Using Ebooks to Understand Story Structure

Today we visit Jamie Gold, paranormal author extraordinaire. My 8th grade English teacher would often talk about stories needing woof and weave. The terms refer to old fashion weaving on a loom. You need the woof, the long threads, to define and hold the structure and then the weave, the threads that pull it all together until you have a complete product. Jamie discusses the need for story structure, which is like the woof and provides a base for your tale to be woven on. How do you organize your story structure?

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Using Ebooks to Understand Story Structure

by Jami Gold on February 11, 2016

When we’re on the writing learning curve, we have to learn so many aspects of the craft that we can become overwhelmed. We have to learn how to develop characters, follow grammar rules, include settings and emotion, etc.

One aspect that many writers struggle with is learning story structure. Story structure refers to how we can organize a story so it creates a satisfying experience for readers.

If we’ve ever had a friend try to describe a movie, book, or a real-life event and they keep rambling or going off on tangents, we understand the importance of a good structure for making a story enjoyable. A story that goes off the rails will be confusing (“Wait, who was that character again?”), boring (“Sorry, I zoned out for a second.”), or worse.

On the other hand, we might have a friend who can make their daily check of the mailbox sound like an adventure. We just know there’s going to be a point to their story, so we remain enthralled with every twist and turn.

In other words, good story structure is an important element of good storytelling. While our friend could use good story structure and still be bland in the storytelling, it’s harder to imagine a well-told story that rambled or went off on distracting tangents or dragged on too long, etc.

So let’s take a look at how we can better understand what story structure is, and how we can learn from other stories how to use it in our own…

Read the full post on JamieGold

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