MEPX
Chapter 2 of 10All chapters
  1. 1Forms and genres
  2. 2Narrative and structure
  3. 3Voice and point of view
  4. 4Language and imagery
  5. 5Poetry
  6. 6Drama
  7. 7Movements
  8. 8World literature
  9. 9Reading critically
  10. 10Reading well

Chapter 2 of 10

Narrative and structure

Arranging events.

Story and plot

Story is what happened; plot is the order and causal connection the writer imposes. Withholding, reordering and compressing are the writer's main tools.

  • In medias res opens in the middle and fills in later.
  • Frame narratives place one story inside another.

Shape

Rising action, climax and resolution describe many narratives but not all. Modern fiction often resists resolution deliberately, which is itself a structural choice.