Story Bones: Story Structure Knowing what kind of structure your story has can greatly influence how you perform it! There are two major kinds of plots for stories: dramatic and episodic. There are other experimental kinds, but they are far and few between. All plots, however, have a beginning, middle and end. Though most folks know this, not many understand what these words actually mean when it comes to crafting a story. The Beginning The beginning of a plot includes the background, setting and introduces the characters. It is usually called the exposition. Most important, the beginning of a play (or story, movie, or any other narrative) lets the audience know the routines of the world of the play. What does Cinderella usually do, for instance? She is a slave in her own house and with her step family. Of all the information we could give (hair color, how many bugs in the window, the color of the wall paper, etc.), that's the most essential thing to know: her routines. The End If the end establishes the routines of characters in a play, what does the end do? Usually, events of plays change routines in plays, so the end of a play usually establishes new routines of characters. Cinderella's new routine?: She is now a princess and lives with the Prince. In short: She lived happily ever after. In a play, the end is often called the denouement (pronounced "day-new-ma& quot;), which means "falling action." And for action to fall, it must rise. That happens in the middle. The Middle Here is the meat of the story. It begins with the Point of Attack—that point in the story when the normal routines of characters change. Cinderella's routine changes when there is a knock at the door and a princely messenger brings an invitation to the ball. Suddenly, both we and Cinderella have a hope that things might change for her. This hope leads to suspense. Suspense means our interest in her success increases. As our interest increases with the actions of the story, the plot is said to "rise. " More accurately, the events in the story that lead to our interest are collectively called the Rising Action of a story. After a while, the stakes become higher and higher, and the chance for success is threatened more and more until it reaches a "do or die" state: the climax. At the climax of a story, the action and suspense rises to its highest point, the chance for success is slimest, and the stakes are the highest. Either Cinderella succeeds and becomes a princess, or she is doomed forever to be a slave for her step family. For Cinderella, this is near the end of the story when she does or does not get to try on the shoe. Cinderella has a typical dramatic plot. It contains rising action and a climax. The climax is a particularly exciting moment, and all of your action builds to this. In other words, when performing a story with a dramatic plot, your energy and suspense will increase until it reaches the climax, at which point your audience will say "Whew! That was a close one!" So knowing if your story has a dramatic plot is important, and knowing where the exciting parts are is also important—you'll have to perform it so that the exciting parts really are exciting! This is often done by getting louder or faster or both—but not necessarily. It will almost always include your body and mind and voice getting more tensive. An episodic plot is different. Rather than have rising action that increases the energy and suspense of a story, it shows the audience a series of scenes, actions, or episodes that show various events. At the end, the routine is still changed by these events, but there is no single driving action that moves the plot forward. Take the story of Hercules (not the Disney movie, PLEEEEAAASE not the Disney movie!). Hercules is a special guy with great strength. He is the son of Zeus, a god, and a mortal woman—NOT Hera, Zeus' wife. Hera, jealous and spiteful of Hercules, is intent on destroying him. The first episode of Hercules, the beginning, portrays Hercules happy at home with his wife and kids. But suddenly (the point of attack), Hera manages to make Hercules insane for a time, and he kills his wife and kids, thinking they are enemy soldiers. He is understandably upset by this and seeks to redeem himself. Apollo, another god, tells him to visit a certain King who gives him tasks to perform. In one episode, he kills the hydra. In another episode, he cleans some massive stables by diverting a river. He kills a great lion. He kills other beasts. He does other great feats as well. But no feat is any greater than the last one. There is not rising action, only one action after another. At the end, the last episode, Hercules is redeemed of his horrible crime, he moves to New Zealand, and he starts his own TV show! Another example of an episodic plot is the story of "The Turnip" from Russia. The Turnip retold by David Sidwell One fine day at the end of summer, an old grandfather went to his garden and saw that he has grown a large turnip. A very LARGE turnip. He wanted to pull it out of the ground so he could eat it for supper, so he pulled and pulled, but he couldn't pull out the turnip. He called out to his wife, "Wife! Come help me pull out this turnip!" She came over and grabbed him by the waist, and they both pulled and pulled, but the turnip wouldn't budge. So the wife called for her son: "Son! Come help us pull out this turnip!" He came right over, grabbed her by the waist and the son and the grandmother and the grandfather pulled and pulled but the turnip wouldn't budge. The son called out to his daughter, "Daughter! Come help us pull out this turnip!" She came on over, grabber her father by the waist, and the daughter and the father and the grandmother and the grandfather pulled and pulled but the turnip wouldn't budge. The daughter called out to her dog, "Dog! Come help us pull out this turnip!" He came over, put his paws around the daughter, and the dog and the daughter and the father and the grandmother and the grandfather pulled and pulled, but the turnip wouldn't budge. The dog called out to the cat, "Cat! Come help us pull out this turnip!" She came over and put her paws around the dog, and the cat and the dog and the daughter and the father and the grandmother and the grandfather pulled and pulled, but the turnip wouldn't budge. The cat called out to the mouse, "Mouse, Come help us pull out this turnip!" He came over and put his tiny paws around the cat, and the mouse and the cat and the dog and the daughter and the father and the grandmother and the grandfather pulled and pulled, but the turnip wouldn't budge. The mouse called out to the cricket, "Cricket! Come help us pull out this turnip!" She came over and put her tiny, tiny claws around the mouse, and the cricket and the mouse and the cat and the dog and the daughter and the father and the grandmother and the grandfather pulled and pulled . . . and the turnip finally came out! It came out so fast that grandfather fell on grandmother who fell on her son who fell on her daughter who fell on the dog who fell on the cat who fell on the mouse who fell on the cricket. Then they all got up, dusted themselves off and went to the kitchen—where they cooked and ate the turnip! It was delicious! An episodic plot is similar to a dramatic plot, in that it has difference scenes or episodes, but there is no real rising action. Instead, all things add up to an ending that ties everything together. In Hercules, the various little stories or actions are tied together with Hercules' redemption from his terrible "sin." In "The Turnip," all actions end in the eating of the turnip. Can you see that no episode is really more suspenseful or exciting than the other. Each one adds interest and each one adds to the fun of the story, but only the final action is the one with any added excitement. It's your turn! Write a story outline for a dramatic plot in five sentences. Here's how: First, select a protagonist (main character) from the following: Baby monster, Sammy the Salamander, or Irene the Ibex. Sentence #1: The Beginning, Exposition and Point of Attack. State the most important routine(s) for your character and then state the point of attack. (Example: "Sammy the Salamander basked in the sun on his rock as he normally did UNTIL a fish came and began squirting him with water."—Note the word UNTIL. You will probably want to use it just like it is used above.) Sentence #2: The Middle, Rising Action: State the first attempt that your protagonist makes to rectify the problem. Your character will not succeed. (Example: "Sammy began yelling and cursing at the fish, BUT the fish continued to squirt him"—Note the word BUT. You will probably want to use it in the same way that it is used above.) Sentence #3: The Middle, Rising Action: State the second attempt that your protagonist makes to rectify the problem. Your character will not succed. (Example: "Sammy threw rocks and pebbles at the fish, BUT the fish just laughed and continued to squirt him" Again, the word BUT). Sentence #4: The Middle, Climax: State the third attempt that your protagonist makes to rectify the problem. Your character will usually come up with an unusual and surprising solution and will succeed. (Example: "Sammy suddenly began absorbing the water through his skin as the fish squirted until he became swollen and immense and frightened the fish away with threatening gestures."—Note the word AND. You may want to use it.) Sentence #5: The End or Dénouement: State the new routine of your protagonist. (Example: "From that day forward, Sammy found a different, fishless place to bask.") Though many longer stories have more MIDDLE episodes or scenes, this is a basic, simple structure that is very handy to know. Now it's your turn! Try it out!