What is the best structure for a novel?
The best structure is whatever gives your protagonist a clear goal, presents increasingly difficult obstacles, delivers a significant turning point or climax, and provides a sense of closure. Often, this means writing the beginning, middle, and end; the inciting incident; a series of complications; a major crisis; and a climax. This does not mean you must use a specific structure. In fact, you should never force a structure.
Choosing a structure for your novel
The structure of a novel refers to the way events are organized to ensure that information, conflict, and character development unfold at appropriate moments. Although there isn't a single structure that will be effective in every type of genre, most successful novels follow a purposeful narrative path.
How the story usually develops
First, you should tell the reader about the main character, the place, and what is going on. After that, something happens that changes your character's life. This is usually referred to as the "inciting incident." It sets up the central conflict or goal for your main character.
As the story moves along, our main character strives to achieve his goal, but encounters increasing obstacles. Subplots may contribute additional information to the central conflict, further reveal the characters, and vary the pace. Near the midpoint, there will usually be a discovery or reversal which shifts the protagonist's understanding of the problem and heightens the stakes.
At the final stage of the novel, the plot reaches its climax, where a conflict or situation becomes critical. The character faces a decision that will affect everything, and we see the decisive moment of action. Following the climax comes the denouement, which describes how things proceed after the climax and provides emotional resolution to the audience.
Common choices for novel structure
- The three-act structure: separates the story into setup, conflict and resolution.
- The hero's journey: follows a character through departure, trials, transformation, and return.
- Mystery structure: It puts clues, suspects, revelations and reversals into a pattern centered on one crucial question.
- Multiple perspectives: switches back and forth between the characters. Each point of view provides information or conflict.
- Nonlinear Structure: uses flashbacks to present events out of chronological order to create suspense, contrast, or a particular thematic effect.
Testing your structure
Give yourself a challenge. Summarize each chapter in a single sentence. Now look at that summary and see if each chapter: -changes the situation, -reveals some useful information, -increases the tension, -develops the character. If you can't see any of those happening in a couple of chapters, it's time to combine, revise, or even eliminate those chapters.
The most effective narrative structure is the one that renders causal relationships in a story easily understandable, while compelling the reader to keep turning pages.