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How Story Works

Story Has a Structure

Building Products with Story

“For, the more we look at the story (the story that is a story, mind), the more we disentangle it from the finer growths that it supports, the less shall we find to admire. It runs like a backbone—or may I say a tape-worm, for its beginning and end are arbitrary.”

—E. M. Forster, Aspects of the Novel

Humans are sense-making creatures, and story is our most critical sense-making tool. As humans, we’ve evolved and innovated story over millennia as a way to understand our world. For example, there is evidence that ancient cave dwellers learned how to trap an animal and not go hunting alone through the use of stories.

Given how long we’ve lived with story, it’s not surprising that Aristotle uncovered a working model for it long ago. Basically, he said that every story needs three things: characters, goals, and conflict. What weaves these elements together is a structure or a series of actions and events that have a shape to them.

Fortunately, story and its underlying structure is straightforward, simple, and can be easily learned. That’s why it’s so powerful—for books, films, and products.

NOTE STORY VS. NARRATIVE VS. PLOT

Don’t think that you’re alone if you confuse the words story, storyline, plot, and narrative as they are often used interchangeably. Even the dictionary will define them similarly. While story or narrative can refer to the broader version of events, and plot or storyline breaks down the “plan” or series of actions and events that lead up to the story, I use them in this book interchangeably. The reason for this is that a story without a plot or storyline (i.e., without a structure) is just a random series of events. Random series of events don’t make for good stories and definitely won’t engage your target audience. Your story must engage your audience. And in order for it to do so, it must have a structure at its foundation.