Belief 01

Structure

A story is an interruption of a pattern — structure is how you promise the interruption, progress it, and pay it off.

Writing Beliefs · members' unit

Structure is behind a locked door

The Writing Beliefs page and Study are open to everyone. The other 9 units are enrolment-only.

What's in this unit · 8 min read

  1. Promise, progress, payoff
  2. The chiastic circle
  3. The wheel inside the circle
  4. Frameworks are overlays, not laws
  5. Endings

2 quick checksscene/sequel ringchiastic ringscrollytellingvideo

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Sources

  • Brandon Sanderson — BYU creative writing lectures
  • Dan Harmon — the Story Circle
  • David Mamet — On Directing Film
  • David Mamet — Three Uses of the Knife: On the Nature and Purpose of Drama
  • David Mamet — MasterClass
  • Dan Brown — MasterClass
  • James Scott Bell — Plot & Structure
  • Blake Snyder — Save the Cat!
  • Gustav Freytag — Technique of the Drama
  • Joseph Campbell — The Hero with a Thousand Faces
  • K.M. Weiland — Structuring Your Novel