry meets Ron, Herminie, Draco, and a bit later, Snape. Friends and enemies.

He tries to settle into this new life. He goes to class, his dorms, and tries to be a decent enough student.

He discovers the pureblood problem through Draco and Herminie, and Hagrid. Then he discovers about Voldemort and the stone. This is the problem he wasn’t even sure was going to be a problem yet.

So he tries to settle into his life again. He keeps his distance from people like Draco, tries to ignore the Voldemort issue, and joins Quidditch. There's also an attempt on his life.

At the 50% mark is the biggest change, that’s when the story forces the character into the proactive middle, or to take charge of their own life.

This is when Harry realizes that Voldemort has returned and he no longer has the luxury of ignoring the problem and hoping it goes away.

At this point, we’re at the proactive middle, the third part out of four. So far, we’ve discussed what happens at the beginning, the reactive middle, and the big shift that forces the character to change from reactive, to proactive.

This third part is where the character decides to take control of their own life. They take an action, or make some plans but the plans don't work out as planned and everything falls apart. Things go increasingly wrong, which only makes the character try harder.

In Harry Potter, this is the part where he and his friends decide to find the stone before Voldemort can. They go into the bowels of the school, face all kinds of trials, they didn’t know they were going to face. One by one, Harry gets separated from his friends. Finally, he’s all alone and realizes he’ll have to move forward, alone.

Now, it’s time for the ending block, which includes the false victory, the truth coming out, the final battle and the wrap up.

Harry finds the stone, and thinks he’s done. False victory. Then he discovers Quirrell's secret. The truth comes out. They fight for the stone and Quirrell is defeated, final battle. Harry wakes up in the infirmary, and realizes he’s fine for now but there’s a bigger battle ahead of him. The wrap up.

That is how the four part story structure works. If this helped you, be sure to mention it down in the comments.

So let’s recap: You’ll need a reason today is not like yesterday, an escalation of a problem and a decision for the first block. That’s the beginning.

For the second block, you’ll need friends, enemies, a problem the the character wants to ignore, and a character trying to fit into this new life of theirs. That’s the reactive middle.

Right before you move to the third block, you’ll need a reason that the character NEEDS to be proactive, the shift that changes everything and forces them into action. That’s the 50% mark.

Now, we’re in the third block, the proactive middle. The character tries to take control and do some things, but the things all go wrong until the character is all alone.

Finally, we are at the ending block. We have the false victory, the truth coming out, the final battle and the wrap up.

And that’s all there is to it. That’s the basic outline of writing a book, and how the four part story method helps you do it. Remember; beginning, reactive middle, forced shift at the 50%mark, the proactive middle, and the ending.

If that helped you, let me know below.

So now, let’s talk about how to fill in your outline fast. It’s a method I call 100 scenes. Simply pull up a document in your favorite word processor, word, Docs, notebook, whatever, and make a list 1-100.

Then, bullet point 100 scenes. Any order and don’t critique them at this point. Once you’re done, plug them into your various blocks, and then see what stays, what goes and what needs fill-in.

Now, this is a basic outline built on the four part story structure. I actually have a more in depth outline template inside my Novel Writer’s Club, along with a library of courses, including genre help, creating compelling characters and a whole lot more. Check it out at the link below.

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Categories: : storycrafting, Writers Block