It is difficult to write a story. It is even more difficult to write a good story on the first try. That’s why writers often talk about first drafts, and how the novel or story they’ve published has evolved and changed from the time the author first started writing it until the final edit before publication. On the other hand, you may edit your story many times over, but still not make it perfect if you do not know what type of mistakes to look for. Oh, the usual mistakes – confusing plot sequences, world building inconsistencies, misspelled words, repeated words, and others mistakes can easily be spotted. But there are mistakes in story structure that make up the fabric of your story, and they might be more difficult to spot. Below, you will find ways in which you might be making a mistake when writing your story, and how to fix them before you publish it.
1. Protagonist with no agency
How do you recognize when your protagonist has no agency? When they stumble upon solutions to the problems and solve conflict situations only by luck or chance, without actually trying to do so. Of course, there will be situations in a story where a problem is solved unintentionally, but those problems are usually minor. The major problem that has to be solved needs the protagonist to actively work on solving it. When the protagonist faces a crisis they wouldn’t simply continue with their previous life as if nothing has happened. Changes have occurred and the protagonist needs to be a part of everything, drive everything forward. Otherwise, he or she is in the passenger seat, instead of the driver.
2. No emotional journey
The three acts of the external story need to be paralleled with the three acts of the protagonist’s internal, or emotional journey. The emotional journey is there because something happened in the first act of the external journey that has stirred the beginnings of change in the protagonist. It is what makes the story richer and more complex, and as the story goes forward, the protagonist’s emotional change stirs conflict and becomes more apparent – the emotional changes in the protagonist have the potential to influence the motion and direction of the story. Without it, the readers will know from the first act how the story will end, because a flat protagonist is a predictable one, so the readers can always deduce how he or she will act and react.
3. Ignoring the setting
The right setting can enhance every story, and in terms of story structure it is very important whether the setting is new to the protagonist, or not. If it is new, then even if the central conflict and story doesn’t revolve around the setting, the protagonist will certainly react to it. For example, if the setting is new, then the protagonist likely does not know anyone in the new setting, so he or she will meet obstacles rising from distrust of the other characters. Setting can add to the atmosphere and even be indirectly very affected by the events of the story, and these consequences can create problems that the protagonist will need to solve in order to come closer to the resolution.
4. Lack of conflict
A better description of this mistake would be lack of important conflict, the kind of conflict that either moves the external plot forward, or has an emotional impact on the protagonist, which will add fuel to his or her emotional change. In other words, the conflict of the story needs to be in the form of obstacles and events which will challenge the protagonist to find unique solutions, as well as obstacles which will challenge the emotional stability and wellbeing of the protagonist. The important conflict is not easy to solve, and the solution always leads to more trouble, which drives the story forward. Since most of the story’s conflicts will be smaller in scale compared to the big conflict, the central conflict of the story, an easy mistake to make is to create too many obstacles and roundabouts before the protagonist comes to the resolution. Most of these small conflicts lead to the big conflict of the climax, and then to the resolution of the story. If there are too many of them, the story drags on, and the plot suffers as a result.
5. Climax cliffhangers
Climax endings and climax cliffhangers basically leave out the resolution unsaid, allowing the readers to assume what happened afterwards. It is not about lacking an epilogue, although in these situations, there rarely is an epilogue. In these cases, the readers do not get to see what happens after the climax. The protagonist’s emotional journey also suffers – because there are no results to see, there is no after. This is especially common in book series, where the author decides to stop the story, and leave out the resolution, so that the central conflict remains unsolved and continues in the next book. A better approach to cliffhangers is to have them solve the central conflict, but cause an even bigger trouble that needs to be solved, thus setting up the next book. Otherwise, there is no act three, only one and two, and the story structure suffers, which in turn, can have a negative effect on the book as a whole. Additionally, after the climax, in act three all the other minor problems need to be wrapped up and solved, but when the story ends with the climax, this is only assumed, seeing as the author has not provided the solutions.
Image credit: Pixabay
Georgina Roy wants to live in a world filled with magic. As an art student, she’s moonlighting as a writer and is content to fill notebooks and sketchbooks with magical creatures and amazing new worlds. When she is not at school, or scribbling away in a notebook, you can usually find her curled up, reading a good urban fantasy novel, or writing on her laptop, trying to create her own.