How to: use story theory to plan arcs

[LostLibrarian]

So I started writing the part below for another thread as an example on how planning stories with act-structure and story theory can help with pascing and character development and motivations.

This is a really basic example with a story, that took probably 15 minutes thinking up while writing this, so please be aware that this isn't about the story itself, but instead about how story structure and rules/constraints can make creating a story easier.



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Just as a really simple example of planning: the next arc is about your hero's party saving a beastkin that will later join the party. So for that we'll need a protagonist (your MC), an antagonist (let's say her old master), and a victim (the beastkin slave). So with that you have the minimum of characters you need (of course you would add more characters for a better flowing story).


So for those characters we now need a motivation for their actions during the arc. The MC wants to save the beastkin, which is often credited with "but justice" or something. But the girl will enter his party, so the easiest way for that is to make the girl special in some way. So let's say, that she can use barrier magic that is important for the final battle against whatever.

With that we also have a really easy motivation for the "bad guy". He also needs her barrier magic for something. Let's not go for a "bad because bad" guy, but some gray person. So let's say he uses her to cover up a problem. Easiest things for nobles? Something about a bastard son.
Let's say the bastard son was entrapped by a demon and he became one himself. So the lord himself uses the barrier magic to imprison his son in the basement. But because he can't tell anyone due to his noble standing (fear of uprising or inquisition or whatever). So he uses your generic "slave collar" to absorb her magic automatically without her knowing. For a bit more conflict, her beastkin race produces more magic when they fear death as natural reflex, and because the noble's son grows stronger, the lord now mistreats the beastkin slave.



Easy outline for a short arc without too many twists. So let's go for 20 rather short chapters. If you look at story structure and 3-act-design, most people speak of 25/50/25 percent for the size of beginning/middle/end. So with our 20 chapters we have a beginning of 5 chapters, a middle build of 10 chapters, an ending payoff of 5 chapters. Each part also has a beginning incident, rising problems, a climatic question, a decision, and the resolution.


Each part also shifts the value from good to bad, or bad to good. We want our arc to end happy (beastkin is free and joins the MC's party), so going by that act 3 goes "bad to good", act 2 goes "good to bad", and act 1 therefore start with "bad". We can have a lot of different values based on the genre and the story that you tell (often multiple at once), but the easy pick here is "the safety of the beastkin's life". So she starts in danger, is saved, somehow gets into danger again, before she is finally free for real. As counterweight you can often use an internal value to offset it. Let's focus on our MC and just pick his self-esteem. Due to his recent successes the MC already knows how the world works and is sure, that he has his way to the endgoal figured out. So during the arc he'll start of "positive", break, get build up again, before the breaks again and leaves the story on a negative note (doesn't mean he has to be fully broken or pessimistic).

So now we have our needed scenes and actions, our value shifts, our main characters and their motivation, so let's just go and - without much thinking - use the act structure and try to write down the scenes and fill some gaps. To make it easy, I'll just use one chapter for each scene and make each needed story beat in its own scene.

Beginning:
1) The MC arrives at the lord's castle, where a beastkin maid serves tea. (beginning incident)
2) The MC sees the slave collar and scars on her (problem), but the lord refuses to sell her to the hero's party (more problems), and even threatens to throw them out if the topic continues (even more problems)
3) When the end of his stay draws near, the MC has to decide whether to leave the girl behind or take her against the lord's will (climatic question)
4) During a talk with the girl the MC learns of her treatment and decides to take her with him (decision)
5) They escape, but another female servant tells them about the evil that is sealed in the basement, follows them and tells them that the land will be thrown into war if the girl is taken so far away that the magic loses effect (resolution)
Value shift girl: In danger to safety
Value shift MC: "Knows everything" to "I nearly freed evil"

Middle build (normally the villain (so the lord) is the driving focus of the story. In our case (as it is really short), it's the action of sending guards):
6) The MC - still on the lord's land - hides with the beastkin girl to think of a plan, when he sees armed patrols in the distance. The lord is searching for the girl with force. (beginning incident)
7) The other party members lure the patrol away, but the numbers game is against them and a peaceful resolution doesn't seem possible (problem)
8) During their alone time and bonding, the MC and beastkin girl notice that new patrols always find their rough hideout so they realize that the lord can roughly locate the slave collar. They will never be save this way (more problems)
9) The beastkin girl can't keep up with the MC anymore and a patrol finds them while hiding. During the fight, the MC tries to be non-lethal but is overwhelmed due to his hesitant fighting. Not knowing that a hit would be harmless to the MC, the beastkin "saves" him from an attack but kills a guard by accident. She is now a murderer and a peaceful resolution seems not possible (even more problems).
10) After their battle, the MC has to decide whether to leave the lands and break the magic or resolve the problem (climatic question)
11) The MC decides to leave the beastkin girl with his returning party and scouts the basement for more information. But as outsider he is nearly caught when he once more meets the female servant who shelters him.
12) The female servant tells him that she is willing to bring him into the basement, as long as he helps her save her son, who is also mistreated by the lord. The MC agrees.
13) The MC finds the basement and sees a rather week demon inside. He decides to break the spell by force and destroy evil, so that he can take the girl away without unnecessary deaths. (decision)
14) Thinking about his next steps, the MC sends a hidden message via a spell/whatever and tells his party to leave the vicinity. After all, such an evil lord wouldn't agree to break the seal if asked peacefully. While leaving the basement he is caught by the lord who sensed his magic.
15) The lord and MC speak on open terms for the first time, after the MC confronts the lord about the demon and tells him off the plan. The lord, still in control, tries to sway the hero, but soon the barrier breaks (resolution)
Value shift girl: Safety to danger (wanted and a murderer)
Value shift MC: "Insecure" to "I did this before"

Ending:
16) The barrier breaks down, the demon escapes and the castle is thrown into chaos. The MC and the female servant can escape (beginning incident)
17) Confronting the demon without the barrier in between, the MC senses something off (problem). But before he can act, the female servant hits him from behind (more problems), and tries to run towards the demon, who kills and eats her, leading to a power-up (even more problems).
18) The arriving lord and his troops try to hold the demon back, while the MC learns, that the demon isn't a natural demon, but the lord's son who can power up. Even the MC isn't able to slay him without his party. He now has to decide whether he stays and fight or flees before he is wounded (climatic question)
19) The demon breaks free and attacks the village in front of the castle. The MC realizes, that he is resposible for it, because he decided on his own. Neither did he ask his mage girl partymember about the demon, nor did he tried to talk peacefully with the lord. Pressured by the deaths he brought, he decides to stay and fight alongside the lord. (decision)
20) With his returning party, the MC is able to slay the demon while fighting side by side with the beastkin. With no need for the beastkin, the devastated lord lets her go with the hero party (resolution)
Value shift girl: Danger to safety (party member)
Value shift MC: "I did this before" to "This is my fault"


With that, the small arc is finished and you can start writing. You have very clear things you have to achieve in each chapter, so the pacing overall should be a lot better flowing. Knowing the overall idea and motivations, you can also use that to throw in some small sentences like the servants talking about "the late lord's son" or the lord showing "sorrow" without making clear, what this is about.

Beginning and Ending are a bit rushed in this version, because they are really short with only 5 chapters, but that could be fixed with a bit longer chapters or a longer arc. And 1,2 more scenes are also not that important.

And when you try to use such values to follow the story, an added bonus it, that you now have the starting points for new arcs and developments. Like a hero who tries to change his thinking, fails with the new work, before the finally succeeds again. Or the beastkin girl whose worldview shift from "slave" to "heroine" isn't something she understands.


But as I said above, the most important part about such structures is that they give you constraints, which makes it a lot easier to nail the pacing or structure of your story. If you jump even deeper into story theory, there'll be more character types (like the trickster (the female servant in this idea)), more scene types, different story beats that need to be in a story, etc.

All of that will help you improve your pacing and character motivation/development...

 

[ForestDweller]

I feel some parts that plot example you gave is a bit too contrived for my liking. It's like having a twist just for the sake of it.

 

[K5Rakitan]

Thanks, these are some great tips :)

 

[LostLibrarian]

I feel some parts that plot example you gave is a bit too contrived for my liking. It's like having a twist just for the sake of it.

Twists are part of a (non-generic) working story. If you have no twists, the reader will know exactly what will happen. And that is when they slowly drift away. Some of those "twists" are also just there so that the story isn't as generic. You can also just go with the "evil lord" and a "real demon" or whatever... the story structure works the same.

But yeah, of course it is contrived. I used 20 minutes to plan this example. Normally you would use days or weeks to go through your story over and over and look for less-generic ideas and scenes...

 

[ForestDweller]

Twists are part of a working story. If you have no twists, the reader will know exactly what will happen. And that is when they slowly drift away...

And yeah, of course it is contrived. I used 20 minutes to plan this example. Normally you would use days or weeks to go through your story over and over and look for less-generic ideas and scenes...

So you believe twists are necessary to make a story good.

My main inspiration is Mushoku Tensei and it doesn't have that many twists every volume. The twists are more spread out, not in a structure like you suggested.

 

[LostLibrarian]

So you believe twists are necessary to make a story good.

Yes, I do.

My main inspiration is Mushoku Tensei and it doesn't have that many twists every volume. The twists are more spread out, not in a structure like you suggested.

Didn't read all of it, but even Mushoku Tensei has a lot of Twists. Not every one of those has to be a worldchanging event.
New information that changes a character or produces growth is also a kind of twist. "That boy is actually a girl" is also a twist. To "just get" the power of forsight is a twist. And so on and so forth...
Just ask it the other way around: Did everything in Mushoku Tensei happen just as you expected?


But again, you don't have to use it. I just displayed a really basic example on how to use rules and constraints to make it easier to nail character motivations/developments and pacing. It helped me, it helps others, it might not be the right thing for you. If you want to emulate japanese webnovels with all their pros and cons and their own set of rules, instead, you can also do that...

 

[ForestDweller]

"That boy is actually a girl" is also a twist.

That everyone sees from a mile away.

To "just get" the power of forsight is a twist

That's a twist? That's just a powerup, no? If that's a twist, then my story has a lot of twists since he keeps developing new magic constantly.

Did everything in Mushoku Tensei happened just as you expected?

Hmm, not really.

I have to ask my readers if the current plot happens as they expected.

Doesn't help though that I like to spoil future plots on the comments. Behind spoilers, but still...

 

[LostLibrarian]

That everyone sees from a mile away.

Which also brings us to the point of tropes and execution.

Twists are about changes in the story flow. Whether the reader sees it from a mile away is part of your execution. If you copy other stories, you'll end up with a generic mess where your twist is just "that same thing again". Still a twist, but it might not be a good one..

It's also always a question of whether you look at (unedited) webnovels or light novels. If you concentrate on the differences, you'll find a lot of novels, where the light novel version changed the flow of the story to add some kind of structure/twist.

That's a twist? That's just a powerup, no?

A twist is something that unexpectedly changes the flow of your story. That can also be a power-up. Though - especially in the western world - that is often looked down upon.

But especially for JP webnovels it's a common one. "The weak MC who is challenged to a duell and shows he is actually the strongest"...

 

[Temple]

The twist of Mushoku Tensei is that it's a good story compared the others in its genre.

Seriously though, just the quest where he lost his arm and his father I think (it's yeeaaarss since I've read it) was a huge twist already. I can't remember what happened exactly, I just recall he lost big time and went through depression and that almost never happens in reincarnation genre. OP MC rarely loses and when they do lose it's usually not a big deal. Only in Mushoku Tensei did I think wow this is heavy in a reincarnation story.

 

[EternalSunset0]

So I started writing the part below for another thread as an example on how planning stories with act-structure and story theory can help with pascing and character development and motivations.

This is a really basic example with a story, that took probably 15 minutes thinking up while writing this, so please be aware that this isn't about the story itself, but instead about how story structure and rules/constraints can make creating a story easier.



-----------------------------------------------------


Just as a really simple example of planning: the next arc is about your hero's party saving a beastkin that will later join the party. So for that we'll need a protagonist (your MC), an antagonist (let's say her old master), and a victim (the beastkin slave). So with that you have the minimum of characters you need (of course you would add more characters for a better flowing story).


So for those characters we now need a motivation for their actions during the arc. The MC wants to save the beastkin, which is often credited with "but justice" or something. But the girl will enter his party, so the easiest way for that is to make the girl special in some way. So let's say, that she can use barrier magic that is important for the final battle against whatever.

With that we also have a really easy motivation for the "bad guy". He also needs her barrier magic for something. Let's not go for a "bad because bad" guy, but some gray person. So let's say he uses her to cover up a problem. Easiest things for nobles? Something about a bastard son.
Let's say the bastard son was entrapped by a demon and he became one himself. So the lord himself uses the barrier magic to imprison his son in the basement. But because he can't tell anyone due to his noble standing (fear of uprising or inquisition or whatever). So he uses your generic "slave collar" to absorb her magic automatically without her knowing. For a bit more conflict, her beastkin race produces more magic when they fear death as natural reflex, and because the noble's son grows stronger, the lord now mistreats the beastkin slave.



Easy outline for a short arc without too many twists. So let's go for 20 rather short chapters. If you look at story structure and 3-act-design, most people speak of 25/50/25 percent for the size of beginning/middle/end. So with our 20 chapters we have a beginning of 5 chapters, a middle build of 10 chapters, an ending payoff of 5 chapters. Each part also has a beginning incident, rising problems, a climatic question, a decision, and the resolution.


Each part also shifts the value from good to bad, or bad to good. We want our arc to end happy (beastkin is free and joins the MC's party), so going by that act 3 goes "bad to good", act 2 goes "good to bad", and act 1 therefore start with "bad". We can have a lot of different values based on the genre and the story that you tell (often multiple at once), but the easy pick here is "the safety of the beastkin's life". So she starts in danger, is saved, somehow gets into danger again, before she is finally free for real. As counterweight you can often use an internal value to offset it. Let's focus on our MC and just pick his self-esteem. Due to his recent successes the MC already knows how the world works and is sure, that he has his way to the endgoal figured out. So during the arc he'll start of "positive", break, get build up again, before the breaks again and leaves the story on a negative note (doesn't mean he has to be fully broken or pessimistic).

So now we have our needed scenes and actions, our value shifts, our main characters and their motivation, so let's just go and - without much thinking - use the act structure and try to write down the scenes and fill some gaps. To make it easy, I'll just use one chapter for each scene and make each needed story beat in its own scene.

Beginning:
1) The MC arrives at the lord's castle, where a beastkin maid serves tea. (beginning incident)
2) The MC sees the slave collar and scars on her (problem), but the lord refuses to sell her to the hero's party (more problems), and even threatens to throw them out if the topic continues (even more problems)
3) When the end of his stay draws near, the MC has to decide whether to leave the girl behind or take her against the lord's will (climatic question)
4) During a talk with the girl the MC learns of her treatment and decides to take her with him (decision)
5) They escape, but another female servant tells them about the evil that is sealed in the basement, follows them and tells them that the land will be thrown into war if the girl is taken so far away that the magic loses effect (resolution)
Value shift girl: In danger to safety
Value shift MC: "Knows everything" to "I nearly freed evil"

Middle build (normally the villain (so the lord) is the driving focus of the story. In our case (as it is really short), it's the action of sending guards):
6) The MC - still on the lord's land - hides with the beastkin girl to think of a plan, when he sees armed patrols in the distance. The lord is searching for the girl with force. (beginning incident)
7) The other party members lure the patrol away, but the numbers game is against them and a peaceful resolution doesn't seem possible (problem)
8) During their alone time and bonding, the MC and beastkin girl notice that new patrols always find their rough hideout so they realize that the lord can roughly locate the slave collar. They will never be save this way (more problems)
9) The beastkin girl can't keep up with the MC anymore and a patrol finds them while hiding. During the fight, the MC tries to be non-lethal but is overwhelmed due to his hesitant fighting. Not knowing that a hit would be harmless to the MC, the beastkin "saves" him from an attack but kills a guard by accident. She is now a murderer and a peaceful resolution seems not possible (even more problems).
10) After their battle, the MC has to decide whether to leave the lands and break the magic or resolve the problem (climatic question)
11) The MC decides to leave the beastkin girl with his returning party and scouts the basement for more information. But as outsider he is nearly caught when he once more meets the female servant who shelters him.
12) The female servant tells him that she is willing to bring him into the basement, as long as he helps her save her son, who is also mistreated by the lord. The MC agrees.
13) The MC finds the basement and sees a rather week demon inside. He decides to break the spell by force and destroy evil, so that he can take the girl away without unnecessary deaths. (decision)
14) Thinking about his next steps, the MC sends a hidden message via a spell/whatever and tells his party to leave the vicinity. After all, such an evil lord wouldn't agree to break the seal if asked peacefully. While leaving the basement he is caught by the lord who sensed his magic.
15) The lord and MC speak on open terms for the first time, after the MC confronts the lord about the demon and tells him off the plan. The lord, still in control, tries to sway the hero, but soon the barrier breaks (resolution)
Value shift girl: Safety to danger (wanted and a murderer)
Value shift MC: "Insecure" to "I did this before"

Ending:
16) The barrier breaks down, the demon escapes and the castle is thrown into chaos. The MC and the female servant can escape (beginning incident)
17) Confronting the demon without the barrier in between, the MC senses something off (problem). But before he can act, the female servant hits him from behind (more problems), and tries to run towards the demon, who kills and eats her, leading to a power-up (even more problems).
18) The arriving lord and his troops try to hold the demon back, while the MC learns, that the demon isn't a natural demon, but the lord's son who can power up. Even the MC isn't able to slay him without his party. He now has to decide whether he stays and fight or flees before he is wounded (climatic question)
19) The demon breaks free and attacks the village in front of the castle. The MC realizes, that he is resposible for it, because he decided on his own. Neither did he ask his mage girl partymember about the demon, nor did he tried to talk peacefully with the lord. Pressured by the deaths he brought, he decides to stay and fight alongside the lord. (decision)
20) With his returning party, the MC is able to slay the demon while fighting side by side with the beastkin. With no need for the beastkin, the devastated lord lets her go with the hero party (resolution)
Value shift girl: Danger to safety (party member)
Value shift MC: "I did this before" to "This is my fault"


With that, the small arc is finished and you can start writing. You have very clear things you have to achieve in each chapter, so the pacing overall should be a lot better flowing. Knowing the overall idea and motivations, you can also use that to throw in some small sentences like the servants talking about "the late lord's son" or the lord showing "sorrow" without making clear, what this is about.

Beginning and Ending are a bit rushed in this version, because they are really short with only 5 chapters, but that could be fixed with a bit longer chapters or a longer arc. And 1,2 more scenes are also not that important.

And when you try to use such values to follow the story, an added bonus it, that you now have the starting points for new arcs and developments. Like a hero who tries to change his thinking, fails with the new work, before the finally succeeds again. Or the beastkin girl whose worldview shift from "slave" to "heroine" isn't something she understands.


But as I said above, the most important part about such structures is that they give you constraints, which makes it a lot easier to nail the pacing or structure of your story. If you jump even deeper into story theory, there'll be more character types (like the trickster (the female servant in this idea)), more scene types, different story beats that need to be in a story, etc.

All of that will help you improve your pacing and character motivation/development...

I really liked how informative and educational this is. Thanks for the thread!

I'd say outlining in a way kinda similar to what you have also helped me a lot in structuring my arcs. I find it a lot easier if we start at the climax and start working backwards in order to "construct the path" to get to your ending. The latter can cause a lot of writer's blocks, however, but it's a lot more rewarding if you manage to push through and get it done.

 

[Redadam04]

Good plotline.

 

[LostLibrarian]

The latter can cause a lot of writer's blocks, however, but it's a lot more rewarding if you manage to push through and get it done.

From both writing myself and working as an editor I discovered, that a lot of people actually have less writer's block if you use structure rules and constraints.

If you say "write any scene you want" most people will have a really hard time to decide, because there are so many possibilities. Just like each contest you have a lot of writers who go with "which of my 10 story ideas should I write?"

But if you go and say "Write a scene where the hero is physically threatened by the villain" or "where the hero learn the truth, that..." people can blend out all those distracting ideas and concentrate on that one scene.

I also know writers who have allergic reactions against any kind of rule and structure and get heart attacks by planning, but generally I would say that harsher constraints can actually help people write better...