A Pantser's Guide to Story Structure

Photo by Markus Spiske on Unsplash

If you consider yourself a pantser, you likely don’t spend much (or any) time pre-writing your stories prior to drafting. Instead, you “write by the seat of your pants,” using your first draft to explore and develop your story. But just because you don’t find pre-writing helpful to your writing process doesn’t mean that you can’t take advantage of the power of story structure.

Many pantsers mistakenly conflate story structure with the process of outlining or believe the misconception that utilizing structure results in unoriginal stories. In truth, all structure does is map the common beats (i.e. turning points) that give stories shape and a sense of pacing. As a tool, structure is incredibly flexible. It’s a skeleton that you get to decide how to dress.

As a pantser, considering structure can help you explore your story with clarity and direction, ultimately leading you to complete a cleaner and faster first draft. But to achieve this end, you must first understand how story structure operates.

Understanding the basics of story structure

At the heart of every story is an arc, a sequence of events that builds in conflict and tension until it reaches a climactic moment and then resolves. This principle is the foundation of story structure, and it’s one you likely internalized at a young age. What you might not have internalized in your youth is the difference between plot- and character-driven arcs.

In plot-driven arcs, the protagonist has a distinct story goal (e.g. defeat the dark lord, win the competition, solve the murder) that places them in direct conflict with an antagonist or antagonistic force. Thus, plot-driven arcs hinge on external conflict.

Rather than having a clearly defined story goal, protagonists in character-driven arcs find themselves in conflict with an inner demon. Be it a fear, flaw, or false belief (or, in some cases, the temptation to stray from their values), character-driven arcs revolve around the protagonist’s struggle with their internal antagonist.

Most novel-length stories contain more than one arc. The arcs that don’t take center stage are called subplots, and they exist to deepen the conflict at the heart of the story. To craft a strong first draft, define your core story arc as quickly as possible. Doing so will then allow you to explore additional structural elements that will ultimately guide you in crafting a powerful and well-paced story.

What elements should you define next?

If you’ve determined that you’re crafting a plot-driven story, then you’ll first need to define your protagonist’s goal. Ask yourself what your character wants to achieve and how they plan to achieve it. Then, ask the same questions of your antagonist. How will their goal (or their plan to achieve it) bring them into direct conflict with the protagonist? In asking these questions, you’ll begin to develop scene ideas for your story, lending you a sense of clarity and direction as you write.

But if you want readers to care about the conflict you’re creating, you must also define what drives both of your primary characters to action. What led your protagonist and antagonist to adopt their goals? Developing believable motivations for your characters helps readers empathize with and invest in their journeys.

If you’ve determined that you’re crafting a character-driven story, then first consider your character’s core fear, flaw, or false belief (or the temptation they’ll struggle to resist). This element will serve as the crux of your arc’s internal conflict.

Next, explore the difference between what your character wants and what they need. In other words, what do they believe will bring them happiness or satisfaction? Or, what unhappy fate do they believe they deserve? In a character-driven story, this desire or false belief stands in direct opposition to what your character actually needs to find their happy ending. 

For example, your character might believe that they’re unworthy of love and therefore want to be left alone to seek what peace they can find. However, what your character truly needs to find peace is to accept the love that others show them. Alternatively, your character’s greed might lead them to believe that wealth and fame will make them happy, only to learn the hard way that true happiness can only come from seeking contentment and cultivating rich relationships.

To help bring your protagonist’s internal conflict to life, consider developing an antagonist who (wittingly or unwittingly) preys upon your character’s inner turmoil. Giving your antagonist an arc of their own can help you further craft a fully-realized and well-developed story.

Defining key story structure beats 

After exploring and defining the above elements of plot- and character-driven story structure, you should have a much stronger sense of direction in your drafting process. But by taking your story structure knowledge one step further, cultivating a solid understanding of common story beats and sequences, you can work with additional clarity to draft a well-paced and plotted story. Let’s take a look at these final structural elements together:

Opening Chapters

Hook

The purpose of this opening story beat is to snag readers’ attention and encourage them to invest in your story. Most hooks introduce readers to the story’s protagonist, their everyday world, and the reason that they’re in some way dissatisfied with that world.

Inciting Incident

This beat showcases the event that sets your story in motion. Something in your protagonist’s world changes, presenting them with an opportunity to overcome their dissatisfaction or introducing new conflict into their life. (Note: Sometimes a story’s inciting incident also serves as its hook.)

First Plot Point

This beat represents the point of no return, in which your protagonist chooses (or is forced) to engage with the conflict at the heart of their story. In essence, it’s at this moment that your protagonist’s journey truly begins.

Middle Chapters

Reactive Steps

When your protagonist first sets out on their journey, they will take tentative steps forward. Plagued by inner demons or a lack of knowledge or skill, they’ll struggle to take effective action as the story’s central conflict kicks into high gear.

Midpoint

Roughly halfway through your story, the protagonist will experience a revelatory instance of conflict. If your story is plot-driven, the protagonist will come to understand the depth of the antagonist’s power and/or the dangers they face should they fail to achieve their goal. In a character-driven story, the protagonist is forced to confront the reality of their false belief.

Active Steps

After the events of the midpoint, the protagonist no longer takes tentative action. Instead, they go on the offensive, taking an active role in combatting the antagonist, striving to attain their goal more effectively, and/or confronting their inner demons. Though they’ll still struggle, these scenes see the protagonist gain a sense of confidence in themselves and their chosen path.

Closing Chapters

The Dark Night of the Soul

Unfortunately, the protagonist’s new-found confidence will come crumbling down when confronted with their breaking point, an event that leads your character to believe that all hope is lost. 

The Climactic Sequence

Fortunately, most stories’ protagonists rise from the ashes of the Dark Night. With renewed confidence or hope, they take action to resolve the story’s central conflict. In plot-driven stories, the protagonist often overcomes the villain and/or achieves their goal at this moment. In character-driven stories, they finally confront their core fear, flaw, or false belief and choose to reject it once and for all.

Resolution

With the climactic sequence complete, the protagonist addresses any remaining threads of conflict or tension and establishes their new reality. In some plot-driven stories, the protagonist won’t achieve their goal until this time. In character-driven stories, the protagonist embraces their new truth and makes amends for the harm they’ve caused as a result of their inner conflict.

Use these story beats and sequences as guideposts in your journey to a complete draft. Bearing them in mind as you write can help cut through the overwhelm of determining what to write next at any given moment. No more chasing threads of story ideas into dead ends. Structure holds the power to transform your understanding of story (and how to write it) for the better.

How will you incorporate story structure into your writing process today?