What Is a Narrative Structure?

In literature and film, stories generally follow a narrative structure, which is basically a framework for telling a story. The specific elements included in this framework can vary, though in most cases, the narrative structure will include the buildup, the climax, and the resolution. Often, a story will include other elements, such as the exposition, in which background information is presented in order to orient the reader or viewer; and the falling action or denouement, in which story elements begin to get wrapped up before the final resolution.

A typical narrative structure may go something like this:

Not all stories will follow this narrative structure, but this is perhaps the most common structure stories will follow. Subplots may complicate the structure, and some writers may choose to tell the story out of order to place emphasis on certain events, characters, or themes. A popular practice in films, for example, is to start the story at the end, showing viewers the result of the climax. The film will then backtrack, start from the beginning, and give viewers a glimpse of how the aftermath occurred.

Another type of narrative structure that alters the way a story is told will include the use of in media res, which basically means starting in the middle. When such a story is told, the reader or viewer will find himself or herself in the middle of the action right at the beginning of the story. As the story progresses, the reader will need to piece together the events that happened before the narrative began, and what will happen from then on. Such a narrative structure can create a sense of unease in the reader, which lends itself to the development of a particular plot, theme, or tone. The writer runs a risk, however, of disorienting the reader so much that plot elements do not make sense or become less and less clear as the story progresses.