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Story Structure
A percentage-anchored landmark-beat skeleton (K.M. Weiland's 5 Secrets of Story Structure / Structuring Your Novel) overlaid with James Scott Bell's 14-signpost catalog (Super Structure) — plus two modes for using them: mapping a new story's structure before drafting, and auditing an existing manuscript against it.
Weiland's beats answer where a turning point should fall; Bell's signposts answer what psychological or emotional work that turning point needs to do. Together they give a placement skeleton with content diagnostics at each joint, not just a percentage ladder.
When to Use
This skill is for:
- ✅ Fiction manuscripts — novels, novellas, short stories
- ✅ Placing landmark beats (Inciting Event, Plot Points, Pinch Points, Midpoint, Climax) into a new outline before drafting
- ✅ Checking where beats actually land in an existing draft, by approximate percentage
- ✅ Checking whether a beat that's present is doing the psychological work it needs to (via Bell's signposts)
- ✅ Catching two specific, commonly-missed failure modes: Inciting Event/Key Event/First Plot Point confusion, and the Faux Climax trap
When NOT to Use
This skill is NOT for:
- ❌ Scene-level micro-structure (Goal/Conflict/Outcome, Scene/Sequel) — use
fiction-workshop'sreferences/developmental-editing.mdScene-Level section instead. - ❌ Character-arc mechanics (Want, Need, Wound, Lie) — use
fiction-workshop'sreferences/character-work.mdCore Four instead. This skill only notes which structural beat is where the Lie is tested (Third Plot Point) and resolved (Climax). - ❌ Narrative nonfiction structure — use
narrative-nonfiction's transformation-arc guidance instead; this skill's beats assume a plotted fiction conflict. - ❌ Prose-level pacing (sentence rhythm, word choice) — use
prose-mechanics.
Session Continuity
Structure placement is meant to persist in the project's Story Bible, not be re-derived each session.
- At session start: If a Story Bible exists, check its "Plot Foundation" section for an existing Structure Profile block (see
assets/structure-profile-template.md). Don't re-run Map on a story that already has one unless the author asks for a re-check. - When a beat is newly placed or moved: Hand the profile block back to the author to paste into the Story Bible yourself — this skill does not write to the Story Bible directly (see each mode's stop condition below).
The Landmark Beat Skeleton
Full skeleton, percentages, and the two named failure-mode diagnostics (Inciting/Key/First-Plot-Point confusion, Faux Climax): references/landmark-beats.md.
Bell's 14 Signposts
Full catalog, in Bell's own order, cross-referenced to the landmarks above where they overlay one: references/signposts.md.
The Two Modes
| Mode | Invocation | Question | Reference file |
|---|---|---|---|
| Map | "Map the structure for this story" | Where should each beat and signpost land, for a story not yet fully drafted? | references/structure-map.md |
| Audit | "Audit this manuscript's structure" | Where do beats actually land, and is each doing its job? | references/structure-audit.md |
Ordering guidance: Map is for pre-draft planning; Audit is for anything already written. They are not sequential stages of one session — run whichever mode matches the story's current stage.
Load only the reference file matching the currently invoked mode, plus landmark-beats.md and signposts.md (both modes need both). Do not preload mode files you're not running.
Workflow
- Identify the mode the author is invoking (see table above). If unclear, ask.
- Load `references/landmark-beats.md` and `references/signposts.md`, plus the mode file for the identified mode.
- Run the mode's workflow exactly as documented in its reference file.
- Stop at the mode's documented stop condition (see Stopping Points below). Hand results back to the author.
- If a new or changed Structure Profile results, offer the
assets/structure-profile-template.mdblock for the author to paste into their Story Bible's Plot Foundation section — do not write it there yourself.
Integration with fiction-workshop
fiction-workshop/references/developmental-editing.md's Act-Level section links here for the deeper percentage-anchored skeleton and signpost content-checks.fiction-workshop/references/character-work.md's Arc Milestones section links here, noting Third Plot Point and Climax as the beats where the Lie is tested and resolved.assets/structure-profile-template.mdis designed to paste directly into the Story Bible's existing "Plot Foundation → Three-Act Structure" section (seefiction-workshop/assets/story-bible-template.md), adding finer beat percentages and signpost notes on top of the existing Act I/Midpoint/Act II-B/Act III placeholders.- This skill never restructures
fiction-workshop/assets/story-bible-template.md— it only adds an optional block.
Stopping Points
Each mode has a defined end. Stop at it. Do not auto-advance to the other mode, do not silently expand scope, do not write to the Story Bible without being asked.
| Mode | Stops when... | Then |
|---|---|---|
| Map | Structure Map block completed for all 11 landmarks | Hand back for author confirmation. Do not auto-write to Story Bible. |
| Audit | Flagged-beat report delivered (missing/mistimed/thin beats, Faux Climax check) | Stop. No auto-rewrite — author decides which flags to act on. |
Finding Format
Audit-mode output (missing/misplaced landmark beats, signpost gaps) conforms to ../../references/finding-schema.json: audit = "story-structure-audit", technique = the specific landmark or signpost involved (e.g. "Weiland Midpoint" or "Bell Pinch Point 1"), severity, location (chapter-level if no single line applies — use line 1 of the chapter and describe the gap in issue), confidence: "judgment", exemplar optional. Map-building mode (not diagnostic) is NOT in scope.
Common Mistakes
| Mistake | Fix |
|---|---|
| Treating the percentages as exact page counts | Weiland's own framing: aim for rough quarters, not surgical precision — a beat within a few points of its mark is fine |
| Conflating Inciting Event, Key Event, and First Plot Point into one beat | They can be three distinct scenes with three distinct jobs — see landmark-beats.md's callout |
| Declaring an early goal-achieved scene "the climax" | Check for Faux Climax — is there a bigger obstacle still standing between the protagonist and the true goal? |
| Running Audit on a story with no draft yet | Audit needs actual manuscript text to locate beats in — use Map instead for pre-draft planning |
| Checking only placement, not content | A beat can land at the right percentage and still be hollow — always run the matching Bell signpost content-check too |
Quick Reference Commands
| Need | Command |
|---|---|
| Plan a new story's structure | "Map the structure for this story" |
| Check an existing draft | "Audit this manuscript's structure" |
| Check one beat's placement | "Where does the Midpoint land in this draft?" |
| Check for a specific trap | "Check this manuscript for a Faux Climax" |
Files
references/landmark-beats.md- The 11-beat percentage skeleton, diagnostics, two failure-mode calloutsreferences/signposts.md- Bell's full 14-signpost catalog, cross-referenced to the landmarksreferences/structure-map.md- Map mode workflowreferences/structure-audit.md- Audit mode workflowassets/structure-profile-template.md- Story Bible block for a story's structure profile
