There are lots of story structure theories out there today, complete with instructors who teach and preach those theories. In addition, you can find numerous books on the topic, as well as quite a few story-structure software programs. All of it is designed to help you write a better story, provided, of course, you adhere to their specific approaches to story design.

There are more ways to structure a story than I care to count. Certainly, there are more ways to structure a story than I have room to describe here. I’m not a big fan of forced structuring to begin with. I prefer to do the structuring in my head, as I go along. Too much structuring and not enough actual writing can be detrimental to the creative flow. Some structuring software is so involved that a writer could spend his entire career structuring stories and never get around to the process of writing one.

That’s not to say that some writers won’t find story-structure software useful. That type of software may work for some, and to that end, I will give you a little overview of the programs I’ve tested.

Before I do that, though, I should talk about some of the story-structure gurus and the methods they endorse. Keep in mind, most of these gurus have never actually sold a script, which begs the question, why should I listen to you?

Despite a distinct lack of actual screenwriting credits, most of these gurus have their methods of story development down to an art. I don’t recommend you follow any one of them to the ends of the Earth, but you may find that at least one of them has something of value to offer you.

Robert McKee is my favorite of the gurus. I like his no-bullshit approach to teaching. His method is the most logical and least restricting of the lot, thoroughly grounded in three-act structure and the classical five-part narrative structure of inciting incident, progressive complications, crisis, climax, and resolution. McKee’s Story seminar regularly plays to packed houses. The course is also available in his book entitled Story.

Syd Field is another of the famous story-structure gurus. In answer to the question “What is screenplay?” Field answered, “There’s a beginning, middle, and end, and there’s a point at which the beginning turns into the middle, and a point at which the middle turns into the end.” That’s pretty much Syd’s theory, except that he expanded it to include a midpoint added to the two plot points separating the three acts. Whatever works for you.

John Truby takes an altogether different approach to classic story structure. He teaches there are seven major steps: problem/need, desire, opponent, plan, battle, self-revelation, and new equilibrium. To expand the seven steps into greater detail, Truby added twenty-two additional steps, or building blocks, which help to create a hero-driven step-by-step plot in which all scenes are motivated by the hero’s needs. Sounds good in theory, I guess.

Dr. Linda Seger thinks in terms of beginnings, middles, and endings, but she focuses on eight sections as well, including setup, develoment of act one, a first turning point, act two (with possible midpoint), a second turning point, climax, and resolution. This is all just another way of looking at traditional three-act structure.

One other story-structure theory worth mention is is the “Hero’s Journey”, based on a twelve-step method introduced by Joseph Campbell in his book Hero with 1000 Faces and refined by Christopher Vogler in his book The Writer’s Journey: Mythic Structure for Writers. The method was later used by John Jarvis in a modified format to create his StoryCraft software, which I’ll discuss in a bit. This whole “Hero’s Journey” nonsense does little to motivate me, but it definitely has its share of disciples.

Each of these instructors feel they have the answers for developing a story to its full potential. Here’s the deal. Regardless of who you listen to, all you need to do is compare the methods to see that most of what they teach is very subjective. In some cases, they teach the same principles with different terminology.

Now I’ll talk about some of the story-development software on the market and compare the products to the story-structure methods taught by the gurus mentioned in this article.

I’m not big on story-structure software, especially when it forces a writer to work restrictively. I want flexible writing software. I’ve enjoyed tinkering with some of these programs, but mostly I prefer to jump into the writing phase and structure in my head as I go. If you're into deep structure before you begin writing, I'm sure you'll find at least one of these programs useful.

Since prices are subject to change, I have intentionally left them out of the descriptions. You can get that information from the product web sites.

Power Structure: This is the most versatile and useful of the story-structure programs out there. It’s also one of the most expensive, but Power structure is worth the money. Power Structure allows you to structure your story the way you want to. Different methods use different terminology. With Power Structure, you can define the terminology you want to use, based upon which method of structuring you prefer. Disciples of any of the story-structure methods I've discussed in this article can use Power Structure. The program is clean, efficient, easy to use, and extremely powerful. You can purchase Power Structure or download a trial at the Write-Brain web site, or check out one of my favorite places, Screenstyle.com for a package deal featuring Final Draft and Power Structure. By the way, Write-Brain is also the home of my favorite word processor, Power Writer, which features an array of built-in writing tools for developing story. My advice, forget all these programs and make Power Writer your word processor of choice.

WriteItNow: This is a nonrestrictive environment for outlining your story. No deep, probing questions to help develop your story, no mind-boggling theory, just nine simple tabs that allow you to create an overview and outline chapters, events, and locations. You can also keep notes and ideas. There's also a character tab for developing your characters. As an extra bonus, WriteItNow comes with a submission tracker for tracking your manuscript. The program also features reference add-ons created by other writers, and with the background editor, you can create your own add-ons. WriteItNow will automatically figure the ages of the characters you create as well as a timeline of events for them. There's also charts to keep track of character relationships and personality traits. If you're looking for a versatile, theory-free program that you can use to develop your novel, WriteItNow is a tool you will probably find very handy. Check it out at the WriteItNow web site and download a trial.

newnovelist: When I first looked at this software, I thought I wasn't going to like it. The opening Story Wizard is restrictive, and the story creation element of newnovelist is based on the twelve-step hero's journey. Turns out the program is only loosely based on that method of story development. It's similar to StoryCraft, but much better all the way around. Once I started playing with it, I found that newnovelist offers a clean, free-form environment that can be adapted to your style of story structuring. It's a well-designed program with a clean interface. You're not forced to follow a set pattern as you write, though you can if you prefer. If not, you have the option to add and rename steps and questions in order to customize the aspects of the story you want to develop. Check out the newnovelist web site for more details.

StoryWeaver: This is good software. Questions and excercises that help you take your idea from conception to completion. You answer the questions and do exercises that help you develop your story using a card system. The cards are updated and cross-referenced as you go, keeping you in touch with where you are in the writing process. StoryWeaver is a nonrestrictive environment. If you're into deep structuring without limits, I recommend StoryWeaver. Check it out at the Storymind web site. StoryWeaver was created by Melanie Anne Phillips, who is also co-creator of Dramatica software. Don't worry, though, it's not nearly as complex and overbearing as Dramatica.

StoryCraft: Story-creation software by John Jarvis using what has become known as the Jarvis Method, a system for developing stories based on the twelve-step hero's journey. I don't like StoryCraft because I don't like this method of structuring. Also, StoryCraft uses rather awkward and restrictive interfaces for entering story details. The Jarvis Method and StoryCraft software have plenty of followers, I'm just not one of them. If you think you might want to be, you can give the demo a try at the main StoryCraft web site.

Dramatica Pro: Too damn much theory. I don't see why anyone would want to spend so much time and effort structuring. I find this sort of thing detrimental to the actual writing process, but hey, it works for some. Dramatica is a theory-intense program for structuring your story so deep you'll never get out. If this is your bag, grab yourself a demo at Dramatica.com.

Here's the deal, folks. There's nothing wrong with taking writing classes, listening to different theories, reading books on the subject, or even using software to help you structure your work. All of these things can be beneficial if used in moderation, but there's no substitute for sitting your ass down and writing. Pick up a pen, use a typewriter, bring out the high-tech laptop, whatever floats your boat the best, but start writing. There's no better way to learn the craft.

There just isn't.