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Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/q/43939
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/q/43939
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

Not all stories follow a 3-act structure. As an example, _Les Misérables_ is rather episodic in its nature: first there's the story of Bishop Myriel and how he meets Jean Valjean, then there's Fantine's story, then Cosette's, then we have Marius who encounters now-adult Cosette, then there are multiple climaxes.

For a film example, there's _My Neighbour Totoro_, which too is constructed of semi-separate episodes, rather than one overarching story.

(Some more examples include Shmuel Yosef Agnon's _Only Yesterday_, Boris Pasternak's _Dr. Zhivago_, Marion Zimmer-Bradley's _Mists of Avalon_, and I suppose quite a few others.)

Some "rules" are maintained even when the 3-act structure is replaced with a more episodic narrative. For example, exposition and setups are kept to approximately the first 30% of the story, while payoffs come later. In quite a few cases, though not universally, there's also rising tension: later "episodes" are tenser and with higher stakes than earlier episodes. (However, each episode would have its own denouement.)

Trouble is, the 3-act structure is very useful in terms of providing a measure of guidance to pacing: I know I should have something dramatic happen by about this point, should have a major turning point by about that point, etc.

What could guide me in similar fashion if I eschew the 3-act structure, and follow instead a more episodic path? Suppose, for the sake of the argument, that I'm trying to write _Les Misérables_ (that's the example that I suppose would be most familiar to people)? How do I keep track of my pacing? How do I "know" when there's something wrong with the pacing and how it could be corrected? (Other than by trial and error and gut-feeling, that is?)

Original score: 5