Part 11 The Structure of Novel (3)
930 Words
In addition to the story structures mentioned above, there are many other conventional structures. If you are interested, you can continue your research beyond this article.
a. Medias Res
In Medias Res, the story starts with something happening, and writers invest their readers in the story from the get-go, virtually forcing them to keep reading. The Media Res Structure looks like this:
l Rising Action
l Explanation (backstory)
l Climax
l Falling Action
l Resolution
b. The 7-Point Story Structure
J.K. Rowling used the 7-Point Structure for Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone. The 7-Point Story Structure looks like this:
l Hook: your protagonist's starting point
l Plot turn #1: introduces the conflict that moves the story to its midpoint.
l Pinch point #1: applies pressure to your protagonist in the process of achieving his goal - usually facing an antagonist.
l Midpoint: your character responds to conflict with action.
l Pinch point #2: More pressure makes it harder for your character to achieve his goal.
l Plot turn #2: Moves the story from the midpoint to the resolution. Your protagonist has everything he needs to achieve the goal.
l Resolution: The climax. Everything in your account leads to this moment, and it reveals a direct contrast to who your character was when they began their journey.
c. James Scott Bell's A Disturbance and Two Doorways
James Scott Bell introduces this structure in his book Plot and Structure, and it looks like this:
l A Disturbance early in the story upsets the status quo—anything that threatens the protagonist's ordinary life.
l Doorway #1 propels your character to the middle of the story. Once he goes through this door, there's no turning back.
l Doorway #2 leads to the final battle. It's another door of no return but usually leads to disaster.
(The Umbrella Academy by Gerard Way uses this story structure.)
Multi-line narrative
The single-line narrative perspective is fixed, and we only see reality through the narrator's eyes. We understand his reality, what he's been through, who he's met, and what he's attained in his life so far. Multi-line narratives are different. They divide the perspective of the story into several characters and integrate the perspectives of each character to form the entire plot of the novel. Although the content of the story also includes the reality of the protagonist, the events he experienced, the people he met, and the ending, as things progress, the plot becomes complicated due to the change of perspectives.
We recommend that writers try multi-line storytelling because it not only makes the twists and turns interesting, but also makes the story longer.
There are multiple multi-line narrations.
1. Multiple Perspectives
Multiple Perspectives is the purest form of multi-line narrative. This method can include either changing narrators or points of view to explain a single incident from various perspectives. It can also involve using multiple narrators to provide fragments of the same story. Multiple Perspectives are used in Akira Kurosawa's film Rashomon. A man died in a bamboo forest. Every witness's testimony is inconsistent. Everyone tells the same story, but they interpret what they saw differently, from their own perspectives. In these conflicting testimonies, we seek truth and try to get a better understanding of the human condition.
2. Intersecting Story Lines
A multiple narrative can include various storylines that intersect. Different characters tell different stories, until, in the end, these stories blend to reveal a much larger plot. This type of structure is used in Game of Thrones. Each chapter is narrated through the eyes of a different protagonist. This structure works particularly well in stories that contain a plethora of protagonists, as Game of Thrones does. This technique is widely used in fantasy stories but can be used in any genre. Jodi Picoult uses this structure exclusively in her courtroom dramas, as does Keigo Higashino in his Japanese suspense novels, and Raquel Jaramillo in her children's novel, Wonder.
3. Story Within a Story
Some multiple narratives tell a story within a story through the use of letters, journal entries, or Intersecting Story Lines. The Story Within a Story structure is used in the Life of PI by Yann Martel. PI told two different versions of the same story. In one version there are animals and, in the other, there are no animals. As the book progresses, the writer reveals what really happened by detailing Pi's memories of the events. The advantage of using the Story Within a Story structure is that the writer is not limited by time or space, and can take the reader to any place along the timeline at any time.
A second example of this is in the popular movie, The Princess Bride. The film is about a grandfather reading a book to his grandson. That is the Main Story. The Story Within the Story is the contents of the book. Throughout the movie, we are taken back and forth between these two storylines.
CONCLUSION:
Story structures are flexible, and you can choose different structures according to your ideas and writing style. Designing the structure of a novel is like building a palace. It may be tedious at first, but once you have created this beautiful and ingenious place, you will have a place to go, and, if you've done your job well, readers will want to go there with you. You can practice different skills in your daily writing and gradually find your own voice. If you have anything new to say about the story structure, feel free to share your thoughts in the comments section.
BY Kiwi
- Writer
