In this, the final episode of a writing structure series, I will describe how I progress from having 15 story beats and around 40 planned chapters, to a completed, published book. I like to do things in an efficient way, which means planning and sticking to a process.

I know that I’m swimming against the ‘creative tide’ here. The conventional wisdom (or perceived or received wisdom, if you prefer) is that anything which improves the efficient process of creating a completed and published story is anathema to creative writing. I sometimes have enough trouble trying to convince other writers that having a basic plan as an underpinning structure for a story is a good idea. To have a well thought-out, tried and tested process which sees me move from story idea through to completed book in as speedy and simple as way as possible causes many writers to react in horror.

So… why? Why streamline the process? It all started at a crime writing weekend, put on by the National Centre for Writing in Norwich.

[ https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/ ]

We had lots of interesting workshops and talks, all centred on crime stories. In one session, a large group of us listened to a successful crime author – for the life of me, I can’t remember who it was now. One member of the audience asked: “How many rewrites do you make from finishing the final manuscript?” At the time, I had struggled to finish even one novel. I was expecting an answer around three or four. “At least… ten to eleven times, I would say.”

WHAT????

There was a rewrite for this, a rewrite for that, a rewrite after a beta reader, a rewrite after the first reading from an editor, a rewrite on subsequent critiques, a rewrite once the publisher had seen it… and so on, and so on.

Blimey.

How can anyone spend so much time rewriting and rewriting and rewriting the same story? What was wrong with it in the first place? I turned this over and over in my head. What a waste of time! Why not get the story pretty near perfect as early as possible?

So, lots of thinking and reading and analysing later, I came up with my process:

1. Develop scene-by-scene plan for story.

I use three (four) acts, seven plot points, fifteen story beats, forty scenes (see previous posts), breaking down the story from a simple premise until I have a full story plan.

2. Write each scene in turn.

I do not edit-as-I-go (although I will fix typos, because they’re just annoying); any plot holes I discover get highlighted, and I move on – the same with questions that come to light regarding plot or characters, or I recognise the need for further research or an edit to a previous scene. The core idea is: keep crafting the manuscript until the first draft is complete.

3. First rough edit.

At the end of the first draft, immediately go back and fix the problems indicated by the highlighted text. This I call the Hammer and Chisel edit. It’s fixing the big problems so at least I have a coherent telling of the story I’ve created. I don’t do anything else – just fix the big, highlighted problems.

4. I let the manuscript settle for a while.

Just like you let pastry settle in the fridge before you shape it into a pie (or whatever), the manuscript needs to be put away for a while to give me, the author, some distance from the words I’ve just typed. This is important. As a writer, you can become word blind, unable to see the actual words in the manuscript and instead see the words you have in your head – those that you actually wrote compared to the words you think you wrote. My usual settling time is 2-4 weeks, which I spend designing the cover or writing non-fiction or something else.

5. First run-through edit.

Yes, I edit my own work. I don’t need to perform a structural or developmental edit. The structure of the story is sound, because it was designed that way from the start. I’m not saying that the overall story never needs work. Occasionally, it’s only when reading the story from start to finish that a major problem raises its head, but it is rare. So I read from start to finish, dealing with issues as they occur. 

6. First proof read.

Before sharing the work (see item 7, below), I need to make sure the manuscript is in good condition. The beta reading process is intended to tell me, the author, if the story works as a completed novel, and I don’t want any high-level analysis of the completed work to be peppered with irritating minor errors. I use Pro Writing Aid to help me. A couple of points here – there are a number of writing analysis tools on the market. I just happen to get on with PWA better, especially since it has some integration with Scrivener, my writing software. The second, and important, point is that it helps me. It’s good at finding things in the writing it doesn’t understand, but sometimes so-called flaws are deliberate elements of my writing style (e.g. short sentences or irregularly-formed sentences). And sometimes it trips up over something which is perfectly all right, but the error actually resides earlier in the sentence or paragraph. 

7. Beta read.

A beta reader is someone who will read my manuscript and tell me if it works as a story. Hopefully, they won’t find any typos, but they can give me clues about the pacing, the characters, the viability of the story. Will someone who buys this book enjoy reading it? And you must choose your beta readers carefully. They must be someone who reads a lot, preferably in your genre. They must understand what their job is – not to analyse sentence-by-sentence, but to go with the flow, read the story, and tell me if it works. It must be someone who you trust. It must be someone who can read the story relatively quickly, and has time to finish it. There’s no point if you have to wait for a year to get feedback.

8. Post-beta edits.

Hopefully, once the beta reader has finished, I will have a few pages of notes. Perhaps some questions, where elements of the plot aren’t clear, or the characters are quite plausible enough. I use my partner

[ http://www.anitabelli.com/ ]

as my beta reader, and I think I address about 80% of her issues with the story. It is my choice how much, or how little, to edit the story after the beta read.

9. Second proof read.

After making any edits to the manuscript, it’s important to check for any typos which may have crept in during the previous edit process. No matter how carefully you make the changes, there are always one or two small errors that can creep in, especially when you’re making a small change into an existing paragraph of text. It’s well worth performing a final proof read, before…

10. PUBLISH!

Publishing a book is a great moment. If you’re going to try to engage a publisher or agent, this is probably the point at which you send off emails and, hopefully, copies of manuscript files. The agent/publisher is your first customer. Yes, they may see ways in which the manuscript can be improved, or the story changed slightly based on their understanding of the market, but they will want a clean draft with zero errors, so they’re not being tripped up by typos and so on.

Of, if you are a self-publisher, like me, it’s the point at which you begin engaging with online publishers and real-life printers.

Well, that is my process for creating a manuscript and preparing it to be published. My time spent preparing the story before writing the manuscript pays off with fewer edits at this early stage, and a cleaner manuscript for the reader.

I hope you’ve enjoyed this insight into my writing process. I’d better get off and finish off my latest book!

Descending to scene level

Last time we were all here, I talked about the three act structure, and why it’s a great way of creating an over-arching plan for stories, and in particular, my novels.

But for me, that’s not quite good enough. My crime novels are quite heavily plot-driven, and have elements of clues and red herrings, of guilty offenders and of innocent bystanders, of goodies, baddies, and baddies who aren’t actually the culprit. I have main, secondary and minor characters to care about. I have character arcs to worry about, together with character trait similarities and differences.

Writing a novel is HARD.

One other thing – I have found that my brain quickly turns to the leakiest of strainers if I try to hold the whole plot, or even a single act, in my head at once. I don’t know why. I know people who can do that, and that’s to be admired. But if I try to write without a detailed plan, what comes out is a meandering mush of nicely crafted but narratively stunted prose. It ain’t good.

So how far down do I need to go?

As you may have gleaned from the subtitle, it’s down to scene level. In crime novels, shorter chapters are de rigeur. Don’t blame me, it’s how it is. And I find that one chapter per scene, one scene per chapter, is fine for the pacing and drive of my novels. Occasionally, a chapter of mine will straddle a couple of scenes. Occasionally (but rarely), a scene will straddle two chapters. But basically, my scenes are one chapter, around 1,500 words. THAT IS NOT A RULE, before anyone complains about strictures on creative flow. I love writing as much as anyone, and I can assure you that word count is the last thing on my mind when I begin writing a scene. Scene / chapter length comes into play at the first or second edit stage. 

Okay. So last time, I left off this idea at the point where I split my story into Three Acts – actually, Four, since the long Act 2 is subdivided into two equally-sized chunks. And within these 3/4 acts, there are Seven significant plot points. Please see my last post:

[ https://gerald-hornsby.com/blog/2025/02/08/why-the-3-act-structure-isnt-good-enough/ ] 

for descriptions. Where do we go from there?

Those eagle-eyed of you will have noticed the shaded-out part of this diagram.

I can now reveal what’s behind the shading:

and I can introduce to you Save The Cat.

Pretty weird title, eh? Screenwriter Blake Snyder (RIP) examined the structure of dozens of hugely successful movies, and began creating his own structure, described in the Blake Snyder Beat Sheet. It shows how many film stories hit certain “beats” in their telling. These beats incorporate, and expand upon, the Seven Plot Points described in the previous post. He also discovered that many times, these beats appeared at distinctive points in each story, measured in terms of the pages of a script.

I transposed these script pages into novel chapters, with a guideline of 40 or 60 chapters.  Some beats only have one chapter / scene. Some have 8 or 9. But don’t forget – nothing is cast in stone here. My novels have between 39 and 56 chapters / scenes in them, despite them all having the Blake Snyder structure.

Oh, and why is it called “Save The Cat”? As part of his analysis, Snyder discovered that if your story hero had some tricky things to accomplish later in the story, including some maybe-not-so legal actions, it was always best to have them Save A Cat early on in the story. It promotes at an early stage (in the reader / viewer’s brain) that the hero is a Good Guy, and we’ll forgive him his indiscretions later on. Also note: they don’t literally need to save a cat – any good selfless and empathetic deed will do.

But let’s dig into the Beat Sheet itself.

Here’s a description of each of the 15 beats (see diagram above), and (typically) how many scenes I give to them:

1 Opening image- 1 scene

A visual that represents the struggle & tone of the story. A snapshot of the main character’s problem, before the adventure begins.

2 Setup – 1 scene

Expand on the “before” snapshot. Present the main character’s world as it is, and what is missing in their life.

3 Theme stated – 1 scene

(Sometimes happens during the Set-up) – What your story is about; the message, the truth. Usually, it is spoken to the main character or in their presence, but they don’t understand the truth…not until they have some personal experience and context to support it.

4 Catalyst – 1 scene

The moment where life as it is changes. It is the telegram, the act of catching your loved-one cheating, allowing a monster onboard the ship, meeting the true love of your life, etc. The “before” world is no more, change is underway.

5 Debate – 6 scenes

But change is scary and for a moment, or a brief number of moments, the main character doubts the journey they must take. Can I face this challenge? Do I have what it takes? Should I go at all? It is the last chance for the hero to chicken out.

6 Break into Two – 2 scenes

The main character makes a choice and the journey begins. We leave the “Thesis” world and enter the upside-down, opposite world of Act Two.

7 B story – 1 scene

This is when there’s a discussion about the Theme – the nugget of truth. Usually, this discussion is between the main character and the love interest. So, the B Story is usually called the “love story”.

8 Fun & Games – 6 scenes

This is when Indiana Jones tries to beat the Nazis to the Lost Ark, when the detective finds the most clues and dodges the most bullets. This is when the main character explores the new world and the audience is entertained by the premise they have been promised.

9 Midpoint – 1 scene

Dependent upon the story, this moment is when everything is “great” or everything is “awful”. The main character either gets everything they think they want (“great”) or doesn’t get what they think they want at all (“awful”). But not everything we think we want is what we actually need in the end.

10 Bad guys close in – 6 scenes

Doubt, jealousy, fear, foes both physical and emotional regroup to defeat the main character’s goal, and the main character’s “great”/“awful” situation disintegrates.

11 All is lost – 1 scene

The opposite moment from the Midpoint. The moment that the main character realizes they’ve lost everything they gained, or everything they now have has no meaning. The initial goal now looks even more impossible than before. And here, something or someone dies. It can be physical or emotional, but the death of something old makes way for something new to be born.

12 Dark night of the soul – 3 scenes

The main character hits bottom, and wallows in hopelessness. The Why hast thou forsaken me, Lord? moment. Mourning the loss of what has “died” – the dream, the goal, the mentor character, the love of your life, etc. But, you must fall completely before you can pick yourself back up and try again.

13 Break into three – 1 scene

Thanks to a fresh idea, new inspiration, or last-minute Thematic advice from the B Story (usually the love interest), the main character chooses to try again.

14 Finale – 8 scenes

This time around, the main character incorporates the Theme – the nugget of truth that now makes sense to them – into their fight for the goal because they have experience from the A Story and context from the B Story. Act Three is about Synthesis!

15 Final scene – 1 scene

Opposite of Opening Image, proving, visually, that a change has occurred within the character.

Note: the internet is full of interpretations of the beat sheet for many genres. If you want further reading, there are some great books on the subject, such as:

and many others.

So, for each beat, I write a description of that part of my story broadly conforming to those definitions above. BROADLY. Flexibility is key here. But then, as I’m writing the narrative for each beat, I make myself aware of the number of scenes which fit within that story beat, and then write the story for each scene.

Then, by pasting all of the scene descriptions into one document, I can create a short form version of the novel, which I can read through, amend, change scenes around, rewrite scenes, and so on, BEFORE I start writing the manuscript. Creating the STORY first cuts down on huge manuscript rewrites later on. 

It really does.

And how I make it better

Anyone entering the world of storytelling, be it through film, TV, books or any other medium, will soon get to hear of the Three Act Structure. 

What’s the Three Act Structure? It’s a way of splitting a story into 3 parts (Acts, if you will) in order to create a satisfying reading or watching experience.

First described somewhere around 400 AD by Aelius Donatus (a Roman grammarian and rhetoric scholar, would you believe), it’s been around for a while. You can read more about Donatus HERE: [ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aelius_Donatus ] if you really want.

In more recent times, screenwriter and screenwriting tutor Syd Field wrote a book about it in 1979 called Screenplay: the Foundations of Screenwriting which brought it to further prominence. And you can read a lot about it everywhere on the internet, good and bad. 

So what is the Three Act Structure?

As always, Wikipedia is a good place to start:

[ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Three-act_structure ] 

So, to make things simple, the 3AS defines a story as having a Beginning, a Middle, and an End (sometimes us story folks like to refer to the acts as the Setup, the Confrontation and the Resolution). These three sections are understandable by young children, and even dimwits like me.

Here’s a picture to look at:

and another, slightly more detailed picture:

And here’s a really good video to watch – it relates the 3AS to popular films to make it easier to understand:

NB. Don’t be put off by the fact that this, and many other resources, are based on screenwriting for films. They are using the medium of video to tell a story, exactly as we novelists (traditionally) use the medium of ink and paper to tell our stories.

So there’s a brief introduction for those new to it. So, what’s my problem with it?

I find that the Three Act Structure is just too damned vague.

To a certain extent, it’s a ‘me’ problem. I’m unable to hold a complete plot of a crime story (my choice of writing genre) in my head, all at once. I can’t even hold all the twists and turns of a single 20,000 word act in my head.

So for my purposes, I need to split it into some smaller chunks that I can hold in my head.

In my previous life as a software author (amongst other things), I learnt at an early stage  of my career to split large projects into smaller ‘lumps’. We used to call it Functional Decomposition (splitting projects into individual functions), and it really helped me deal with major software projects. And so it is with long-form fiction. Refining and iterating the plotting process brings me down to a single scene at a time, which plays out in my head as I’m sitting here, writing it.

So, how to dig out the scenes from the acts?

Here’s the first stage:

You will see that my workflow diagram (above) shows the 3 acts (I split the middle act into two equal halves, because it’s easier for me and suits my genre) but then, within those acts, several plot points (which are similar to the plot points shown on the earlier diagrams). Note these plot points fit within (and are contained by) the 3 act structure.

Plot point 1 – The Hook and Setup. The Hook is, literally, what hooks your reader into the story. It exists within the first couple of pages, and it’s the thing you imagine a prospective buyer would read when they pick up the book in a bookshop or library. You have a minute, at most, to grab your reader and make them want to buy / read the book. The Setup is when you introduce your reader to the characters, perhaps the location, maybe introduce the theme, but give them enough to answer the question: “What’s that book about?” They need to know that the story is going to be interesting enough to keep them engaged until the last page.

Plot point 2 – Plot Turn 1. This is a very specific feature of the story. Some might call it the ‘trapdoor moment’ – not that anyone’s going to fall down a hole in the floor. It’s the point at which your main character has a choice to make: are they going to return to their normal life (which would be very boring), or are they going to go forward within the story? This could be the point where the private investigator decides to go ‘all in’ on a case, or a hero will set out on their journey, knowing that they can’t go back. The trapdoor closes behind them.

Plot point 3 – First Pinch Point. A story isn’t a story without conflict. When the main character starts their journey, they might understand it isn’t always going to go smoothly for them. Whatever their aims, someone or something is going to get in their way, to try to stop them. The killer doesn’t automatically confess at the first interview. Journeys through an environment have dangers and risks. Caroline’s dream job isn’t going to be without its difficulties.

Plot point 4 – Midpoint. Sometimes called the mirror moment. It’s not that it just happens to be the middle of the book. It’s called a mirror moment because it can be used to reflect the character’s journey back at them, making them realise how far they’ve come. It can also be used to mirror the opening scene, but with the changes already in place. Half of your employees have left because they think you’re an awful boss, so your character might look at the desks in the office, as they did on the first day, and now note the number of empty chairs.

Plot point 5 – Second Pinch Point. Conflict! Always more conflict! The more the merrier! In this second pinch point, the main character comes up against another obstruction, a roadblock. They’ve already dealt with one major problem, but now they’ve got another, and this one’s even worse than last time! This is the point at which they ask themselves if they’ve got what it takes to go on, to solve the case, to reach the destination, to get the girl / boy / thing of their dreams. They may even cry “O Lord, why hast though forsaken me?” Is this the end of their journey?

Plot point 6 – Plot Turn 2. Of course that wasn’t the end of their journey. They find a solution to their problems. Sometimes, a mentor might step in to help them, or they discover a magic amulet, or they finally translate the secret scroll. Or a witness comes forward with new information, or someone finds a gun hidden in their garden. Now, our main character can move forward with a spring in their step and a renewed vigour for the task ahead. 

Plot point 7 – Climax, Resolution and Finale. Having fought through all the trials and tribulations, the hungry beasts, the devious criminals, they’re ready to finish this thing off. There may be one or two little twists still to come, but nothing’s going to stop them now. We end up with the final battle, the final confrontation, the Agatha Christie-like reveal of the murderer. In the resolution, we finally release all the captives, or explain to the hapless detective how the murderer was uncovered, or we fall into the arms of our lover at last. The finale is simply the final scene, often mirroring (again) the opening scene. In my book Last Orders, in the opening scene my main character is sits on a low wall, unaware of the direction their life is about to go.  In the finale scene, she’s again sitting on the low wall, but she now understands so much more, she has changed and grown, and all of her problems have been solved… for now!

If you find this all too complicated, my method is fairly simple and straightforward. There are more complicated ideas around!

In the final part of this series, I’ll talk about the further levels I create, stage by stage, down to scene level, and the use of the Save The Cat Beat Sheet.

Please check in again soon!