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Story Structure Mini-Course · Module 2

Go Deeper on Story Structure

Curated books, articles, and videos for each of the 8 major story frameworks. Use these alongside the mini-course to build a proper understanding of the structure behind every compelling read.

Structure 01
Three-Act Structure
The universal backbone. Setup, confrontation, resolution — the skeleton every other structure is built around.
Any Genre Universal Foundation
Structure 02
The Hero's Journey
Campbell's 12-stage monomyth. The protagonist leaves their ordinary world, earns transformation, and returns changed.
Epic Fantasy Romantasy Portal Fantasy Adventure
Structure 03
Save the Cat Beat Sheet
Blake Snyder's 15-beat commercial structure. The most widely used framework in indie fiction for its precise pacing and emotional payoff.
Commercial Fiction YA Dark Romance Thriller
Structure 04
The Romance Arc
Built around GMC (Goal, Motivation, Conflict), with the Black Moment and HEA as non-negotiable structural contracts with romance readers.
Dark Romance Contemporary PNR Romantasy
Structure 05
The Seven-Point Story Structure
Dan Wells' structure built backwards from resolution. Define your endpoint first, then reverse-engineer each plot point.
Fantasy Thriller Mystery Sci-Fi
Structure 06
The Fichtean Curve
Opens in crisis, escalates through a series of rising mini-conflicts, no traditional setup. For stories that need to feel relentless from page one.
Thriller Horror Psychological Suspense Literary Fiction
Structure 07
The W-Plot
Two storylines that rise and fall in counterpoint — internal vs external, or romance vs plot — converging at the climax. Essential for dual POV fiction.
Women's Fiction Dual POV Romance Dual Timeline Domestic Thriller
Structure 08
The MICE Quotient
Orson Scott Card's diagnostic framework — Milieu, Inquiry, Character, Event. Identifies thread types and enforces the rule: close threads in the reverse order you opened them.
All Genres Revision Tool Series Planning