Narrative structures 2 of 2

By justdaw | Writing tips | 7 Jun 2021


Last time I went through the setup, the inciting Incident, the reaction, and the goal. 

Now to continue let's go to: 

 

The conflict: here's the moment or moments in which your characters will encounter opposition to their goals. This roadblock can appear for both the fake and the true goal. The focus on the plot or on the character will continue to inform the kind of opposition your character will need to confront. 

 

Let's say that you favor a plot driven narrative  in that case the conflict will come from an external force. It doesn't affect the character in any meaningful way. 

 

On the opposite side, if you prefer a character driven narrative whether the opposite side comes from an external force or from within, it will be informed by the character themself. The characteristics, characterization, virtues and flaws will all serve to put them against something or someone that will make them go through a change. 

 

Following the conflict we have the climax. Long story short this is the highest point of the conflict, the moment before it is resolved. It's nature will depend on the conflict. Usually an interpersonal conflict will lead to a final brawl, a conflict against nature will lead to the character finding resourcefulness to survive. It can also be a poignant conversation or a moment of realization. A climax can be bombastic and on point with the direction the story was headed. Or just going in the direction set in advance. In that case it is climatic. Then you can go for a climax that it's often not satisfying, it doesn't give you answers and it is completely out of left field. Or something like that. In that case it's anticlimactic. 

 

Then there's the resolution. It's the manner in which the conflict is resolved. In many cases the resolution and the ending are one and the same. Often stories finish here because the ramifications are not that important. 

 

The resolution can be satisfactory or not, it depends on the climax and the overall feeling that the narrative gives. 

 

In some cases the story can continue after the resolution. You can go with these options:

 

On one hand you have an epilogue that will help you to put everything in its place and make clear how things are now. 

 

On the other hand the end of one story can lead to the start of a new one, or the fact that one goal is reached doesn't mean that new needs or conflicts will not arise. 

 

For this option you will need to set up the new normalcy and then crash it with the inciting incident; then the structure repeats.






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