Story Structure: 4 Frameworks and How to Use Them

How do you know when to add a plot twist? How do you know if you’ve created enough tension before the climax of a story? And how long does a story go on after the conflict is resolved? Luckily, story structure exists to help you answer all of these questions and more.

Let’s talk about four different structures you can apply to any story currently floating around in your head, no matter how familiar you may be with story structures.

What is story structure?

Story structure is an overarching term to describe different ways your plot plays out in a story. The way you structure a story will impact the pacing, the tension, and how your reader takes in the story.

It’s important to stop here and acknowledge the difference between plot and story, as I’ll be using each term throughout this post. Writers often use these terms interchangeably, but your plot isn’t your story, and your story isn’t your plot.

Plot is the sequence of events throughout the story. For example, in Wizard of Oz, the plot is the tornado hitting Dorothy’s house, each stop she makes on the yellow brick road are plot points, leading to the big meeting of the wizard. But there’s much more going on in the Wizard of Oz that completes the story. The plot is the inciting incident all the way through the resolution.

The story is how the tornado transports her to another world with good and evil witches, flying monkeys, tin men, talking trees, and so many odd characters. It’s how she learns lessons along the way, making new friends, and confronts the bad characters.

When we talk about story structure, we’re talking about plot. The way you organize your plot points is a big decision and really affects the overall feel of the story. The plot is just part of what makes up your story, however.

There are so many ways you can structure a story, but we’ll talk about a few of the popular ones you may have already heard of. These structures are great if it’s your first time using a story structure in your writing.

Freytag’s Pyramid Story Structure

Freytag’s Pyramid is a story structure I remember learning about in high school English classes. We’ll start with this one because most people have at least heard of Freytag’s Pyramid. We have used the formula of Freytag’s Pyramid in storytelling for millenia, but novelist Gustav Freytag was able to dissect the formula and lay it out in a nice neat diagram for the rest of us to learn from.

I should mention, Freytag’s Pyramid originally focused on tragedy, but it has since been adapted into a more general use. He originally called the resolution at the end of the pyramid the catastrophe. It was where the protagonist took one last punch to the gut, but now we refer to it as a wrapping up of events.

Exposition

The story starts out with some setting descriptors or some backstory of some sort. There’s some exposition that gets us into the world of the story.

Inciting Incident

The inciting incident is when the drama starts. This plot point launches us into the action of the story. The rest of your story is based on this point. In The Wizard of Oz the inciting incident is the tornado. Without it, Dorothy doesn’t end up in Oz, and there is no story.

A still image from the tornado scene of the Wizard of Oz

Rising Action

This is where we start to lay in the tension. Your protagonist is now dealing with the consequences of the inciting incident and they’re on a new trajectory. We have small wins and losses along the way. All of this is where the reader invests in the story, so the next part packs a big punch. In The Wizard of Oz we see the stakes rising every time Dorothy adds a new member to her group. They all show us that they want something, and we see this unlikely group of friends defeat different obstacles along the way. We are now invested in the characters.

Climax

This is the most exciting part of your story. Everything you’ve done so far has brought us here. The inciting incident sent us off with a one way ticket to the climax. Whatever the main conflict of the story, you confront it here. In The Wizard of Oz, we see this with the defeat of the Wicked Witch.

A still from the movie The Wizard of Oz of the wicked witch with water on her face before she melts.

Falling Actions

The falling actions happen after you address the main conflict. There might be some loose ends to tie up still. Some more roadblocks could pop up, but they’re nothing in comparison to what the protagonist has already experienced. This is where we see Dorothy and her friends ask the Wizard for the traits they believe they are missing.

Resolution

The resolution is exactly as it sounds. This is the last little bit of the story that feels like an ending. It’s a good place to leave things, as your reader won’t feel like you’re leaving them on a cliffhanger. This is when Glinda tells Dorothy the secret to getting back to Kansas.

A still from The Wizard of Oz of the moment Dorothy clicks her heels three times to go back to Kansas.

In the resolution, we have a moment called the denouement. Even though a lot of people will refer to the resolution and denouement as the same instance, they are different literary terms with different definitions.

The resolution is the whole ending, but the denouement is a moment where we get an idea of what comes next for the protagonist after the story. We won’t continue following the protagonist since the story is over, there’s literally no more ink on the page, but we can put the pieces together to figure out what’s next. This is the neat little bow on top of the resolution.

Freytag’s Pyramid Story Structure Summary

Freytag’s Pyramid is a great way to structure a story because it doesn’t have a lot of constraints, especially the more modern version of it. You could take most classic stories and wrap them around this framework. If you’re just getting into the idea of story structures, this is a great one to start with. It’s simple and straightforward. You lay out the rules for the reader, and all they have to do is connect the dots.

Now let’s look at another structure that also lays it all out for us.

7 Point Story Structure

This is a really simple story structure called the Seven Point structure. This structure has seven plot points you need to hit, but there’s a lot of room to play between them. The Seven Point Structure is a great guide for those of you who are new to story structure. There’s not too much to follow, but by the end you’ll have a great plot laid out that your readers can follow easily.

The Seven Point structure is a new outline, created by Dan Wells at the 2013 Life, the Universe, & Everything conference, which is a conference for the science fiction genre.

We start with a hook, move toward a midpoint where the character decides to do something about the situation, and then move toward a resolution. Let’s dive into this basic framework a little deeper.

Hook

The hook is a bit of exposition that gets us to know the character and start rooting for them. This is where we feel out the story and you immerse us in the main character’s world.

Plot Turn 1

Plot Turn 1 is the inciting incident that we talked about in Freytag’s Pyramid. This moment defines your story and launches us into action. This is the first time something shifts for the character from their normal life.

Pinch Point 1

Following the inciting incident, you move the reader into our first confrontation with conflict. You might see an antagonist appear or a big roadblock pops up for your protagonist to deal with.

Midpoint

The midpoint of the plot is where the protagonist goes from passively moving through the story and reacting to their surroundings to actively making decisions and doing something to solve the conflict.

Pinch Point 2

Here is where the conflict takes a turn for the worse. We think the protagonist can’t possibly come back from this moment. The tension has been rising to this moment and now we aren’t sure what comes next.

Plot Turn 2

At Plot Turn 2, the protagonist has discovered something that will aid in the resolution of the conflict. They’re on the way back to better days.

Resolution

The resolution is akin to the climax of Freytag’s Pyramid. Your protagonist once again confronts the conflict, now equipped to defeat it. But, as the author, it’s up to you if your character actually achieves what they set out to do.

Seven Point Story Structure Summary

If you choose to outline your story with this plot structure, it might help you to plan the Hook, then the Midpoint, then the Resolution, and fill in between to connect the dots. This is a great structure for stories of quests, as it’s often used in sci-fi, because the sci-fi community developed it.

Now let’s take a look at a structure that is all about the drama.

Three Act Story Structure

You’ve probably heard of the Three Act Structure if you’ve ever done a Google search for story structure. Playwrights and screenwriters often use this structure. This concept of a story in three parts dates back at least to Aristotle. He was the first to write it out explicitly, but again, it’s a model we’ve seen storytellers use as long as we’ve been telling stories. Aristotle explains it as the beginning, middle, and end. Simple enough, right?

With the Three Act Structure we’re looking at The Setup, The Conflict, and the Resolution. It’s important to remember that one act leads into another here. We’ll look at this in conjunction with Freytag’s Pyramid since there are quite a few similarities.

The Setup

This is where we get our exposition or hook from the previous structures. You’re introducing us to the world the characters live in, the characters themselves, and you set the story into motion. At the end of the first act we get the inciting incident. Remember, this is what sets the tone for the rest of the story.

The Conflict

Here is where we get the rising action. This is where the tension builds, people have obstacles to overcome, and there’s usually some kind of villain at play. You have to raise the stakes a few times throughout this act to keep a reader interested. The end of this act is the climax, so it’s important to continue to raise the tension levels until you get there. The climax leads us into the third act.

A still from the movie The Wizard of Oz of Dorothy and the scarecrow finding the tin man.

The Resolution

Here’s where we get our falling action, resolution, and denouement. You resolve the big conflict, and now give us that part of the story that helps wrap everything up so the reader doesn’t have too many questions. Then we see the denouement to get an idea of what will happen outside of these pages for our characters.

Three Act Story Structure Summary

Next time you put on a movie or go see a play, pay attention to the plot structure. Most likely you’ll be able to see the Three Act Structure working its magic. This is a great structure to use because it guides you through exactly what to expect, much like Freytag’s Pyramid. If you’re new to story structures, this one gives you just enough to guide you through your story, but there’s plenty of room for you to play with the story.

Lastly, we’ll look at a one that isn’t nearly as structured as the others.

In Media Res Story Structure

This structure is called In Media Res, which is latin for ‘in the middle of things’. And that’s exactly where we start the story, in the middle of the plot. Remember, the plot is the sequence of events, and the story is the way everything comes together on the page.

When you start in media res your opening scene is closer to the middle of the story, and you might later reveal the prior plot points in flashbacks or character conversations.

In media res has its roots as far back as The Odyssey and The Iliad. Homer opened both of these epics in the middle of the action. The Odyssey opens with Calypso holding Odysseus captive and suitors preying upon his wife back home. The Iliad starts with Achilles and Agamemnon fighting in the Trojan war.

When I say in media res stories start with the action, I really do mean from the very first line. You drop your reader right into what’s happening, and, if necessary, explanation later.

This is supposed to be a good way to hook your reader, letting them see something exciting and wonder what’s happening. But to do this well you have to mix it in with some setting and characterization, otherwise your reader will have far more questions than answers.

During all of the action we still need to know where we are and what’s happening.

Conclusion of story structure

These are just a few story structures I would recommend for beginner writers. We went over the general idea of them and had some small examples, but if you’d like me to dig deeper on any of these structures, or other structures, please leave a comment below.

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What is story structure?