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Story structure is one issue fiction editors love to disagree about. At one end of the spectrum, some promote rigid templates, while others say "anything goes."
In this episode, I cover ...
- the problem with rigid approaches to story structure
- why I dislike Save the Cat! and the Hero's Journey
- why you should think about story structure but not get hung up about it
Enjoy!
Links from today's ep!
- Hustle culture versus the Literary Academy: https://www.thenarrativecraft.com/post/two-cultures-in-publishing-hustle-culture-vs-the-literary-academy
- How universal is the Save the Cat beat sheet?: https://www.thenarrativecraft.com/post/the-save-the-cat-beat-sheet-a-cultural-anthropological-approach
- Club Ed course – Plot and Story Structure: https://www.clubedfreelancers.com/product/editing-for-plot-and-story-structure-sep-8-oct-5-2025/
- Romancing the Beat: https://www.campfirewriting.com/learn/romancing-the-beat
- The Hero's Journey: https://www.jcf.org/learn/joseph-campbell-heros-journey
- The Heroine's Journey: https://gailcarriger.com/books/hj/
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