The Structure of Story

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Getting ready to put a project on paper can be as easy as 1-2-3. Yeah, right! It’s not so easy putting your project to paper. Most of us don’t outline or write down the ideas we have about our stories beginning, middle and end. Some of us feel it will mess with the creativity of our story. I thought that at first. I’ve been stuck on a project more times than I can count only because I didn’t jot down the important parts of the story arc. So now, to remedy that I work on an outline. I get to know my characters and their personalities.

I visited K.M. Weiland’s site and she has some interesting words she has shared in regards to story and structure. I always love to visit her site. She has such great insight on the craft of writing. Her words always guide me and help me to better understand the process of writing.

The Secrets of Story Structure, Pt. 1: Why Should Authors Care?

What’s the single most overlooked, misunderstood—and yet most important—part of storytelling? If you cheated and looked at the title, you already know the answer is structure. Most uninitiated writers have two different reactions to the idea of story structure. Either they think it’s great, but too mystical and lofty to be understood by common mortals, or they think it’s formulaic hooey that will sap the art right out of their books.

I started out somewhere in the “huh?” camp that didn’t even realize there was such a thing as structure. From there, I progressed to reading complicated outlines that left me shaking my head. If that was structure than my story was practically written for me before I even came up with a decent idea. Thanks, but no thanks.

What I didn’t know—what most writers don’t know—is that even as I subjected the idea of story structure to ignorance and ridicule, I was actually structuring my stories without even realizing it. In the years since, I’ve been introduced to many theories of structure, all of which bear out the inevitable components found in all good stories, whether their authors deliberately structured them or were just lucky enough to wing it on their own good instincts.  Read more here.

 

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