The Writer’s Vocabulary — Narrative Arcs
How Carefully Managing Different Narrative Arcs Will MakeYour Story Unputdownable
Story Arcs and the Power of Intersection
The narrative arc is the movement of the story. It may be confused with the plot, and indeed it is closely connected to it. But while the plot is the way events happen and connect, the arc is the dramatic forward movement of those events.
While the plot regards the logical movement of the story more closely connected with causes and effects, the arc concerns itself with the story movement more closely related to the conflict. They do move together, but they have different goals. The plot wants to give us a coherent story. The arc wants to give us a dramatic story.
While the plot regards the logical movement of the story more closely connected with causes and effects, the arc concerns itself with the story movement more closely related to the conflict.
All arcs start with a stable situation, escalate from crisis to crisis to a climax, resolve in consequence of decision-making and end in a new stable situation.
