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What is Story (Narrative) Structure?

Story structure, or narrative structure, makes up the basic foundation of storytelling. With a sound structure, a story rambles and makes no sense. So, what is story structure? It is the order in which events in a story are relayed to the reader or audience. It can be thought of as the scaffolding of storytelling, which holds the narrative together in a logical sequence or order from the beginning to the end. Related to the plot, which is the sequence of events in a story, the story structure is how the storyteller presents those plot points.

 

Why is understanding story structure important?

Story structure is how the storyteller can answer the reader or viewer’s questions and provide a finale or climax to a conflict. This is followed by a satisfying conclusion or resolution that completes character development and ties up all the loose ends and plotlines. A weak story structure will leave the narrative rambling, incohesive, confusing, and frustrating to the audience. Think of it in terms of story structure is to a narrative what a house frame is to a home. Without it, everything collapses into a mess.

 

The Basic Components of All Story Structures

All story structures have five essential components in common despite the wide variety of structure forms in storytelling. These five components or parts include:

 

1.        Exposition: This is the backstory and establishment of the status quo, the world as it exists at the beginning of the narrative. Here, the setting, characters, and basic premise of the story are first presented.

 

2.        Inciting Incident or Event: This is the event that triggers the story's primary conflict and sets the plot toward the crisis (or climax) and conclusion. Here, something upsets the status quo and spurs the need for action.

 

3.        Rising Action: This is the series of events and complications the characters face as they approach the point of no return, the climax, and the conclusion and resolution. The stakes are raised here, and tension builds, drawing the audience into the story.

4.        Climax: this is the central confrontation between the Protagonist and Antagonist, the pivotal moment when the primary conflict is resolved, and the Protagonist either obtains their goal or fails.

 

5.        The Conclusion (Denouement): This is where the conflict is over, the storylines finish, loose ends in the plot are tied up, and the audience sees how the characters have changed or otherwise been affected by the events in the story.

 

These parts may be presented in various ways, but they are the backbones of the storytelling arc.

 

Seven Common Story Structure Types

There are at least a dozen ways to structure a story, but in this post, I will list seven of the most common story structures found in literature and other forms of storytelling. Each structure will be briefly described. In the coming weeks, we will explore these seven types in greater detail with examples.

 

1.        Freytag’s Pyramid: named after 19th-century novelist and playwright Gustav Freytag, this is known as the classical mountain-shaped story structure taught in grade school. It is the foundational structure upon which Western literature has developed. It has a five-point dramatic structure based on classical Greek tragedies. These five points are the Introduction, the Rising Action, the Climax, the Return (or fall), and the Catastrophe (resolution). As mentioned, this structure type is best used when writing tragedies or other works influenced by classical literature. It’s not common in modern-day works and has fallen out of favor.

 

2.        The Hero’s Journey: inspired by Joseph Campbell and based on the monomyth—a recurring storytelling pattern in mythology worldwide—is today’s best-known storytelling structure thanks to creators like George Lucas with his Star Wars franchise. Disney executive Christopher Vogler streamlined the Hero’s Journey into his 12-step version: the Ordinary world, the Call of Adventure, the Refusal of the Call, Meeting the Mentor, Crossing the First Threshold, Tests, Allies, & Enemies, Innermost Cave, Ordeal, Reward, The Road Back, Resurrection, and Return with the Elixir. This structure is best saved for epic stories of heroism and adventure, where the protagonist must accomplish a remarkable feat and grow as a person.

 

3.        The Three-Act Structure: This structure is based on the concept that every story has a beginning, middle, and end. That being the case, it splits the components of the story into three acts: Act One-Set-Up, Act Two-Confrontation, and Act Three-Resolution. It can be seen as reworking the Hero’s Journey with less enthusiastic labels. There are nine main plot points, three in each act. Hollywood commonly uses the Three-Act Structure in its movies and television shows. It’s an excellent standard to fall back on as a storyteller, as it works with virtually all storytelling styles.

 

4.        Dan Harmon’s Story Circle: This is another variation of Campbell’s monomyth story structure—the Hero’s Journey. It’s also circular. The benefit of this type is that it focuses less on the plot and more on the Protagonist’s character arc. Every beat in the Story Circle forces the storyteller to consider the protagonist’s wants and needs and his or her internal progression through the story. The eight beats are: a Character is in the Comfort Zone, They Want Something, They Enter an Unfamiliar Situation, They Adapt to It, They Get What They Want, They Pay a Heavy Price for what They Want, They Return to their Familiar Situation, and They Have Changed as a result. The storyteller must know the protagonist inside-out to use this story structure style. Character development is a must.

 

5.        The Fichtean Curve: this narrative structure puts the protagonist through a series of conflicts and obstacles on the path to obtaining their overarching goal. It resembles Freytag’s Pyramid. However, it involves a series of mini-crises along the rising action that keep readers and viewers engaged until the climax. In the Fichtean Curve, the plot foregoes the introduction of the ordinary world and starts with a bang—with the Inciting Incident—entering quickly into the rising action. Each mini-crisis contributes to the audience’s understanding of the narrative, with backstory sprinkled here and there to replace the exposition at the start.

 

6.        Blake Snyder’s “Save The Cat” Beat Sheet: this variation of the three-act structure was created by screenwriter Blake Snider and is commonly used across various media platforms. It’s named after that moment, typical in many narratives, where the protagonist does something noble or heroic, like saving the proverbial cat from harm, which endears them to the audience. Unlike many structures, which don’t tell you exactly when the various beats of a story should take place, Save the Cat gives specific page numbers where each beat should occur, based on a 110-pg screenplay. This can, of course, be adapted to other forms of storytelling. The beats he lists include the Opening Image (1), the Set-Up (1-10), the Theme Stated (5), the Catalyst or Inciting Incident (12), the Debate (12-25), Break into Two (25), B Story (30), The Promise of the Premise (30-55), Midpoint (55), Bad Guys Close In (55-75), All is Lost (75), Dark Night of the Soul (75-85ish), Break into Three (85), Finale (85-110), and the Final Image (110). Many mainstream stories adhere to this very closely, either intentionally or by coincidence.

 

7.        The Seven-Point Story Structure: developed by Dan Wells, this structure is a slightly less detailed version of the Hero’s Journey. It focuses its attention on the high and low points of the narrative arc. The idea is for the storyteller to start at the end, at the Resolution, and wind their way through the plot to the starting point or hook.  That way, the author can begin the story in a place most contrasting to the finale. The beat points include The Hook, Plot Point One, Pinch Point One, the Midpoint, Pinch Point Two, Plot Point Two, and the Resolution. A closer look at this structure will come in a future post.

 

No matter which story structure type a writer uses, it is necessary to create a plotline for a story that is cohesive and makes sense. As the bones, tendons, and ligaments in our bodies keep us from being blobs of useless flesh, the beats of a story structure give form and function to a story's plot points (body). In the next post in the Story Structure series, we will look in depth at Freytag’s Pyramid. Please check in next time to learn more about this classic form of structure used in storytelling.

Thank you so much for reading this post and visiting my blog. Please sign up for my newsletter for a monthly update about the website and blog and exclusive access to the material on my Subscriber Content page at www.paulinejgrabia.com. I am honored that you have taken time out of your day to read what I have to offer, and I will endeavor to continue to post blogs that are worthy of your continued attention. May God bless you richly.

Pauline J. Grabia

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