For the novelist, structure makes creating a readable story possible.
But, as there are multitudes of readers and writers, there are many ways to find structure. Modern storytellers take their characters on ‘Hero’s Journeys’ thru 3 acts and 4 acts, stages and plot points and pinch points, beginnings & middles & ends.
Married to a set of compelling characters, the structure begets the novel, or so I’ve discovered.