Does Your Story Have Structure?

Once, while working as a firefighter, the officer was off from work. As the acting officer for the day,I was responsible for getting things done. On a big whiteboard in the office, I listed everything we had to do for the day. Then, I left for a moment, and when I came back, the list had grown! But it had things like "take a nap"and "take a break."

Clearly, others from the station thought my list may have been over doing it. Looking back, they probably were right. What can I say? I'm a list kind of guy. Keeping a list helped me to structure my day. Since then, I have learned to keep structure but with a bit more flexibility at work. 

I feel the same way about story structure.

For this series of blog posts, the focus will be story structure. What is it? What do I use? What could you use? Why use it all? Let's discuss.‍

How I'll be defining story structure for this series‍

I found this concise explanation of story structure in an article from MasterClass: "Story structure—which is also known as narrative structure, story line or plot line—is the organizational framework of a story."

Let's equate a story to taking a trip. The Driver (main character(s)) is/are going to a new place (goal) and will see life differently after getting there. When driving somewhere you have never been, you use directions (or at least, I hope you do). This can be directions from Google, a GPS, or even (gasp) a paper map! Story structure is the directions being used to get to the new place.

My lens for using story structure is that of an oral storyteller. Interestingly, this is the same if you are telling a story orally, written, in a movie, using pictures, etc. Which one you use may change depending on which area you use storytelling. The structure is better determined by what story you are trying to tell and in what way.

You'll notice I said "which one you use" when referring to how to best use story structure. One of the big "ah-ha" moments for me in learning storytelling is that there is more than one story structure that can be used. Then asked the question, "how many story structures are there?"

When I started writing this post, I came across 23 different story structures used in movies, novels, and other forms of storytelling. I came across another one while writing this post, so now there are 24 that I know. You know what? I'll make one myself, so we can have 25. 

It makes sense to have this many possible choices if you think about story structure as driving directions like we discussed earlier. It's OK to have a structured way to get somewhere. Just know there can be more than one road to travel down.‍

Why have a story structure?

Pick your favorite grocery store. Now pick a meal you really like, but need to get the ingredients for. No, a frozen meal doesn't count for this trip to the store. You walk through the door, going from aisle to aisle, getting the spices, meat, veggies, and whatever else you want to have. You pay for the stuff, get home, and start on the meal. You prep the food, combine everything just right and cook until it's ready.

Ooooor...you can go to the same grocery store and head to the section with prepped meals. Find that same meal, pay, and go home. Everything is all together already, in the right amounts, combined correctly. All you have to do is heat it on the stove or in the oven.

The first example is your brain taking in info from all over the place during any given interaction. It's trying to figure out what to do with what it sees. It can do it, but it takes a bit of work.

The second example is an effective story that has put everything together for you. It gets something that makes sense much faster and easier. Using a story helps to do that. Story structure allows the teller to give the listener all they need ready for easy consumption.‍

So, what's next?

Going forward, we'll explore together different storytelling structures I've come across and ways I think about using them. My hope is that by the end of the series, you will be able to test out story structures you may not have known about to be effective in telling your story on purpose. Be sure to follow the blog to see the latest thoughts!

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Nick Baskerville has had the honor of serving in the United States Air Force for 10 years, followed by 4 years in the United States Air Force Reserves. Nick also has 22 years of fire service time, with 19 years of that being in a career department in Northern Virginia. Nick has had the opportunity to hold positions in the Company Officer's section of the Virginia Fire Chief's Association (VFCA), The Virginia Fire Officer's Academy (VFOA) staff, and past Virginia state rep for the International Association of Black Professional Fire Fighters (IABPFF).

Nick is also a professional storyteller that tells personal narrative stories. Examples of his work can be found on shows such as The Moth, Better Said Than Done, and The Story Collider. He is currently one of instructors for storytelling taught by the Armed Services Arts Partnership (ASAP). He has delivered workshops on crafting stories for work, for teaching, and for entertainment in other events and venues. He currently as a one person show “Once I Learned the History” with the National Storytelling Network (NSN) (https://storynet.org/product/nick-baskerville) . You can also follow Nick at his blogs Stories, Jokes, and Talks with Folks http://storiesjokesandfolks.com and Story Telling On Purpose at www.stop365.blog.

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