How To Spot Weak Story Structure In Your Own Manuscript

Gary Smailes | 5 November 2025

Build a Diagnostic Map of Your Story

Pull the story out of prose and into a simple map. You want to see structure, not sentences. Start with a scene list, add a beat sheet, then check the timeline. No fancy software required. A spreadsheet or a stack of index cards works.

Build a scene list that exposes structure

Create one row or one card per scene. Keep each entry short, one line per cell where possible. Use these columns:

• Chapter and scene number
• POV
• Location and time
• Scene purpose
• Protagonist goal
• Conflict or antagonistic force
• Outcome
• Stakes

A quick example, written as cells:

• Scene: 3. POV: Eva. Time/Place: Day 2, 7 a.m., train station. Purpose: Introduce quest. Goal: Board the 7:10. Antagonist pressure: Ticket agent rejects expired ID. Outcome: Misses train. Stakes: Job interview lost, rent at risk.

Tips while you fill rows:

• Purpose should read like a verb, not a mood. Reveal, force, test, decide.
• Goal must be specific and visible. “Get the file.” “Convince Jae to stay.” Not “reflect on childhood.”
• Antagonistic force needs a face or a system. Boss, storm, corrupt policy, fear. If no source of pressure appears, tension sinks.
• Outcome must change the situation. Win, lose, win with cost, lose with clue. If nothing turns, you wrote a placeholder.
• Stakes should move beyond “feel bad.” Tie to loss of status, safety, love, freedom, or truth.

Struggling to fill a cell points to a weak spot. Blank goal, no antagonist, no change, soft stakes. Flag those scenes. You will either revise or cut.

Draft a beat sheet

Choose one model and mark where your key beats land. Three-Act Structure, Save the Cat, or Story Grid all work. Use your total word count and do quick math.

Target ranges:

• Inciting incident at 10 to 15 percent
• First plot point at 20 to 25 percent
• Midpoint reversal at 50 percent
• Second pinch at 62 to 67 percent
• All-is-lost or crisis at 75 to 80 percent
• Climax at 90 to 98 percent

An 80,000-word book gives you these anchors:

• Inciting at 8k to 12k
• First plot point at 16k to 20k
• Midpoint at 40k
• Second pinch at 50k to 54k
• Crisis at 60k to 64k
• Climax at 72k to 78k

You are not chasing perfection. You are checking proportion and momentum. Three quick reads:

• If the midpoint sits near 35 percent, Act II lacks weight.
• If the first plot point lands after 30 percent, Act I drifts.
• If crisis arrives near 60 percent, you likely run out of gas before the end.

Write one line for each beat. Keep it testable.

• Inciting: “Ava’s brother vanishes after accusing their boss.”
• First plot point: “Ava steals the payroll files and runs.”
• Midpoint: “She learns the files were bait, her brother set her up.”
• Crisis: “Boss offers a deal, save herself, leave brother to die.”
• Climax: “She exposes both men during a live audit and stakes her own job.”

Each line should force the next, and tie to a choice by the protagonist.

Visualize the timeline

Add date and clock time to every scene entry. Also add travel and healing notes where relevant. You are looking for breaks in cause and effect, absurd logistics, and age math.

Checklist:

• Elapsed days. Track day numbers. If three subplots claim the same Thursday, you need shuffling.
• Travel. Denver to Seattle in six hours by car does not fly. Either shorten distance, add a flight, or adjust stakes.
• Injuries. A cracked rib does not heal by morning. Bruises do not fade in an hour.
• Work and school schedules. Courts close on weekends. A ten-year-old in a bar at 2 a.m. raises questions.
• Aging across long arcs. If a prologue sits twenty years back, check birthdays and dates in every mention.
• Cause and effect. Mark links. “Scene 14 triggers scene 16 because the text goes to the wrong person.” If a scene has no parent and no child, it floats.

Use color labels or comments to flag problems. Blue for travel math. Red for timeline breaks. Green for clean handoffs.

Action, simple and fast

Build the tool you will use. Spreadsheet or cards.

• Start with Act I. Set a timer for 30 minutes. Fill scene rows or cards with purpose, goal, conflict, outcome, and stakes.
• Move to Act II and Act III in two more short sessions. Do not edit prose. You are mapping.
• Put a star on any scene where goal, conflict, antagonist pressure, or outcome refuses to come into focus.
• Count beats by percent using your word count. Write target numbers at the top of your map.
• Walk through the timeline. Read date and time aloud scene by scene. Mark any leap that breaks logic.

Two quick fixes right from the map:

• Combine two soft scenes into one with a fresh goal and stronger opposition.
• Write a bridge scene that forces the next event through a choice, not accident.

Once your map makes sense, return to the manuscript and adjust order, cut dead weight, or write new beats. The map keeps you honest. The map saves you from smoothing sentences while the story sags.

Red Flags by Act (and How to Fix Them)

Structure leaves clues. Each act trips on different problems. Spot them fast, fix them clean, and the story runs.

Act I: Get the engine started

Common red flags:

• Late or fuzzy inciting incident
• Front‑loaded backstory
• No door of no return
• Unclear protagonist want

Quick tests and fixes:

• Where, exactly, does the normal world break? Point to one scene. If your finger wanders, the spark is fuzzy. Choose the event that knocks life off track. Move it to the 10 to 15 percent range. Example: Chapter 3, Lex gets fired on camera. Not “Lex thinks about quitting.” Action, not rumination.
• Count backstory in the first 30 pages. Highlight any paragraph about the past. More than one per page signals a stall. Cut or move those chunks. Drip key history only when the present action forces a question. If the reader does not need the detail to follow the scene, hold it.
• Identify your door of no return at 20 to 25 percent. This is the first plot point, the moment the path changes and walking back would cost too much. A choice seals it. “Mira emails the leaked report to every city editor.” “Jon signs the fake confession to save his sister.” If your first plot point looks like a clue drop with no commitment, raise the cost or reframe it as a decision.
• Write one line that defines want. “In Act I, Priya wants the grant by Friday to keep the clinic open.” Want is visible and measurable. If you wrote “find herself,” you have theme, not a goal. Translate it. “Priya wants to secure donor X by Friday.”

Tiny exercise: Draft a one‑sentence log of Act I. “After X breaks the routine, Name chooses Y, which closes the way back.” If the sentence feels mushy, you need a sharper break and a firmer choice.

Act II: Build pressure, not padding

Common red flags:

• A soggy middle of episodic scenes
• Reactive hero
• No progressive complications
• Missing or soft midpoint

Quick tests and fixes:

• Lay your Act II scenes on cards. Try swapping two adjacent scenes. If the order changes without harm, causality is weak. Add a “therefore” or a “but” link between scenes. “Because the lab report is forged, Ana confronts her mentor, but he locks her out of the system, therefore she breaks in after hours.” Each turn should force the next.
• Count initiative. How many Act II scenes start with your protagonist pursuing a plan? Fewer than half means a reactive lead. Give the hero a plan A. Then break it. Plan B, break it harder. Plans reveal character, failure reshapes the plan.
• Escalate opposition. Swap same‑flavor obstacles for sharper ones. Not three gatekeepers in a row. Try legal threat, public humiliation, betrayal from an ally. Raise cost, reduce time, widen exposure.

• Firm up the midpoint near 50 percent. Something shifts. A revelation that flips understanding. A reversal that turns hunter into hunted. Or a commitment that raises the price. Example midpoint moves:

  • “The missing kid texts from inside the police station.”
  • “The antidote will kill the carrier.”
  • “The family heirloom is a fake, the real one sits in the villain’s vault.”

  Write the midpoint in one line. If it reads like a neat scene without consequences, tie it to a new course of action.

Tiny exercise: For three middle scenes in a row, write Because X, Name tries Y, but Z, so now…. If any scene fails that chain, rework or merge.

Act III: Land the plane with intent

Common red flags:

• Deus ex machina
• Stakes that do not peak
• Antagonist sidelined
• Rushed denouement

Quick tests and fixes:

• Who wins the day? If a new ally, gadget, or twist drops in to save the lead, you have a rescue, not a climax. Transfer the deciding move to the protagonist. Use tools, clues, or flaws seeded earlier. “Lena’s fear of crowds becomes an asset when she spots the bomber’s tell in the footage she avoided watching for months.”
• Check the stakes ladder. The most consequential choice belongs near the end. If the biggest sacrifice shows up at 60 percent, the last third will sag. Shift consequences forward. Make the finale cost more in reputation, freedom, love, or truth.
• Keep the antagonist active. If the villain disappears for the last five chapters, tension leaks. Put the opposing force in the ring. A person, a system, a storm, or the self, present and pressing to the final bell.
• Pace the fallout. A one‑page wrap after a sweeping climax feels thin. Give readers a few beats to see the new order. One scene to pay off a promise. One to show changed relationships. One to nod at the theme in action. Not a parade, a coda.

Tiny exercise: List three setups from earlier acts. Circle the one you want paid off in the climax, and the one in the denouement. If no setup exists, place a seed scene in Act I or early Act II.

Action

Open your scene list. Mark these beats on it: inciting, first plot point, midpoint, second pinch, crisis, climax. Check where they fall by percentage for your genre. If a beat is missing or far outside the expected band, adjust.

• Revise scene order to tighten cause and effect.
• Combine two weak scenes into one with a clear goal and sharper opposition.
• Write a short bridge scene that forces the next event through a choice.
• Add a true midpoint turn that redefines the problem.
• Rebuild the first plot point as a no‑way‑back decision.

You do not need perfection. You need proportion, pressure, and payoff. Mark the gaps, make the moves, and the story will hold.

Test Causality, Goals, and Stakes

Stories run on cause and effect. Scene A pressures Scene B. If a scene sits beside another without forcing a change, tension leaks.

Therefore or but, not “and then”

A quick test. Describe three scenes in a row using only “and then.” If the summary reads fine, causality is weak. Try this:

• Weak chain: Mara meets the hacker, and then Mara gets a file, and then Mara goes home.
• Strong chain: Mara meets the hacker, who refuses help, therefore Mara steals the file, but a trace triggers an alarm, therefore Mara runs, but the hacker tips the police, so Mara calls her ex for a couch and a lead.

Each turn produces pressure. Each move narrows choices. Write “therefore” or “but” between every pair of scenes on your list. If a pair needs “and then,” rework one of the scenes so an outcome forces the next step.

Mini‑exercise:

• Pick a chapter trio.
• Summarize with Because X, Name does Y, but Z, so now….
• If the sentence stalls, the middle scene lacks a turn or a cost.

Goal, Conflict, Outcome in every scene

Every scene earns a place by changing the state of play. Use a three‑part check:

• Goal. A concrete aim for the viewpoint character. No vibes, no “find oneself.” Use a stopwatch or a scoreboard. “Win the grant by Friday.” “Reach the ferry before sundown.” “Get the witness to confirm the alibi.”
• Conflict. Someone or something pushes back. People, systems, nature, self. The push must sit on the page, not in memory or theory.
• Outcome. A result that shifts power, knowledge, or stakes. Success with a twist. Failure with a cost. A pyrrhic win that seeds new trouble.

Scene G‑C‑O examples:

• Thriller: Goal, break into the archive. Conflict, security chief plus silent alarm. Outcome, access to box 17, but dye pack stains the files.
• Romance: Goal, secure a table for two at a booked restaurant. Conflict, rival reporter plus maître d’ with rules. Outcome, no table, but the chef offers a staff‑meal stool and a charged conversation.
• Fantasy: Goal, ferry a relic across the swamp by dusk. Conflict, hungry reeds plus false markers. Outcome, a mound reached, but the amulet sinks in the muck.

Write G, C, O at the top of each scene card. Fill each one in a single line. If a scene resists a Goal, you likely have summary, not drama. If Conflict feels thin, add an active opponent. If Outcome equals “as expected,” raise the cost or twist the knowledge.

Track the antagonistic force

Pressure creates story. Name the force in play for every scene:

• Person. A rival, a lover with opposing aims, a corrupt boss.
• System. A court process, a surveillance net, a church rule.
• Nature. A blizzard, a river in flood, a plague.
• Self. Panic, pride, a lie told on page one.

Scan your scene list. Add a column for Antagonist Pressure. Fill each cell with a noun. Blank cells point to filler. Replace a blank with a live force that blocks progress or punishes delay.

Two quick upgrades:

• Trade passive friction for active pressure. Not “traffic slows the drive.” Use “a protest blocks the bridge and the police redirect the convoy through the villain’s turf.”
• Reuse a force to create unity. The same judge, the same policy, the same fear. Repetition builds a drumbeat.

Raise the stakes, step by step

Stakes tell readers why the struggle matters. Raise the price across the arc, not in one jump.

• Early, personal risk. Embarrassment. A lost shift. A dented friendship.
• Middle, relational risk. A partner walks. A team fractures. A child loses trust.
• Late, public risk. Jobs, freedom, safety, a community in danger.

Map three checkpoints:

• Before the midpoint. What goes wrong that touches pride or livelihood.
• Midpoint. A reveal or reversal that endangers a bond.
• Crisis and climax. A choice that places a larger circle at risk.

Add one line to each major turn: “If failure hits here, who suffers, and how?” Give a concrete answer. Money, reputation, custody, oxygen, votes, a seat at the table. No fog.

Action: one sentence per scene

Run the Because‑Tries‑But‑So test for the whole manuscript.

Template:

Because X, [protagonist] tries Y, but Z happens, so now….

Examples:

• Because the landlord raises rent, Talia pitches a sponsor, but the sponsor demands exclusivity, so now the band must replace three venues by Saturday.
• Because the rune map skips a symbol, Arin follows a false trail, but the guardian wakes, so now the party owes a debt.
• Because the patient refuses surgery, Dr. Noor seeks a court order, but the judge recuses, so now a rival files a motion that undermines the case.

Any scene that resists a clean sentence needs a rethink. Cut, combine, or rewrite so a goal meets pressure and produces a shift.

Final quick checklist:

• “Therefore” or “but” between scenes, not “and then.”
• Goal, Conflict, Outcome on every card.
• Antagonist pressure named for every scene.
• Stakes rising from self, to relationships, to the wider world.

Do this pass before polishing prose. Strong links first, shine later.

Pacing and Momentum Checks

Readers feel pace before they name it. They lean in. Or they drift. Your job is to keep the lean.

Right‑size your acts

Most novels breathe in a similar pattern. Act I sets the line, about 20 to 25 percent. Act II does the heavy lift, about 50 to 60 percent. Act III pays off, about 20 to 25 percent. If your middle swallows half the book and then some, you likely have soft complications.

Do the math. For 80,000 words:

• Act I, about 16,000 to 20,000.
• Act II, about 40,000 to 48,000.
• Act III, about 16,000 to 20,000.

If Act II bulges to 55,000 words, prune and tighten. Combine errands into one obstacle. Move key reveals earlier so pursuit shapes the center rather than wandering. Add pressure that forces choice, not travelogue.

Mini‑exercise:

• Write word counts next to each chapter.
• Tot up by act.
• Highlight the largest five chapters. Ask what they earn. If a long chapter does not deliver a major turn, split or compress.

Reversals and reveals keep pages turning

Aim for meaningful change every one or two scenes. End chapters with a shift in knowledge, power, or stakes. The reader should feel a tilt.

Types of turns to use:

• Reversal of fortune. A win flips to a loss, or the reverse, with cost.
• Reveal. New information reframes a goal or a person.
• Decision. A choice locks a plan and closes paths.
• Arrival. A new opponent, ally, or rule enters the board.
• Deadline. A clock starts or jumps forward to a tighter window.

Try the up and down test. Next to each scene, draw an up arrow if your protagonist leaves stronger, a down arrow if weaker, a sideways line if status holds. Strings of sideways lines signal drift. Add a turn inside the scene, or end earlier on the tilt.

Example fixes:

• Swap a polite talk for a blunt ask that risks the job.
• Place the rival at the same bar, not offstage.
• Shift the reveal to the end of the scene so the chapter break rides the surprise.

Exposition load audit

Info dumps choke momentum. Do a quick color pass.

• Green, scene on the page, characters acting in time and space.
• Yellow, summary, a narrator tells what happened.
• Red, backstory, history or memories that pause the present.

Print a chapter or use digital highlights. Mark each paragraph. You want long runs of green with short, strategic hits of yellow and red. If you see five red pages in a row, you have a lecture.

Convert weight to movement:

• Move history to a point of need. The passport rule matters most at the border, not in the kitchen.
• Embed facts in conflict. Let a guard enforce the policy during a search.
• Replace a paragraph with a prop or a line. A medal on a dresser, a scar, a receipt.

Mini‑exercise:

• Pick one red page.
• Circle the three facts the reader must know.
• Write a beat where those facts cause trouble for the protagonist today.

Run the skim test

Open your draft. Read fast, on paper or a tablet. Mark the spots where your eyes skip. Those are pace problems.

At each mark, ask three questions:

• What does the hero want here, this minute.
• Who, or what, stands in the way on the page.
• What changes by the end of the scene.

If the answers stall, rebuild the moment. Give a sharper aim, add an active opponent, and end with movement. Sometimes a small tweak wakes a scene. A tighter setting, a time limit, a person who says no.

Quick fixes that add pull:

• Set a deadline. The hearing starts at nine. The ferry leaves at dusk. The visa expires in two days.
• Box the space. A tiny office during a heat wave increases friction.
• Add a cost to inaction. If the hero waits, someone else takes the slot.

Graph your momentum

Make pace visible.

• Step one, list chapters in a column. Add a word count for each.
• Step two, mark the primary turn for each chapter. Use labels like reveal, reversal, decision, confrontation.
• Step three, build a simple bar chart from the counts. Even a hand‑drawn line of bars works.

What to look for:

• Long flat stretches with no marked turns.
• Spikes in length where nothing major shifts.
• A late sprint where Act III rushes through three turns in one chapter.

Tuning moves:

• Compress long chapters that lack a turn. Cut setup lines, enter late, exit early.
• Interleave subplots so turns land in alternating beats. A main plot reveal, then a subplot reversal that compounds the problem.
• Add time pressure across a run of scenes. A storm approaches. The board vote moves up. The suspect leaves town on Friday.
• Split a chapter on the turn. End on the change, start the next with fallout.
• Shorten the landing. One or two scenes to settle after the climax often satisfy more than five.

Quick checklist

• Act proportions near the target spread.
• A clear turn every one or two scenes.
• Green pages dominate, yellow and red appear at points of need.
• Skim spots identified and rebuilt with goal, opposition, change.
• Chapter graph free of long flats, with turns spaced to sustain pull.

Do this pass with a cool head. Pace is not about speed. It is about steady change under pressure. Keep the change coming, and readers will stay with you.

Subplots, POV Balance, and Theme Alignment

Plot alone rarely holds a novel together. Subplots, viewpoint choices, and theme either braid tight or loosen the whole draft. Your job is to make each thread do work.

Subplots that matter

A subplot earns space when it pressures the protagonist or loads the climax with consequence. If a thread entertains but never squeezes the core problem, merge or cut.

Quick tests:

• Promise and payoff. Write one sentence, “This thread promises X and pays off when Y happens.” If no clear payoff, reevaluate.
• Interference. Name the scene where this thread blocks or complicates the main pursuit.
• Climax touch. Describe how this thread sharpens the final decision or cost.

Examples:

• Romance subplot. Useful when the partner holds a key, exposes a lie, or refuses help at the worst moment. Dead weight when scenes only repeat banter without new stakes.
• Work subplot. Useful when a boss threatens termination if the hero keeps chasing the mystery. Dead weight when office scenes recap clues already known.

Fixes:

• Braid entry at the midpoint. Let the subplot twist understanding at 50 percent, so the hero must reframe plans.
• Make the thread a lever for the antagonist. A seized bank account, a custody hearing moved up, a lab report withheld.
• Collapse two weak threads into one stronger line with a clear promise and a sharp payoff.

Mini‑exercise:

• List all subplots by name.
• Write the promise and the payoff in one line each.
• Mark the first link to the main plot, the midpoint turn, and the role during the climax.
• Any thread without those three marks goes on the chopping block.

Character arc beats

Readers track change through behavior under stress. Map the inner journey so external events press on the right bruise.

Four beats to chart:

• Misbelief or wound. A false rule or old harm steering choices.
• Tests. Trials that confirm the old rule, then start to crack it.
• Crisis choice. A moment where two values collide and the old rule fails.
• Transformation. New behavior under fire, not a speech.

Align external to internal:

• Inciting event pokes the wound.
• First plot point forces a path where the misbelief hurts.
• Midpoint reveals the cost of staying the same.
• All‑is‑lost exposes the full price of the old rule.
• Climax demands new behavior.

Example:

• Misbelief. “I must stay invisible to stay safe.”
• Tests. Hides evidence, others suffer.
• Crisis choice. Testify or watch a friend take the fall.
• Transformation. Takes the stand, names the threat, protections fail, courage holds.

Exercise:

• Write the misbelief in seven words or fewer.
• List three scenes that test it.
• Name the one scene where the choice flips.
• Describe new behavior during the climax in one sentence.

POV balance that serves the story

Every viewpoint must bring unique stakes or fresh information. If two narrators watch the same action and provide the same knowledge, pace thins.

Audit steps:

• Tally word count per POV.
• Next to each, write what only this voice delivers, such as access to a secret, expertise, or a separate ticking clock.
• Mark the last scene where each viewpoint alters outcome.

Rules of thumb:

• Start a new viewpoint when the scene holds information the protagonist cannot know, or when the emotional charge lands harder from another lens.
• Keep scene goals tight per viewpoint. Each narrator wants something clear, meets resistance, exits changed.
• Limit recaps. If a shift repeats a scene readers witnessed, cut or replace with one new beat.

Example:

• Thriller with detective and offender. Offender scenes should escalate dread by changing what readers know about the plan. If offender scenes only echo newspaper headlines the detective reads later, remove those pages.

Fixes:

• Fold a redundant POV into a stronger one. Reassign key reveals through dialogue, a found object, a transcript, or body language.
• Rotate purpose. If a viewpoint drifts, give that voice a separate deliverable, such as tracking the clock, guarding a location, or holding a secret that collides with the hero at the midpoint.

Quick check:

• Would the story lose essential tension or knowledge if this viewpoint vanished. If not, goodbye.

Theme that threads through action

Theme holds meaning. Not a lecture. Not a tagline. A pattern of choices and consequences.

Steps to align:

• Write one clear theme sentence, framed as a tension. “Justice without mercy breeds harm.” Keep it plain.
• Circle scenes that dramatize this tension through action. Arguments count only if a choice follows.
• Pick a motif, a concrete repeatable element. A book, a coin, a song, a phrase. Use it at hinge points.

Weave, do not glue:

• Midpoint. Use theme to flip understanding. The hero sees how the old approach breaks the thing they love.
• Crisis. Force a value clash. Two good options, one must fall.
• Climax. Pay off the motif through action. The coin that bought silence gets spent to make noise.

Example:

• Theme. “Loyalty without truth rots love.”
• Motif. A locked phone.
• Midpoint. The partner sees the lock, realizes the cost.
• Crisis. Unlocking risks exposure and loss.
• Climax. Phone unlocked on the table during the confrontation, consequences land.

Exercise:

• Write the theme sentence.
• Pick one motif.
• Place the motif in scene notes for midpoint and climax.
• Replace any summary of theme with a beat where theme forces a hard move.

Build a subplot and POV matrix

Make structure visible so choices get simple.

Columns to include:

• Thread name.
• First appearance.
• Purpose in Act I.
• Turn at midpoint.
• Pressure on the hero in Act II late.
• Role in the climax.
• POV delivering each beat.
• Word count per thread.

Process:

• Fill the grid with current scenes.
• Highlight any thread that never touches the midpoint or the payoff.
• Shift or merge until every surviving thread presses on both.

Target outcome:

• Every subplot intersects the core line by the midpoint and bites during the climax.
• Every viewpoint earns pages with exclusive value.
• Theme hums through action, not speeches.

Quick checklist:

• Each subplot promises something and pays it off when stakes peak.
• Inner change beats line up with external turns.
• No redundant viewpoints. Each voice brings a unique lever.
• Theme appears in choices, motifs, and callbacks at hinge moments.
• Matrix shows every thread at the midpoint and the payoff.

Clean lines create speed. Purpose in every thread keeps readers glued to the page.

Objective Tools and When to Call in Help

You do not need to guess. Structure leaves tracks. Use tools, gather proof, then decide whether to bring in another set of eyes.

Structural diagnostics that earn their keep

Story Grid’s Five Commandments per scene. Use them as a hard gate.

• Inciting incident, a clear trigger.
• Progressive complications, pressure rises.
• Turning point, surprise or forced move.
• Crisis, a choice between two hard options.
• Climax, decisive action.
• Resolution, a new status.

Run one scene. If any item is missing, tension leaks. Fix the hole or cut the scene.

Save the Cat beat checklist. Mark where your beats land by percentage of total word count.

• Opening image.
• Theme stated.
• Set up.
• Catalyst around 10 to 15 percent.
• Debate.
• Break into Two around 20 to 25 percent.
• Fun and Games.
• Midpoint around 50 percent.
• Bad Guys Close In.
• All is Lost around 75 to 80 percent.
• Break into Three.
• Finale around 90 to 98 percent.
• Final image.

Do not chase perfect math. Look for drift. A midpoint at page 62 of a 300 page draft signals a wider issue.

Promise to payoff audit. Make a two column list.

• Left column, promise on the page. A vow, a clue, a rule, a symbol.
• Right column, payoff scene and page.

If a promise lacks payoff, write one. If a payoff arrives without a promise, seed an earlier beat. If a promise repeats across scenes without new pressure, merge.

Mini exercise:

• Pick five random scenes.
• Tag the commandment hits, the Save the Cat beat area, and any promise or payoff.
• Note one revision per scene that raises stakes.

Beta feedback that targets structure

Do not ask for line edits yet. Ask readers to judge clarity and movement. Give a short survey.

Offer prompts with check boxes or a 1 to 5 scale, plus a space for one sentence notes.

• What does the protagonist want in Act I. Clear or fuzzy.
• Where did momentum sag. List chapters.
• What beat hit at the midpoint. Name it.
• When did stakes feel highest. Chapter numbers.
• Who or what pushed against the hero in three key scenes.
• Did the ending resolve the core question. Yes or no.
• One scene you would cut.
• One setup you loved that paid off late.

Keep the group small. Three to five readers. Mix one genre fan, one structure hawk, and one generalist. If two or more flag the same beat, trust the signal.

Format aids that speed revisions

You need a board you can shuffle. Any of these work.

• Scrivener corkboard for card views by scene.
• Plottr for timeline, beats, and threads.
• A plain spreadsheet with filters.

Set columns for chapter, scene number, POV, date, location, scene purpose, protagonist goal, antagonistic force, outcome, stakes, word count, beat label. Color code. Green for scene. Yellow for summary. Red for backstory. Sort by thread to check intersections. Sort by date to see time jumps. Sort by word count to spot bloats.

Quick test:

• Filter for scenes without an antagonistic force. Flag them. Give them teeth or fold them into stronger scenes.

When to bring in a pro

Patterns repeat despite your passes. Beats miss targets again after fixes. Beta notes echo the same concerns. You feel lost in the weeds. Time to call help.

Know the service you need.

Developmental edit. Big picture. Focus on premise, genre expectations, theme, character arc, plot turns, subplots, pacing. Deliverables often include an editorial letter, a scene map, margin notes on major moves, and a call to plan next steps.

Structural edit. Narrower scope, heavy on order and cause and effect. Focus on beat placement, scene function, continuity, and stakes escalation. Deliverables often include a revised outline, scene level notes, and suggestions for cuts and bridges.

How to choose:

• If you suspect a premise or genre mismatch, start with a developmental edit.
• If the premise sings yet the middle sags, ask for a structural pass.
• Ask for sample notes on one chapter. Check whether the feedback speaks to goals, conflict, outcome, and scene role.

What to send:

• Your latest draft in one file.
• A short synopsis, one page max.
• Your scene list or spreadsheet.
• Your questions, ranked by priority.

Plan a clean structure pass

Separate structure work from prose polish. Mixing the two slows both.

Five step schedule:

1. Freeze sentences. No tweaking lines. Give the draft a temp title to remind yourself, Structure Pass.
2. Build diagnostics. Scene list, beat sheet, timeline, and a promise to payoff table.
3. Revise the order. Move, merge, or cut until beats sit in range and causality reads clean.
4. Reinforce pressure. Add antagonistic force to soft scenes. Raise stakes, narrow options, shorten the fuse.
5. Read straight through in one or two sittings. Mark only where attention slips or confusion hits. Fix those spots, then stop.

Guardrails:

• One week off after the pass. Fresh eyes help.
• No copyedits until structure holds under a full read and at least one outside opinion.

Short exercise:

• Pick a chapter you love. Swap it with the one before. If the story still reads, stakes are soft. Restore order, then sharpen the hinge between those scenes so change becomes undeniable.

Tools and help are not a crutch. They keep you honest. Use them to see the book you wrote, then shape the book readers will not put down.

Frequently Asked Questions

Download FREE ebook

Claim your free eBook today and join over 25,000 writers who have read and benefited from this ebook.

'It is probably one of the best books on writing I've read so far.' Miz Bent

Leave this empty

Get free book