One thing we must understand is that story rules and structure are not set in stone.
Should you have a 3 chapter set up, and then an inciting incident in Chapter 4?
Sure!
Can you delay it until chapter 5?
If your story is strong enough, sure!
And that’s the deciding point.
I’ve read several novels where what happens in the present is split with events happening in the past. In that kind of case, you can’t have the standard novel structure of chapters 1-3, setup, chapter 4, inciting incident, etc.
What about those rare novels where the book is split among several viewpoints? No kidding, there’s a few cases of classic literature such as Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde, Dracula, First Men On The Moon, The Invisible Man and others where the story is told either momentarily or even split consistently throughout the book through multiple points of view.
You can’t use standard story structure in that kind of book.
What about the kind of book that gives Publishers heart attacks, where interest is maintained throughout a story where people’s lives spiral closer and closer and closer until they literally all intersect?
You can’t use story structure in that kind of book.
Story structure, as we are taught it, is a tool – nothing more.
The essential point of writing fiction is that you’re being creative.
My first novel simply can’t be forced into a mold, since I move from the points of view of all of the characters back and forth, weaving it closer and closer together. The inciting incident occurs almost halfway through the book – but there’s enough conflict and drama to make readers keep reading through it!.
Scott James wrote an entire book on this, Story Trumps Structure. I haven’t read it yet, but I’ve become painfully aware that Save The Cat is only a tool. I’ve become aware that the Hauge outline is a tool you can use to structure, but not a concrete foundation that must remain unaltered.
[Tweet “Save The Cat is only a tool.”]
Here’s the essential truth – if it’s a good book, and if you can hold a reader’s attention for 30 chapters until the last page, your book will be published, sold, read… and enjoyed.
