hiya,
I'm using Snyder's 15 beats on novel 2. Novel 1, I sort of muddle-modeled after stories I enjoy, and these do follow the three act structure.
I've heard of this wall that creeps up for people at 35,000 words. Incidentally, I see this wall in novel II. I think I'll be able to push past it.
My first draft of novel I had a **serious** saggy middle. I bet these things are related--sagging middle and hitting a wall. You might know your protagonist needs to grow, and so you do these various things in act II to drag them through to act III... which then gets pasted on as a sort of 'just finish the damn thing'...
It's daunting. Because then, you (or at least I) end up with a steaming pile of manushipt, and there are days when the last thing you want to do is try to make it better.
Ummm.... but the structural approach is good for the way I write (plotting). When I had a bad draft of novel I, I did the math --found where the story beats were naturally falling, and I cut and added and this and that.
I'm a believer in structure. I use three acts and Snyder's beats fit within that pretty well. There's a book I read but the name escapes me that is not *about* the three act structure, but it does definitely discuss this structure in useful ways.
I am also a believer in subplots.