Story structure templates

Every story has a structure. Which is yours?

Kurt Vonnegut once argued that every story has a shape you could draw on graph paper. Take, for instance, the dip and recovery of “Pinocchio” — or the off-the-chart ascent of "Cinderella." He was, in many ways, right. Beneath the surface, the vast majority of stories hold the shape of a handful of story structures that storytellers have been refining for centuries.

Our ultimate collection of story structure templates holds the five most famous frameworks: rebuilt as guided, beat-by-beat boards that are designed to take you from "I have an idea" to a story outline that sees you through to “The End.” So which one will you pick? 

Our story structure templates, up close

Every template is a workshop for you to expand your ideas. They come with: 

• The canvas — a definition of the beat, a worked example from a story you know, and open space to sketch freely. 

• The workshop — a guided path of craft questions that build your beat from the ground up. 

Just pick the structure best suited for your story, and outline away. 

The 3-Act Structure Template

Your guide through it: Pride and Prejudice.

What you can outline with it: The industry-standard framework, expanded into nine beats across three acts. 

Example prompts inside:

• What is the Inciting Incident? Describe it in one sentence, as if writing a telegram.

• How does it disrupt the status quo? Write the worst-case scenario of what would happen if your protagonist did nothing.

• What dramatic question does this beat raise? Complete the sentence: "Will [protagonist] be able to [central goal] before [stakes/consequence]?"

• What does your Exposition withhold? What is the reader curious about by the end of your opening pages?

• From the checkpoint: What is now possible — and what is now impossible? Which doors does this beat close for good?

The Hero's Journey Template

Your guide through it: Rocky — a loan collector from Philadelphia, going the distance.

What you can outline with it: All twelve stages of the monomyth, from the Ordinary World and the Call to Adventure through every threshold, ordeal, and reward on the way back home. 

Example prompts inside:

• Write a page of your protagonist's diary from the day before everything changes.

• Describe your protagonist as a stranger would see them — then as they see themselves.

• What is quietly wrong with your protagonist's Ordinary World? And what is quietly right with it — what do they stand to lose by leaving?

• What is their immediate reaction to the Call? Compare their answer after 5 minutes, 1 hour, 1 day, and 1 week.

• What does the Call make possible that wasn't possible before — and what does it make impossible?

• Write your protagonist's internal monologue at the moment they refuse the Call.

The Seven-Point Story Structure Template

Your guide through it: The Hunger Games.

What you can outline with it: A skeleton of your story — but built backwards, according to the guiding principle behind this outlining method. 

Example prompts inside:

• Jot down your story idea. What is its natural conclusion — in setting, mood, and circumstances?

• What problem sits at the heart of this story, and how can the ending resolve it?

• Who will your protagonist have become by the end — circumstantially, emotionally, and psychologically?

• Now put it all together and write your Resolution in one sentence.

• For your Hook: what would be the exact opposite of your Resolution? That contrast is your opening.

• From the checkpoint: Is the problem in your Hook the seed of the one your Resolution settles?

The Freytag's Pyramid Template

Your guide through it: Death of a Salesman.

What you can outline with it: Five acts, from Exposition to Catastrophe, each one tracking how your protagonist's fatal flaw digs the hole beneath them.

Example prompts inside:

• What sets the tragedy in motion — at the plot level and the emotional level?

• What are your protagonist's greatest desire, greatest fear, greatest belief, and greatest flaw?

• Write a status report on each key relationship: what each person wants from your protagonist, what they're not saying, and what they don't yet know.

• How does your protagonist unravel in this act? What are they refusing to see?

• From the checkpoint: What does this beat destroy or make unrecoverable? And would the tragedy still feel inevitable if it were cut?

The Fichtean Curve Template

Your guide through it: The Great Gatsby.

What you can outline with it: The pace-lover's structure. The Crisis card is built to be duplicated: your story gets exactly as many as it demands, and the template even tells you how to know when you've reached the last one.

Example prompts inside:

• What conflict is already underway when your story opens — and does the reader feel the stakes quickly?

• What does your Opening withhold, so readers have to turn the page?

• What is the central dilemma of this Crisis? Write the question your protagonist is asking themselves in the middle of it.

• What choice must your protagonist make here — and what does it reveal about who they are?

• What must the next Crisis deliver because of this one?

• From the road ahead: Does the story demand another Crisis — or has the Climax just become inevitable?

Structure your story, step by step

Just as there's no single "right" way to write, there's no one way to outline. That said, a few guiding principles will keep your structure working for you.

• Pick one structure and commit — for this draft. Comparing frameworks is genuinely useful; switching between them at 30,000 words is procrastination wearing a trench coat. Choose the best fit from the table above and see the draft through. You can always re-cut the story against a different structure in revision.

• Let the structure describe, not dictate. Beats aren't a formula — they're the load-bearing moments almost all satisfying stories share. If your Midpoint wants to arrive early or your Refusal of the Call lasts one paragraph, let it. Rename, reorder, and delete beats freely; the templates are yours to bend. 

• Match the depth to your process. Every beat can be a one-line sketch on the canvas or a full workshop session — and you don't owe the template every answer. Outline as lightly or as thoroughly as your book needs, then get to the actual writing.

• Draft before your outline is "perfect." An outline is a map, and maps get redrawn once you've walked the territory. Build enough structure to feel confident, start drafting, and come back to the checkpoints when you revise — they're designed to find the beat that's quietly not pulling its weight. (Discovery writers: this works in reverse, too. Draft first, then lay your finished manuscript over a template to diagnose the saggy middle.)

So which story structure should you pick? That’s a trick question: there's no universally "best" story structure! There's only the best one for this book, and for the way you like to plan. 

New to these frameworks entirely? Our complete guide to story structure breaks down how each one works — with examples from novels, films, and theater — so you can choose your template with confidence.

More than a template: a complete story outline workspace

Every story structure template opens as a set of three connected boards in Reedsy Studio:

• The Outline board. This is where your plot outline takes shape — pre-populated with every beat of your chosen structure. 
• The Characters board. This is your lab for character development.
• The Places board. This is a sandbox for building all the locations your story lives in.

Just as structure, characters, and worldbuilding are deeply interconnected in a good story, these three boards also talk to each other. Tag @Character or @Location on any beat to connect your outline to the people and places inside it — so when your villain's motivation changes in Act 2, you're one click from their profile, not forty tabs deep.

And it's just the beginning of what Studio can do. The same free app that holds your kit is where you can plan, write, and format the whole book:

Beyond the templates, Reedsy Studio provides:

• A full universe of planning templates — characters, worldbuilding, and more

• Seamless integration between your boards and your manuscript

• A full-featured manuscript editor for drafting and revision

• Automatic saving and cross-device syncing

• Export options in multiple formats, including print-ready PDF and EPUB

And of course, these story structure templates are lovingly built for authors, by authors.

So what are you waiting for? Start structuring today.

Frequently asked questions

What is a story structure template?

A story structure template is a pre-built outline that breaks a narrative framework — like the 3-Act Structure or the Hero's Journey — into its individual beats, so you can plot your story beat by beat instead of facing a blank page. In Reedsy Studio, each template is an interactive set of boards with guided prompts, checkpoints, and worked examples, plus connected boards for your characters and settings.

Which story structure is best for a novel?

There's no single best structure — the right one depends on your story and how you like to plan. The 3-Act Structure is the most versatile starting point; the Hero's Journey suits transformation arcs; Freytag's Pyramid is built for tragedy; the Fichtean Curve favors fast-paced thrillers and mysteries; and the Seven-Point Story Structure is ideal if you want to plan backwards from your ending. See the comparison table above for a fuller breakdown.

What's the difference between a story structure and a story outline?

A story structure is the general pattern — the named beats that most satisfying stories share. A story outline is your book's specific plan: your characters, your events, your order. A story outline template bridges the two, turning an abstract structure into a concrete, scene-ready plan for your novel.

Are the story structure templates free?

Creating a Reedsy Studio account is free, and writing and formatting your book in Studio always will be. The board templates are part of Studio's Outlining add-on — and every new account can try all add-ons free for 30 days, so you can outline your entire story before deciding.

Do I have to answer every prompt?

Not even close! Every beat offers a canvas for quick sketching or a guided workshop for going deep — and you can skip, edit, or delete any prompt that doesn't serve your story. The templates are thinking tools, not homework.

I've already started drafting. Is it too late to use a template?

It's actually a great time. Lay your existing draft over a template and use the checkpoints as a diagnostic: they're designed to reveal which beat isn't pulling its weight, why your middle sags, or where the tension stops escalating. Many writers use these templates for revision as much as for planning.

Do these templates work for screenplays or short stories?

The structures themselves are format-agnostic — the 3-Act Structure came to novels from the theater, after all. The templates are tuned for novel-length fiction, but every beat, prompt, and checkpoint applies just as well to a script, novella, or short story.