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If you are on a personal connection, like at home, you can run an anti-virus scan on your device to make sure it is not infected with malware.

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Narritive format

As the story moves along, the plot usually progresses in such a way as to pose a yes or no question, the major dramatic question. For example, Will the boy get the girl? Will the hero save the day? Will the detective solve the mystery? Will the criminal be caught by law enforcement and brought to justice? Will the protagonist be murdered by the fugitive? This question must be answered in the climax of the story. The answer is often yes; no; maybe; yes, but. ; or no, and what’s more. Narritive format

Structure [ edit ]

The first act, or opening narration, is usually used for exposition, to establish the main characters, their relationships, and the world they live in. Later in the first act, a dynamic incident occurs, known as the inciting incident, or catalyst, that confronts the main character (the protagonist). The protagonist’s attempts to deal with this incident lead to a second and more dramatic situation, known as the first plot point, which (a) signals the end of the first act, (b) ensures life will never be the same again for the protagonist and (c) raises a dramatic question that will be answered in the climax of the film. The dramatic question should be framed in terms of the protagonist’s call to action, (Will X recover the diamond? Will Y get the girl? Will Z capture the killer?). [4]

The second act, also referred to as “rising action”, typically depicts the protagonist’s attempt to resolve the problem initiated by the first turning point, only to find themselves in ever worsening situations. Part of the reason protagonists seem unable to resolve their problems is because they do not yet have the skills to deal with the forces of antagonism that confront them. They must not only learn new skills but arrive at a higher sense of awareness of who they are and what they are capable of, in order to deal with their predicament, which in turn changes who they are. This is referred to as character development or a character arc. This cannot be achieved alone and they are usually aided and abetted by mentors and co-protagonists. [4]

The third act features the resolution of the story and its subplots. The climax is the scene or sequence in which the main tensions of the story are brought to their most intense point and the dramatic question answered, leaving the protagonist and other characters with a new sense of who they really are. [4]

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D: Hey Yaël, is that the new mystery novel everyone’s been talking about? Narritive format

The Science Of Narrative Structure

D: Hey Yaël, is that the new mystery novel everyone’s been talking about?

Y: I just finished it—it wasn’t that great. Any recommendations for what I should read next, Don?

D: You should probably ask someone else. I don’t think the kinds of books we like have anything in common.

Y: Don’t be so sure. At the very least, the pattern of their function words is probably the same.

D: The short connector words such as pronouns and prepositions?

Y: And articles, conjunctions, negations, and auxiliary verbs—the little words we usually don’t notice in a story. A team of researchers analyzed these words and other language in about 40,000 works of fiction, and found that the way they’re used in a storyline falls into a pattern. The researchers looked at narratives in three stages: the staging, when the author sets up the story; plot progression, when the story gets going; and cognitive tension, when the story is progressing toward a climax. During staging, we read a lot of prepositions and articles such as “a” and “the.” The author’s conveying basic information to the reader about settings, concepts, and relationships: “Once there was a mermaid who lived in the sea,” for example. In the plot progression stage, we see a lot more auxiliary verbs, adverbs, and pronouns. Now “the sea” and other nouns might be called “it” more often. In the cognitive tension stage, the author tends to start using more cognitive processing words such as “think” and “believe” as the protagonist is working through the story’s conflict.

D: It’s fascinating that there’s an underlying structure behind it all—but it doesn’t convince me you’ll like the books I recommend.

Even very different kinds of books share some common characteristics, like the pattern of their function words. These are the short connector words such as pronouns and prepositions, as well as articles, conjunctions, negations and auxiliary verbs. In other words, the little words we usually don’t notic in a story.

A team of researchers analyzed these words and other language in about 40,000 works of fiction, and found that the way they’re used in a storyline falls into a pattern. The researchers looked at narratives in three stages: the staging, when the author sets up the story; plot progression, when the story gets going; and cognitive tension, when the story is progressing toward a climax. During staging, we read a lot of prepositions and articles such as “a” and “the.”

The author’s conveying basic information to the reader about settings, buy essay concepts, and relationships: “Once there was a mermaid who lived in the sea,” for example. In the plot progression stage, we see a lot more auxiliary verbs, adverbs, and pronouns.

Now “the sea” and other nouns might be called “it” more often. In the cognitive tension stage, the author tends to start using more cognitive processing words such as “think” and “believe” as the protagonist is working through the story’s conflict.

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Clearly, despite the big dramatic moments in Acts 3-4, the final act of ‘Denouement’ is where writers will need to tie up loose ends and put the story into context. If things ended well for your character, chances are your story mirrors the formula of a comedy where the protagonist is improved as a result of the events in the novel. If things ended badly, we’re obviously looking at a tragedy. However, don’t fret about whether your story fits into neither of these categories; all that matters is providing clarity to your reader about what the point of your story was. How have things changed? What moral lessons have been learnt? In the end, these are the things that all good stories are made of. Narritive format

The Five-Point Narrative Structure

An introduction to Five-Point Narrative Structure (Freytag’s pyramid) and how it can help writers with plotting their stories.

Not every writer has the same way of working. Some prefer to write by ‘the seat of their pants’ (a so-called ‘pantser’) while others are meticulous planners who prefer to map out their story before they begin (a ‘plotter’). To be fair to both methods, great writing often comes from a mixture of the two, but there is always something to be said for learning about narrative structure beforehand and getting yourself organised.

No matter which way you cut it, most novels do tend to share common rules and foundations. Therefore, somewhere along the way you will be compelled—either by unconscious self-editing during the drafting process, or the urgings of a literary agent or publisher—to impose a framework on your story. Contrary to what some may think, this is a lot easier than you might expect it to be.

One of the most popular forms of narrative structure is known as Freytag’s pyramid. Dating back to Aristotle, this ancient methodology forms the basis of dramatic structure in stage plays (and, later, even films), of which the Ancient Greeks and even Shakespeare were key exponents. However, there’s nothing to say the same rules outlined in Freytag’s analysis can’t be applied to novels either.

Put simply, Gustav Freytag argued that most stories had a ‘Five-Point Narrative Structure’—hence why many plays are divided up into five acts. Once you examine the components of each Act, writers may well be able to plan their novels accordingly, following the ebb and flow of Freytag’s pyramid as you write your story. To assist with a basic understanding of this, here is a short run-through of each part of the Five-Point Narrative structure.

Act 1: Exposition

Consider this the reader’s introduction to your story. This is where you outline your setting, the time in which your story is set, the place in which your characters live and, most importantly, who your characters are. By devoting the first part of your story to giving background information about your characters, you will allow your reader to properly understand your story from the offset, such as introducing internal/external conflicts your protagonist has to deal with, or introducing any early stages of a rivalry with an antagonist. Act 1 ends with what’s called ‘the inciting moment’ which ultimately sets your character’s journey into motion, and without which there would be no story at all.

Act 2: Rising Action

Following ‘the inciting moment’ in Act 1, buy essay the initial conflicts you’ve already introduced will be exacerbated in some way in Act 2. As a result, the second part of your story can take many paths, but what’s clear is that there is an escalation of the challenges your character(s) face and obstacles they must surpass. There may even be secondary conflicts or other characters which enter your story at this point, engineered either to assist your character or to antagonise them, or both. Either way, Act 2 is all about building upon the ‘inciting moment’ in Act 1 and upping the ante.

Act 3: Climax

It’s easy to see Act 3 as a logical continuation of Act 2, whereupon the ‘rising action’ continues to rise for your character(s) until it reaches a ‘climax’ or a turning point by the end of the act. Writers can either choose two different eventualities for this: 1. Your story could be building to a point where things go from bad to worse for your character (in other words, a tragedy), or; 2. Everything could be coalescing to the point where things begin to improve for your protagonist (a comedy). No matter what, Act 3 should be where your character(s) have a change in fortune, either for good or ill.

Act 4: Falling Action

Depending on what’s happened to your character by this point, Act 4 should be defined by ‘falling action’ a de-escalation of the conflicts which have been bubbling over throughout the first three acts. It’s here where writers will need to start thinking about the ending of your story, perhaps by placing the final outcome in doubt at some point, or maybe by introducing plot twists, before eventually resolving the conflicts between the protagonist(s) (and the antagonists) and ending with a positive or a negative conclusion. The end of Act 4 should be where your story settles scores and it should therefore finalise itself in the most impactful way possible.

Act 5: Denouement

Clearly, despite the big dramatic moments in Acts 3-4, the final act of ‘Denouement’ is where writers will need to tie up loose ends and put the story into context. If things ended well for your character, chances are your story mirrors the formula of a comedy where the protagonist is improved as a result of the events in the novel. If things ended badly, we’re obviously looking at a tragedy. However, don’t fret about whether your story fits into neither of these categories; all that matters is providing clarity to your reader about what the point of your story was. How have things changed? What moral lessons have been learnt? In the end, these are the things that all good stories are made of.

Once you’ve learned the key elements of each Act, a savvy writer could then, in theory, divide up the desired word count of their novels by five. By imposing such word limits on each distinct part of your story while you’re writing, you’ll find this will ensure your final draft adheres closely to Freytag’s pyramid and the Five Acts can ensure your story has rigour and remains focused.

The Five-Point Narrative Structure will also help you to discover how much time you should dwell upon certain parts of your story. This is much better than rambling on too much about exposition, or blathering on about non-essential details, when what readers really want in the end is for things to change gear and your story to get started. In the end, that’s why structure is so important. Pansters be damned.

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