A writing template codifies a story pattern like The Hero’s Journey.
by Janice Hardy
There’s more to writing a great story than just ticking off plot and character boxes.
Template is an ambiguous term in writing. It can refer to a writer’s personal style sheet used when developing a story, tools for brainstorming, or worksheets to figure out various plot and story arcs. However, it can also refer to an exacting form that promises the perfect story by following blindly along.
When templates are used for developing stories or to help keep writers focused, they’re useful. But when they dictate how writers should write their books and tell their stories—especially if they give false hope as to the marketability of those stories—they lead writers down a dangerous path.
Like Cooking versus Baking, Writing is an Art, not a Science
My husband’s a fantastic cook. He has an instinct for what flavors work well together, and how to mix ingredients in ways I’d never consider. But he learned the hard way not to get too creative when baking.
Cooking is a forgiving skill. If the recipe calls for half a cup of tomatoes and you like tomatoes and put in a whole cup, odds are the meal still turns out yummy. But baking is hardcore. Add too much salt and your dough fails. Whip cream too long and it turns to grainy mush.
Writing is not dissimilar. Great stories contain similar elements, but how we mix them results in completely different tales. When we treat writing like an exact science, with every beat measured to the page and every major turning point exactly the same, the story suffers.
Instead of a delicious mental meal, we get generic packaged cookies. They might not be terrible, but they don’t make you want to eat more than one, and they taste like dozens of other bland, generic cookies on the shelf.
The Danger of a Writing Template
The danger of writing templates is that instead of finding the right details for the story we’re trying to tell, we’re looking for details that fit a particular template at a particular time. We think, “This is when something has to die,” and twist ourselves into knots forcing it in. Or we think we need an emotional character arc when no arc is needed. We add mentor characters who have no business in the story, and rely on cliched characters to fill roles a checklist tells us we need.
When we’re cooking a novel, those literary ingredients are mixed to flavor the story in the way we want to tell it. But when we’re baking with a template, we’re adding ingredients exactly as the recipe states, even if the story suffers for it. Templates far too often force us to bake a cake when we really want to make a scone.
When you understand how to tell a compelling story, you know what aspects of storytelling to use to create the desired emotional response from your readers. You pick and choose the details, beats, and turning points that serve your story, and ignore the aspects that don’t.
Hang On—Isn’t Story Structure a Useful Writing Tool?
Absolutely. Which is why templates are both a blessing and a curse, and why so many writers struggle with them. A structure that fits your writing and storytelling style can be a useful tool in writing your novel. I use them, too (and I know this sounds like I’m contradicting myself, but bear with me).
The difference between story structure and a writing template is this:
- Structure uses proven story constructions that humans have used since stories began.
- Templates suggest the only way to write a novel is to follow an exact plan to the letter.
Using a structure that suits your personal storytelling style to help keep you focused and give you a foundation on which to build a story is a good thing. It’s a tool, nothing more.
Painting by Numbers
Writing your story to hit specific turning points at specific times, even if they don’t fit your story is forcing you to write what someone else thinks a story should be. It’s the literary equivalent of a paint-by-number, not a story.
I’ve spoken with many a thriller writer who struggled with adding a character arc because the template they used said they need one. Or writers who added a romance subplot because the B Plot is supposed to be a relationship arc. Or writers who shoved in a threshold guardian because they read every plot needs someone to keep the protagonist from moving onto the plot.
- The structure point that reminds you of general storytelling points, such as the protagonist needs to be pulled onto the plot path somehow = good.
- A template box that demands you add specific details, such as a mentor to advise the protagonist on how to proceed = bad.
- A decision to add a mentor character to encourage the protagonist to choose to step onto the plot path because that suits your story and you like how that storytelling element works for your idea = good.
An Important Difference
It’s a subtle difference, but an important one. You’re not filling out a template, you’re using the archetypes and structure that will allow you to tell your story how you want to.
No matter what structure you use, it boils down to beginning—middle—ending. That’s how we tell stories, and that’s what readers expect when they pick up a book. The specific structure varies depending on style and taste, and what different people call different turning point also varies, but at the core, it’s all the same.
- Set up the problem (the beginning)
- Try to resolve the problem (the middle)
- Resolve the problem (the ending)
That’s structure. Within that structure, there are common elements within each piece, but even they vary depending on the story.
- Beginning: Introduce characters, discovery of the problem, decision to act to resolve the problem.
- Middle: Attempts to resolve the problem with various results.
- Ending: Decision to deal with (usually face) the problem and resolve it once and for all.
Whether you break this into three acts or six stages, the basic structure remains the same. What you do to accomplished the storytelling goals at each stage is up to you.
Story structure is like using the right tool for the right job. Sure, a wrench can still drive a nail into a board, but a hammer makes it a whole lot easier.
There’s a Difference Between Filling Out a Template and Understanding Why Those Elements Matter
I once received a critique from someone who used Blake Synder’s Save the Cat structure. Many writers find this a useful structure, and it’s insanely popular for a reason. But I don’t use it, and I didn’t write my novel to follow it. The critiquer was so intent on adhering to that template, she suggested I rewrite huge chunks of my book to fit very specific beats. Doing so would have utterly changed the story I wanted to tell.
Now, I’m not knocking Snyder or Save the Cat. I love his “promise of the premise” concept for act two of a story, and there are a ton of great concepts in his beat sheets. But the template has also gotten a lot of criticism for being too formulaic and resulting in stories that all feel the same.
When followed to the letter with no regard to what the story needs, it’s detrimental to that story. When used as a guide to what makes a strong story, and adapted to fit that story, it can result in a great novel. The sheer success and popularity of it, and the ease in which blockbuster movies can be broken down exactly (since this was created for screenwriters, and then adapted to novels), gives some writers the idea that all they need to do to write a sellable book is to follow the template. When they start getting rejections and negative feedback, they wonder why.
The answer is they weren’t trying to tell a story, but fulfil a series of predetermined beats.
The Hero’s Journey Writing Template
The Hero’s Journey is another example of a template that leads some writers astray. Again, it has excellent aspects to it, but it requires specific elements that don’t fit every story. Not all stories have a mentor, or require a quest, or have characters who need to atone. If your story doesn’t fit the “quest” trope, trying to force your plot to hit these specific beats can ruin it.
Storytelling goes beyond plug and play, follow the directions and it comes out perfect every time.
Templates imply there are shortcuts or sure-fire formulas to writing a great novel—which isn’t true.
The writer who understands why those template elements are important can write a strong story no matter what story format they use. A writer who doesn’t, is much more likely to fill out a template with weak elements that fit the box, but not serve the story.
Templates and structure are different things, but it’s all too easy to lump them together. You can create your own style sheets (and call them templates, which is where much of the confusion comes in) that help you craft strong stories. You can use structures and elements that suit your needs, but aren’t “fill in the blanks exactly as this says” templates. Structures that suggest common plot points are useful, but when they become too specific about what should happen in those points, they become problematic.
A template in and of itself isn’t bad if it’s the helpful style sheet type. Templates that tell you how to write are the ones to be wary of.
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by Janice Hardy (@Janice_Hardy) June 9, 2019
How do you feel about using a writing template? Are they useful to you, or do they stifle your creativity?
Janice Hardy is the award-winning author of the teen fantasy trilogy The Healing Wars, including The Shifter, Blue Fire, and Darkfall from Balzer+Bray/Harper Collins. She also writes the Grace Harper urban fantasy series for adults under the name, J.T. Hardy. When she’s not writing fiction, she runs the popular writing site Fiction University, and has written multiple books on writing, including Understanding Show, Don’t Tell (And Really Getting It), Plotting Your Novel: Ideas and Structure, and the Revising Your Novel: First Draft to Finished Draft series. Sign up for her newsletter and receive 25 Ways to Strengthen Your Writing Right Now free.
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I like Blake Snyder’s beat sheet but I vary from it when writing. The closest I ever came to following it was purely by accident and the story written before I even knew the beats. Naturally always works best.
I agree. It has a lot of good moments to draw from, and good turning points to consider when plotting and developing a story. But the story needs should come first.
I teach high school English and the Hero’s Journey. My students then start complaining how I’ve ruined so many movies for them because they know exactly what’s coming since it follows the cycle!
But with writing, I’ve found it fun to tweak those expectations. In one of my books, a young man leaves the “regular world” for the “special world”, makes a muck-up of everything, then is saved by “the nurturer”–his 72-year-old grandmother, who becomes the real “hero” of the story. I think that’s what makes stories more interesting to read and to write: taking the template and exploding it!
Exactly! Both STC and the HJ caught a lot of flack from movie-goers and critics over making movies too predictable. tweaking expectations is a great example of why knowing about the templates is good, so we can play with them. Like knowing the commons tropes and cliches in a genre.
Templates are a tool like your pen or your keyboard. Thank you for this article, Judy.
Most welcome.
Simply marvelous and thanks Janice. I have no experience with templates (outside of work, where in my view they should stay!), but this was a fascinating glimpse into a part of the writing world where I never want to wander alone at night.
Glad you enjoyed it. It’s not bad to know the common templates and understand their turning points, as they all do offer good things to think about. It’s only when we adhere to them exactly and let them rule our stories that they can hurt us.
Hey Anne (& Janice) — this post is an excellent example of why this blog keeps getting chosen as one of the best blogs for writers. Anne, Ruth, & their guests don’t paint the world in black and white — you accepts the grays, even suggest that maybe a swirly mess of white, gray & black might be a better thing than something homogenous. So many writing blogs either praise the beauty of the template, or spit on the very idea of a template, but — what a surprise — a template can be a good thing when used appropriately, AND a bad thing when used inappropriately (kind of like wine or bagpiping or tap-dancing, eh?). Thanks for another reasoned, sensible look into the world of the writer.
Well said!
Thanks! And I agree. Anne and Ruth always have fantastic and helpful posts. Writing is an art, and there are so many shades of gray in there.
Sounds like the template is the writing equivalent of MadLibs. I don’t use one personally, and I wouldn’t be able to identify a story that uses one….unless you’re talking about literary fiction/non-fiction.
A bit like that, but they’re meant to help not go for the humor. You’ve probably read plenty of novels that used one. They don’t always result in terrible books, and some great novel have been written with them, but they can also feel cookie-cutter and predictable.
Hey Janice,
Good post. I think a lot of writers go for templates because they feel uncertain about their own skill set. And like having a set of ‘rules’ to follow.
But no matter how great a writing tool is, it is still a tool. Nothing is hard and fast and sure to bring you success. If you don’t believe me, just google how to successfully market books. You’ll find hundreds of ‘sure fire’ ways to do it.
No matter what the tool is, I think you have to regard it with a healthy does of skepticism – and yes, consider it a guide. Otherwise, what are you creating?
I got very excited about the story grid when I discovered it. I was sure it was THE thing to use on all my stories going forward. And I took that thing to my trilogy and tore things apart. Not a mistake but a little misguided on my part. There was no way to completely apply it to the book. But I did find it was a great tool to analyse the story and tackle the weak points. And I found just the act of doing it integrated the principles into my mindset without my having to now do it with every story. So yeah, just another tool. Another guideline that can help.
Anyway, good advice. I hope the people who need it, take it.
Cheers,
Annie
That’s a great observation and I’d agree there. It’s safe, and it gives them a direction to go in. That’s why structure is valuable, as it does the same thing, only allows for more creative freedom.
You’re right about marketing. Great example. If it were that simple every book would be a bestseller.
I have a structure (dare I say it?) template that I use to develop my stories, and I’ve pulled moments from all kinds of different story tools. But I also drop or shift pieces that don’t work with one story. But as you said, it’s a great tool to guide my brainstorming.
Janice, thank you for the most sensible, understandable discussion of this topic I have ever read. Some writers and proponents of X structure make it sound as though if you don’t do it their way (either because you’ve studied their structure dictates and follow them on purpose, or you just do it intuitively, which they frown upon) you’re doomed to failure. Your take on it is liberating!
And Anne, thanks for having Janice over to ‘talk’ to us.
Most welcome. That’s why I wrote this. I’ve spoken with so many writers who feel the same way you described and it kept them from writing. There is no right way to right. Try different things. Learn different paths. Not every manuscript by the same writer goes the same way as the last.
I so agree with Tricia’s comments. Thank you, Janice and Anne.
Storytelling goes beyond plug and play – yes, this! I sometimes feel like the odd writer out because Hero’s Journey is problematic for me. Last weekend I taught a writing masterclass based on one of Emma Coats’s 22 tweets on storytelling.This goes “Once upon a time there was…and every day…then one day…(something changes). Because of that…because of that…and so on untul you’ve created your story according to your needs, ending with, “then finally…” I’ve never come across a better approach. My group wrote their hearts out and light bulb moments were plentiful. Thanks Janice and Anne for making my day.
That sums up the general structure of a story and what I was saying here. 🙂 Problem–attempts to solve–resolution. Every writer can add more to that if they want, but that’s the core of it all.
Great comment, Valerie, and a great writing prompt!
Valerie–I LOVE this! “Once upon a time there was…and every day…then one day…(something changes). Because of that…because of that…and so on until you’ve created your story according to your needs, ending with, “then finally…” I’m going to hang onto that. Really useful in helping people overcome episodic storytelling. Each incident has to be “because of that…” Great advice!
Thanks, Janice. As a writer, I understand story templates and I agree with you that they shouldn’t be followed all the time (or any of the time). I do not follow a template, but use structure to write the story. Also, the best books I’ve read did not follow a template.
Structure is key. It’s such a useful guide.
I suppose templates or other quasi-formulas can be helpful at times, but I feel that they stand in the way of or simply undermine the joy of creating stories, characters, life problems, and even description. Yes, we writers want to be published, but the more we focus on that the less we allow ourselves to get into and enjoy the “flow” of writing, which is the joy of the process. It’s also where and when the joy of writing comes. (For those who are interested in such things, check out the work of Csikszentmihalyi on “Flow: Beyond Boredom and Anxiety.”) And my guess is that for every published book using a template, there are many books that don’t.
That’s the fine line. A guide CAN be helpful, and templates in all their various shades can benefit a writer, but they can also hurt a writer when the template dictates the story instead of the writer (or the story itself). Use the tools, don’t let the tools use us 🙂
Thanks for all your comments, everybody. I’m not sure where Janice is. The last I talked to her, she was under the weather with a nasty virus. I hope she’ll recover soon and be able to respond to your comments. I really appreciate her great post!
Thanks so much for having me, Anne! Apologies for a late start, everyone. 🙂
Great post! I’ve definitely struggled with that myself.
I wrote the rough draft of a Robin Hood with a twist novel, and the parts I took from the original framework read COMPLETELY different that the other bits. It’s going to need a LOT of rework.
Strict templates can end up with characters/etc being forced to fit the plot, *coughGoTSeason8cough*.
Great examples. We changed our style or even our characters trying to make things fit.
Story structure is a great way to get a handle on your story, but it should never be used to cram your story into a rigid mold. Thanks, Janice!
Most welcome! That’s a great summary 🙂 I could have used that as a lead in.
Not so much from a story point of view but from a tech angle I found that once I had worked out what a template was – and that I could change it – I realised I didn’t really need it. This took a while and looking back these phases took place when I was stuck with a story and I would be scouting around for inspiration – so though they have been useful for me I don’t use them for writing stories in and now realise that so much of how we put stories together is personal to our own style and process I don’t feel the pressure to conform
That’s really interesting, and it makes total sense. Studying the structure and potential turning points helped you learn them. Kinda like how reading good books helps us write good books. We absorb the structure and storytelling so it comes to us naturally and sounds right to our writer’s ears.
I like the new take on Saves the Cat, Saves the Cat Writes a Novel, but I’m not married to the template. I use what’s needed. I think when I am tempted by template craziness, I have a tendency to stop writing. I get bored with what I’m doing and I usually have to break the pattern somehow. I think structure guidelines are useful, and thinking about archetypal characters (as is done in the Hero’s Journey) is helpful, but the story still needs to feel unique and authentic to the characters and their development.
Exactly. Most templates can be useful when used as inspiration, or general guides for a certain type of book, or if a writer picks and chooses what they like about it. I can see being tempted when bored. They feel “easy” to do 🙂
As an avid reader or several genres, I have been exposed to many variations in writing styles. As a wrtier, I readily read information and teaching blogs about ‘dos and don’ts’ and ‘must and must not’ on how to build a story – reaching the crescendo and then coming down to the conclusion etc. I find these helpful but only as guidelines that I choose to accept or ignore. I don’t want to read books that are so … predictable. I know what I like and what I don’t like.- I believe that I’m not alone in that. We are all individuals.
I write in a style that I enjoy to read. Those styles vary, depending on the genre and/or my mood or intent: I have written, or am in the process of writing, fantasy, adventure, humour and children’s picture books – all short stories. plus I am working on my memoir. I am concentrating on the picture books for now.
So, in short, I am open to instruction, recommendations, criticism and suggestions, however ultimately it is my story and I will write it in a style that I enjoy – and hopefully others will too.
Great Blog, Janice.
Thanks! Anne and Ruth do an amazing job here, and I always enjoy guest posting for them.
Well said. Guidelines are great, anything that helps a writers understand why those guidelines work, what the plot piece options are–all those are part of the process and it’s good to be familiar with them. But the story needs to unfold in the best way for it (and the writer).
Great post. With all books on fiction craft, the challenge is to be helpful without being too prescriptive. Save the Cat, a book I once liked, gets too prescriptive, which can harm writers, like you observed.
It wasn’t until I started listening to Scriptnotes that I learned that many working screenwriters look down on Save the Cat, The Writer’s Journey, and other story guru books.
The best alternative to these models that I’ve come across comes from screenwriter Craig Mazin (The Hangover 2 and Chernobyl), and I adapted his ideas in the below post:
https://chasingmacguffins.com/2019/06/14/how-to-avoid-an-unearned-character-arc/
Granted, he and I are describing one very common type of story (a traditional, positive Hollywood movie), but I like that his approach explains the why of story: that is, why the character suffers defeats in the second act and why there is something like an inciting incident. His idea that a story has a central dramatic argument is one of the most helpful ideas I’ve come across.
I find Brian McDonald’s book Invisible Ink and his You Are a Storyteller podcast to be very helpful too when it comes to the purpose of stories and how your theme or central dramatic argument dictates every story choice you make.
Interesting. Thanks for the link and suggestions. It all comes down to the story at the core, and what the best way to tell that story is.