caramelgoddessxo:

I’m having a conversation with one of my friends and I ask him, “What defines you?” and he responded with, “Nothing. A definition excludes the possibility for change.”

This is one of the best responses I’ve ever received to any of my questions.

perpetual-stories:

Story Structures for your Next WIP

hello, hello. this post will be mostly for my notes. this is something I need in to be reminded of for my business, but it can also be very useful and beneficial for you guys as well.

everything in life has structure and storytelling is no different, so let’s dive right in :)

First off let’s just review what a story structure is :

• a story is the backbone of the story, the skeleton if you will. It hold the entire story together.
• the structure in which you choose your story will effectively determine how you create drama and depending on the structure you choose it should help you align your story and sequence it with the conflict, climax, and resolution.

1. Freytag’s Pyramid

• this first story structure i will be talking about was named after 19th century German novelist and playwright.
• it is a five point structure that is based off classical Greek tragedies such as Sophocles, Aeschylus and Euripedes.
• Freytag’s Pyramid structure consists of:

1. Introduction: the status quo has been established and an inciting incident occurs.
2. Rise or rising action: the protagonist will search and try to achieve their goal, heightening the stakes,
3. Climax: the protagonist can no longer go back, the point of no return if you will.
4. Return or fall: after the climax of the story, tension builds and the story inevitably heads towards…
5. Catastrophe: the main character has reached their lowest point and their greatest fears have come into fruition.

• this structure is used less and less nowadays in modern storytelling mainly due to readers lack of appetite for tragic narratives.

2. The Hero’s Journey

• the hero’s journey is a very well known and popular form of storytelling.
• it is very popular in modern stories such as Star Wars, and movies in the MCU.
• although the hero’s journey was inspired by Joseph Campbell’s concept, a Disney executive Christopher Vogler has created a simplified version:

1. The Ordinary World: The hero’s everyday routine and life is established.
2. The Call of Adventure: the inciting incident.
3. Refusal of the Call: the hero / protagonist is hesitant or reluctant to take on the challenges.
4. Meeting the Mentor: the hero meets someone who will help them and prepare them for the dangers ahead.
5. Crossing the First Threshold: first steps out of the comfort zone are taken.
6. Tests, Allie, Enemies: new challenges occur, and maybe new friends or enemies.
7. Approach to the Inmost Cave: hero approaches goal.
8. The Ordeal: the hero faces their biggest challenge.
9. Reward (Seizing the Sword): the hero manages to get ahold of what they were after.
10. The Road Back: they realize that their goal was not the final hurdle, but may have actually caused a bigger problem than before.
11. Resurrection: a final challenge, testing them on everything they’ve learned.
12. Return with the Elixir: after succeeding they return to their old life.

• the hero’s journey can be applied to any genre of fiction.

3. Three Act Structure:

• this structure splits the story into the ‘beginning, middle and end’ but with in-depth components for each act.

Act 1: Setup:

1. exposition: the status quo or the ordinary life is established.
2. inciting incident: an event sets the whole story into motion.
3. plot point one: the main character decided to take on the challenge head on and she crosses the threshold and the story is now progressing forward.

Act 2: Confrontation:

1. rising action: the stakes are clearer and the hero has started to become familiar with the new world and begins to encounter enemies, allies and tests.
2. midpoint: an event that derails the protagonists mission.
3. plot point two: the hero is tested and fails, and begins to doubt themselves.

Act 3: Resolution:

1. pre-climax: the hero must chose between acting or failing.
2. climax: they fights against the antagonist or danger one last time, but will they succeed?
3. Denouement: loose ends are tied up and the reader discovers the consequences of the climax, and return to ordinary life.

4. Dan Harmon’s Story Circle

• it surprised me to know the creator of Rick and Morty had their own variation of Campbell’s hero’s journey.
• the benefit of Harmon’s approach is that is focuses on the main character’s arc.
• it makes sense that he has such a successful structure, after all the show has multiple seasons, five or six seasons? i don’t know not a fan of the show.

1. the character is in their comfort zone: also known as the status quo or ordinary life.
2. they want something: this is a longing and it can be brought forth by an inciting incident.
3. the character enters and unfamiliar situation: they must take action and do something new to pursue what they want.
4. adapt to it: of course there are challenges, there is struggle and begin to succeed.
5. they get what they want: often a false victory.
6. a heavy price is paid: a realization of what they wanted isn’t what they needed.
7. back to the good old ways: they return to their familiar situation yet with a new truth.
8. having changed: was it for the better or worse?

• i might actually make a operate post going more in depth about dan harmon’s story circle.

5. Fichtean Curve:

• the fichtean curve places the main character in a series of obstacles in order to achieve their goal.
• this structure encourages writers to write a story packed with tension and mini-crises to keep the reader engaged.

1. The Rising Action

• the story must start with an inciting indecent.
• then a series of crisis arise.
• there are often four crises.

2. The Climax:

3. Falling Action

• this type of story telling structure goes very well with flash-back structured story as well as in theatre.

6. Save the Cat Beat Sheet:

• this is another variation of a three act structure created by screenwriter Blake Snyder, and is praised widely by champion storytellers.
• Structure for Save the Cat is as follows: (the numbers in the brackets are for the number of pages required, assuming you’re writing a 110 page screenplay)

1. Opening Image [1]: The first shot of the film. If you’re starting a novel, this would be an opening paragraph or scene that sucks readers into the world of your story.
2. Set-up [1-10]. Establishing the ‘ordinary world’ of your protagonist. What does he want? What is he missing out on?
3. Theme Stated [5]. During the setup, hint at what your story is really about — the truth that your protagonist will discover by the end.
4. Catalyst [12]. The inciting incident!
5. Debate [12-25]. The hero refuses the call to adventure. He tries to avoid the conflict before they are forced into action.
6. Break into Two [25]. The protagonist makes an active choice and the journey begins in earnest.
7. B Story [30]. A subplot kicks in. Often romantic in nature, the protagonist’s subplot should serve to highlight the theme.
8. The Promise of the Premise [30-55]. Often called the ‘fun and games’ stage, this is usually a highly entertaining section where the writer delivers the goods. If you promised an exciting detective story, we’d see the detective in action. If you promised a goofy story of people falling in love, let’s go on some charmingly awkward dates.
9. Midpoint [55]. A plot twist occurs that ups the stakes and makes the hero’s goal harder to achieve — or makes them focus on a new, more important goal.
10. Bad Guys Close In [55-75]. The tension ratchets up. The hero’s obstacles become greater, his plan falls apart, and he is on the back foot.
11. All is Lost [75]. The hero hits rock bottom. He loses everything he’s gained so far, and things are looking bleak. The hero is overpowered by the villain; a mentor dies; our lovebirds have an argument and break up.
12. Dark Night of the Soul [75-85-ish]. Having just lost everything, the hero shambles around the city in a minor-key musical montage before discovering some “new information” that reveals exactly what he needs to do if he wants to take another crack at success. (This new information is often delivered through the B-Story)
13. Break into Three [85]. Armed with this new information, our protagonist decides to try once more!
14. Finale [85-110]. The hero confronts the antagonist or whatever the source of the primary conflict is. The truth that eluded him at the start of the story (established in step three and accentuated by the B Story) is now clear, allowing him to resolve their story.
15. Final Image [110]. A final moment or scene that crystallizes how the character has changed. It’s a reflection, in some way, of the opening image.

(all information regarding the save the cat beat sheet was copy and pasted directly from reedsy!)

7. Seven Point Story Structure:

• this structure encourages writers to start with the at the end, with the resolution, and work their way back to the starting point.
• this structure is about dramatic changes from beginning to end

1. The Hook. Draw readers in by explaining the protagonist’s current situation. Their state of being at the beginning of the novel should be in direct contrast to what it will be at the end of the novel.
2. Plot Point 1. Whether it’s a person, an idea, an inciting incident, or something else — there should be a “Call to Adventure” of sorts that sets the narrative and character development in motion.
3. Pinch Point 1. Things can’t be all sunshine and roses for your protagonist. Something should go wrong here that applies pressure to the main character, forcing them to step up and solve the problem.
4. Midpoint. A “Turning Point” wherein the main character changes from a passive force to an active force in the story. Whatever the narrative’s main conflict is, the protagonist decides to start meeting it head-on.
5. Pinch Point 2. The second pinch point involves another blow to the protagonist — things go even more awry than they did during the first pinch point. This might involve the passing of a mentor, the failure of a plan, the reveal of a traitor, etc.
6. Plot Point 2. After the calamity of Pinch Point 2, the protagonist learns that they’ve actually had the key to solving the conflict the whole time.
7. Resolution. The story’s primary conflict is resolved — and the character goes through the final bit of development necessary to transform them from who they were at the start of the novel.

(all information regarding the seven point story structure was copy and pasted directly from reedsy!)

i decided to fit all of them in one post instead of making it a two part post.

i hope you all enjoy this post and feel free to comment or reblog which structure you use the most, or if you have your own you prefer to use! please share with me!

if you find this useful feel free to reblog on instagram and tag me at perpetualstories

Follow my tumblr and instagram for more writing and grammar tips and more!

1000storyideas:

With this post I listed 10 outline techniques to help writes move their story from a basic idea to a complete set of arcs, plots, sequences and/or scenes. Or to simply expand whatever you have in hands right now.

If you have a vague story idea or a detailed one, this post is for you to both discover and organize. A few technique will work perfectly. A few won’t. Your mission is to find the one that works best for you. That said, I advice you to try out as many techniques as possible.

So, are you ready? Open your notebook, or your digital document, and let’s start.

Originally posted by coffeeinspirations

1. Snowflake method: Start with a one-sentence description of the novel. Then, develop this simple phrase into a paragraph. Your next step is to write a one-page summary based on the paragraph, you can write about characters, motivations, goals, plots, options, whatever you feel like. From this point on, you can either start your book or expand the one-page summary into four pages. And, at last, four pages into a brief description of known sequences of scenes. Your goal is to make the story more and more complex as you add information, much like a forming snowflake.  

Originally posted by winterlightscosynights

2. Chapter by chapter: List ten to twenty chapters, give each chapter a tittle and a brief description of what should happen. Then, break each chapter into three to five basic sequences of scenes. Give each sequence a title, a brief description and a short list of possibilities (possibilities of dialogues, scenarios, outcomes, moods, feelings… just play around with possibilities). From this point on, you can either create the scenes of sequences with a one-sentence description for each or jump straight to writing. Your goal is to shift from the big picture to a detail-oriented point of view.

3. Script: This might sound crazy, but, with this technique, you will write the screenplay of your story as if it’s a movie. No strings attached to creative writing, just plain actions and dialogues with basic information. Writing a script will take time, maybe months, but it will also enlighten your project like no other technique. Your goal is to create a cinematic view of your story. How to write a script here. 

Originally posted by whosmithian

4. Free writing: No rules, no format, no step, just grab a pen or prepare your fingers to write down whatever idea that comes up. Think of possibilities, characters, places, quests, journeys, evolutions, symbolisms, fears, good moments, bad moments, clothing, appearances. Complete five to ten pages. Or even more. The more you write, the more you will unravel. You can even doodle, or paste images. Your mission is to explore freely.

5. Tag: This technique is ideal if you have just a vague idea of the story. Start by listing ten to fifteen tags related to the story. Under each tag, create possible plots. And, under each plot, create possible scenes. Grab a red felt pen and circle plots and scenes that sparkle your interest.

Originally posted by alcrego

6.  Eight-point arc: With this technique you will divide your story into eight stages. They are Stasis, Trigger, Quest, Surprise, Critical Choice, Climax, Reversal and Resolution. The Stasis is the every-day-life of your main character. Trigger is an event that will change the every-day-life of your character (for better or for worse). Quest is a period of your main characters trying to find a new balance, a new every-day-life (because we all love a good routine). Surprise will take your character away from their new found every-day-life. Critical Choice is a point of no return, a dilemma, your character will have to make the hardest decision out of two outcomes, both equally important. Climax is the critical choice put to practice. Reversal is the consequence of the climax, or how the characters evolved. Resolution is the return to a new (or old) every-day-life, a (maybe everlasting) balance.

7. Reverse: Write down a description of how your story ends, what happens to your characters and to those around them. Make it as detailed as possible. Then, move up to the climax, write a short scenario for the highest point of your story. From there, build all the way back to the beginning. 

Originally posted by perfectmistake13

8. Zigzag: Draw a zigzag with as many up and downs as you want. Every up represents your main character moving closer to their goal. Every down represents your main character moving further from their goal. Fill in your zigzag with sequences that will take your character closer and farther from the goal.

9. Listing: The focus of this technique is exploring new ideas when your story feels empty, short or stagnated. You’ll, basically make lists. Make a long list of plot ideas. Make another list of places and settings. Make a list of elements. And a list of possible characters. Maybe a list of book titles. Or a list of interesting scenes. A list of bad things that could happen inside this universe. A list of good things. A list of symbolism. A list of visual inspiration. A list of absurd ideas you’ll probably never use. Then, gather all this material and circle the good items. Try to organize them into a timeline.

Originally posted by dontwantthenextcommanderiwantyou

10. Character-driven: Create a character. Don’t worry about anything else. Just think of a character, their appearance and style. Give them a name. Give them a basic personality. Give them a backstory. Develop their personality based on the backstory. Now, give this character a story that mirrors their backstory (maybe a way to overcome the past, or to grow, or to revenge, or to restore). Based on your character’s personality, come up with a few scenes to drive their story from beginning to end. Now, do the same thing for the antagonist and secondary characters.

So, when is it time to stop outlining and start writing?

This is your call. Some writers need as many details as they can get, some need just an basic plot to use as a North. Just remember, an outline is not a strict format, you can and you will improvise along the way. The most important is being comfortable with your story, exploring new ideas, expanding old concepts and, maybe, changing your mind many times. There’s no right or wrong, just follow your intuition.  

thevampireconcept:

Robert Carlson’s Ultimate Story Structure Chart 2.0

Introduction

This is a transcription of a compiled table by Robert Carlson. It’s neat to have a source of all these story structures together, however, reading said table is a really big struggle for me because I have certain visual struggles. As such I decided to transcribe each story structure into something more readable and visually easier to read.

(I may, at another time, choose to transcribe it all into a single table as the original source depicts.)

Original Source

Table of Contents

Transcriber’s Note: This is list is very… white, and thus not an ethnically diverse representation of story structures.

Chris Vogler

Transcriber’s Note: This is also known as the Hero’s Journey Story structure

Blake Snyder & Nigel Watts

Dan Harmon, Syd Field & George Lucas

Paul Gulino & The Augustine Bible of Hippo

Thomas Boston, Billy Wilder, and Alfred Hitchcock Plays

Scientific Method & Steve Duncan

Personal Thoughts

Overall, despite the lack of cultural diversity when it comes to these story structures, the list gives a very interesting food for thought when it comes to story structure, including some which wouldn’t be considered story structures in the first place. It’s a very useful list for expanding one’s knowledge of story structure and flexibility into adapting it to one’s own story.

I might in the future compile my own personal list of story structures with more cultural diversity and

gjdraws:

kiramartinauthor:

WHY YOU SHOULD WRITE HORRIBLY:

1. You’ll never write anything if you don’t

actually i really miss this place. something so raw and honest about you guys

deargodsno:

airandangels:

escuerzoresucitado:

video description: a person’s hand places a purple yam on a cat dish in the foreground. With an urgent meow, a brown tabby cat runs up to the dish and takes a big bite of the yam, munching it voraciously with loud growly “yum yum yum” noises.

UNMUTE!!

belladonnaprice-deactivated2025:

gjdraws:

kiramartinauthor:

WHY YOU SHOULD WRITE HORRIBLY:

1. You’ll never write anything if you don’t

noreservations:

hotgirlmuseboard:

there’s sooo much beauty in slowing down and understanding yourself btw

the-dictionary-verified:

Threads may collect your health, financial, browsing, usage, location, and personal data, but Tumblr collects the incoherent thoughts from the least understood areas of my subconscious and that’s arguably worse.

Mark Facebook will never get those.

teathattast:

I think more people are migrating to tumblr since Threads released. Twitter is practically dying and those that don’t want to go to Threads are coming here. I can tell by the increasing oddities of the last couple days. I’m like a horse with hyper sensitive ears

yeahiwasintheshit:

“In some very important ways, however, Threads is different from Twitter. Most obviously, users have no real control over the content they see. Whereas Twitter users self-curate, at least partly, by deciding what accounts to follow, Threads’ content is currently controlled entirely by algorithms.”

are you fucking kidding me? WOW! THIS is what people are clamoring to sign up for?? WHAT THE FUCK IS WRONG WITH YOU PEOPLE! im legitimately shocked people are ok with this.