I have edited many manuscripts over the years, and there are common flaws that I see come across my desk. I see some issues so often that when I see them, I struggle to unsee them. But all issues that I see are fixable. Exactly how they are fixed will depend on what the writer wants to achieve with their story.
In today's post, I want to discuss some of the common structural issues that I see, providing insights into why they happen. And it's not just a matter of understanding the beats of a story—though that is a huge part of it. It's really about the rise and fall of action and understanding reader expectations.
The Importance of Story Structure
Structural issues are commonly associated with the lack of understanding of how story structure works. Every story has a rhythm about it—a pulse that rises and falls with the action and propels the reader forward.
There are so many story structure models out that, all talking about the same thing but in different ways. No one model is better than the other, except in how certain models just "click" with a writer. You can go over the top, putting mathematical formulas to story structure, but every story has to have a beginning, a middle, and an end.
At the start of the story, a problem is introduced that needs to be solved. In the middle, things happen that test the main character, making them question their path. And the problem that was introduced in the beginning needs to be resolved in some fashion at the end.
Every story has a beginning, a middle, and an end.
This might seem like a simplistic view, but story structure really is that basic. Yet, I frequently see stories that either forget to define the problem at the beginning, or try to pack too many things into the middle (or not enough), or are missing the ending.
This post is not about story structure models. I will write a post in the future with my own model, but for now, if you want to learn more about story structure and the core beat points, check out my post series on the 3-Act structure. That said, it is because of my in-depth understanding of the common beats found in a story that I can see the following structural issues coming a mile away.
So, let's look at some of the common structural issues that I see.
Issue 1: Story starts in the wrong spot.
When writing your initial drafts, start your story wherever your brain needs to start so you can get into the story and carry on writing. If you need to write about all the mundane things that your character does when they get up in the morning, then do it. However, when editing, those early chapters that you wrote to get yourself into the story are likely to be the scenes that are going to disappear in the final drafts.
The best place to start a story is with a scene that tells the reader about the main character: who they are, what they believe, their hopes and dreams, maybe even how they believe they're stuck and can't get out. This doesn't mean that we need to know their backstory upfront. We just need to know enough about the character so the reader is willing to follow this character's story.
This may mean that you need to remove the first several chapters of your story. I did once tell a client that their first 100 pages were nothing but backstory and should be removed from the manuscript. Sometimes that's what needs to be done.
Issue 2: Story starts with a fight scene.
It's common advice: start a story in the middle of action. But this doesn't mean start a story with a fight scene or a car chase.
The problem with starting in the middle of a high-action sequence is that we don't know who these characters are or why we should care about them. And injecting backstory into the middle of that high-action sequence doesn't work either. It's often unnecessary detail that is nothing but a distraction.
If you start your story with a fight scene, make sure that the reader knows who the main character is and what they stand for. From page 1, the reader needs to know who it is they are rooting for and why they are rooting for them.
Issue 3: Too much backstory or extraneous detail.
Crafting a story is like building an iceberg: the reader only sees 10% of what there is to know.
Many new writers struggle with the idea that the reader doesn't need to know everything there is to know about the worlds that we create. They falsely believe that everything they wrote was important for the reader to know, but that's not the case. Everything they wrote was important for the writer to know. There is a big difference.
Just because you wrote that backstory doesn't mean the reader needs it. And the same goes for the added details for setting and character description too.
The reader doesn't need to know who gave the protagonist the teddy bear they cherish. But the reader should probably know that the teddy bear got beheaded and torched by their evil sibling.
Backstory and exposition is a topic all of its own, so I'm not going to spend too much time on it here. But remember that the trick is to provide enough detail, so the reader has context, but leave out some details, allowing the reader to fill in the blanks for themselves.
Like everything in writing, it's about finding the balance that is unique to your story.
Issue 4: Not enough detail.
Just as we can provide too much detail, we can easily go the other way and not provide enough.
Unfortunately, there is really only one way to know if you have provided too little, too much, or just enough detail in your manuscript: get another person to read your story.
Issue 5: Introducing key concepts too late.
This is a tricky one, because you don't want to give away too early how the story is going to end, but you also don't want it to come out of the blue either. What you want is surprising but inevitable. In other words, things happen in surprising ways, but if a reader was to go back and reread your novel, the clues were there all along—and if they really think about it, the story couldn't have gone any other way.
The technique in question is known as foreshadowing. What it means is that you need to hint at any reveals or plot twists along the way, so when they happen, that inevitable feeling is present.
Foreshadowing is particularly important for any plot twists that occur in the final act. Everything should have been hinted at or alluded to in some fashion prior to the start of the final act.
Issue 6: Stakes are not high enough.
You can never have the stakes too high, so that isn't the issue here. However, some writers focus on the obvious stakes and never expand beyond that.
The stakes of any story depend on a variety of factors, including the genre.
If you are writing a romance, there is no question about whether or not the main characters will fall in love—that's the defining characteristic of a romance. But what else is a stake? What would they have to sacrifice for that love?
In many action/adventure stories, the story starts with the world in peril. So, saying that your characters are risking death is not enough. However, saying that they are risking their soul—or even the soul of a loved one—shifts the stakes to the next level.
If the stakes aren't high enough when you hit the final act of your story, then the ending will feel flat and unsatisfying. But raising the stakes is not a simple matter of just rewriting the final act. The nature of the stakes is defined early in the story. They are interwoven into everything that happens along the way. Upping the stakes has a ripple effect that can result in a total rewrite.
It's a scary prospect, but sometimes, that's what has to be done.
Issue 7: Story ends with a cliffhanger.
There is nothing wrong with a cliffhanger, IF it's the right one. However, many writers working on a series will often look at their full series story arc and put the ending of their books at various cliffhanger moments with no thought of the story structure of the individual books.
Every story, no matter its length or whether it's part of a series, needs to be complete. That means it needs to have a beginning, a middle, and an end. That problem that was defined at the beginning of the story has to be resolved to some degree for the story to be complete.
So, a random cliffhanger can result in no ending in your story. That cliffhanger moment doesn't leave the reader wanting more. It just leaves the reader wanting to throw the book across the room.
Working with a plot arc for an entire series is a blog post of its own, but just keep in mind that you have book arcs and series arcs, and they don't need to end at the same time.
Issue 8: It's a race to the finish line.
Many newer writers hit a point while drafting their stories when they look at the word counts—and they panic.
They might be writing a fantasy novel, and they might be at 90,000 words, but realize they're only a quarter of the way through the plot that they have devised. Or maybe they're writing a romance and they've hit 50,000 words, and the hero and heroine still haven't kissed.
So, in the word-count panic, the writer skimps on the narrative description, short changing the ending of the story and the final takedown moment.
The protagonist has stormed the castle and found the antagonist's hidey hole right away, and just kills them. And I just blink incessantly. "Was that it?"
The issue with these manuscripts is not normally found at the end of the manuscript, but at the beginning. The manuscripts are often bogged down with excessive details and backstory.
During the first draft is not the time to be worrying about any structural issues that might exist.
If you are still drafting that manuscript, writing the first draft, that is NOT the time to be cutting stuff. If you have gone over word counts, just move on and keep writing. Who cares if that fantasy novel clocks in at 270,000 words when you're finished? It doesn't matter if your romance came in at 120,000 words for the first draft. It's a first draft!
That's what editing is for. But until that story is complete, you really don't know what information is needed.
And for anyone who thinks that the solution to dealing with that 270,000-word manuscript is to divide it into three and turn it into a trilogy… Oh, do I have news for you. (Just go back and reread my commentary about cliffhanger endings.)
But not all writers are over-writers. Maybe the writer has under-written their novel. The thriller writer might have put together a complete story in that 50,000 words and panic about the missing 40,000 words, trying to figure out how to pad out their story to the appropriate word counts. And that creates another problem, because they are padding out their story with fluff.
Certain genres have an expected word count associated with them, but those word counts are for finished and edited works.
Notice I said, finished and edited.
None of the word-count expectations matter if that story isn't finished. Every story, no matter its length or whether it's part of a series, needs to be complete. That means it needs to have a beginning, a middle, and an end. Who cares how many words it took you to write that story, as long as it's complete?
If you have written those two elusive words, "The End", then you can start thinking about structural editing.
All the issues listed above are fixable. They are not the death of your story. But how you manage these issues will depend on you, as a writer, and your story.
It's not easy, but if writing (or more appropriately rewriting and editing) was easy, then everyone would be writing.
If you would like to gain some insight into how I edit my own manuscripts, subscribe to the Black Wolf newsletter and download a copy of my Self-Editing Checklist.