Experimenting with a different storytelling structure is a GREAT way to create unique and intriguing fiction.
Narrative Diversity refers to the use of various storytelling formats beyond traditional narratives to create a unique reading experience.
For example, Dracula by Bram Stoker is an excellent book using narrative diversity. The epistolary format characterizes Dracula, with the entire novel comprising newspaper clippings and individuals’ diary entries.
Adding some narrative diversity into your fiction gives your writing that little bit extra creativity and engages readers in unique ways.
I love how Stoker used a different storytelling structure in Dracula it makes the story engaging, unique, and quite enjoyable.
So I have compiled a list of different narrative structures you can use in your fiction.
Exploring Different Storytelling Formats
There are so many different ways to tell a story here are some of my personal favorites.
1. Epistolary Fiction
As I noted before epistolary fiction is a story completely consisting of letters, documents, and written media.
This form of narrative structure adds a specific haunting effect as establishes a world in which the story you telling happened.
Understanding that the story being told has significantly impacted the world you are reading about creates a believable and captivating environment that readers can readily immerse themselves in.
Reading epistolary fiction feels like being an old-time detective drawing red lines between articles and diary entries as evidence.
If you used this structure in a detective/ crime novel would be incredibly engaging.
This is why it works so well for Dracula.
If you are unaware Dracula is about how Count Dracula (the classic vampire) attempts to move from Transylvania to England so he can find new blood and spread the undead curse around, also tells the story of the battle between Dracula and a small group of individuals lead by the Professor Abraham Van Helsing.
The narrative unfolds by first exposing you to the terrors of Dracula, followed by a shift in time where the effects of Dracula on this town gradually become more apparent.
The epistolary format is SUCH an effective storytelling structure try it out.
Nonlinear Narratives
Narratives that don’t take place chronologically or seem to but don’t do a similar thing to the epistolary format to the reader.
The nonlinear narrative drip feeds information from different periods out of order so your reader can draw cause and effect between the scenes.
Nonlinear narratives specialize in creating suspense, often revealing information upfront that someone specific will die. Throughout the story, scenes featuring this character unfold alongside interactions with other characters, intensifying the suspense and intrigue.
This constant interplay of scenes and information keeps the reader on their toes, immersed in a state of suspense throughout the narrative.
An excellent movie that uses nonlinear narratives is Arrival.
Arrival explores the story of various alien pods arriving on planet Earth around the globe and follows a group of individuals who learn to communicate with the aliens.
The narrative operates by presenting scenes out of chronological order, and these scenes are not necessarily positioned before or after the main story. This structure allows for sustained suspense and leads to one of my favorite plot twists in cinema at the end.
Try telling your story nonlinearly.
Multi-Perspective Narratives
This story structure is where you have the same story and events but they are seen ‘at different angles’ through different characters.
This makes an interesting story as the nature of the events is up to the observer some characters may think it is the end of the world others aren’t phased.
The uniqueness of individual experience allows for a fascinating journey into the minds of people.
If you want to understand what makes your characters tick, this is an excellent way to do it.
Gone Girl is an excellent example of Multi-Perspective Narratives.
The film follows how a lady Amy Dunne goes missing and her husband Nicholas Dunne is blamed but everything is not as it seems.
The way the story is bent around how Amy and Nicholas see the events of the story allows for them as characters to be fleshed out and understood on a truly deeper level.
Give it a go!
Frame Stories
Frame stories are narratives where there are narratives within narratives.
For those who appreciate narratives within narratives, the concept of a frame story opens the door to a captivating storytelling technique.
In a frame story, a central narrative serves as a container for one or more additional tales, creating a literary Russian doll effect.
Classic examples like Chaucer’s “The Canterbury Tales” or contemporary works like David Mitchell’s “Cloud Atlas” demonstrate the versatility of frame stories.
By employing this format, writers can link seemingly disparate narratives, exploring themes that resonate across different timelines or storylines.
Frame stories invite readers to unravel layers of meaning and connections, turning each narrative layer into a delightful revelation.
If you want your reader constantly thinking about your story’s meaning, try this one out.
In Conclusion. . .
We’ve discussed four great narrative structures you can use in your fiction they were;
- Epistolary Fiction
- Non-linear Narratives
- Multi-Perspective Narratives
- Frame Stories
This is just the start of all the structures you could use for your stories.
Pick out which ones seem interesting and try them out.
All I want from you after reading this is for you to write your story and have fun.
It’s why we write.
Goodbye, and good luck.
Happy Writing 🙂
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