✍️📖 Narrative Models: Structures for Building Great Stories

Writing a story can seem like a giant challenge 🏔️, but don't worry! There are narrative templates that help you organize your story effectively. These templates are like maps 🗺️ that guide your narrative, ensuring that the reader stays hooked until the end.

And the best part: AI can help you apply them creatively! 🤖✨

🔥 1. What are Narrative Models?

They are universal structures that have been used in literature, film 🎬 and television 📺 for centuries. They work because they appeal to our natural way of telling and understanding stories.

Some of the best known are:

📌 The Hero's Journey 🦸‍♂️
📌 The Three-Act Structure 🎭
📌 Freytag's Pyramid ⛰️
📌 Dan Harmon's Narrative Circle 🔄

Each of them is a guide that helps you shape your story , preventing it from becoming boring, repetitive or aimless.

🦸‍♂️ 2. The Hero's Journey (Joseph Campbell)

This is the classic model of adventure stories (Star Wars, The Lord of the Rings, Matrix…).

🔄 The 12 Stages of the Hero's Journey

1️⃣ Ordinary World 🌍
2️⃣ Call to Adventure 📜
3️⃣ Refusal of the Call ❌
4️⃣ Meeting the Mentor 🧙‍♂️
5️⃣ Crossing the Threshold 🚪
6️⃣ Trials, Allies, and Enemies ⚔️
7️⃣ Approaching the Deep Cave 🕵️‍♂️
8️⃣ Supreme Trial 💀
9️⃣ Reward 🎁
🔟 Return with the Elixir 🏆

🎯 AI example:

🎤 You: "Give me a sci-fi story with a Hero's Journey."
🤖 AI: "A space engineer discovers a distress signal from a distant planet. He embarks on a perilous journey, faces betrayal, uncovers an ancient alien secret, and returns as the only human with knowledge of a lost civilization."

🔥 You already have the foundation of your story! Now you just need to give it your personal touch.

🎭 3. The Three-Act Structure

This model, used in film, theatre and novels, divides the story into three parts :

1️⃣ Introduction: We introduce the characters, the world, and the main conflict.
2️⃣ Plot: The tension grows, there are obstacles, unexpected twists, and the protagonist evolves.
3️⃣ Denouement: The conflict is resolved, either with a victory, a defeat, or an open ending.

🎯 AI example:

🎤 You: "Develop a horror story using a three-act structure."
🤖 AI:
Act 1: A group of explorers find an abandoned village in the middle of the desert. 🌵🏚️
Act 2: They discover that every night something invisible stalks them and catches them one by one . 🌑👁️
Act 3: Only one survives, but when he manages to escape, he realizes that the village has changed location and is now in his own city . 😱

🚀 Result: You have an intriguing story ready to unfold!

⛰️ 4. Freytag's Pyramid (Perfect for Tragedies and Dramas)

This structure is used in stories where the conflict slowly builds to a point of maximum tension, and then is resolved dramatically.

📌 1. Exposition : Characters and conflict are introduced.
📌 2. Rising Action : Tension builds with problems and challenges.
📌 3. Climax : Moment of greatest emotional impact.
📌 4. Falling Action : Consequences begin to become noticeable.
📌 5. Denouement : The conflict is resolved… for better or worse.

🎯 AI example:

🎤 You: "Create a drama story using Freytag's Pyramid."
🤖 AI:
Exposition: A scientist finds a cure for a deadly disease. 🧬
Rising Action: His boss tries to steal his work and sell it to the highest bidder. 💰
Climax: The scientist refuses to budge and is falsely accused of fraud. ⚖️
Falling Action: He loses everything, but decides to release the cure to the world. 🌎
Denouement: He dies in poverty, but his discovery saves millions of lives. 💔

💡 Ideal for powerful and emotional stories!

🔄 5. Dan Harmon's Narrative Circle

It is a modern and simple model that works in movies, series and novels . It is based on 8 steps that simulate a transformation journey of the protagonist.

1️⃣ The protagonist is in his comfort zone.
2️⃣ He wants something.
3️⃣ He enters an unfamiliar situation.
4️⃣ He faces challenges.
5️⃣ He finds what he's looking for, but at a price.
6️⃣ He returns home, but changed.

🎯 AI example:

🎤 You: "Create a fantasy story with the Narrative Circle."
🤖 AI:
Start: A young fisherman dreams of being a knight. ⚔️
Desire: He wants to prove himself and gain honor. 🏆
Adventure: He travels to the city and enters a deadly tournament. 🏰
Challenges: He discovers that the tournament is a hoax and there is a plot against the kingdom. 🔥
Change: He decides not to win, but to reveal the truth to the people. 🏴‍☠️
Return: He returns as a hero… but he no longer wants to be a knight. 🎖️

💡 Result: An epic tale with a powerful transformation!

🤖 6. How AI Can Help You Write with Narrative Models

✅ Ask them to structure your story in different patterns.
✅ Ask them questions about possible plot twists.
✅ Try combinations: What would a horror story look like with the Hero's Journey?
✅ Let them act as an editor and give you feedback: "How can I make this climax more impactful?"

💡 Interactive example:

🎤 You: "Give me a science fiction story with Freytag's Pyramid and a twist ending."
🤖 AI: It develops the entire story in that structure.

🔥 Conclusion: Narrative models are powerful tools, and with the help of AI, you can explore, combine, and refine them to create unforgettable stories.

🎬 Now tell me, what story are you going to write today? 😃

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