I found this article at Iconoclasticwriter.com. It spells out a pretty simple blueprint for a fiction story arc. I'm not reporting on much really... Still just desearching. But yeah, Carolyns site is a great resource when your focussing much attention on your story's plot and structure. She's got a lot of articles on this subject.
http://iconoclasticwriter.com/traditional-fiction-writing-story-arc/
- Chapter 1: We view the normal world of our protagonist
- Chapter 2: An Inciting Incident occurs forcing the protagonist from his/her/its normal world.
- Chapter 3: The important Secondary characters are introduced and the tone and style are fully established.
- Chapter 4: The protagonist must make a life-changing (although he/she/it might not know it at the time) decision or choice.
- Chapter 5: The protagonist’s journey begins because of the decision or choice made. This is the 1st Plot Point.
- Chapters 6—9: Complications and obstacles occur as the journey begins and continues.
- Chapter 10: A crisis forces the protagonist to make another decision or choice that forces the story into a new direction. This is the Mid-Point.
- Chapters 11—14: The obstacles and complications become more complex.
- Chapter 15: New events derived from the increased complexities for a new choice or decision on the protagonist. This is Plot Point 2.
- Chapter 16: The new decision or choice makes the situation appear bleak.
- Chapter 17: The situation worsens.
- Chapter 18: The situation appears hopeless; this is the darkest moment.
- Chapter 19: The resolution where the character learns a life lesson and is changed.
- Chapter 20: The wrap-up where the reader sees the evidence of the change in the protagonist.
Here is another great site with endless advice on screenplay structures:
http://www.movieoutline.com/articles/screenwriting-structure-series-part-8-your-first-ten-pages.html
And here is linda aronson's site. She wrote a book called screenwriting updated which talks about non linear story stuctures. The type of structure used in tv series when you have a bunch of characters each with their own plot that interweave with each other:
http://www.lindaaronson.com/
