If you're a writer, you know how difficult plotting can be. Plotting out a novel involves hundreds of elements: making sure you keep characters in character, weaving in details of your world-building, building tension, even making your main character fulfill their arc and show agency- a term which, as a writer for 8 years, I had only heard of recently! Now, let me introduce plot formulas! They're infographics that give you a visual of what a story should look like and give you building blocks for scenes that escalate or de-escalate a story. After getting the basic premise for my new fantasy WIP (work in progress novel) I wanted to test out these plot formulas and see which one worked best. Keep in mind that these are only my opinions, so take them with a grain of salt!
FICHTEAN CURVE
The Fichtean Curve is one of the more unusual looking plot structures. It features four wavy points that lead up to the top-most point of this curve, or wave, which is then followed by a steep line leading towards the falling action. This plot structure is my favorite of all the four thanks to its encouragement of a twisty and edge-of-your-seat plot. Thanks to the 4 crises, you have every possible opportunity for things to go wrong for your beloved characters (I know, every author's dram) along with keeping readers hooked and wanting to see what happened. As someone who has struggled with stagnant plots but good concepts, this has been incredibly helping in making me create struggles for my characters- which later lead into character development and how they interact with each other and the story! Finally, this curve also keeps the action in your story larger compared to a more boring falling action segment. Pacing, people!
USE THIS WHEN: you need help making your story exciting, fleshing out conflict
FREYTAG'S PYRAMID
Freytag's pyramid is probably the most well known plot structure in all of the United States. It is in the shape of a quintessential triangle, with the four stages of what makes a good story: Exposition, Rising Action, Climax, Falling Action, and Denouement. Freytag's Pyramid has nothing wrong with it- it can be a great tool for making brief outlines! I vividly remember using it in my brightly colored fifth grade classroom as I scribbled onto lined paper an elementary story about princesses and fantastic adventures; it worked just fine! One thing Freytag's pyramid doesn't do is helping with pacing and making you think out of the box. Most good stories aren't half and half. Come on now, do you really think they'll find the murderer in 150 pages of a 300 page book? I think this plot structure can be incredibly useful for planning subplots and red herrings. See, having your reader think that they found the murderer in 150 pages and then having the plot go from Falling Action to Rising Action once more leads to an exciting and page-turning novel.
USE THIS WHEN: you need help creating the basic premise for your story, a skeleton outline
THE HERO'S JOURNEY
For my fantasy writers, this one is for you (although you sci-fi and dystopian novelists might be able to dabble in just a bit). The Hero's Journey is more uncommon, but pretty cool, plot formula. However, it does have its drawbacks. The Hero's Journey is an incredibly specific plot formula, and unless you have a clear idea of your plot already (be honest, if you did, would you be reading this right now?) it can feel stifling. Also, the plot formula is pretty guided and if you take out some of the stages it represents, it can feel incomplete. My last criticism of this poor plot structure is as follows: similar to good old Freytag, the Hero's Journey doesn't have much place for us to have one or more crises, nonetheless subplots. Out of the four in this list, this is my least favorite, however for the right kind of story, the Hero's Journey is probably the best plot formula you'll come across.
USE THIS WHEN: you're plotting a fantasy
SAVE THE CAT
Here is the behemoth. The megamind, the plotting formula of all formulas: the save the cat method. The Save the Cat method is honestly one of my favorite methods because it takes into account practically everything! We get subplots, openings, some juicy conflict, and even fun and games! I know it can look a bit overwhelming at first but hear me out: this is the perfect scene generator. It even gives you a theme stated scene! What can be better than that? Personally, Save The Cat's only drawback is its complexity. If you're just starting out with your novel, it'll be hard to zero in on specific scenes and sections like this before using a different and simpler plot formula before hand (may I suggest the one page novel?). However, if you really want to get your hands dirty and have a grasp on your plot and subplots and all the other intricacies involved in planning a novel, Save the Cat is probably the perfect method for you.
USE THIS WHEN: planning scenes, wanting to get complex
I hope you guys enjoyed this short review! By no means is this the definitive guide to plot formulas- there are probably tons more on the web that might fit your needs even better than the ones on this list! Also, feel free to use more than one plot formula. Writing is never supposed to feel limiting, ever! Think of it like a tasting menu- or even Panera- a pick 2, or 3, or 4...you get it. Any way you plot out your novel, power to you! Happy writing :)
-Krushi