MA’s take on structure:

I believe it underlies and informs everything else. Every other possible topic in writing/ storycraft, to my mind, is subordinate.
I once saw a terrific roller coaster exhibit at the Building Museum in Washington, and was inspired to ask a writing group: What do a roller coaster and a great story have in common?
Some of the answers:
— They both take you on a ride.
— They both have a lot of ups and downs along the way.
— They both deliver the unexpected.
— They both thrill …etc. etc. 
All true.
But I want to add: 
A roller coaster and a great story are similar in that the farther out/ more risk-taking/ more “dangerous,” more experimental they are, the more iron-clad their structural core has to be.

Thought:
Let’s start this thread by tossing out definitions of what we mean by structure:
What is it (in storycraft and writing)?
What are some ways that you have consciously put structural principles to work?
What vexes you about it?
Do you do it by feel, or by design?

One of my favorite structure stories is an e-mail exchange with N.R. Kleinfield about his wonderful piece “Doula.” (http://tinyurl.com/2m9upd) A writing group down here had been deconstructing it. I e-mailed him and asked how he’d gone about it, whether he’d thought of X or Y first, or what. This is what he said:
“As for my operating protocol, although I indeed care greatly about structure and style, I am not consciously mechanical. While I am respectful, and even envious, of highly organized colleagues who cross-reference notes and sort themes on note cards and draft detailed outlines incorporating flow charts, I do none of these … Essentially, I write stories (and books) in my head. I actually do think that I am rather organized, that blueprints of some sort do get imprinted somewhere in my mind, but I can’t prove it. I guess I feel my way through a story. Whether that’s good practice, I don’t know. It’s what I’m stuck with.”

That is genius. The rest of us have to go the long way, I’m afraid!

thoughts?

Mary Ann - 26 November 2007 11:41 AM

MA’s take on structure:
Let’s start this thread by tossing out definitions of what we mean by structure:
What is it (in storycraft and writing)?
What are some ways that you have consciously put structural principles to work?
What vexes you about it?
Do you do it by feel, or by design?

I share Mary Ann’s belief in the importance of structure. What I mean when I say it is simply a story’s organization and underpinnings. By organization, I mean the decision to put content a certain place in a story. By underpinnings I mean the form, or lack of, that unifies the piece, i.e. chronology.

I think there’s a lot of freedom in deciding on both organization and underpinnings in any story. However, what vexes me about structure, and narrative generally, is that there needs to be some essential elements that are always needed to outline the story’s tension. My struggle is to figure out what these elements might be and how to use them. An example of something I learned recently about this issue would be the “time” and “space” ideas that I mentioned in the other thread.

Right now, I’d say I do structure by feel. One of my goals from this project is to get it down more to design ...

ldillon - 23 December 2007 05:53 PM

By underpinnings I mean the form, or lack of, that unifies the piece, i.e. chronology…
One of my goals from this project is to get it down more to design ...

Folks:
Liam has hit on the fundamental principle of structure:
chronology—first this happened, then that happened, and next, the other happened—is the most basic structural construct in existence. The human brain is programmed to take in information that way. The simple forward unfolding of chronology underlies all storytelling.

HOWEVER—chronology (let’s call it “seeing how your information moves from point A to point Z") is just the beginning. Once you have that basic “arc” nailed and tucked away in your brain, deeper and more complex structural forces/ devices/ plans/concepts/ designs start to bubble up and offer themselves as tools.

To get this discussion into gear, I think it is useful to deconstruct a few beautifully built stories, labeling the building-block elements the writer exploits, and then talking about how those elements inform the story as a whole.

For the sake of discussion, I have started out with a structural analysis of 1.) FELON, 2.) READING THRONE, and 3.) CAMILLE. You will find those in the individual story threads (labled FELON, READING THRONE, etc.)

thoughts?  comments? party invitations?