Bob Denver Gilligan’s Island, 1966, CBS Television, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
Think back to all the great stories you’ve heard, read while relaxing on a sunny beach, or watched in front of the big screen. What do they all have in common? Your first answer might be, “They kept me on the edge of my seat and their ending nailed it.”
OK, that might be true. But if you dig deeper, you’ll find they all stayed true to the narrative structure of the traditional story arc—Exposition, Rising Action, Climax, Falling Action, and Resolution. In good stories, you don’t see this structure. The transition from one element to the next flows seamlessly.
The 1942 film Casablanca, often cited as one of the greatest movies ever made, offers a good example of this. You don’t even notice as the Exposition rolls through a series of Continue Reading “The Terrible Reality of Story Arcs”
A Good Show Must Always End, But A Great Story Lasts Forever
A fragment of the Odyssey, via Wikimedia Commons
Have you ever been involved in a performance? Any kind of performance? It could have been a high school play, a ceremony at church, or a major presentation at work. In all cases, you practice, practice, practice. Whether it’s a musical or a wedding, you have a final rehearsal before the actual “show.”
On opening night, you have jitters. Throughout the event, your shoulders remain tense. You try not to let them see you sweat. At some point, however, you get past the hump. You can see the end. You begin to relax. Ironically, adrenaline pumps through your veins until it reaches euphoria when the final curtain falls. Your emotion peaks to such heights that, even today, you can barely remember the celebratory after-party.
And then it’s over. You wake up the next morning to an unexpected emptiness. The routine is gone. What do you do now?
Alas, all good shows must come to an end. Such is the nature of the business. Such is the Continue Reading “A Good Show Must Always End, But A Great Story Lasts Forever”