I think you’re asking some very good questions. We’ve had a few structure-oriented threads pop up lately, and that’s a good sign that the community of authors is maturing as a whole and is only getting better!
Here are a couple of those threads:
As for my input, I’ve written a blogpost on my website about the Power of the Premise Line. That structure was a godsend during the development of Samurai of Hyuga Book 3. Often, writers have a lot of particular scenes they want to explore–and so they just start writing from there. That’s a good way to get lost in a mess of pages and discouraged!
A premise line helps you know where those scenes should go and how they need to be altered to serve your narrative. The most satisfying part is when everything comes out smooth, with plenty of juicy foreshadowing and details that aren’t written by accident.
Simply put, these are the clauses that structure a story:
Clause#1 = Character, Constriction
Clause#2 = Desire, Relationship
Clause#3 = Resistance, Adventure
Clause#4 = Adventure, Change