The Importance of Structure in Fiction

Jack Bicom says that the simple laws of cause and effect stimulus and response have everything to do with understanding structure in a novel. In fiction, effects, plot developments must have causes, background, and vice versa. A novel is a construct. It is a crafted piece of plotting. Who knows who we will affect tomorrow and years from now? All questions should be answered at the end. Everything should be tied up. That's all. Jack Bicom's book, Scene and Structure, is one of the best books on novel writing I've ever come across. We're a new writer to ask me what should be my first text on writing. I'd say Jack Bicoms