So many video essays about how to get the 3 act structure right, the Hero's journey, analyzing films through this lens, etc. Dan Harmon is always yapping on about his "story circle"... it's like damn is writing really that bland?
I feel like adherence to these guidelines and the quest to find the perfect structure cheapens things and generally gets in the way of things. But I don't know anything about writing so maybe that's nonsense. What do you guys think?
A good formal story structure can be a great thing, because then you know where to break it and where to put it back together.
That said the heroes journey is utterly shit compared to Aristotelian story cycle structures of tragedy and restoration.
Free form structures are also great, but like completely breaking tonality in music don't be suprised if your audience thinks it sounds like bus crashes.
The very best pieces of music don't throw out all structure, they just break it and create "crunchy" bits that make the return to form all the more satisfying. Stories are the same.