INTRODUCTION:

Every novel is structured the same way. Some are just thicker than others. If you compare The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald to The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown, you’ll see that they all follow the same pattern. As a matter of fact, a picture book follows the same structure. And this pattern is actually what readers look forward to. The structure keeps a reader engaged, by drawing them to the novel, keeping them guessing, surprising them, and giving them a resolution. 

What is this structure?

HOW TO STRUCTURE A NOVEL:

1. Have a Strong Hook & Opening Scene

Always start with a strong opening and hook. This is how to gain attention on your novel, and hopefully your reader will stay engaged throughout to the end. (Honestly, it’s the same thing screenwriters and content creators do with their script writing.)

What does this look like? The hero may ask where dad is going with his ax (Charlotte’s Web, by E.B. White), we learn about the latest gossip in town (Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen), “All children, but one, grow up” (Peter Pan, by J.M. Berrie). In these instances, your reader automatically wonders what is happening, right away, and they want to know more. So they keep reading.

2. Insert an Inciting Incident

An inciting Incident, or catalyst, is an event that changes the direction of the story. It takes the character out of their comfort zone–the beginning of the story–and into a new world, metaphorically or literally. The inciting incident is the beginning of a challenge for the hero of the story. They are challenged with a change. (Change is our hero’s overall journey/lesson.)

Examples include: The hero moves to a new town (Twilight by Stephanie Meyer); they meet the love-interest (The Duke and I, by Julia Quinn); loud, obnoxious rats come into a quiet town (Redwall, by Brian Jacques); the hero gets an acceptance letter to a wizarding school (Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, by J.K. Rowling), etc.

3. Include a Series of Events

The series of events that follow the inciting incident may be good events or bad ones. The hero may be on an upward journey, enjoying the new world they’re in, or they may be failing at every new thing and wishing to go back to their previous life. No matter what the events are, nor how the hero is doing, these events are lessons for them, and the events all lead to the climax.

For instance: The hero must take on roles and responsibilities of a young woman in 13th-century England, even though she is only 14 years old and would rather not be doing mundane work nor discussing marriage proposals (Catherine, Called Birdy, by Karen Cushman); the hero meets trolls, goblins, elves, and what have you for the first time, after leaving his quiet, little house (The Hobbit, by JRR Tolkien); the hero falls down a rabbit hole and meets silly characters who have a backward way of doing things (Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, by Lewis Carroll).

4. Give the Hero a Climax

This may sound sexual, but I’m not referring to a romance novel. The climax is the point of no return for your hero. This is where all the tension from previous events reaches its highest point (literally on a plot diagram), the hero must face their flaw, and the conflict of the story finally gets resolved. It is only at this point that the hero learns their overall lesson.

Examples may include: the hero defeats the villain; the hero and heroine finally confess their love for one another and kiss; the hero defeats the dragon and saves the princess.

5. Close with “The End”

This is not the literal “The End” at the finale of a children’s picture book. This is the resolution; what happens to the hero after finally accepting the change they needed to go through. The reader needs to know how the hero is doing and how they have been affected by all the events that took place in the novel. Everything comes to a close, all questions have been answered, and our hero has either changed for the better or grown worse.

One big example: The hero is actually unwell and struggling to reacclimate with life back home, and they decide to end their journey (Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Rings, by JRR Tolkien); the hero passes all the candy trials and wins a chocolate factory (Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, by Roald Dahl); the antagonist is killed, and the heros are crowned kings and queens of the land (The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, by C.S. Lewis)

CONCLUSION:

Every novel is structured the same way. And it’s this structure that draws a reader to the book, and keeps them engaged to the end. This includes: having a strong opening and hook, including a series of events for the hero to experience, and resolving the story with an ending. As you come up with your story idea and novel, take into account these crucial points. And have fun writing!