Like your house needs to be built on good foundations, your novel or memoir needs to be supported by a solid story structure. If you don’t know what your structure is, your characters can tie themselves up in knots, and your readers can get frustrated.
There are multiple ways to organise your story: we’ve gathered a few resources here. See what might work best for you.
Iola Goulton has summarised Michael Hauge’s Six-Stage Structure here: https://christianediting.co.nz/michael-hauge/
You might also want to try Randy Ingermanson’s Snowflake Method: https://www.advancedfictionwriting.com/articles/snowflake-method/
Lisa Cron’s Story Genius shows you how to write a truly character-driven story that hooks and turns in all the right places. http://wiredforstory.com/
Save the Cat by Blake Snyder sets out the basic ‘beats’ in every screenplay, and where they must occur. This article explains what each of the beats is, but the book is better and more comprehensive. https://timstout.wordpress.com/story-structure/blake-snyders-beat-sheet/
KM Weiland always has terrific writing resources. Here’s her story structure outline. https://www.helpingwritersbecomeauthors.com/secrets-story-structure-complete-series/
The Red Lounge for writers has a free mini course for memoir writers. Story structure is just as important in memoir as in fiction. https://www.redloungeforwriters.com/free-memoir-writing-course
