Teach Yourself to Structure a Novel: A Syllabus

I wrote my first novel mostly on vibes. For me, structure was one of the hardest lessons to learn.

Not long after I finished my PhD in creative writing (English lit with a creative dissertation), I had a book coming out and a brand new professor job. I sat down to write another book, and I realized I didn’t know anything about how to structure a novel, other than using my intuition. Interestingly, I would meet up with my PhD cohort over zoom (it was covid times), and I discovered we were all trying to figure out the same puzzle.

I had great courses and instructors in my MFA and PhD programs, but one thing I realized is that academic creative writing programs RARELY teach structure in any formal way. In fact, in one of my programs, I told my professor I was reading a craft book, and she was horrified. “I hope it doesn’t mess up your writing,” she said, and so, properly chastised, I didn’t pick up another craft book for a long time.

Now I teach in an MFA, and I make it a point to assign craft books in nearly all of my workshop courses. This wasn’t something I would have seen in my student days, but I hear from other instructors that they’re headed this direction, too. There’s nothing like a good craft book to shortcut the process, and to provide you direct instruction so that you can practice what you’re trying to learn.

I teach my advanced undergraduate fiction courses as structure of the novel courses, and here are the texts I recommend:

1. Always first for me is Save the Cat! Writes a Novel by Jessica Brody. MFA students don’t always love this book — some call it formulaic. Instead of formulas, I prefer to think of novels as puzzles — the pieces are there, and you have to figure out how to put them together. This book does such a good job showing the “beats” of a novel, and its conversation about genre is so different than most books, and so so helpful.

   READING ASSIGNMENT: Read the intro and Chapters 1 & 2. Pick a specific genre, and read that chapter, as well.

   WRITING ASSIGNMENT: Create a novel beat sheet using Save the Cat!’s method. Go through the checklists to see if your book is dramatic and cohesive enough.

2. Next, read Lisa Cron’s Story Genius, a book that will help your nail your character’s internal arc. Cron has you digging deep to discover your character’s misbelief, and how that misbelief can be overcome. Your reader wants to see your character grow, to see how they overcome past wounds, and to see whether or not they triumph. Cron is the best guide for this internal arc that I’ve found.

READING ASSIGNMENT: Read Part 2 of this book, Creating the Inside Story. You can decide if you need Part 3 or not — some writers like this further development while others find it paralyzing.

WRITING ASSIGNMENT: Do the exercises in Part 2, developing the who, why, what next, and when of your novel.

BONUS ASSIGNMENT ONE (only if it inspires you): Work through Part 3 of this book, developing scene cards.

BONUS ASSIGNMENT TWO (only if you think you need it): Did Story Genius change or refine your Save the Cat! beat sheet? If so, go back through your beat sheet and make notes for your final outline.

3. Finally, Jennie Nash's Blueprint for a Book will help you really finalize that outline. In this book, Nash asks you to consider your market and your ideal reader. If you follow her process, you find yourself with a robust outline, one that includes both what happens and why.

READING ASSIGNMENT: Read this whole book. Seriously. It's short, and it's worth it.

WRITING ASSIGNMENT: Work your way through all 14 steps of your blueprint, using the story you've already excavated with the previous two craft books. By the end of this process, you should have a pretty good idea what your novel arc will be.

I've reviewed this book in more detail here.

From here, WRITE A DRAFT. Take some time every day and add to the words you've put on the page. Does this pre-work and outlining help the drafting process?

One final thing: I believe that feedback is necessary for the development of most writers. How can you find feedback for your work? Can you join a group of beta readers, a critique group, or take a class?

These are not the only texts I recommend for structure (maybe one day I'll do an Advanced Structure syllabus). But these three books will get you really far, and I wish I had encountered them a long time ago. 

What books are you on your must-read list for learning to structure a novel?