Story Craft Index
Start here.
If you’ve spent any time trying to improve your writing, you’ve probably run into a dozen different systems. Three acts. Character arcs. Theme statements. Beat sheets. Everyone has a framework. After a while, it gets confusing. You’re not sure which one to follow, or whether you’re supposed to follow all of them.
This index is here to make that simpler.
Story craft isn’t one big rulebook. It’s a collection of tools. Some help you fix pacing. Some help you understand character change. Some explain why a story feels satisfying, or why it doesn’t. I’m not interested in defending one model over another. I’m interested in what each one is actually good at.
If something in your draft feels off, this is where you start looking.
Structure
These posts focus on how stories are built. Time. Escalation. Turning points. Different models approach that in different ways.
- Three-Act Structure
How stories organize setup, pressure, and payoff. - Five-Act Structure
Why some narratives escalate in stages instead of one steady climb. - Freytag’s Pyramid
The rise, the breaking point, and the emotional descent that follows. - Beat Sheets
A timing map that helps prevent a drifting middle. - Save the Cat
A commercially focused beat framework built around clarity and payoff. - Dan Harmon’s Story Circle
A circular model centered on internal change and return. - The Hero’s Journey
A myth-shaped structure that gives transformation symbolic weight. - Nonlinear Storytelling
Rearranged timelines that still rely on solid cause and effect. - Ensemble Storytelling
When narrative weight shifts between multiple characters instead of resting on one protagonist. - Kishōtenketsu
A four-part structure where contrast and revelation replace direct conflict. - Horror Storytelling
How dread and atmosphere reshape traditional escalation.
Explore by Idea
Sometimes you’re not looking for a specific framework. You’re trying to fix a specific problem.
These concepts cut across multiple models:
- Transformation
- Dramatic Tension
- Story Beats
- Mythic Storytelling
- Nonlinear Storytelling
- Ensemble Storytelling
- Conflict-Free Narrative
- Television Structure
- Genre Storytelling
Story craft isn’t about choosing one system and ignoring the rest.
Each framework solves a different problem. When you know what tool you’re holding, you stop forcing it to do everything. And that’s usually when the draft starts to make more sense.