How a Story Works

Stories encompass the world. They fill shelves of libraries and are paid homage to on the Internet; bring people into the theaters and are performed on stage leaving us mesmerized. And thanks to the beloved television we can see and hear them about every hour on every channel. Despite the fact that we know that all of these objects and events provide us with stories, most people don't understand the barebones of a story and how to put one together.
In school more than likely you learned about the triangle. The story begins and builds to a climax, and then it comes to an end. A better definition of a story is shown in diagram 1. The circle around the triangle is used to show completion. It shows that all the gaps are filled. Below is an example:

The bell rang, Mary and Jane ran home from school to start straight on their homework. Mary started on her algebra and Jane on her history.
Mary worked on problem after problem with her math, each one getting harder and harder until finally it came to the point that she couldn't work on her math anymore. She was stuck. Mary had tried different ways to work the problem, but when she computed the numbers the answer was wrong. She saw Jane put down her history book.
"Jane, are you done with your homework?"
"Yes," Jane replied.
Jane's answer was a positive one, and Jane worked to help her solve the problem. Fifteen minutes later the problem was solved, and Mary had a full understanding of everything that had transpired to solve the problem.
Mary decided they should celebrate, so Jane and Mary had ice cream.
The exposition is Mary and Jane coming home from school and starting on their homework. The action begins to rise as Mary is working on her math homework. The story reaches its climax when Mary gets stuck. The falling action is Mary and Jane working to solve the math problem, and the ending exposition is Mary and Jane having ice cream.

That in itself is a very simple story. It's as simple as it comes. You will find most stories more complicated. They are usually comprised of three or more stories. Diagram 2 is an example.
Stories basically have goals. Then, they have all these little things that get in the way or sidebars as I would call them. That may sound a little ambiguous, but it is true. The little things that get in the way are the little problems that arise.

Go To Page: 1 2

Articles in this Topic    Discussions in this Topic