Several months back, I met with one of my high school teachers at a B&N to chat about books, writing, YA lit… the usual things that two people who love books tend to talk about. She taught/teaches Creative Writing (and I actually think her class was one of the reasons I decided to major in the subject when I went to college).
When we talked about our writing processes, I lamented, as I’ve done many times before, my “pantsing” nature. We also discussed revising and she shared the “Fairy Tale” outline structure with me. I think this structure would be helpful in either stage: if you’re a pantser, like me, this structure would be helpful during revisions to make sure that the plot fits well. If you’re a plotter, then this is a pretty simple outline to get you started!
Thank you again for sharing, Jessie, if you’re reading this! I may use it as I write (or, more likely, as I revise) book #2 of the Threats of Sky and Sea series to make sure the plot is sound.
Finish each sentence as it applies to your story.
Exposition:
“Once upon a time…”
“Every day…”
Catalyst:
“But one day…”
Rising action:
“Because of that…”
“Because of that…”
“Because of that…”
Climax:
“Until finally…”
Resolution:
“Ever since then…”
As someone with a literary blog, I am always fascinated by the writing process of each individual writer. I feel like this structure would be really helpful for myself! Thanks for sharing.
You’re welcome! Hope you find it useful 🙂
I love the simplicity of this structure! It gives shape to a story, but also allows it to grow from there. Thanks for sharing Jen!
That’s what I loved about it! It helps to get the “bare bones” without bogging down
[…] mentioned the fairy tale plotting structure in my post last week, but I’m actually trying it out for book 2. It’s just loose enough […]