Shaelin's art, a structure true Six arcs to guide the tale anew Introduction, first step to take Establishment, the world to make Complication, the twist unfolds Transformation, the hero's mold Actualization, the journey's peak Revelation, the story's leak With each arc, a piece to add To the tale, a story to be had A guide for writers, a map to follow Shaelin's art, a story to swallow.

@ShaelinWrites

Жыл бұрын

Framing this

@jackhaggerty1066

Жыл бұрын

@@ShaelinWrites Better still, displayed in green neon. In a kind of cursive script. Above an engraved mirror. In the Writers' Bar.

@jose11032

Жыл бұрын

❤😂

WOW. It’s like you looked inside my brain, found all the disparate bits of intuition I have about storytelling, distilled them into something practical/usable, and handed it back to me. I’m obsessed with this whole thing - and so excited to apply it!

@ShaelinWrites

Жыл бұрын

Yesss so happy it clicked with you!

You are literally a top 3 writing channel on KZread, this is awesome

@herconflict6428

Жыл бұрын

She's pure perfection💃🌍🌎🌏💃!!! 360HERway!!!

@thomascrump1165

Жыл бұрын

I agree. Even though I prefer screenwriting this is my favorite channel.

@Invisse

Жыл бұрын

What are the other two top for you? I haven't found anyone on Shaelin's level so far, she's mind blowing

@leech1355

Жыл бұрын

What are the other two?

@dariakey5318

Жыл бұрын

What are other two??

Oh wow, I remember back when you were under 30k subs and it killed me because you *absolutely* deserved to be one of the biggest voices in the KZread writing space, and the space would be made better for it. Now I just so happen to glance over and see you've crossed 100k. SO, SO, SO happy for you.

@ShaelinWrites

Жыл бұрын

thank you for supporting me for so long!!

I wonder if this _would_ work for multi-POV novels if you treated each POV like a separate story. You'd just have to repeat this process for each one and know where to weave them together so that it makes sense within related character arcs.

@joanwarren9907

10 ай бұрын

That's what I'm trying to do, too. Any luck yet?

@5Gburn

4 ай бұрын

I think as long as it's not predictable which POV will come next, I think it'd work fine. What not to do (imagining these POVs as broken up into chapters): POV 1 POV2 POV3 POV1 POV2... The segments can start that way but then shake them up: POV1 POV1 POV2 POV3 POV1 POV2 POV2... This is my opinion, of course, and ymmv.

@bornagainreader

4 ай бұрын

@@5Gburn 100% this. Mine started off predictably, but they didn't stay that way for very long. This happened over a year ago, but I was in the process of incorporating terrible advice about giving each POV equal time. The way the advice was presented made me think that if it wasn't equal, then the POV receiving less should be cut. SO much stress... Mapping out their stories justified that character's POV despite her not being on the page as often. It also helped me remove shoehorned chapters and keep a nice flow of time.

I can not even tell you how many extra writing tips that I have learned since finding your videos. I took digital story telling and multi media design production. Sure we had to learn creative writing habits through courses. But almost none of the studies went in as much depth as you have. Thank you 🙏

@ShaelinWrites

Жыл бұрын

So happy to help

I can't believe this is free content 😭♥️

@renee_3364

Ай бұрын

Literally was thinking the same thing!

The novel I'm working on matches this structure perfectly. I planned the arcs intuitively and now I'm excited to find a confirmation for the method in your video. ❤️ And you are absolutely right about the structure being very suitable specifically for the character driven, not too long story... Cheers and much love from Moscow 🍀

Ahhh! This is totally the kind of thing I've been looking for. I have all the makings for a series and am working on the first novel. A number of character who are all conncted. I'm sort of a planner as a person, but also a see how it goes person, and this is the perfect balance. When I try to hit the beats in my writing, it just feels generic and not right, and this makes so much more sense to me in terms of hitting some of those beats if they make sense but focusing on the arc, discovery, and development in a lighter structure that allows for my voice and the characters to come out.

I just realized that fanfiction follows a character-driven plot structure and that's probably the reason why I love it so much & can't read most published books

This is cool. I have a 125k book (That will very likely be cut down a bit). I have been trying to fit it into a legible structure, but it feels like a two-part book, two different stories. But it has always been, at its core, about the relationship. Watching this, my brain caught fire with reexamining the relationship beats, and letting that drive the book. I love this. I'm going to try it. Thank you for this different perspective!

i have been having an insane creative block for the last couple months - i am a very detailed planner, but as i've been writing i've felt that my 3 act structure hasn't been holding up. this is genius and is helping me to reimagine my entire book!!! thank you so much for this video

My WIP is an emotional arc that is the basis for a complex plot. It is ambitious and has taken me longer than I thought it would. Nearly finished now. It is two structures overlaid. I’m fascinated by the way people’s character and relationships influence decision making and subsequent events.

@NetFelixOfficiel

11 ай бұрын

This looks awesome when will you finish it, i would really like to see it

omg Shaelin you're a genius, THE STRUCTURE TEMPLATE OMG

@ShaelinWrites

Жыл бұрын

truly this is my life's work

I feel like this structure could work for bigger books or books with more complex plots if you use it to figure out the relationships and their evolution. I don't think I'd use it for the entire book I'm writing (there are things that I need to figure out that are entirely linked to plot), but it's getting me to think about how and when the relationships between my characters will evolve, which is cool!

I default to plot driven stories (lawyer and ex-journalist), but I hate outlining. This seems like a good method; thanks for sharing.

for the first time ever a plot structure feels interesting and compelling to me!! bro you just posted based you will gain subscriber

This is literally GENIOUS!!!! My intuition was guiding my towards something similar, but now it makes so much sense, now I know exactly what I need to do. My book is divided in 6 parts and the structure fits just right with my plot so I'm excited to apply it!!! Thank you so much!! I love your brain that sometimes works like mine

Interesting! My late-stage WIP fits your recommendations, so I looked at how this structure would apply... and it fits very nicely! It's 60k, and about every 10k pretty neatly aligns with your arcs. Up until now I'd just looked at the traditional 3 act structure, one with 8 plot beats, and it kinda fits, but not great; there's some "oddities" that really did feel like just the kind of story it is rather than a sign of structural issues. And it's exactly those oddities that make it fit your 6 arcs!

Halfway through the video I was like "I love this, can I collapse the middle though? My book is short..." and BAM Shae says it! Definitely going to try and use this structure for my novella this year. Thank you Shae!!

Yes another TEMPLATE. I think I still have ANCIENT like character creation (?) templates from your channel from the dark ages

Thank you for this. A lot of my natural tendencies and approach to character relationships/dynamics geels perfectly with this. I've written unintentionally like this for years, so it's nice to have a detailed structure to follow instead of mostly going off intuition.

Thank you so much for all the advice you’ve given us over the years! Every video is such a helpful inspiration boost.

new video on the Six Arc Story Structure? I appreciate the SASS.

@ShaelinWrites

Жыл бұрын

wait this is genius branding??

This _almost_ fits the novel I'm brainstorming right now to a T! I might use this and just... do a wee bit of fudging to make it work for me XD Thanks so much Shaelin!

Okay I can already tell how intuitive this is going to be. IM SO HAPPY THIS IS EXACTLY WHAT I NEEDED.

I'm 130k words into my 6 POV cyberpunk novel and it falls remarkable well along the the structure you laid out so far (I'd currently fit in part 5 of your outline). I feel like it can work for plot driven stuff as well, as long as the plot points also coincide with key character relationship points (which is what I'm going for).

I like characters driven storytelling. Thanks for the tips. 😊

Thank you Shaelin for your generosity 🙂 I've printed out the template and I'm going to give this a go.

just wanted to tell the algorythm that I keep returning to this video, it's so good

This is really good. I'll go back to my books and see how I can apply these.

This structure sounds awesome. I've struggled for years, trying to write a novel using Save the Cat and similar approaches, then whining about how I want to focus less on an external plot and more on the characters and their relationships, haha. I'm going to experiment with this approach.

Well presented, Shaelin. I guess that’s what I do as well, now that you describe it. Can’t tell you how helpful your videos are. They are very “settling” if you can relate to that. I feel more confidence in the way I work after listening to most. Thanks for posting

We appreciate your continued KZread presence so much! Thank you for helping us all

9:37 cheese it! It’s the fuzz! They’re after you Shaelin!

"wake up babe new plot structure just dropped" Hahaha that got a chuckle. I work in a 6 (or so) ACT structure -- just breaking down the story into more manageable parts, sequences, segments etc But I barely have ONE 'arc' in my books. The MC has a big arc in the series, and progress in each book, but not what I'd think of as an arc. (Like most, I think of an arc as the main character's growth and change -- amusingly shown by Vonnegut in that famous video clip where he calls it the "man in a hole" where your main character has a problem, it gets worse at the bottom of the hole, and then they start to climb their way out, and the final positive change is the top of the arc.) But i do like your approach. I can see it working with more literary character-driven stories. (My books are plot-driven.)

I'm more of a long-form, plot-driven writer but this still gave me a lot to think about as I go over the current draft of my novel and how I want to reshape several sections/characters. Excellent job as always.

Shaelin, this is priceless! just followed along making notes for my own book. Thanks!

Your writing channel has such useful and applicable tips, thank you so much!!!

This is a brilliant structure for any character driven stories, or stories with both relationships and plot. Some of my favorite books follow this relationship structure, and the ones woth heavy plot focus simply build on top of this path, proof that it's super flexible and works for good stories!! I can think of a couple stories that follow this, Sound of Music is a good one. The romantic plot of Maria and Von Trapp follow this character structure, and the rest of the plot follow the other important themes of the story (family, religion, war). Side characters like Liesl and Rolf follow this character structure as well, just on a different timeline and while contributing to the less central themes (like war)

I had just started taking notes when you mentioned the doc. Just when I thought this channel couldn't get any better. Thank you so much!

Love this!!! I will definitely be using it.

Thank you for this video! (and the free templates) 🙏 You are a gem! I had been studying story structure lately to help me with my new fantasy stories ideas. (I realized that two of them have series potential and I am crying and praying I won't crumble under the pressure I put on myself XD). I was looking for something more character and relationships driven so this comes at the perfect time. I'll see what resonates and help with my stories. I want to try "plotting characters and pantsing the plot as I need a sense of direction but too much plotting always awaken my inner critic and makes me give up on a project. And because I might be an intuitive plotter.

Oh wow! The internal structure is so me. Thanks so much, Shaelin for another great, helpful video.

I personally probably won't use this, it doesn't feel intuitive to me at all, but a lot of people seem to resonate with it in the comment so it looks like you just brought something really nice into the world :)

This is amazing! I would *love* love love if you could do a video mapping this structure onto a specific book (yours or someone else's)!

You might be able to map this directly onto the 6 act story structure for plot, and keep the two in your head as you go. Personally, I've found the 6 act structure to be a revelation in terms of earning the "moment of truth" turning point.

@ShaelinWrites

Жыл бұрын

this is a really cool idea!

Interesting. I mostly write short stories, but I have a few novels on the backburner. Aiming to strengthen my writing a lot more before I return to them. Actually, one of them was close to being completed (it was going to be more of a novella than a novel), but I realized a lot of stuff just didn't sound right anymore. I'm going back to the drawing board on it, but stumbling across this video was helpful. 😄

Thank you for this. I have a story in my head swimming around in bits and I find it ironic that KZread is helping me sort through it all.

I love this!

This is definitely going to help with my new novel, it feels different to my other novels and for some reason, my normal plotter skills aren’t helping 😅 thank you!

Thank you for sharing this!!! I love when writing videos & podcasts IMMEDIATELY inspire me to think about my stories in different ways, and this has definitely done that! Idk if a plot structure like this would work with my current wip (it's dual POV) but I'm looking forward to playing around with this & trying it out! I find outlining to be too constricting and it takes the fun & creativity out of it for me (which is really really demotivating!) so have been trying discovery writing but I do also really need some kind of direction/guideline, so even if this doesn't work for my current wip, I think it'll be helpful for future projects, and also it's just fun to think about different plot structures, so, again, thank you for sharing 😊

@ShaelinWrites

Жыл бұрын

If you find this works for a dual POV please let me know because I've never tried that and I'd be so curious to hear what adjustments you made and how it worked out!

This video was so helpful !

I think this arc structure combines well with the six-act-story structure

I might try some version of this for the book I’m trying to write right now. Though I’d change the introduction of the character in the first arc to introduction of the setting which is the main focus of the book alongside the relation of the MC with that setting

Shaelin. SHAELIN. I’ve been watching your videos for a while now, but this is the first time I’m commenting. Your 6-act structure is absolutely genius and really helped me conceptualize how to write a character-driven story. You’re so good!! Your content never misses. No one on KZread is doing writing videos like you

I have been wanting to get back into writing fiction for a good long while but traditional story structures have always felt too vague for my AUDHD butt. This actually makes me want to try again - thank you! :D

THERES EVEN A PDF?! You spoiled us with this video! This reminds me a lot of Dan Harmons story circle method paired with four corner opposition for creating secondary characters. but I love how youve broken this meathod down, this is VERY i tuitive!. Thank you for demonstrating what it looks like to fearlessly write to your own beat and not force your story into an external structure!

great stuff, thanks

Thank you for your help.

I love your videos and find them extremely insightful. Especially Line Editing ones. Those videos were straight-up fascinating and there was so much to glean from them. Stupendous work! I have no idea if this is something you have any interest in or if you have any insight about; have you ever put much thought into serials? Something that might be released on a daily, weekly, or even monthly basis. Over the past several months I've been crafting a story for a website that hosts amateur writing, knowing many of the pieces published there are open-ended or may expand well beyond the conventional length of what a Novel would have if consolidated into a single book. I watch your videos because your depth of knowledge is such a treasure trove, though I sometimes have trouble applying certain elements since the medium I'm working in doesn't deal with the same constraints as short stories or novels. Or maybe I'm making a mistake by not treating every entry as a short story, and all subsequent issues behave in a manner similar to sequels. I would venerate any thoughts you may have on the matter. Thank you for all that you do.

Wow, your insight and information could have saved me so much time when I was writing my first fiction novel! I'm definitely going to use the technique you shared in this video on my second novel. Thank you for sharing your knowledge and helping aspiring writers like myself improve their craft! I’m open to network and collaborate with anyone thats interested

I took notes lol this is so helpful

I’m so intrigued by this! I’m more of a discovery writer as you are, so I’m curious how this might translate to screenwriting.

I can confirm that this plot structure is valid: I'm writing a vivid dream journal with my sister, which is by its very nature deeply psychological, and it revolves around the characters and their social dynamics and personality development. We have almost 400k words in script format, but the first complete story arc roughly fits into 100-120k, and it seems to follow this 6 act structure.

I’m checking out the (very useful) Google doc and “Avoid resolving conflict or diminishing tension between characters. If characters get into an argument, the resolution should provide more conflict going forward, rather than neatly resolving the point of conflict. Similarly, avoid de-escalating the protagonist’s problems.” - the more I write the more I figure out that writing is such a tough job for a neurotic people pleaser like me

I think this structure will be perfect for my work in progress, which I'm about to revise considerably before moving forward. Your content is always good, but I think this is the best so far, especially because you provide a template. I learn better and retain more when I can read as well as well listen. Thanks so much for the fantastic content. (You should publish this somewhere.)

I recognize these arcs in the story I’m currently writhing. I’ll be finishing arc 4 at around 50k words. It’s mostly discovery written besides a few important scenes and have the pov shift between the two characters of the main relationship. The thing is, I’m pretty sure the story will end up at around 250k words. I’m considering doing an experiment and try doing the second fourth of the story arc 2-6 and se how it goes!

I liked the video, Shaelin. I like to map events out in my novel and write out character bios, but the 6-arc structure might be a little too confusing for me. Still, thank you so much for sharing what works for you when writing your stories.

This sounds very interesting, lots of food for thought! One question I have: I feel in a lot of relationship driven novels the inciting incident IS the two characters meeting. When you say you focus on the protagonist in part 1, how does the core relationship factor into this? Do you hold off on showing too much of the other person? I guess I'm having difficulty understanding what exactly you mean by 'set the relationship in motion' in part 2. I have a hard time picturing how I would write the frist 10k of a novel without setting these relationships in motion? Hope that questions makes sense, maybe the story I have in mind just wouldn't be suited for this type of structure. Either way, hope you have a great day!

@ShaelinWrites

Жыл бұрын

Very good question! For me, usually I have an inciting incident other than the characters' meeting, usually it's some kind of event that causes a big change in the character's external world, so that creates a lot of protagonist-related conflict to explore and establish in the beginning. So, I usually introduce characters throughout part one, then usually have the most important relationship introduced at the very end of arc 1, so then arc 2 puts all those relationships on a forward trajectory (so instead of just characters being present in the protagonist's life, there's now a sense of motion to these relationships, as they begin to tangle). If your inciting incident was two characters meeting, you could just start the development of that relationship earlier in the book, or, have something like a 'refusal of the call' beat (like is laid out in a lot of plot structures), where they meet, but the main character resists the relationship at first. Or, you could also just combine arc 1 and 2, so you would only have 5 arcs, and the purpose of the first two arcs would happen at the same time all at the beginning. It's pretty flexible so lots of ways you can move stuff around based on your specific story!

@webshowMUFFIN

Жыл бұрын

@@ShaelinWrites That makes a lot of sense, lots of stuff to think about. Thanks for taking the time to reply!

This is so cool! Thanks for sharing!! 💞 I think this could also be adapted for short stories too since it isn't too focused on plot.

@ShaelinWrites

Жыл бұрын

I've never tried it with a short story but if you do please let me know how it works out!! I'm curious to try that myself!

Thank you

Thanks, Shaelin I will try to understand, what you are talking about writing. It is never easy for me,,understand your every speech. When you use templet & slide in your video,, it is make easy for me. Carry on!

GOLDMINE!!!!!

I prefer Kishotenketsu (a form of 4-act structure) Ki: Introduction of world and characters (I adapt it to include a low-key inciting incident that hints to the main conflict) Sho: Development of characters and the plot. Villain remains in the background so far. Ten: Twist to kick off the actual conflict with the villain, and to turn the world/plot upside down Ketsu: Conclusion to resolve the main conflict for the main characters, and tie up loose ends

Thank you Shaelin. This approach lends me confidence to explore structure rather than feeling I must follow a formula. Any suggestions specifically to help pace/guide a multiple POV, double-protagonist novel that fits either literary or historical fiction genres? I'm a pantser too, but now am tightening up what I've "discovered." Since it follows 2 characters in different centuries, which tie in at the end, it is def. more than 90k words.

i can fit one of my all-time favorite shows into this story structure pretty well in my head! it happens to have 6 seasons, and i haven't thought about it long enough to know if it's one per arc but coooolllll!

@ShaelinWrites

Жыл бұрын

Oooh which show?

@dogcollar

Жыл бұрын

@@ShaelinWrites better call saul! the main plotline/guy at least is a pretty perfect fit

@ShaelinWrites

Жыл бұрын

@@dogcollar ohhh i love better call saul!! now I have to go back and see how this applies omg

@dogcollar

Жыл бұрын

@@ShaelinWrites omgg have fun!!! and best of luck with the ensuing heartbreak

This is a pretty cool idea. Not sure if I'll use it, as I'll have 8 main characters by the end of my book, so I need to be more conservative with my word count. But we'll see.

structure is necessary no matter how one gets there. A story is not a story without meeting the elements that make a story a story. Pants writing is a long road search to find, magnify and insert theses necessary elements. Once you pile on the fat, you then must cut it away in editing in order to expose a plot. Characters must do something they can't avoid and don't want to do and that makes a basic plot be it an external or internal adventure. Relationships are driven by character actions which becomes thy plot. Character alone can't hold a story together without plot-glue. It doesn't matter what drives the plot. In one form or another a plot structure must be there in order to be commercially viable. Experimental no-plot fiction doesn't sell well. The audience one writes for determines how to write it.

Good for coming of age genre

just watching this, you said it doesnt work too well for plot driven stuff, or super well for like suuuper long stuff say. that being said I think it could work quite well as like the other engine in a hybrid car vibe? like run it alongside another plot structure vibe but under the suface? just from my perspective when im reading i love it when the like plot is like the driving force but ypu also see complex relationships which feed in to whats going on in the wider world

i hate writing arcs, BUT the story i'm writing is character driven, so i'm gonna give this a listen, anyway!

It's been a while since I've seen one of your videos. So I don't know if you have a video on it but what's your advice on alternating POV? I'm writing about twin sisters and unsure if I should switch POV between them or stick with the one. Thanks for your channel!

5-act structure: "This is a cake walk. Shakespeare did it, so can I.' 6-act structure: (brain immediately explodes) Seriously though, I was following your trajectory pretty good at first but then the structure felt like a niche thing that I just wasn't clicking with. Glad you're happy with it. Here's hoping "Holding a Ghost" will change my mind when it comes.

Do you have any tips for finding your character’s external goal? Like his internal motivations are all there, but I feel like my protagonist’s external goal needs to be refined. What makes a good external goal and external arc that is a manifestation of the internal one?

Pantser friendly AND with template?!?! Created by accident? Sold.

i really like this story structure, but I was wondering how things would change if this structure was applied to a story with an ensemble cast (aka more than one protagonist)? would you establish each of their characters in the first act and explore their relationships with one another in the second?

@martellc1008

6 ай бұрын

I want to know the answer to this question too. I honestly think even ensemble cast has a character that's focused on slightly more than the others think Meredith in Greys Anatomy.

I've been wondering something that I haven't found an answer for yet. I have two main characters, and one of them arrives on the verge of death at the beginning of the story. The hook takes place in her point of view (this is an epic fantasy with a subplot of romance). Is it possible and will it WORK, if the plot points take place with differing points of view? For instance, can the hook be hers, while the inciting incident is in his?

This is great. Can you give examples of well known novels that fall into this structure?

@ShaelinWrites

10 ай бұрын

Not really, because as I discussed in the video, this is my own structure template/theory that I created for my work. Maybe other authors have used something similar or have their own methods of structuring that create in a similar result, but this specific structure is something I created.

Just a thought, could this potentially work in tandem with plot-beat-based structures for plot-driven books? Like, plotting a book with Save The Cat but plotting the relationship with this structure and bringing them together?

@ShaelinWrites

Жыл бұрын

I haven’t tried it but I think it’s definitely possible!

Hello..I've never written a fictional novel before so I am very unaware of the terms. Is plot structure and story arc the same thing. I have high functioning autism and am writing a fictional series for autistic teens.

Fuck this is good! Thank you!

💚

Which point of this six arc structure is best for these characters that we're referring to, to die? Is there a specific stage that will make a character death the most poignant?

@ShaelinWrites

Жыл бұрын

I think this totally depends on the role this death plays in the story, so I can't really say!

I think this might fit the book I’m writing right now - except mine is multi-POV. I’m curious - what about the structure do you think does not lend itself to multiple perspectives?

@ShaelinWrites

Жыл бұрын

I didn't really think it would suit a multi-POV book that well because I designed it around the the protagonist's internal journey, and so felt it would get a little unfocused/jumbled with too many POVs since the fuel is mostly in studying one character, but you could certainly try and it might work, and I think with some adjustments there probably is a way to make it fit a multi-POV story!

💜⚡️

R there good videos on structuring a literary fiction?

@ShaelinWrites

Жыл бұрын

I write literary fiction, so this is the method I use!

Internal structure as a rhythm or pattern. Ideally suited for character & relationship-driven plots. It will make pacing easier, we hope. This 6-Arc Story Structure set me off thinking of The Six Arches, a railway bridge in Ackworth, West Yorkshire, built to last by the later Victorians. An internal structure is aesthetically pleasing. Graham Greene wrote a celebrated essay on the spacious architecture of James's The Portrait of a Lady.

Me, an outliner with my wall of 100+ sticky notes staring me down as I write this comment: Ah, yes. Another plot structure to add to my repertoire. This will surely make my 3 POV epic fantasy book _simpler_

uwu