Once upon a time we were all taught in school how to write an essay. Introduction, main idea, conclusion. A more “adult” version: introduction, background, main idea, developing thesis statements, conclusion.
But remember when we tell our friends something interesting.
“You have no idea! A couch just fell on me! Imagine, I’m walking peacefully down the street, and all of a sudden – bang! – a couch falls in front of me! Yeah, not on me. And it did not fall very high, his movers were removed from the car and accidentally missed. But how I was frightened!”
Writing a story that gets the right message across to the reader and is a passionate read to the end is difficult. But it is possible. Just think about what you want to tell and how you want to tell it, what emotion to make lead in your story, and start.
Monomyth
A monomyth (it can also be called a “hero’s journey”) is a story found in many fairy tales, myths, and religious writings around the world.
In Monomyth, the hero is called to leave his home and embark on a difficult journey. He moves from the place he knows to the frightening unknown. After overcoming serious trials, he returns home with a reward or found wisdom. Many of today’s stories still follow this structure, from The Lion King to Star Wars.
The Mountain
This is a story full of tension and drama. “The Mountain” is like a monomyth because it shows events in chronological order. But they are still two different techniques, because “The Mountain” does not always suggest a happy ending.
The first part of the story serves as the premise of the whole story, then there is a problem-solving narrative, and the action escalates to the climactic conclusion. The story is a bit like a TV series – each episode has its ups and downs, which gradually lead to the main finale at the end of the season.
Nested loops.
You “stack” multiple stories in layers within each other. You put your most important story-the core of your message-in the center, and use the rest of the stories to explain the main principle.
For example, this is how Boccaccio’s Decameron is written – the story begins with the plague in Florence, but it only serves to frame the other stories that the noble gentlemen and ladies who escaped from the plague tell each other. The frame composition has been used by many writers.
Sparklines (As It Was, As It Could Have Been)
Graphic designer Nancy Duarte uses “sparklines” to analyze famous performances in her book Resonate.
She argues that the best performances have been successful because they show the contrast of our world with an ideal, perfect world. They compare “what is” to “what could be.” In stories like these, the author draws attention to the problems we have in our society, our personal lives, and our businesses. The author evokes a thirst for change in the audience. This is an emotional technique that is very good at motivating listeners.
In medias res (start in the middle)
Literally from the Latin, this expression translates to “in the middle of things. Begin the narrative with a central episode-before you start explaining how you got here.
You immediately “throw” the audience into the most exciting part of the story – people will be intrigued and will be very attentive to see what’s really going on.
Converging Ideas.
This technique shows how different thoughts come together to form a product or idea. It can be used to explain how an idea was born, or how one idea was the culmination of the work of several minds.
The technique of converging ideas is similar to “nested loops,” but instead of diving into the main story through auxiliaries, it shows how several equally important stories produced a single conclusion. It can be used to tell stories about alliances of global significance – for example, the partnership between web developers Larry Page and Sergey Brin.
Falstart
Falstart is a technique in which you start to tell a seemingly predictable story and then abruptly interrupt it and start again. You entice your audience with a false sense of security and then turn things upside down.
Petals
This is combining a large number of stories around one central concept. This is useful if you have several unrelated stories that do relate to one situation.
You tell your stories one by one before returning to the central plot. The petals can intertwine as one story intertwines with another, but each one should be a complete narrative in its own right. This gives you the opportunity to weave a rich palette of evidence around your main idea.
By showing your audience how all of these key stories relate to each other, you allow people to feel the importance and weight of your message. This technique allows you to connect different stories around a central idea and demonstrates how the different strands in one situation are interconnected.