Story structure

He advocated for a continuous two-act plot: δέσις (desis) and λύσις (lysis) which roughly translates to binding and unbinding,[8] that was not centered on "one individual",[9] but where the characters learn a lesson through negative reinforcement.[10] Later scholars such as Horace in Ars Poetica and Aelius Donatus in Aeli Donati qvod fertvr Commentvm Terenti: Accendvnt Evgravphi Volume 2 argued for a five act chorus.[clarification needed] However, the majority of the treaties for story structure took off in the 19th-20th centuries, the first notable figure being Gustav Freytag's Die Technik des Dramas which was published in 1863.This continued into the 19th century when Selden Lincoln Whitcomb wrote A Study of a Novel which examines the basis for Silas Mariner's plot structure, where he argues for the Line of Emotion on Page 39.Writers such as E. M. Forster and Virginia Wolf diasgreed with him, the latter of which wrote in November 1923: "This is my prime discovery so far; & the fact that I've been so long finding it, proves, I think, how false Percy Lubbock's doctrine is--that you can do this sort of thing consciously.Gertrude Stein also later contributed to the general feel of stories by promoting stream-of-consciousness and supported much of Literary Modernism and looking at writing as a look into psychology.[17][clarification needed] This was furthered by Lajos Egri who advocated for using psychology to build characters in The Art of Dramatic Writing, published 1946.[citation needed] In Northrop Frye's Anatomy of Criticism, he deals extensively with what he calls myths of spring, summer, fall, and winter:[19] In Frye's Great Code, he offers two narrative structures for plots:[20] Lajos Egri is then credited in Syd Field's last edition of The Foundations of a Screenwriting published in 1979.Theorists such as Michel Foucault and Jacques Derrida asserted that such universally shared, deep structures were logically impossible.Ideas of this got shared over the next few decades, which lead to writers such as Blake Snyder, who in Save the Cat contributed language such as "Story Beats".Although some films appear to open (very briefly) with the ending, flashback movies almost immediately jump back to the very beginning of the story to proceed linearly from there.[23] The chapters of Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni's novel Before We Visit the Goddess are not arranged based on the linear sequence of events, but rather in a way that fulfills certain literary techniques.A player will be required to reach an objective, complete a task, solve a puzzle, or finish a level before the narrative continues.An interactive narrative is one which is composed with a branching structure where a single starting point may lead to multiple developments and outcomes.This kind of interactive experience of a story is possible with video games and books (where the reader is free to turn the pages) but less adapted to other forms of entertainment.
narrativetheatreList of story structuresThree-act structureSyd FieldScreenplay: The Foundations of Screenwritingprotagonistinciting incidentcatalystplot pointantagonistcharacter arcclimaxKishōtenketsuAristotlePoeticsArs PoeticaAelius DonatusGustav FreytagGeorges PoltiThe Thirty-Six Dramatic SituationsKenneth RoweDelphian SocietyPercy LubbockLeo TolstoyDeath of the AuthorE. M. ForsterVirginia WolfGertrude Steinstream-of-consciousnessLiterary ModernismLajos EgriRoland BarthesVladimir ProppJoseph CampbellNorthrop FryeAnatomy of CriticismcomediesShakespeareTwelfth NightutopianfantasiesParadisotragediesHamletOthelloKing LearLegends of the FalldystopiasGeorge OrwellAldous HuxleyBrave New WorldAyn RandAnthempoststructuralismMichel FoucaultJacques DerridaStructuralistsPostmodernismPost-postmodernismJohn GardnerBlake SnyderSave the CatEverything Everywhere All at OnceNonlinear narrativeInteractive narrationInteractive narrativeFlashbacksCitizen KaneOrson WellesPulp FictionchronologyQuentin TarantinoAlain ResnaisSmoking/No SmokingChitra Banerjee DivakarunigamebookThe Hero with a Thousand FacesNarratologyNarremeNon-narrative filmRule of three (writing)ScreenwritingSuspenseKhatib, LinaThe PoeticsCharacterArchenemyCharacter flawCharacterizationConfidantDeuteragonistFalse protagonistFocal characterGothic doubleHamartiaByronicTragicNarratorStock characterStraight manSupporting characterTitle characterTritagonistVillainAb ovoActionBackstoryOrigin storyChekhov's gunClichéCliffhangerConflictDeus ex machinaDialogueDramatic structureEucatastropheForeshadowingFlashbackFlashforwardFrame storyIn medias resMacGuffinPlot devicePlot twistPoetic justiceRed herringRevealSelf-insertionShaggy dog storyStereotypeStory arcStory within a storySubplotSettingAlternate historyCrossoverDreamworldDystopiaFictional locationcountryuniverseparallelUtopiaWorldbuildingLeitmotifMetaphorMoral developmentDeal with the DevilConflict between good and evilSelf-fulfilling prophecyTime travelAllegoryBathosComic reliefDictionFigure of speechImageryNarrationNarrative techniquesShow, don't tellStylistic deviceSuspension of disbeliefSymbolismStructureAct structureFreytag's PyramidExpositionProtasisRising action/EpitasisPeripeteiaFalling action/CatastasisDenouement/CatastropheLinear narrativetelevision seriesPremiseTypes of fiction with multiple endingsFabliauFlash fictionFolkloreFairy taleLegendTall taleNarrative artNarrative poetryEpic poetryNovellaParableShort storyVignetteFictionAction fictionAdventureEpistolaryErgodicEroticHistoricalWesternMysteryNauticalParanoidPhilosophicalPicaresquePoliticalPop culturePsychologicalReligiousRomanceChivalricSatireSpeculative fictionFantasyGothicSouthernHorrorMagic realismScienceUtopian and dystopianUnderwaterSuperheroTheologicalThrillerNonfictionAutobiographyBiographyCreativeDiegesisFirst-personSecond-personThird-personThird-person omniscient narrativeUnreliable narratorMultiple narratorsStream of consciousnessStream of unconsciousnessPresentFutureDominant narrativeFiction writingContinuityRebootRetconParallel novelPrequelSequelLiterary scienceLiterary theoryNarrative identityNarrative paradigmNarrative therapyMetafictionPolitical narrativeRhetoricGlossaryStorytellingTellabilityVerisimilitude