Structure - Beginning, Middle and End. Is that all to it?

Take any text book on creative writing. They talk about beginning, middle and end. Are there any other way a story could be laid out?

I think yes. As our tastes evolve and change newer structures might come in existence. But it is doubtful whether they will become the mainstream. However there will always be few examples of stories that do not fit in the beginning, middle, end paradigm. In fact, because they don't fit in that paradigm they become famous. But as I said they will be in minority.

Below are some examples I have come across.

Two or three parallel threads in a story - This is a popular structure in movies, at least. Babel, amerros perros (both from same director) exploit this structure. In general, these threads do have some connection. Needless to say, the connection must not be contrived. In stories, you can see this idea being exploited in The other side of midnight by Sydney sheldon. I think Kane and Abel by Jeffrey Archer also exploits this.

Series of Notes (emails): I dont remember any particular story name. But I have come across many short stories that are written as just series of emails to each other or as notes to self.

Going back in time: This technique completely inverts the causality. It tells the climax first and then goes back in time constructing the reason(s) for the eventual end.

Structure of Story - Ramayana And Mahabaratha as example

One thing about the structure that we discussed in the previous post is that it applies to short story to a great extent. In novels, because of the size, they can deviate to a good extent.

Ramayana and Mahabaratha are two great epics and are as large as they can go. So it does not come as a surprise that they stick in a loose manner to the structure we discussed in the previous post.

If you take the beginning, You can see Mahabaratha does not introduce Pandavas and Kauravas in the first few chapters. Instead it sets up the scene with Devadutta becoming Bhishma. Ramayana also starts somewhat early in the time. In fact, it does not bring Ravana well into the middle of the story. So it is a slow read in that sense.

How do the epics fare in the middle? Mahabaratha is probably better than Ramayana. You can see the enmity between Pandavas and Kauravas being set up. Kauravas try to
outsmart Pandavas many times (not always legal or moral). But Pandavas manage to come out better and gaining strentgth in that process. Ramayana is a bit of letdown, if I may say so. Rama and Bharatha go on vanvaas and the reader (along with story) is lost in the jungle till Ravana comes along.

End - Both epics have war as the climax. Well, not exactly. Mahabaratha devotes some chapters to rounding off the characters (including krishna) after the war. So does Ramayana in the coronation of Rama. You can see that the end is somewhat stretched.

One reason that our epics dont exactly fit to the structure that we have discussed earlier is that these epics are probably not written by one author but has formed and changed as it passed from generations to generations. Another reason could be that these stories are so old, that people didn't have any idea about the rules of the stories at all. Quiet obvious,right? Looking from that perspective, you can see how amazing stories these epics are. They have all the characteristics of great stories. And they were written before people understood what makes great stories.

Structure of Story - Beginning, Middle and End of it

Structure of a story is the template in which you fit all the elements of the story. Like for instance, an email has a structure. (To, subject, and content fields). A chess game also has a

structure.(opening, middle, ending) Not surprisingly the most popular structure of a story is where it has a three parts - beginning, middle and end. It sounds like a letdown, right?

Giving a template for your story and calling the parts as beginning, middle and end. Hopefully you will not feel so once I explain what you do in each part.

Basically, in Beginning, you set up the character(s), you point to the desire that beats in the heart of all the main characters. You set the story in motion by starting the main character on

an action. Keep this to the point. Don't go on a tour about the weather.

Then comes the middle. Here you should foil the attempts of the main character who is on a pursuit of his quest. The main character should be learning from his failures. In that sense he should be growing. This is the longest part in the story.

Then comes the end. Short and sweet. Preferably with a twist. But always an Aha moment. Limit it to a para or two in short story. Keep it about the main character and his quest. Not about your philosophy on life.

Desire, Action and Conflict - The essence of story

Why did I find the incident mentioned in the previous post a germ of the story?

Because it had action. And by action, I don't mean something like a person walking on the road or a bird flying. It has a boy fleeing from his pursuer. It has a police trying to catch an offender. You see a conflict of interests. The action of the boy hawking vegetables in train (an illegal thing) has put him in conflict with the police. The desire of the police to enforce the law has put him in conflict with the boy.

So that is the essence of story.
1)Your protagonists should want something. Anything. -Desire.
2)Your protagonists should try to realize their dream by working towards it. -Action
3)His action should put him in confrontation with another entity (another character) - Conflict.

Now it is up to you as an author to decide how to keep escalating the conflict through the middle of the story and then finally resolve it by the end of the story.
You let your protagonist win in his mission - happy ending.
You make him loose - sad ending.
You maintain a status quo - ambivalent ending. (By the way, this is not preferred. You should at least convince the reader that he has come out wiser of the experience. Who likes status quo in a story. They have plenty of it in real life already.)

Story - How to find one?

I have found the seed of many stories that I have written in
1)a dramatic incident that I came across
2)a situation where I don't see eye to eye with others
3)a character that I found interesting

But these give just a seed of the story. Not the entire story. You have to use your imagination to flesh out the story.

Let me cite an example. This happened quiet a long time back, when I was in school. It was in chennai.

I was waiting for the train to go to my school. The train , when it came,was crowded. A boy, vegetable basket in his head, was the first one to alight. He jumped out even before the train stopped. He ran swiftly to the other side of the platform, to catch the other train that was about in the opposite direction. Half way through, he suddenly swerved trying to avoid the invisible pursuer. But it was too late. The police man, out of nowhere, swooped on him and caught him by the collar. It is illegal to hawk in railway station. The boy tried to free himself in vain. But he couldn't shake off the police.

I didn't see anymore. I had to catch my train. But what I saw, it has stayed with me still.

I am convinced that what I saw can give rise to a story. But I am yet to find one.

I can make the boy flee the police and board the running train. That would be a happy ending.
The boy can flee and board the train. But in the melee the vegetable basket falls on the platform ruining all his investment. That would be a tragic ending.
The boy flees and boards the train. He throws couple of cabbages at the police on the platform. 'Wasn't this what you wanted?' he shouts as the train speeds away. That would be a bitter sweet ending.

I am not happy with any of the above. But I am confident I will find the right story.

Plot and Story - What's the difference?

This is my understanding of what I gleaned from the various confusing resources on internet. You are free to form your own conclusion.

Let me give an example from 'Aspects of the novel' by Somerset Maugham to explain it. (I have not read the book. I have just read from a site which cites the book)

The king died. Then the queen died. --example of story
The king died and then the queen died of grief -- example of plot.

An Indian example would be

Ravana abducted Sita. Rama took the help of Sugriva and invaded Lanka. They killed Ravana and brought back Sita -- Example of Story.
Ravana abducted Sita because he fell for her beauty. Rama while searching for Sita met Sugriva. He pledged his support to sugriva against his brother Vaali if he would help in finding Sita. Rama killed Vaali and Sugriva became the king. Sugriva's army fanned across the country in search of Sita. Hanuman found Sita. Rama and the monkey army invaded Lanka and killed Ravana and brought home Sita. -- Example of plot.

Well, what is the difference between plot and story.
In a story, we talk about the events that happen in chronological order. We focus on what happens after what.
In a plot, we talk about why the events happen. Why did Ravana abduct Sita? Why did Rama help Sugriva? We focus on what thrusts the story forward.
This is the basic difference.

Story comes first. Then comes plot. Always.
An absorbing plot will make an ordinary story a good read. But not a great read. For that, you need to work on the story.

Short Story - Tips to an aspiring writer:Start with your story.

I vaguely remember starting my first story with the below lines
"It was midnight on a new moon day. She was alone in the street."

I was probably twelve or thirteen then. I didn't like the opposites, night and day, coming in the same sentence. Apart from that, I was convinced that it is how my story should start. In

fact, I spent quiet a time trying to figure out the intelligent clues that the detective would have to eventually find. I don't know how far I proceeded. But suffice it to say, I don't remember

anything of the story but for the first line I penned in my notebook.

The mistake I made is, instead of finding a story I could tell, I started out with a story I wish I could tell.
Many of us do that mistake. City dweller writing about the pleasures of living in a village. Software engineer in Bangalore writing about the harsh life of the people in the fringe of the

society. Powered by their imagination, they do depict a true picture. But limited by their experience, they fail in producing a true insight.

At the other end of spectrum, many people positively believe that there is nothing in their life that is worth telling.
You should read Chetan Bhagat. He started his literary life with a story on college life in IIT. It was so successful that it spawned an even more successful movie! Now there is a

commercially viable genre called IIT/IIM/college campus story as can be seen in the slew of novels that have come out since chetan bhagat.

This is one reason why I don't like many of the exercises they give in the creative writing workshops or creative writing groups. They give a starting line of the story. Or they give a

situation or a theme and then to ask you to write about. It has its merits: It would get everyone started, it would give a homogeneous platform for comparison, contrasting and feedback.
But I always find it constraining and and invariably find tweaking the story that occupies my mind right then to the stated line or theme.

My tip to aspiring writer is: Let the story, at least the first few ones, be rooted in your experience.

Short Story - Read this before you write one OR Three rules of great writing

For Sale: Baby shoes. Never Worn.

As short story goes this is one of the shortest. And one of the best. Don't go by my word. Ernst Hemingway, who penned it by the way, claimed to be his best. So, there you go.

The first rule in short story is - Make it as short as possible. But not any shorter.
The above story follows it to the hilt. It does not waste any words in describing the shoes or the seller or anything else. It goes for the jugular straight. You should try to keep the words to

a minimum as well.

The second one in short story is - Begin right at the beginning. Not a tad earlier
The story starts with the information about a sale. Not when the shoes were bought. Not when the unfortunate mishap hapenned, if it did happen. They are not the correct beginnings.

They may be, for some other story. But not this one. You should put the reader in the in the middle of the things right in the beginning. Don't go for a prologue where you ramble about

the weather.

The third one in short story is - Hold that punch till the end.
There is no story after 'Never worn'. A mediocre writer would have added some dead words at the end. But not hemingway. He knows when he has given all the details needed. From

then on he leaves the reader to wonder, to figure out. Try not to give away too much too early in your story. The reader will feel disappointed when he finishes the story. At the same

time be careful not to introduce an unexpected twist in the end just because you have to. Then the reader will feel insulted! The ending should take the reader by surprise, but at the

same time he should also feel that it was a probable ending. Not easy, isn't it? Who said it is?