I’m trying to be more educated about this path I’ve chosen, learning things I didn’t know about storytelling, and figuring out which things relate to me and which ones don’t.
In this research, I came across a concept called Narrative structures, and the idea that ALL stories are basically the same.
Narrative structure is the form and manner that a story takes and the plot used to tell that story. (from wikipedia.com)
So basically:-
- Introduce the characters, the setting, the conflict.
- Raise the stakes all the way to the breaking point.
- Allow the character(s) to resolve the conflict.
Then you find out that the guy who proclaimed the whole 3 act story thing as a rule for narrative structures probably only read books that supported his theory, and all is right with the World again.
- Why the 3 Story Act will kill your writing
- When to discard the 3 Story Act structure
- Stories that don’t fit the 3-Act mode
- 5 Reasons the 3-Act structure is killing your creativity
This was so very comforting to me. Like hot chocolate on a cold spring day. I’ll probably need to journal until the end of my life to figure out why rules put me in such a bad mood. I had actually determined to run around looking for books to prove that the 3-Act thing was a dud. Surely, all storytellers don’t tell stories the same way, no matter where they’re from in the World.
I think the takeaway is, just write your story. Let it flow from you and be exactly what it is in the World. Maybe it will be the one story that breaks conventional thinking about narrative structures or bring some kind of new perspective that makes people WANT to include plot holes.
Who knows?!
Just write.
Bwandungi Writes 