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I’m not a writer. Never was. I wrote a lot of research papers, essays and some dissertation (all of which were Psychology related for university) but never the creative, fictional-type of writer. Nothing like the works of J.K. Rowling or J.R.R Tolkien that is. So, I had to learn how to write creatively. I had to learn what makes a great story, what’s involved and most importantly, how to structure it. In this blog, I’ll provide and discuss a simple, 4-act story structure that I learned and used to create my story, “The Last Guardians Of Atlantis”.

Act 1: The Hook and Inciting Incident.

Act 2: Conflict, Tension and Low points.

Act 3: Disaster.

Act 4: ‘AHA’ Moment/Resolution and Ending.

Act 1: The Hook and Inciting Incident.

The beginnings of your story should give the reader a hook - a conflict surrounding your main protagonist(s). If you can layer both an external conflict (things happening around your main character) and an internal conflict (fears, worries, desires etc.) then you have a compelling character and a good basis for a story. The hook can be anything; your character’s fears and what’s holding them back or their extreme desire for something but can’t seem to achieve it. The hook can be a moral conflict, like stealing to survive.

Ask these questions if you’re having trouble coming up with a hook:

1. What happened to my main character(s) past to have this internal (external) conflict? Why are they like this?

2. What does my main character do (actions) to avoid feeling those internal/external conflicts?

Whichever hook/conflict you choose, make sure it’s compelling and bonus points if it’s relatable to your readers (for example, overcoming fears). The reason to make it compelling is because you want the reader to feel invested in the character. By having it relatable, your readers will feel empathetic towards your protagonist and start to build a connection with them.

Of course all this doesn’t matter unless you create and exciting, inciting incident.

The inciting incident is usually an external event that propels your protagonist into a call-to-action. It could be something as big as ‘the world ending’ or small as stubbing their toe against the bedframe which sets off an entire day of unfortunate events. Basically, it’s a situation that pushes your character to the brink because it matters to them. Bonus points if you can have the external conflict/event relate and fight with your main character’s inner conflict. Now that’s a story worth reading.

With this inciting incident in mind, you can write how your main character strives to overcome this event. What are their goals? What is their plan to achieve “peace” in their world? What steps do they take? Using the examples above, after stubbing their toe your character buys a lucky charm hoping their day will be filled with ‘fortunate’ situations (even though it doesn’t).

This battle between your character’s inner world versus external world, leads to our second point.

ACT 2: CONFLICTS, TENSION AND LOW POINTS.

Depending on the genre of your story, the conflict and tension can be a fight between the forces of good vs. evil or a dramatic disagreement between romantic partners. It can be anything you want, as long the tension relates to you protagonist and they’re taking steps overcome the conflict. It wouldn’t be a great story if your character just sits there and lets the external conflicting event happen (plot twist: perhaps the event happens in their head and they simply sat there thinking about it).

Like layers in an onion (or a cake if you like that better), conflict and tension occurs at multiple levels. Having a bunch of inner and external turmoil makes for a page-turning story because readers would want to know how your protagonist will overcome their obstacles. With everything wrong happening around them, what actions are your characters taking to ‘get to the finish line’ or even avoid the conflict?

Using the same example above, your unfortunate toe-stubbing character sees their lucky charm not working, so they decide to head to a fortune-teller. Their hopes are to get some insight or answers to their unlucky day but sadly, the fortune-teller predicts MORE ill-fated moments approaching. Oh no! More tension and low-points! How will your character react? In a frantic and worried state (internal conflict), your protagonist takes action, deciding to run away from the city and find a quiet cabin in the woods to rest for a few days (and hopefully avoid the ‘bad luck’ occurring around them).

But suddenly, something happens along the way…

ACT 3: DISASTER!

Everything goes wrong. At this point in your novel, the character(s) experiences something terrible. Everything becomes hectic, chaotic and despairing. To add more depth and to really attract the readers, make the disaster a result of your protagonist’s actions!

At this point in the story, your main character(s) have to hit rock bottom and feel completely broken. They are helpless or at least feel helpless. This is where their fears and worries come true.

So, using the same toe-stubbing protagonist, they drive to the woods in a hurry but their tire blows out and they hit a tree! How unlucky! Your character curses the world and blames their unfortunate events to whatever powers to be. Stuck in some backwater area with little to no supplies, they make the effort to walk the empty road to their rented cabin, all the while thinking how they can overcome their dilemma.

ACT 4: ‘AHA’ Moment! The Resolution and ending.

The ‘Aha’ moment is where your protagonist(s) receive a revelation; a spark of ingenuity or a solution to their problem. Depending on your character(s), they can intuitively find the answer or another external event reveals the answer in subtle way that only your main character figures it out.

To make the story even more ‘real and engaging, make the realization confront their past beliefs; show the reader your character was wrong in their beliefs and show how they’ll overcome their fears. This is usually the pivotal point of your story.

You can add a climactic confrontation if your story suits it. A clash between good and evil. This is where your protagonists faces off with their most difficult challenge; the villain. Bonus points if you made the villain their inner thoughts!

The resolution is where everything gets wrapped up. You’ve shown the reader everything and made sure their questions were answered. You’ve shown how your character overcame their fears and found a fitting end.

With our unlucky protagonist, it’s nighttime and they made it to the cabin, only to find that there is someone there already! They knock on the door and they instantly gasp at who answers the door: it’s their twin! What? just before the doppelganger lashes out, the main character wakes up! Plot twist; it was all a nightmare!

I know, I know; cliché ‘it was a dream’ plot twist. But depending on how you write it, it can still be an effective plot device.

So, there you have it. The 4-Act story structure I used in my book. I hope this was useful and I wish you best of luck on your writing journey! Keep at it!

Check out this video from Alyssa Matesic, a former editor at one of the “Big 5” Publishing houses and currently a writing coach!

🔥 Are you ready, Guardian? 🌟 Prepare yourself for an epic journey in “The Last Guardians Of Atlantis”. Click the link below! ✨