W Plot Structure
W Plot Structure Example
The W Plot Structure
W Plot Structure

Storyfix is proud to bring you a 10-part tutorial on the fundamentals of story structure. Today’s post is #1 in that series. Introducing the Four Parts of Story Some writers like things in nice little boxes. Others, not so much. Either way, you can look at your story like a box, of sorts. You toss in all kinds of. Common in popular novels, television, and Hollywood films, the 'W' plot structure is named for its graphical representation, which resembles the letter 'W.' In the 'W' plot, the protagonist encounters a series of obstacles to achieving their objective.

There is another structure..

..a simpler, more flexible storytelling structure..

..made up of 10 simple phases that take your character through a complete emotional journey.

It does have a few plot points, but they're more open than the plot points you find in three-act structure or in the Hero's Journey.

This story structure allows you to draw a simple map of your story..that doubles as a map of your character's emotional journey.

(That's my favorite thing about it.)

It doesn't get as much attention as three-act structure or the Hero's Journey..in fact, it's often overlooked by writers.

Why?

I'm not sure, but I have a theory.

W Plot Structure

Because when I first tried this story structure, I made a mistake.

A mistake that ruined my story.

There are a couple different ways to interpret this structure..and the most common ones encourage you to fall into bad storytelling habits.

Like easing off on your story's conflicts.

Or forgetting to raise the stakes.

It took a lot of experimenting for me to see why this structure wasn't working for me..

..but once I discovered the right way to use it, I fell in love with it.

It's so powerful in the way that it sets up each phase of your character's struggle.

But it's so flexible, it makes brainstorming a joy.

W Plot Structure Example

6 deck shoe blackjack strategy chart. I'm going to show you how it works in..

Here's a collection of story structures and plots to help develop your story, especially to build dramatic tension:

Seven-element story structure

Based on Algis Budrys' Writing to the Point and others.

Here's the classic story structure. Note that the character goes through repeated attempts to solve or understand the problem, failing between each attempt (and learning something new), raising the stakes, and trying again with the new information:

A character
In a context
Encounters or has a problem
And tries to solve the problem
But fails, then learns something new

So tries and fails with greater stakes, and finally
Tries and fails again, the stakes escalating with each attempt. After each failure, the character learns something new and applies this knowledge. This is the try-fail cycle, and a story is most satisfying with three.
(In the idiot plot, the characters don't learn, or the failures arise from behaving foolishly.)

Until reaching the climax, when things are as bad as they can possibly be, which leads to
Success, or failure, or death: The best resolution and denouement uses outside validation: 'Yep, Jim, he's dead,' or 'You've saved the world! Kisses and medals for everyone!'

Anatomy of a short story

A simplified way to look at story structure, by James Gunn:

Situation: 'interesting character in difficulties.'
Complication: The situation moves the protagonist to action; efforts to resolve the situation create rising action.
Climax: Point of greatest drama and emotional interest for reader. Also called 'crisis,' because pressures of the situation must be resolved: Do or die time!
Resolution: Problem solved! Or failure, or success that means failure in another way.
Anticlimax or denouement: Everything that comes after. Keep as short as possible.

We read fiction because the world around us doesn't make sense, so we expect fiction to make sense of things. If you change the natural story order that readers expect, it's a risk. Is it worth it? (Why did Memento do the story in reverse? Did it work for you?)

We are annoyed when things go too smoothly for the characters! Whenever the character acts:

Add conflict!
This might come from inside (doing something is a challenge for her: doesn't fit system of beliefs, or she doesn't understand the nature of the problem).
From outside (the previous action might raise conflict from other characters, or an outside force reacts against the action).
Ways to build your story:
Whenever possible, make things worse.
Don't make the solutions simple.
Make it clear that the bad things in the story have happened before and will again if the characters don't learn or change: Horror does this a lot, mysteries, and so forth. The movie Alien wouldn't be nearly as scary if the characters hadn't discovered the derelict ship; or later, if the monster weren't born.
A character who suffers is one we care about; one who inflicts suffering becomes a villain.
Complicate the problem when the character thinks she's solved something.
Make that solution present new problems.
Put the characters in jeopardy (anticipated pain or loss).
Consider using romantic tension.
Signs and portents (especially in horror and fantasy).

Shapes of stories

The W-plot is a very useful way to think about story structure visually. It's anchored by five turning points that make up each of the points of a W (see image to the right).

A series of events connects each dramatic moment or turning point in the story to the next point, and each segment (which doesn't need to be straight, of course) of the W represents a different phase in the story. You can imagine that a whole lifetime comes before the initial Trigger Event, but don't waste your reader's time with that.

Open at the main character's (MC) moment of crisis (the Initial Trigger Event), the defining moment in a person's life after which nothing will ever be the same. The problem the MC encounters can be external (danger!) or internal (personal issues, dissatisfaction in life, deciding to make a change or achieve a goal, or so forth).

Act or Scene 1 (or the first arm of the W) is all about things getting worse as the problem manifests or as the MC attempts to change their life, getting Joseph Campbell's 'Call to Adventure / Refusing the Call / Finding the Mentor' (from Campbell's Hero's Journey), and otherwise falling into a pit of worsening trouble, because they're not yet equipped to deal with it..

..until the 1st Turning Point. That's when the MC learns something, tackles a smaller problem or aspect of the bigger one, achieve a milestone on the road to happiness, or otherwise actively tries to solve their issue and either return to the happy state before the story started or move toward achieving the goal they were aiming for at the beginning of the story.

Act or Scene 2 is when the character recovers from the initial problem, crosses Campbell's 'First Threshold,' passes tests along the way, and prepares for encountering their greatest fears and the most dangerous antagonists they've ever faced at..

..the 2nd Triggering Event (middle of the W). This is the end of Ac