: Should I rigorously follow 15 beat structure for writing my novels? I am a novice writer with one novella published on Amazon. Recently I undertook a MOCC on Udemy called Write a Bestselling

@Nimeshi163

Posted in: #CreativeWriting #Novel

I am a novice writer with one novella published on Amazon. Recently I undertook a MOCC on Udemy called Write a Bestselling Novel in 15 Steps. Then I also googled and researched the the 15 step structure. It felt like this structure is recommended by many on blogs and on youtube.
Basically, what it is; screenwriter Blake Snyder's book Save the cat rewritten for novelists. So the steps are created for writing novels using the steps for screenwriting.
I am about to start writing my second novel which is an action thriller. I tried to run my idea past the steps given but was not able to fit everything as taught.
I have two questions here,
1. Does the novel writing community adhere to these 15 steps? In other words, does everybody(movies and novels) in the present times follow these 15 steps and are they widely known?
And
2. Should I rigorously follow these steps if I have to write an epic novel or should these steps be taken as mere guidelines?

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@Jessie137

@Jessie137

No and no.
The 'rules of writing' are more like suggestions, but if there's one rule you should take for gospel it's 'mistrust anyone who will sell the secret to writing a best-seller for just .99 plus shipping and handling.'
Save The Cat can help you structure a novel, yes. So can the Snowflake method, the Hero's Journey, the Heroine's Journey, the seven-act structure, the ring structure... You get it, the list goes on. Some writers even choose to face the blank page with nothing but a pen and only the vaguest idea of what will happen in the next two pages. They probably think a framework will only drag them down.
Read books on the craft. Follow a writing course. Read a wide field of genres to understand how other writers tell their stories. Ask friends and strangers on the internet alike to read your work and provide feedback. Value all input you can get, but under no circumstance let anyone or anything take over the wheel. You drive the car, and you don't pull a hard right into the nearest lake because the SatNav told you so.
As you write more, structuring stories will eventually become second nature and you'll be able to see any novel or movie's scaffolding by squinting. If you read a craft book you'll learn vocabulary useful in discussing the scaffolding with others.

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