A while ago, I did an interview with Mur Lafferty, editor of Escape Pod. In the interview I said that I’ve used a magic formula for many of my stories, and it works amazingly well. I promised to post the formula, and then totally forgot. Well, here it is, in the form of a writing exercise.

Write a 2400-3600 word story with the following constraints:
–Your protagonist has a problem that needs fixing, with serious consequences if left unfixed. They need to do something about it.
–Three characters. Your protagonist (A), your antagonist (B), and your catalyst (C). (A catalyst is a character that changes or alters the problem in some way.)
–Three scenes, each one consisting of 800-1200 words. Scene 1 presents the problem. Scene 2 makes the problem worse and/or raises the stakes. Scene 3 resolves the problem. All three scenes should contain the protagonist plus one other character, either B or C.

The formula comes out of Three-Act Structure, although I was doing this before I knew what Three-Act Structure was. Sometimes you can repeat the “making things worse” part of the formula so that you have a longer story. You can go from a problem in scene 1 to escalation in scene 2, and then escalate again for a third scene, before resolving things in the final scene.

You can also make each scene/section longer, maybe up to 2,000 words each–but be careful to keep them balanced and don’t let them sag. Generally I think newer writers do better with keeping their stories shorter and more focused; the challenge is good for learning economy. Lastly, you can vary the formula by adding very-short intros, transitions, and that sort of thing–which helps the stories be non-formulaic.

A surprising number of my stories are built on this structure. Some basic examples:

Prashkina’s Fire (the bandits function as character B)
Fulgurite (the unicorn functions as character B)

A longer-scene story, still with three scenes:

She Called Me Baby

To see a four-scene story, try these.

Three-Legged Bird
Disarm

As always, feel free to ask questions.