Story Building Tools: Narrative Arc in Podcasting

Every podcast tells a story. What story are you telling and why listeners will care? Narrative Arc is the direction in which your story moves. A podcast should launch with their exposition and conflict written. Everything that happens after that is part of the story. 

What are the Components of a Good Story?

Every narrative does not need to follow this order, but they should contain each component:

Exposition: Background information given to the audience about setting, characters, prior events, social norms, etc.

Conflict: A challenge presented to the protagonist for them to overcome. There are stakes involved and the audience does not know if the protagonist will succeed or not.

Rising Action: The events leading up to the climax, after a conflict has been introduced. This is where dynamic characters and the plot begin to develop.

Climax: The most dramatic point of the story. Everything in the story prior leads up to this point, and the protagonist will either succeed or fail.

Falling Action: The events following the climax where tension lessens and heads towards a conclusion.

Resolution: The part of the story where the main conflict is worked out, typically at the end of the story.

What are some popular Narrative Arcs?

  1. Dean Koontz’s Classic Story Structure

  2. In Medias Res

  3. The Hero’s Journey

  4. The 7-Point Story Structure

  5. Randy Ingermanson’s Snowflake Method

  6. The Three-Act Structure

  7. James Scott Bell’s a Disturbance and Two Doorways

 

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Story Building Tools: Setting

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Story Building Tools: Narrative Rules for Podcasting