Story Structure

Story Shapes

“For centuries there's been one path through fiction we're most likely to travel - one we're actually told to follow - and that's the dramatic arc: a situation arises, grows tense, reaches a peak, subsides!” (Meander, Spiral Explode by Jane Alison)

Aristotle (384-322 BCE) suggested dramas should have a three-act structure, a beginning, middle and end.

Beginning (Exposition/Protasis):

This part introduces the characters, setting, and initial situation of the story, setting the stage for the conflict to come. 

Middle (Rising Action/Epitasis):

This section builds tension and complexity as the protagonist faces a series of challenges and obstacles. It often includes complications, thwarted actions, and a build-up of conflict. 

End (Resolution/Catastrophe):

This part delivers the climax of the story, where the conflict reaches its peak, and the protagonist's fate is determined. It can involve a reversal of fortune (either from good to bad or vice versa). 

Gustav Freytag (1816-1895) came up with a diagram to show the shape of a story

His structure builds on Aristotle's and includes:

Exposition

Rising Action

Turning Point

Falling action

Resolution

Structure

1. The Hook. Draw readers in by explaining the protagonist’s current situation. Their state of being at the beginning of the story should be in direct contrast to the story’s end.

2. Plot Point 1. Whether it’s a person, an idea, an inciting incident, or something else — there should be a "Call to Adventure" of sorts that sets the narrative and character development in motion.

3. Pinch Point 1. Things can’t be all sunshine and roses for your protagonist. Something should go wrong here that applies pressure to the main character, forcing them to step up and solve the problem.

4. Midpoint. A “Turning Point” wherein the main character changes from a passive force to an active force in the story. Whatever the narrative’s main conflict is, the protagonist decides to start meeting it head-on.

5. Pinch Point 2. The second pinch point involves another blow to the protagonist — things go even more awry than they did during the first pinch point. This might involve the passing of a mentor, the failure of a plan, the reveal of a traitor, etc.

6. Plot Point 2. After the calamity of Pinch Point 2, the protagonist learns that they’ve actually had the key to solving the conflict the whole time.

7. Resolution. The story’s primary conflict is resolved — and the character goes through the final bit of development necessary to transform them from who they were at the start of the story.

Wheels

“I’ve heard author William Least Heat-Moon use the metaphor of a wheel to describe Native American storytelling. The heart of the story is the hub of the wheel. The storyteller moves around the circumference a bit, then down one of the spokes to touch the hub, then back to the circumference, approaching the heart again and again from different points. ... the listener or reader shares in the effort of creation until all points on the circumference are connected, every spoke leads to the hub, the whole wheel is filled in.”

(Essay Breaking the 'Rules' of Story Structure by Diane Lefer (in The Best Writing on Writing, ed. Jack Heffron, Story Press 1994)

The Slap

At a suburban barbecue one afternoon, a man slaps an unruly boy. The boy is not his son. It is a single act of violence, but this one slap reverberates through the lives of everyone who witnesses it happen.

Circular narrative structure is a storytelling technique where:

• The story begins and ends in the same, or a very similar, place, situation, or theme.

• This structure:

  • Creates a sense of completion

  • Emphasises either change through experience or the idea that some things never truly change

• Even though the story returns to its starting point:

  • Characters are usually transformed by what they have experienced

  • This transformation might show:

    • Growth

    • Disillusionment

    • Acceptance

    • Or the inescapable cycles of life

• Examples:

  • The Wizard of Oz: Dorothy returns home, but with a deeper appreciation of it.

  • Animal Farm: Power and oppression continue under new leadership, showing that the cycle repeats despite the journey.

• In short:

  • The place or situation may be the same

  • But the meaning has changed because the characters have changed

Conclusion

You can choose to follow a clear narrative blueprint or allow yourself to wander into the narrative wilderness — both approaches are valid, and both can produce powerful stories. If you’re drawn to structure, Save the Cat! Writes a Novel by Jessica Brody offers a practical, beat-by-beat framework that helps writers shape compelling plots, pace their stories, and track character transformation with clarity and confidence. At the other end of the spectrum, Jane Alison’s Meander, Spiral, Explode invites writers to step away from traditional arcs and explore organic, non-linear patterns inspired by nature, encouraging intuition, experimentation, and freedom. Together, these books show that storytelling isn’t about choosing the “right” structure — it’s about finding the one that best serves the story you want to tell.