Story Structure 101: Easiest Way to Structure Your Thriller Novel

I would’ve had much less trouble when I was writing if I had only used this one structure.

I can still clearly recall my inspiration for writing my thriller. I was unsure of how to organize my story, so I turned to Google like everyone else in our modern world, and boy do I wish I hadn’t. My confusion and headache got even worse when I entered a simple search term, “narrative structure,” because I was presented with a ton of confusing information, like “linear, non-linear, circular, etc....” and trust me, it’s not what I needed. So what story structure did I really need?

The only structure you need to know

As a thriller writer, I think you only need to know about the most basic story structure that has ever existed, which is the Freytag’s Pyramid (The Five Act) structure, and I will tell you why. This is because chase scenes are a common feature of thrillers, where either the antagonist or the protagonist is being pursued. This structure is the most direct and practical way that serves the category, unless your thriller story is a very unique one that makes it a special case.

In essence, Freytag’s Pyramid structure builds on the standard three acts of a story — the introduction, the events, and the conclusion — but it also includes two additional acts to make the storytelling more distinctive and descriptive in some ways.

Now let’s get started on how you can write your story using this structure:

Act One: Exposition

Act One is the part where you need to grab the reader’s attention at all costs. This is where you tell them who the central characters are, who your protagonist is, and what his motives and fears are. It’s also the time where you establish the setting (where and when the story takes place), and here’s a tip: at the end of the exposition, you should start preparing for the next act when things start to be more engaging.

Act Two: Rising Action

The heat is on and you’re the fire-starter. It’s your responsibility to spark the conflict between the protagonist and the antagonist. Set a lot of barriers and cause a lot of trouble, but not too much because you’ll need it in the following act.

Act Three: The Climax

I’m sure you have a plot twist up your sleeve, and now is the perfect time to let the readers in on it. Because your readers didn’t see this coming, only you did, and you definitely caused mayhem, this part should be incredibly interesting. Although all of the elements of your story are significant, you should pay particular attention to this one because it piques the reader’s interest and excitement.

Act Four: Falling Action

In this phase, you should start doing the opposite of what you did in Act Two. That’s right, start putting down the fire. As the conflict starts to get resolved and the tension starts to dissipate. Here, you set the fate of the protagonist, whether he reaches his motives or he fails. At this point, you should start thinking of an ending to your story, as I believe this part is the most sensitive, and your job as the author is to tie all the loose ends and fix any possible plot holes. This part sets the climax to an end.

Act Five: Resolution

After you solve the challenges of your story, you have to decide how to conclude it; whether it ends happily, badly, or is left as an open ending. Whatever you do, the ending should be satisfying, and make sure not to make the reader feel like he wasted his time reading your story.

You’ve successfully written your first thriller novel. Congratulations.

Final Word

This is all I have to say about story structures for now. I tried to make this as concise and straight to the point as possible, because it gave me a lot of trouble back in the day. I didn’t want anyone to go through the same experience as I did. Currently, I am making my second book using the same structure, but if I decide to try a new structure, I will be happy to write another post about it.

If you have any questions or need writing advice, please contact me at bostonscribbles@gmail.com.

As always, have fun writing!

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