Transcripts
1. Introduction: Hello friends,
welcome to my class. In this class, we will continue our journey
of creative writing. In this class, we will talk
about story structure. In our pervious class, we have already talked
about story structure. However, that was
a different one. It was about hero's
journey story structure. But in this class, we will talk about a
different story structure. It is called as Freytag's
Pyramid story structure. This structure will help us in organizing our story
in a very good way. In this class, we have
covered the topics such as, what is Freytag's
Pyramid exposition, rising movement, climax,
falling movement, denouement, catastrophe,
inciting incident. And lastly, we have explained the Freytag's Pyramid story
structure with an example.
2. What is Freytag’s Pyramid: In our previous class, we have talked about the hero's
journey story structure. In this class, we will continue our creative writing
topic journey with the story structure topic called as Freytag's Pyramid,
the plot pyramid. In this section, first I will explain what is Freytag's
pyramid or the plot pyramid. Then in the upcoming section, we will look at its
different aspects and explain it to
you with examples. In addition to this, I will give you a detailed
explanation of each of aspects and also components of Freytag's pyramid structure. So that you will be
able to integrate and use this story
structure in your writings, which will make your
story writing process much more exciting
and much easier. However, please remember that before using the Freytag's
Pyramid story structure, please make sure that the
plot you have written and outlined blends perfectly
with your story structure. Because if the plot does not suit with the Freytag's
Pyramid story structure, than you have to choose another story structure
which best suits your plot. Most of the time. The plot of the
story is written and outlined before selecting
the structure of the story. So please make an outline of what your plot will be. Then. Once you have
determined your plot, now choose which structure works best with
your outline plot. In this class, we
have only talked about the Freytag's
Pyramid story structure. We will talk about
different type of story structure and
our next classes. The Freytag's Pyramid
was named after a famous writer from Germany
called as Gustav Freytag's. The structure is in
a pyramid shape. Hence, it is called Freytag's
Pyramid story structure. This type of structure
is taken from the old and classic
stories of Greek culture. This type of structure
was originally designed for tragic types of storylines. However, nowadays, Freytag's Pyramid
story structure is not very popular among
our modern readers. Because our modern
readers do not like the tragic and sad
ending types of stories. People usually read
stories in which the hero or the protagonist
prevails in the end, thus leading a happy
life thereafter. Therefore, we will use this Freytag's Pyramid
story structure and explore and explain it to you in this class in two
different formats. First one is the
original format, which will lead us to the
tragic ending of the story. The second one is new
and redesigned format, which will lead us
to the happy ending. In this type of story structure, we will see a very
straightforward way of arranging a story. It usually starts
with introduction, then continues with middle, then ends with a conclusion. There are a total of five points in this type of story structure. First point is the introduction. In this point, we will introduce the readers to the
main characters, the setting of the story. The second point is
rising movement. Where the rising
action, in this point, the hero or the
protagonist will start to move forward
towards his goals. In this point, the stakes will rise and the conflict begins. The next point is
climax of the story. In this part of the story, the hero will come
to a place where he can no longer return
to his old good life. The next point is
falling action. In this point of the story, the aftermath of the
climax will unfold. And when the story continues to move forward towards its end, the tensions and the story will continue to rise as
the end approaches. The last point is
catastrophe ending. This type of original story
format has a tragic ending. In this point, we will see that the hero of the story
has lost all his hopes. He will feel like he is constantly falling
in deep dark pit. All his worst fears
have come to life. He is unable to recover. This is how the story ends. However, we have another
redesign structure where we can see that all the
first four points are same. Only the last point, which is catastrophe, will
change into denouement. In this point, we will see that the hero has overcome all
the obstacles and this path. He successfully
accomplished his mission and accomplished all his goals. In this point, we will see
that the story has ended in a happy ending and
all the things are settled and ended in
a satisfying way. In the next part, please pay very
close attention to the class because we will explain how to apply and insert each point into in
the story, right.
3. Exposition: This point is also
called as Exposition. In this point, we will tell the readers how
the story begins. We will tell the readers about the characters of the story
and the setting of the story. We will tell the readers about the background
information. All this information will
set the path of the story. We will tell the readers about the existing conditions of
the characters of the story. In this part, while we
introduced the characters, we will also establish the stakes to adjust the
story with the readers. We will first have to ask some questions while we
set the story in motion. First, you have to ask
the question, where am I? Then you have to answer it. Then you have to ask the
question, what is happening? Then answer it. The readers don't know anything about the environment
of the story. So in the beginning
act of the story, you have to introduce the readers about the
environment of the story. In the first part of the story, you will also have to tell the readers how things are
going for the characters. What are situations
of the characters? Tell the readers what is the
world they are looking into, how things work in this world. Some of the writing
experts at a sub point to the exposition called
as inciting incident. This sub point is not present in the original part of
the Freytag's Pyramid. It is added to the
redesigned version, which has a happy ending. We will talk about
this subplot while explaining the redesigned
version of Freytag's Pyramid. In the first part, which is the exposition part, we first give the readers the information about
the characters and explain the readers about the distinction qualities
of the characters. In this point, we will also tell the readers the relationship
between the characters. Then we will be telling the readers about the
environment of story. We will tell them the place where the story is taking place. And we also tell
the readers which time era the story
is taking place in. E.g. you can tell 1650 London. And while telling the readers about the characters and
the setting of the story, we will also tell them
a small backstory to make the readers aware
of the stakes of the story. In this part of the story, we don't only introduce
the readers to the main characters such as hero and the heroine
of the story, but also the villain
of the story as well. The background story. We'll tell the basic
conflict of the story all while creating the mood
and atmosphere of story. In this part of the story, you only have to focus on
telling the readers who is, who, what is happening, when it is happening, where it is happening. It is just like creating a
new world for the readers, which he will try to explore
as the story continues. The length of the introduction may differ from one
story to another. It mainly depends on how complicated the conflict
of the story is. It means that the more
complex the story, the lengthy the introduction. It also depends on the
settings you have created. It means that the more
detailed the setting of your story than the
lengthier the introduction. If your story is set
in a fantasy world, then you have to write a lengthy introduction
in order to introduce your world and its qualities and its functions, et cetera. It means that you have to
spend more than one chapter just to build the world of the story and explain
it to the readers. It has to be a
lengthy one so that the readers can explore it
and enjoy it thoroughly. The most important
thing is that it does not matter how long
the introduction is. The only thing that matters
is that whether you are able to draw your readers
into your story or not. The introduction
part is important because it will make your
readers hook onto your story. So while creating
a fantasy world, please make sure it is very real and believable
to the readers. Ending of the introduction
should be with a conflict which will
move your story forward.
4. Rising movement: It is also called
as rising action. In this part, the
conflict begins. This is the part where the tension and the
stress starts to rise. This is the part where the
suspense starts to build up. This is the part where the plot of the story
picks up its pace. This conflict is the part where
the readers will be glued to their seats and start to
wonder what will happen next. In this part, many
questions will start to form in the
minds of the readers, such as the how will the
hero overcome the obstacles? How will they get out this
complex and hard situation? How he will win, and so on. In this part of the story, the plot starts to
become more complex. The stakes of the plot
begin to rise higher. This is a part where characters
will get a false hope. A false promise as if they are seeing the light at
the end of the tunnel. However, it is actually
not the light, but more depth of the darkness. The protagonist will
cling onto a false hope, which will bring him more
depression and more anxiety. As the suspense and
the tension rises, it will bring out the
character development. It will increase the anxiety and make the characters
to grow and evolve. Not only one scene, but many small scenes can be combined to make one rising
action of the story. Such as the protagonist might be fed up of
something or someone, which is why he is
angry and upset. Then in the next scene, he will try to fix
the situation, but it ends up becoming worse. Things gets worse
means that protagonist might make a big mistake
while resolving the issue. Or he might make
a wrong decision, which will further
escalate the issue. Or the villain might
come in the way here, giving him more trouble. Or new characters will unintentionally further
complicate the plot, which will make him angrier
and more depressed. This part of the story where the complexity of the
basic conflict is further escalated by adding more
different obstacles in the path of the protagonist. This will make the protagonist more frustrated and it will make it difficult for the
protagonist to reach his goals. Other conflicts in the story are also introduced
in this part. It may not necessarily come
from the main antagonist, but it may even come from secondary characters or other
unimportant adversaries. This part of the story, we'll explore the conflict
of the story and rise the tension of the story up until the climax of the story. Rising action usually
tends to be a bit lengthy because this part of the story not only includes and explores the conflict of the
story and its complications, but also includes
some flashbacks and side stories of either main characters
or side characters. You should not always
tell the flashbacks in one scene that you
should give your readers some little
information here and there. Little by little, the readers
will get to know more about the motives and the reasons behind the actions
of characters. Little by little. As the plot moves forward. Also, as the conflict open out and reveals itself to
the world of the story. And the nature of the story will also get revealed
little by little. Each point of the story should make it to the
climax of the story. It should be connected in
such a way that climax of the story should
come as natural as possible after the
rising action. As if they're rising action was built up for
climax of the story. Lastly, make sure that all the characters of the story have been introduced
at this point. Make sure no one is left out. It should just leave some
questions which will eventually be answered in
the climax of the story.
5. Climax: In this type of story structure, the climax will usually come at the middle
part of the story. In this part of the story, the fate of the
characters is decided. In this part of the story. We will try to create
maximum suspense. For creating the
maximum suspense. In this part, we have to create the conflict which
is at its peak. Conflicts at its peak
means that you have to show the main
conflict of the story in such a way that it
will become impossible for protagonist to
resolve the conflict. However, climax can
end in two ways, depending on the version
of Freytag's Pyramid. If it is a happy ending, then the climax will become as a turning point in the
life of the protagonist. The length of the climax may differ from the rider to Rider. However, every rider will show the idea and the
theme of the story. In this part of the story. He will show it in such a
way that their readers will feel emotionally sad
or emotionally happy. After reading this part. If you are writing a
tragic story ending, then this part of the
story will serve as a point of no return for the
protagonist of the story. It means that either the life of the protagonist of your
story will become good from the climax or it will become a bad one and will turn into worse till the
end of the story. Please don't forget that. The climax of the story
is the part which will decide how the
story is going to end. When we try to write
a tragic ending, we will make sure that all of the good things that
happened to protagonist before the climax
will crumble down and fall into pieces from the
climax part of the story. Or if you are writing
a happy ending, then the bad things
that happened to protagonist before the climax, we'll start to fade away. And from the climax
of the story, good things will start to
happen for the protagonist. His life will become good and
will improve tremendously. This part of the story is where the readers will
connect the most. So if you are writing a story using the Freytag's
Pyramid story structure, then you have to put
extra effort to make sure that the climax of your
story is very well-written. In this part of the story. As a writer, you have to
show your readers the fullest and the deepest
strength of your protagonist. You have to write a protagonist
where he is showing his full strength
in either creating a good life or making it worse. The climax will serve as a reversing and dividing
point of the story. If the story shows good
energy in the first half, then the climax
will reverse it in the second half and turn
it into a bad energy. If the first half is
giving a bad value, then the climax will reverse
it and give good values. In the second half of the story. As we have seen that the rise of the action
before the climax than the climax
will reverse it and the action will fall in the
second half of the story. Now, we will talk about falling
action in the next part.
6. Falling Action: When writing the
happy ending story, we have to resolve
all the things. Starting in this part. In this part of the story, we will see that the suspense of the
story starts to unravel. In this part of the story, we will see that the
pieces which were scattered before are now
coming to one place. They are starting
to fall into place. In the falling action part, we will see that
the protagonist of the story clearly has the key to the
victory in his hands. So when we have to write
a happy ending story, we have to make sure that the
conflict of the story and the main issue and
main problem of the story is solved in
this part of the story. However, when writing a tragic and a sad
ending of the story, we will have to change
the falling action, which is opposite of the
happy ending falling action. In this part of the story, we will see that
the protagonist of the story has crossed
the point of no return. In this part, we will see that the protagonist has
no place to escape. He has to face his fate and
watch his life fall apart. The story will move forward
with a Tragedy genre. Because of this tragedy
seen in the falling action, the readers will feel
that the hero has no one who can help them out
this miserable situation. They will feel that the fate has been very cruel to the hero. They will feel the inevitable
sense of catastrophe. This part of the story also
has very tense scenes in it. It should be filled with
tension and anxiety, which will make the readers
glued to their seats. However, the storage
should also give a little hope that the it
may end and happy ending. However, the hope will be shattered no long after
the falling action. In the catastrophe part, the protagonist will come face to face with
the antagonist. And we'll try to solve the
conflict between them. In the happy ending story, the protagonist will win
and resolve the conflict. However, in the
tragic ending story, either the conflict between the protagonist and
antagonist will not be resolved or the antagonist
will gain the upper hand. In this part of the story, we will see that the main
action where the climax is over and the plot of the story is moving
forward towards its end. It is just the aftermath
of the climax. However, it is not as simple as writing other
part of the story. It is one of the hardest
parts of story to write because you have to connect all the things in this
part of the story. Because you have to make sure that you have not
left any loose ends. You have to tie
up all the loose. And in this part of the story, you have to make sure that all the conflicts,
major or minor, has either resolved or at
least addressed in this part, you have to grab
the attention of the readers until the
ending of the story. So make sure that
you are not giving everything that readers
one in this part. You can do this by expanding
the world of the story. Or you can leave some mysteries
of that world unanswered. Which means that you will
have to leave some answers. For the last part of the story. Makes sure that this part
only focuses on the climax, the aftermath of it. And it should keep pushing
the story towards its end. The main difference
between the rising action, falling action is that the rising action will make the life of Hera
from normal to hard. While the falling
action will make the life of the hero
form hard to normal, rising action will
change the status quo. The hero, while falling action will reverse it and return it. Like I have said before, the catastrophe part should not come as natural
to the readers. Make sure that you leave some hope for the readers
and the protagonist. It means that you have
to show that there is a very slim possibility that the story for the protagonist
will become good. However, will riding
a happy ending story, it is not necessary. But for the tragic ending story, it is important that the
hero should not lose the hope until the
very end of the story. Then the story will move
towards the catastrophe part.
7. Denouement or Catastrophe: It is the part where the
outcome of the story is shown. It is the part where the story
will come to a conclusion. It is part where the conflict of the story is
completely resolved. It is part of story
where the protagonist of the story will win and the
story will finally be over. Happy ending version of Freytag's Pyramid
has denouement part. However, the original ending of the Freytag's Pyramid
story structure has a different term
for the ending. And it called as catastrophe. It means that it will not
end in a happy ending. Instead, it will be a
sad and tragic ending. It means that everything
will go wrong for me protagonist in the end of
the story and in this part, the protagonist
will most probably we'll meet a tragic
end such as death. If you ask, why would we want
to write a tragic ending? Then to answer your question, I will say that if your
protagonist is an anti-hero, then he will inevitably
have a tragic ending. Or if your main character
of the story is a bad guy or a
straight-up antagonist, then the story will
have an unhappy ending. So if you are writing a sad story than
writing a story where the hero is bound to fail in the end can be regarded
as a reasonable lending. The journey of the
hero should end in a devastating and then
a disastrous way. But if you are writing
a happy ending, then make sure that the
protagonist has not failed. But as overcome every
single obstacle. And one in the end.
8. Inciting Incident: Now, we will talk about
the inciting incident, which is not in the
original part of the Freytag's Pyramid
story structure. It was added later on in
the happy ending version. It is also called
as inciting action. However, some claim that this part is already in
the original version, but it not the main part
of the story structure. It is just the subpart
of the exposition. Nonetheless, it is the part
where the life of hero will change from normal life to
a heart and unsure life. It can be an incident or a person which will change
the status quo of the hero. It is a factor that will trigger the change in the life of hero.
9. Freytag’s Pyramid Story Structure Example: In this part, I will show
you how to structure your story using the Freytag's
Pyramid story structure. We will use a template to
create the story structure. The template will be made of the main points of the Freytag's
Pyramid story structure. First point is exposition
or introduction. Let's say the name of the protagonist and the
main character is Sam. In this exposition part, we introduce Sam and other key characters of the story and the
setting of the story. Sam is a teenage boy. He stays with his family, his mother and his
father in London. He is a good and intelligent boy who excels in his studies. He is very extraordinary qualities such as
He is very strong, stronger than normal people. He is fast, sometimes faster
than a normal car speed. He can jump very high, higher than normal people. Although he has all these good and
extraordinary qualities, he does not get love and
recognition from his family. Then comes the
inciting incident. One day when Sam returns
home from school, he hears loud noises
from his house. When he was at the door, the door was open. He saw his mother and father. They were arguing
with each other. During the argument. It's slipped out from
his father's mouth that Sam was not their
biological child. He was adopted from
the orphanage. After hearing this, he sets
out to find his real parents. On his journey. He went to an old
friend of his parents. His name was Jordan. He found the address of Jordan from his
adopted families safe. When he meets with his real
parents friend Jordan, he will get to know a shocking
truth about his birth. He will find out that his mother was an
extraordinary being. She came to the Earth
from an unknown planet. His father was a scientist. They both died in
a car accident. Their death was a mystery. Jordan will hand
over a stone to Sam. He will tell Sam that he
has safeguarded this stone. And this stone belongs
to his mother. This stone has some
supernatural powers. This was the last
thing Sam's parents protected until
their last breath. And somehow the stone only recognized his parents
and no one else. Now, the stone is in sam's hand, and it has recognized Sam. When he met with Jordan, he began to stay at his house. Jordan has a daughter
called Susie. Susie is also a
teenager, same as Sam. Then Sam decides to stay with them and enrolls in the
same school as Susie. Now comes the climax
of the story. Sam and Susie fall
for each other. They together started
to grow and evolve. And they together conducted
experiments on the stone. Many years have passed, and now they are
a married couple. In all these years, they together started to understand the powers of
stone little by little. One day, someone
knocks at Sam's door. When Sam opens it, he will see a man who is
very similar to his mother. Then the man introduced
himself as Matthew. He is his mother's friend. He is from the same
planet as his mother. Sand then invents him to the dinner to get to know
more about his mother. When they were
having have dinner, Matthew used some power and made both Susie and Sam unconscious
and stole the stone. After that, Sam decided to go after Matthew and
get back the stone. Then comes the falling action. Even after Matthew
has stolen the stone, Sam still feels
connected to the stone. In his dreams. The Stone calls him and
asked him to find it. Then one night, sam sees some
reflections in his dream. It is about the place where
the stolen stone is stored. Then Suzy and Sam go in
search of that place. And after many trails
and hardships, they find the stone. He confronts
Matthew, and then he will have a big fight
with him for the stone. At the end, sam
will win the fight, then escaped with the stone. Matthew is arrested. However, Sam is injured and
is in a very bad shape. When he returns home. He is immediately
admitted to the hospital. He is unconscious and he is very little hope of getting
regaining consciousness. Then in the last part of story, which is denouement, Sam recovers and regains
his consciousness. He has won and
secured the stone. Then he stays happily
with his Susie. But if you were to
write a tragic ending, then you can say that Sam got the stone
back from Matthew. However, he was injured very badly during his
fight with Matthew. He is admitted to the hospital and he is in very
critical condition. Then in the catastrophe part, you can reveal to
the readers that he is unable to recover
from the injuries. Sam has died in the hospital. Susie continues to protect
the stone from here onwards.