Aug 23, 2024 08:00:00

It is important to understand 'fictional time' in order to understand the 'structure' of a story

'Story structure' is an important element in writing, but even if you express it in one word, it should be difficult to know what you should be aware of specifically.

Jessica Anthony, a writer and English lecturer at Bates College in the United States, says that the 'fictional time' that passes in a story is important to decipher the structure of a story, and explains how to train yourself to understand the structure.

Jessica Anthony on Getting a Grip on Fictional Time | Literary Hub
https://lithub.com/jessica-anthony-on-getting-a-grip-on-fictional-time/

Story structure is used to organize and level up the entire story, including how to split the story, switch chronology and perspectives, and how to tell the story, in addition to the pure story and character movements. Journalist and author Paula Hawkins says, 'Story structure is a very valuable idea because it adds a 'surprise' to the pure story. Also, having a structure in place in advance can serve as a framework for writing, so it can help you understand what you need next and what you should reveal next.' She talks about the importance of structure.

What is a 'strong story structure' to enhance the quality of a story? - GIGAZINE

As a teacher, Anthony used to teach students how to read and understand the structure by 'reading the story together, following the text, and examining how the characters deepen through action, conversation, and simple observation.' This method is effective, but it can take a few weeks or even an entire semester for students to start getting the hang of it or realize that they enjoy reading that way. In addition, since the beginning of 2020, remote lectures have become more common due to the new coronavirus, so the traditional method has become difficult, and Anthony said he has sought new ways to convey the structure.

Anthony recommends that we first understand the difference between a 'scene' and a 'structure.' In a scene, the dialogue and the image of the narrator draw us in, making us want to turn the pages one after another, but time stops in a scene. For example, if there is a 30-minute scene in a story, you can read it as if you are rushing through it, but you can also take your time to imagine what kind of conversation took place in those 30 minutes. The more conversations you add to a story, the more time stops in a scene that is supposed to have a time limit. Readers can jump into the scene and then jump out of it at will.

Structure can be a sentence, a paragraph, a page, a chapter, a scene, or the entire story. Anthony found that when he wrote his books, he found structure by controlling the time of the scene. When writing a scene, whether you set a time limit of 10 minutes, 2 hours, or 3 days will determine what kind of action or dialogue is allowed.

So, as a training to understand the structure of a story, Anthony set the task of writing 'a short story that ends in one scene' and 'a short story that is complete' for his remote lectures to his students. A short story that ends in one scene cannot use the passage of time such as 'a few weeks later' or flashbacks such as 'a few years ago', so there is no room for the characters to change and the time in the scene can be well understood. After that, by writing one short story that is complete, it is possible to put together the structure of the story while placing an important focus on the time of the scene.

Anthony also introduced the anthology '

Single Scene Short Stories ,' which is a collection of short stories with one scene each. If you read such anthologies or stories that end with one scene that you have read before while being conscious of the time that passes in the story, you will be able to understand how scenes and structures are constructed and their importance.