This craft analysis will provide an overview of story structure.
Story structure is the backbone of the story. If you strip away the characters, the dialogue, and all the dressing, what you have left is structure. Story structure consists of scope, scenes, summaries, and, of course, plot. That’s a lot to cover in one overview, so this analysis will briefly introduce each of these topics and explain how to use them within the framework of a story.
Scope
Scope refers to the magnitude of the story itself. Some stories have enormous scopes, storylines stretching across space and time. Scope includes timeline, world-size, and the number of characters, as well as the significance of the events in the story. A story with a timeline of years would likely have a large scope, as would a story with dozens of characters.
A small scope typically fits a short story, whereas a large scope fits novels and epics. It is important to remember that epics cannot be short stories, and short stories cannot be epics. A very large scope requires an equally deep story because stories must move forward and deeper.
Deeper and Forward
Good novels are as deep as they are expansive. The depth of a story encompasses many elements, but always characterization. Fully developed characters are deep, but one-dimensional characters are not. I will leave the complete discussion of characterization to another time, but I do want to emphasize that the problems of a character cannot be resolved until they are fully explored. Always ask yourself the following questions. Why is this thing/person/thought mentioned in the story? What additional significance does it/he/she play?
Depth and scope provides a basis for the construction of the story. Stories are comprised of scenes.
Construction
Scenes are the smallest complete components of a storyline, the building blocks of a story. They include elements of character and plot. They should be arranged in the most appealing order, something I refer to as story construction. The order of scenes is essential to the proper flow of a story. For example, if scenes A, B, and C are more meaningful arranged as B, C, and A, arrange them as B, C, and A.
Do not assume that the reader understands hidden details or unstated scenes. The reader does not have your mind. Every scene that occurs in the story must be a part of the story, and it must serve a purpose. However, sometimes you will not be able to construct the narrative without a summary.
Scene vs. Summary
Think of a scene in a story like a scene from a movie. It serves a purpose in its own right, but it also serves a purpose in the larger story. You could move the scene forward or backward within the timeline of the story. You could even remove the scene and replace it with another scene.
On the other hand, a summary is a direct narration that provides background information. Summaries are necessary because they allow you to include information that occurs over a long stretch of time or did not occur in a scene. While a summary-heavy story is monotonous to read, a summary-light story cannot cover great expanses of time. There is a balance that must be achieved between scene and summary, and that balance dictates the nature of the story or, if you prefer, the plot.
Plot
Plot is the skeleton of the story. Plot includes the connections and disconnections of the characters. It provides a framework for the development of character. A plot can be as simple as a character seeking a particular item in a general store, or it can be as complex as a multi-nation political revolution. Plot is the stitch-work of the story. It unites and drives apart. It provides the foundation for all the scenes and summaries.
Conclusion
In conclusion, story structure is the bones of your story. It forges the connections within your story, and it provides the framework for everything that will exist within the story.