There are several different methods of constructing a story, far too many to discuss in detail here, so we'll only look at a few of them.
What's that you say? You thought all stories were supposed to come out nicely and neatly, fully formed and ready to go? Wouldn't that be nice! While it's true some people can just sit down and produce a finished story without much fuss, the rest of us need a little help now and again. Outlining and story plans can give a blueprint to work from, making life a whole lot easier for the author.
Very Basic Guidelines
For those of you that don't care for much structure when you're working on a story idea, here's some generic questions that can help get the ball rolling.
Who is my main character?
What does he/she want?
What obstacle gets in the way?
How will the matter be resolved?
Why will anyone care about any of this in the first place?
Outlines
Here is a basic outline, which can give structure to even the vaguest idea and help you tame that rabid plotbunny into a story. It divides the story into three main sections, each containing its own scenes and subplots.
Beginning
Stasis: This is the point where the character is in his normal surroundings, before anything bad has happened. It is not absolutely necessary to have the Stasis come first—a story can grab a reader's interest more quickly if it begins at the Trigger, and then shows the Stasis through flashbacks.
Trigger: This is where something happens to disrupt the character's ordinary world. It might be some kind of accident, or a disaster, or (more likely in slash writing) it may be when he first lays eyes on the guy of his dreams. The Trigger can be a good place to start the story, grabbing the reader's interest right away.
Middle
Major Quest: This is the main goal of the story: what will happen to the main character? What difficulties will he encounter along the way? How will he change? These questions, and others, can be answered over the course of many scenes, leading always to the Major Climax and the Resolution.
Minor Quest
Surprise
Critical Choice
Minor Climax
The above sequence of events can be used to give each scene structure and to link them all together.
Major Climax
: This is the point all the scenes have been leading up to. Whether it's an event of galaxy-changing proportions, or the character finally getting his lust-object into bed, it's what we've all been waiting for, the high point of the entire story.
End
Reversal: This part is not entirely necessary, but it can be useful to show the changes in the main character. It can also be used to show any irony in the reversal of the character's attitudes.
Resolution: And they lived happily ever after... or not. This is the point where the story either ends completely, or leaves the ending open to allow for a sequel. And just because it's called Resolution does not necessarily indicate a happy ending.
Mythic Structure
A surprising amount of literature uses mythic structure. Joseph Campbell's book The Hero With A Thousand Faces explores the subject in great detail, so I'll just cover the basics here.
The Hero's Journey is a quest that a main character embarks upon, often against his will, leading him through adventures and perils to reach his goal. It is made up of ten different stages, but the stages do not have to happen in any set order.
Stages of the Hero's Journey: the Ordinary World
the Call to Adventure
Crossing the First Threshold
Tests, Allies, and Enemies
Approach to the Innermost Cave
Ordeal
Reward
Resurrection
the Road Back
Return With the Elixir
Now let's have a look at each of these stages. First, the Ordinary World. This is your hero's normal environment, his home, family, and friends, or lack thereof. It doesn't need to be fully described at the beginning of the story. It can be visited in memory or flashback instead.
Into this Ordinary World comes the Call to Adventure. The Call can take many forms. It is most effective when it's something the hero doesn't want to do, which can lead to a Refusal of the Call. If your hero refuses the Call, that's great! Because now you get to set him up in a situation where he absolutely can not get away from taking up his duty.
Crossing the First Threshold occurs when your hero has accepted the Call and has begun his quest. This stage represents him setting off into the unknown, leaving behind his Ordinary World forever, although he may still cling to the idea of coming back home when he's done with his quest. Often, this is where the character will meet up with a helper, usually someone with more experience of the world who may offer to make the journey along with the main character, or possibly just give some key advice.
The Tests, Allies, and Enemies are what make the story interesting. Along the way, the hero will have to overcome many difficulties (Tests) and make new Allies. His struggles against the Enemies he encounters will help him discover himself and grow as a character.
The Approach to the Innermost Cave is more symbolic than literal, although a literal cave can be a useful setting. In the symbolic sense, it is generally something within himself that the hero has to overcome. This is particularly applicable to a slash story, because most slash stories start out with straight characters that need to overcome fear or other issues.
The Ordeal is the supreme test of your hero. It is the major climax of the story, with the ultimate Reward just out of reach.
The Reward may be a physical thing, or it may be something emotional, like love. Whatever it is, the hero has to want it badly enough to struggle through the Ordeal to attain it.
The Resurrection may or may not be literal. Often the hero undergoes serious injury during the Ordeal and the recovery period brings him back from a point close to death. Or, again, this could be a symbolic rebirth, where the hero must change his entire way of thinking and emerge from the confrontation a changed man.
The Road Back is just what it sounds like: the journey back home. There is usually not much of interest that happens along the way, since the major climax of the story has already occured.
And then, finally, is the Return With the Elixir. Your hero has returned to his home, bringing with him whatever he won as his Reward. Only now he finds that home is no longer the same as he remembered it all along: he has changed too much to fit in as he used to. He must now either find a way to adjust to his new situation, or return to the outside world and make a new place for himself.
As I mentioned before, these steps do not need to be in this particular order. Many stories start out on the Road Back, then jump into a flashback, say to the point where the Call disrupts the Ordinary World. Or perhaps the hero doesn't receive his Reward until he's well on his way back home. But however they are organized, the steps of the Hero's Journey give an interesting framework to build a story around.
Challenge: Write a slash story, using your favorite characters, that is built around the Hero's Journey. You'll see how it can apply to any fandom out there, with a bit of creativity.
