Emergent Structure Workshop at Metro West

Miss my workshop on structure at Clarion West? Come join me as I run it again for Metro West!

Emergent Structures: How Structure Shapes Your Story on a Macro and Micro Level

Delve beyond Save the Cat to explore different structures—not just of plot, but of every aspect of your story, from scenes to character arcs.

Structure is so much more than a formula to be followed. It’s a set of reader expectations that are emergent from the genre, culture, and the story itself, and understanding those structures not only helps you write but it also helps ensure a satisfying reading experience.

In this presentation, we’ll venture beyond the three-act structure, discussing other established plot structures before moving on to the structures inherent in scenes and character arcs. Then we’ll explore how structure is emergent from story and learn how to identify the points in a story that set trajectories and reader expectations. Finally, we’ll put all that to good use, analyzing example text, and figuring out what they tell us about the overall structure.

Image Text: Picture of a smiling white woman with pink hair and a bee tattoo. Susan J. Morris, Emergent Structures, Saturday, February 17th, 1pm Eastern, ZOOM. $25. Register at metrowestwriters.org. Metro West Writers’ Guild.