Is Now The Time To Experiment With Writing Structures? – The Climb #607

Wednesday 21^st October 2020

The only truism in writing is that there are no truisms in writing.

If there’s one thing I’ve learnt in all my years of writing, it’s that any rules you think that might exist in writing, have been broken by many commercially and critically successful novels.

And yet, I believe structures exist. It’s not that I believe there’s some magic formula out there, yet discovered, that turns any story into a masterpiece. But I believe, our brains react to stories in specific ways. Say what you like about the hero’s journey, but it’s a structure that people connect with.

The art of writing a book is realising that what you are doing is psychological manipulation. You are trying to get people to care about characters that don’t exist. You are creating a story with the specific aim of getting an emotional response. We writers are snake oil salesmen, peddling experiences that have never happened.

I first became interested in structure when I felt I was taking too long to write a book. Leggedon had just happened and the book I was writing was a struggle; I felt I’d be one small, small press wonder. Black As Knight was written as an experiment to see if I could apply the barest of structures to my writing… one where I planned out the chapters and story arcs before hand.

And yes, it’s a difficult birth, but Black As Knight worked.

But I wonder if I can go further?

Jim Butcher tells a story where he didn’t believe in structure and made no progress with his writing until he did. That book went on to become Storm Front.

My agent has often cited some of the things Butcher does with his writing to me.

So just like Black As Knight was an experiment into whether I could become a planner, what if I took one of the new ideas I had and see if I could apply writing structure to it? I probably need to write something different as a little palette cleanser and with plans being pushed back a few months, I have a little time.

My idea is to take some writing structure and really try and follow it… not because I’m desperate to turn out something good… but to see how it fits in with all the other work I’ve done this year (theme, act structure, etc).

I’m not going to put any expectations on what I create. It’ll be something experimental. Something I can have fun with provided I follow the structure. It may turn out terrible, and that’s something I’d be OK with.

I think it’s important to continue to try and push yourself as a writer. I’ve spent a lot of time on process and already have some structures of my own. But only by playing with things can I get an understanding as to whether they work for me.

It’s not about having something rigid in terms of how you write. It’s about having a multitude of tools in your toolbox you can call upon.

But just like any tool. Sometimes you need to use it a bit before you get the hang of it