We don’t particularly need subplots or B-stories or great complexity because the character of Stargirl herself is so compelling, so glowingly fresh and well-drawn, we are charmed into turning each page.
I am sometimes asked if there is a difference in structure between the novel and the short story. There is no difference, in my opinion, except in terms of energy.
The plot of Jane Austen’s most famous novel of manners, Pride and Prejudice,is remarkably intricate for a book that has been described as “just a bunch of people going to each other’s houses.”
As Orson Welles said, “The enemy of art is the absence of limitations.” In this way, structure is an integral part of the art of storytelling. It is much more than a formula or cookie-cutter guide.
