"It's like everyone tells a story about themselves inside their own head. Always. All the time. That story makes you what you are. We build ourselves out of that story".
― Patrick Rothfuss, The Name of the Wind
DIGITAL
STORYTELLING
NARRATIVE STRUCTURE
With this structure, it’s going to be really easy for you to understand stories. Think of it as a puzzle, each piece comes at the right moment and in the right way. Usually, all stories tend to follow the same structure even if they are about different things. Having the same structure allows authors to write many things but still have a good idea of when to change the pace and when to slow down. Here are the important milestones of every story:
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Exposition: this is usually a brief intro that describes the characters of the story, as well as their lives, their hometown and their surroundings.
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Inciting Incident: here's where things start to get serious, a conflict or a problem shows up which makes the characters go on a mission.
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Rising Action: at this point, the characters have undergone many situations and this generally means they have changed radically, either in their mentality or their physique – sometimes both.
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Climax: in here, the conflict introduced in the inciting incident gets to its peak, and we get more tension, action and drama.
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Resolution: the falling action begins here, and basically shows our characters dealing with the aftermath of the climax, the consequences and everything else.
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Dénouement: this is the point in time where we try to tie loose ends up, and wrap up the story, giving it its final touches.
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Check out this video to know more about Narrative Structure!
Here we have an example in which you can identify the parts of a story:
Exposition
Once upon a time... six princes leave home to find brides, but they forget to bring home a bride for the seventh brother.
Inciting Incident
On their way home, the brothers and their brides encounter a giant who turns them all to stone.
Rising Action
The seventh brother, named Boots borrows a horse from his father and goes to search for them.
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He meets a hungry raven and gives the bird all his bread.
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He meets a stranded salmon and tosses the fish into the water.
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Lastly, he meets a starving wolf and feeds him his horse.
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He puts his saddle on the wolf and rides him to the giant's castle.
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At the castle, the wolf tells him to obey the princess.
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Inside, the princess tells Boots that the giant can't be killed because he has removed his heart and hidden it.
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At night, the princess and giant cuddle, and she asks him where he hid his heart. "It's in an egg in a duck in a well in a church on an island in a lake." Replies the giant.
Climax
Next day, Boots rides the wolf to the lake and swims to the island, but the church is locked, and the key is on the steeple, too high to reach.
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Boots calls the raven to fetch the key. Inside, Boots lifts the duck out of the well, but the duck is so frightened that she lays the egg, and it sinks to the bottom of the well.
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He calls the salmon to fetch it and then returns to the castle.
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Facing the giant, Boots squeezes the egg. The giant screams in agony. Boots says, "Release my brothers and their brides, and I will spare you."
The Giant Who Had No Heart in His Body
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By: Peter Christen Asbjørnsen & Jørgen Engebretsen Moe*
Resolution
The giant transforms the princes and brides back to human. The wolf says, "Squeeze it anyway." Boots does, the egg breaks, and the giant explodes.
Dénouement
Boots marries the princess, and everyone returns home to live happily ever after.
Now, it's time to practice! Take this awesome online quiz: