Story Structure

The ingredients and recipe of storytelling.

In this video, we’ll discuss the parts of a story and the importance of creating an outline/beat sheet/road map so you know where you're headed and don't fizzle out on your story. We focused on a story's basic ingredients-- Character and Problem-- and the basic recipe:

Beginning: This is where we meet our character and learn about the problem.

Middle: This is where the character tries to solve the problem. It likely doesn't go very well.

Climax: This is where the character finally solves the problem once and for all. Hurrah!

End: This is where the character lives happily ever after (or, if you like sad stories, dies a terrible death or something).

We also discussed "free writing" versus "story writing". Free writing is when you just sit down and go for it. There's nothing wrong at all with free writing! It's a great way to get ideas and play around with story concepts. However, it's not quite the same as "story writing", because stories have a structure they follow. That structure doesn't hold you back or limit you-- it's just the way you Do The Thing, like the way painters use paints and musicians use notes.