What is a Narrative Arc- YOP

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What is a Narrative Arc?
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What is a Narrative Arc or Story Arc definition?

• The narrative arc also called the story arc
  refers to the shape and structure of a story. It
  is universal and pertinent to both fiction and
  nonfiction. This arc reflects the events in your
  story, the sequence of occurrences in the plot,
  and determines the troughs and crests that set
  the pace. A good arc is integral if you want to
  engage your readers from start to finish. It is
  essential to deliver a satisfying conclusion.
• The narrative arc is a term that describes a
  storys complete progression. It testifies to the
  belief that every story has a relatively calm
  beginning, a middle where tension, character
  conflict, and narrative momentum builds to a
  peak, and an end where the conflict is resolved.

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• It sometimes comes in handy to think about the
  story arc as though youre setting up a simple
  dramatic play. Evidently, youve got three acts
  to tell your story.
• In Act One, you set the tone and introduce your
  audience to the setting, the characters, and the
  seeds of conflict.
• In Act Two, your characters grow, respond and
  change in accordance with conflicts and
  circumstances. They set about trying to resolve
  the big puzzle, the seminal idea. Usually, the
  conflict escalates to a climax.
• In Act Three, characters resolve the Big Problem
  and the story concludes.

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So, how does a Narrative arc differ from a plot?

• Imagine every scene of your novel summarized on
  notecards! This entire stack of cards is your
  plot, but the order in which you lay them out is
  your narrative arc. The plot is comprised of the
  individual events that make up your story whereas
  your story arc is the sequence of those events.
  Carefully sequencing your plot into a cohesive
  story arc helps readers navigate through your
  story. It sets expectations that you can either
  satisfy or disrupt. Thinking about your arc is
  integral around the whole point. What if your
  Scene-1 notecard actually belongs in the climax?
  What if you have too many scenes based on
  internal conflict in a row and it derails the
  narrative?
• The plot is the skeleton of your story and the
  narrative arc is its spine. Its the central
  through-line that marks the plots progress from
  the beginning to the end.

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What is a character arc then?

• The character arc is to a character what the
  narrative arc is to the story. The narrative arc
  treads the plot on a grand scale whereas a
  character arc charts the inner journey of a
  character throughout the plot. Each main and
  sometimes secondary character will go through an
  individual character arc. While the story arc is
  external, the character arc is internal.
• Narrative and character arcs are part of a larger
  symbiotic relationship. Every plot point in the
  story arc aims to bring your characters closer
  to, or further from, their goals and desires. The
  circumstances and conflicts your characters go
  through are part of the arc, but the way
  characters meet challenges and as a result,
  change, is the character arc territory.

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Freytags Pyramid The Five Elements of a Story
Arc

• 1. Exposition
• Here, the reader is introduced to the story. The
  exposition puts through the background
  information to prime the audience for the rest of
  the story. It includes the introduction of the
  main character-the who, setting-the where, and
  the circumstances-the when.
• 2. Rising Action
• This is when conflict begins to build up. The
  rising action usually begins with an inciting
  incident, the triggering point that sets the
  main events of the story in motion. This is when
  the audience starts to realize what your story is
  really about. Here the visual representation
  describes the structural elements of the plot.

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• 3. Climax
• The highest point of tension in your storyline is
  the climax. This is often the point at which all
  the different subplots and characters converge.
  Usually, the climax requires the main character
  to face the truth or make an important choice.
• 4. Falling Action
• This is the point triggered by the protagonists
  decision. In the falling action act, the conflict
  gives way to resolution. Loose ends of the story
  are tied up, and tension begins to dissipate.

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5. Resolution

• Resolution is also known as denouement. This is
  how the stories are ended. The resolution of a
  narrative arc isnt always happy or pleasant. Yet
  it does close the loop and show how the events of
  the story have transformed the characters and the
  world around them.
• For a story to create the impact an author wishes
  to have, a narrative arc alongside the plot needs
  to converge and take the story along. Then comes
  the character arc which keeps the readers glued.
  And if all the five elements of a story arc are
  followed to the T, the author will most often
  than not be able to keep it grippy, tight, and
  taut.

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