#136 - The Foundational Understanding You Need to Create Any Story
Short but essential this week.
This week is a short and simple note, but one I hope you spend time with. It’s all about structure, the foundation and framing of all your future stories. It’s not something we think about often but I hope you will take a moment before crafting stories in the future to consider these three things.
First you have to understand that every story is a journey. From an epic novel, to the final season of Succession. But they all have one structural thing in common. Three components that are included in all stories.
So what are the three components to any and all stories? It’s simple really. They all have:
A beginning.
A middle.
And an end.
Easy right? Yes, but not quite. Here’s how to think of these three elements of story structure to help you better understand and tell better stories. I’ve included a few links to past posts to help provide context and additional insight.
The beginning is all about establishing your foundations it includes: Who your hero is, what you through line is (the string that runs from beginning to the end), your setting, and your key themes (which sometimes don’t become clear until the end).
The middle is where things get interesting in your story. It includes tension or your conflict (fun fact there can be multiples sources of tension, remember want, because, but), your narrative the ongoing and evolving relationships brought to life in your story, and the juice of your story plot points—what exactly happens.
Finally the end. This one is simple (though hard to achieve). Transformation. What changes irrevocably for your hero and audience by the end.
A Story Well Told
“Books. What an astonishing thing.” And so begins this post on books that makes me want to pick up the nearest hardcover and dive in to a new world (after I wipe my eyes).
