Full transcript
0:00There is a reason that Jack Reacher has
0:02sold over a 100red million copies. We
0:05don't just read these books for the
0:06violence. We read them for something
0:08called competence porn. The satisfaction
0:10of watching one highly skilled expert
0:12dismantle a corrupt system piece by
0:14piece. But how do you actually structure
0:16that satisfaction? Well, my name is
0:18Jason Hamilton. I'm a fantasy author and
0:20the most obsessed person I know when it
0:22comes to storytelling mechanics, even if
0:24it's not fantasy. I recently did a deep
0:26dive into the vigilante justice genre,
0:28taking actual bestsellers with over a
0:30thousand reviews and a 4.5 star average
0:33and picking them apart scene by scene
0:34with the help of AI. We found these very
0:37specific average of 32chapter road map
0:39that these books follow to keep readers
0:42hooked. And today I'm going to share
0:44that 32 chapter blueprint with you.
0:47Again, this is an average taken from all
0:49of the different books because chapters
0:51often vary. But I can almost guarantee
0:53you that every single one of the bests
0:55sellers in this genre hit the main
0:56points of this outline. Now, before we
0:58get into the beat by beat breakdown, you
1:00have to understand the engine that
1:01drives the car. And it isn't just about
1:03a guy with a gun. It's about the drifter
1:05archetype. And I went through this in my
1:08previous video about the tropes of this
1:09genre, but it's worth mentioning again.
1:11Start your story with the interrupted
1:13status quo. This is chapter 1. We meet
1:16the protagonist in a transient state.
1:19They might be riding a bus, eating at a
1:21diner, or just buying a toothbrush. They
1:23look mundane. They look boring. Uh but
1:25then they witness a minor injustice.
1:27Someone is bullying a waitress or a
1:29local tough guy is shaking down a
1:31tourist. And this is your save the cat
1:33moment. But in this genre, it's more of
1:34a break the dog's leg kind of moment.
1:36The hero intervenes. They don't just win
1:38the fight, they dismantle the opposition
1:40with terrifying efficiency. And this
1:42scene does two things immediately. It
1:44establishes a moral code and it hits at
1:46a violent traumatic past. The threat is
1:48neutralized, but the hero's cover is
1:50blown, so they can't just be the quiet
1:52guy in the corner anymore. Once you've
1:54established that your hero is dangerous,
1:55you need to give them a reason to stay.
1:57This is chapter 2, the catalyst event. A
2:00minor scuffle in chapter 1 isn't enough
2:02to carry a whole book. You need a
2:04tragedy, like a murder, a kidnapping, or
2:06a terrorist act that occurs. And this
2:09act shatters the local piece. Often,
2:11this is where the hero actually gets
2:12framed for the crime, or a friend from
2:14their past is the victim. The hero
2:16realizes this wasn't random bad luck.
2:18It's actually systemic, but don't have
2:20the hero pull out their guns just yet.
2:23You have to earn the vigilance. Chapter
2:253 is crucial. It's called the
2:26institutional failure, and the
2:29protagonist tries to do the right thing.
2:30They go through the police. They call
2:32their old commander. They try to work
2:34within the system, and the system falls
2:36apart. The police are incompetent,
2:38bureaucratic, or fully corrupt. And this
2:39scene is the key to the whole genre
2:41because it validates the violence that
2:43is about to follow. We need to see that
2:45the legal route is dead so we can cheer
2:48when the hero goes off book. Now that
2:50the law is useless, we hit chapter 4,
2:52the decision point. The hero has a
2:54choice. They can pack their bags and
2:56leave town or they can stay and burn it
2:58all down. Usually a token from the
3:00victim or a flashback triggers them and
3:02they decide to cross the threshold. They
3:03secure a base of operations like a cheap
3:05motel or an abandoned warehouse and the
3:08real story begins. This leads us into
3:10what I call competence porn. And this is
3:12chapter 5. The hero doesn't just ask
3:14around. They use specialized tradecraft.
3:16They isolate a low-level thug and
3:18interrogate them. And not nicely. The
3:20thug spills a name or a location,
3:21expanding the scope from a local crime
3:23to a massive conspiracy. But you can't
3:25just have the hero steamroll everyone.
3:27You need tension. And that comes in
3:29chapter 6 with the law closes in. This
3:31is a specific trope to the genre. You
3:33introduce a detective who is good at
3:35their job but doesn't really know the
3:36full story. They find evidence linking
3:38your hero to the crime. And now you have
3:40a triangle of conflict. The hero versus
3:42the villain versus the police. If your
3:44hero is just a killing machine, they
3:46become boring. So you need chapter
3:48seven, the beast story connection. The
3:50protagonist connects with an ally like a
3:52surviving victim, a love interest, or a
3:54kid. This person represents the
3:55innocence that the hero is fighting to
3:57protect. It shows the hero's softer side
3:59and it raises the stakes because now the
4:01hero has something to lose other than
4:03their own life. Without this, you don't
4:05have a story. You just have a sort of
4:07technical manual on how to hurt people.
4:10And this brief moment of quiet is
4:11usually followed by chapter eight where
4:13the shadow reaches out. The bad guy
4:15finds out someone is poking around. They
4:17don't panic and they send a cleaner. And
4:20this establishes the villain as a
4:21credible threat. Then comes chapter
4:23nine, the ambush. This is your first
4:25pinch point. The hero follows a lead,
4:27thinks they're clever, and walks right
4:29into a trap. They get beaten up. They
4:30barely escape. And this is vital because
4:32it proves the hero isn't invincible.
4:35They grab a clue during the escape, but
4:36they pay for it in blood. We are roughly
4:38onethird of the way through the book and
4:40the hero is hurt. Chapter 10 is tending
4:43wounds. Rambo stitching up his own arm
4:45is a cliche because it works. While they
4:47recover, they analyze the clue they
4:49stole. They realize the conspiracy isn't
4:51just local. It involves some highle
4:53officials or massive corporate fraud.
4:55Then you bridge the gap between your
4:56plot lines in chapter 11. Hero and that
4:59pesky detective from chapter 6 have a
5:01tense meeting. The detective doesn't
5:03arrest them, at least not right away,
5:05maybe because they've seen the
5:06corruption as well, and they form an
5:08uneasy alliance. This sets up chapter
5:1012, the heist prep. The hero plans a
5:13strike. We see them acquiring gear,
5:15scouting security, and setting traps.
5:17Again, lean into the competence. Show us
5:19the details. By the way, if you'd like
5:20to learn more about how to use a plot
5:22template like this combined with AI as
5:24an authorled productivity tool to help
5:26you write 12 plus books a year easily,
5:28uh perhaps even more without
5:30compromising your creativity or ethics.
5:32Check out the story hacker gold group
5:34linked in the description. The middle of
5:35the book is where the dynamic shifts.
5:37Chapter 13 and 14 are your midpoint
5:40operation. The hero infiltrates the
5:42enemy stronghold and it starts with
5:44stealth. Tension is high. They see the
5:47true horror of the villain's operation.
5:48maybe human trafficking cages or a drug
5:51lab. And this cementss their resolve.
5:53Then the plan goes wrong. This is the
5:56chaos phase. The hero abandons stealth
5:59and unleashes hell. They blow something
6:01up. They make a public spectacle. The
6:03power dynamic flips and the hero is no
6:06longer investigating. Instead, they are
6:08a public threat. This is the moment that
6:10the hero goes from being the hunter to
6:12being the hunted, but on a massive
6:14scale. The fallout is immediate. In
6:16chapter 15, the villain takes the gloves
6:18off and they call in the elite
6:20mercenaries. The corrupt police issue a
6:22city-wide manhut and the hero is
6:25isolated. Then you hit the reader in the
6:26gut. Chapter 16 is collateral damage.
6:29The hero tries to move their betory ally
6:31to safety, but the bad guys are one step
6:33ahead. The safe house is compromised. A
6:35firefight breaks out in a domestic
6:37setting, a kitchen or living room,
6:39shattering the illusion of safety. An
6:41ally gets hurt or killed. The hero is
6:43enraged and in chapter 17 they hunt down
6:46a middleman like a corrupt mayor or
6:48police chief and interrogate them
6:50brutally. They get the location of the
6:52main villain, but they also learn the
6:54odds are worse than they thought. Just
6:56when the hero thinks that they are ready
6:57to end it, you trap them. Chapter 18 is
7:00the second pinch point. The hero heads
7:02to a location thinking they have the
7:04upper hand and walks into a setup
7:05orchestrated by the villain's top
7:07enforcer. They are outgunned and
7:09captured. And this leads to chapter 19.
7:11and the dark knight of the soul. The
7:12hero is bound, bleeding, and helpless.
7:15And the villain monologues, they reveal
7:17they had the love interest or the kid.
7:19The hero feels the weight of failure.
7:20Their interference has only made things
7:22worse, and this is essentially a
7:24emotional low point. Now, you don't stay
7:26in the dark forever. Chapter 20 is the
7:28resurrection, a moment of clarity or a
7:30hidden skill allowing the hero to break
7:31free. It's violent and desperate, and
7:33they escape, but they are changed. No
7:35more investigation, only elimination.
7:37Chapter 21 is the armory scene, the
7:40classic lock and load montage. The hero
7:42raids a gun store or digs up a cash and
7:44they gear up for war. Then the final
7:47assault begins. Chapter 22 is the
7:49distraction. The hero creates a chaos to
7:51draw guards away. Chapter 23 is
7:53breaching the fortress. Stealth and
7:55silence pistols. Chapter 24 is the
7:57gauntlet where stealth breaks and it
7:59becomes an allout war. Then comes the
8:01boss fight. Chapter 25 is the dragon at
8:03the gate. The hero fights the enforcer,
8:06the professional killer who trapped them
8:08earlier, and this is the hardest
8:10physical fight of the entire book.
8:12Chapter 26 is the confrontation with the
8:15mastermind. The villain tries to
8:16bargain, they threaten the hostages, the
8:18hero rejects the deal, and finally in
8:20chapter 27 with the hero executes the
8:23villain, and it has to be extra
8:25judicial. If the hero arrests the
8:27villain, you have a failed genre. There
8:29is no trial. The threat is ended
8:30permanently. The dust settles in chapter
8:3228 where the hero escapes before the
8:34honest cops arrive and they tend to the
8:36survivors. Chapter 29 is the aftermath.
8:39We see news reports of the criminal
8:40empire crumbling. The hero watches from
8:42a distance. Chapter 30 is the goodbye.
8:45The hero meets the love interest and
8:47there is a temptation to stay to live a
8:49normal life, but the hero knows that
8:50they are too damaged and they can't
8:52settle down. Chapter 31 is the
8:53handshake, a final nod of respect from
8:56the honest detective. And chapter 32 is
8:58the road. The hero moves on to the next
9:00town. The story ends on an open note and
9:02but the work is never done. Now you
9:04might be thinking great I have the
9:05roadmap for book one. What about book
9:07two or three or 10? You might be asking
9:09is the template the same for all of
9:11these sequels? And the answer is mostly
9:13yes. But there are crucial shifts you
9:15need to make for a sequel. If you try to
9:17force a sequel into an origin story
9:19mold, it feels a little weird. So first
9:21the inciting incident changes. In book
9:23one it's often a personal tragedy. In
9:25sequels it's usually the trouble finds
9:27them. the hero is just minding their
9:29business or bad things happen in front
9:30of them or the past comes knocking uh
9:33meaning like an old enemy returns or
9:35something like that. Second, move the
9:36armory scene up. In book one, it takes
9:3920 chapters or so for the hero to fully
9:41embrace their lethal nature. In book
9:43five, they are already a weapon. You
9:45don't need to convince them to fight,
9:46and you don't need to convince the
9:47readers that this person is super
9:49competent. They might lose their gear
9:50and have to improvise, but the internal
9:53refusal of the call is essentially gone.
9:55Third, the law is already hostile. You
9:58don't need a chapter proving the system
9:59is broken. The hero already knows that.
10:01They skip the police station, go
10:02straight to breaking fingers. That's
10:04assuming that you are in the same
10:07general type of situation and not maybe
10:09a completely separate town where you
10:12might go through the same loops again.
10:14But you must keep the core elements of
10:17these tropes. You need to keep the
10:19competence porn. You need to keep the B
10:21story connection to humanize them. And
10:23you absolutely must keep the escalating
10:25structure like the pinch points and the
10:26midpoint shift and the dark knight of
10:28the soul. Even a veteran hero needs to
10:30feel like they might lose or the reader
10:32won't care. And finally, the exit. The
10:34hero must always return to the road.
10:36That resets the status quo so you can do
10:38it all over again. And by the way, I've
10:40just published a book that goes into
10:42more depth on the genre vigilante crime
10:44thrillers. And you can buy that book,
10:45but you can also get it at no extra
10:47charge along with many other book genre
10:49analyses by joining the StoryHacker Gold
10:51Group. Link to that down below. And I
10:52will see you in the next