Introduction

“Trust that still, small voice that says, ‘This might work,’ and try it.”

–DIANE MARIECHILD

Story Structure Architect has really been a labor of love for me, and I am honored to share it with you. While creating this book, it almost seemed as if it existed in the ether just waiting to be plucked down and written. Many times I thought I would write about one subject only to have several other subjects reveal themselves. Once the Writer’s Digest team suggested the addition of story structures, as opposed to standard plots, the book really took off in some exciting directions.

I guess this is what writing is all about—plotting a story, or in the case of nonfiction, mapping a direction to go in and then leaving room to allow the story to take you in the direction it wants to go. There’s a certain balance to be found between demanding control over a piece of work and surrendering to the writing process and seeing what develops organically.

There are many writers who choose sides between control and surrender, which may compromise their work. They strictly obey plotting rules and structure or they strive to not have plot or direction at all.

But, as yoga philosophy teaches, I have always found the middle path between two extremes to be the most advantageous. The middle path is what granted the Buddha enlightenment, after all! When the Buddha first participated in extreme meditation practices that did not grant him enlightenment, he left his teachers and sat by the side of a lake praying for guidance on what to do next. Suddenly a man and his son in a small boat paddled past the Buddha. The father was teaching his son how to play a sitar, and his words floated toward the Buddha, answering his dilemma:

Tune the sitar neither low nor high.

The string overstretched breaks, the music flies, The string over slack is dumb, and the music dies.

When you over-plot your story, you may lose spontaneity and feel like a slave to your overly detailed outline. When you build your story as you go, you tend to end up with a ton of subplots and loose ends that can’t be tied up and a character arc that flatlines.

You need to have some direction as to where you are going, but you also need to feel free to write what your heart tells you to write. One way is no better or worse than the other, but together they can compliment and enhance each other.

I hope this book helps you discover your own writing style, somewhere in the middle path, so you can express your unique vision to the world.

There is a vitality, a life force, an energy, a quickening, that is translated through you into action, and because there is only one of you in all time, this expression is unique. And if you block it, it will never exist through any other medium and will be lost.

–MARTHA GRAHAM