The narrative arc refers to a story’s progression and suggests the desirability of growing tension followed by resolution. Keep in mind that the term has more currency in plays and films and in novels than in short stories. It would be unwise to follow slavishly the kind of formulae that might help longer pieces.
Here are two models for the narrative arc.
Five Step Model
1. Exposition Characters introduced and setting revealed.
2. Rising Action, the plot thickens as the protagonist (main character) faces opposition / obstacles / dangers etc, that give rise to tension in the story.
3. Climax The events that produce the height of dramatic tension.
4. Falling Action The consequences or at least what follows the events at the top of the arc.
5. Resolution The issues of the story / protagonist are resolved and any remaining loose threads dealt with.
Nigel Watts’ 8 Point Arc
Watts, in a book about writing novels, has suggested eight steps.
1. Stasis This part of the story establishes the current situation. E.g. Seeing the protagonist in everyday life, such as Aladdin, a ne’er-do-well living in poverty with his mother.
2. Trigger What takes the protagonist away from every day. E.g. The sorcerer recruits Aladdin with new lamps for old.
3. Quest The trigger results in the protagonist facing a challenge or needing to accomplish a goal that is not straightforward. E.g. Aladdin wants a share of the wealth found in a cave the sorcerer sends him into.
4. Surprise Events conspire to thwart or make more difficult achieving the quest. E.g. Aladdin finds himself trapped in the cave because the sorcerer is treacherous.
5. Critical choice The protagonist makes a particular choice relating to what thwarts him or her, or stumbles into a course of action. E.g. Aladdin rubs the magic lamp releasing the genie and chooses to have wealth.
6. Climax Events build to a peak. E.g. Aladdin’s new status leads to show down with the sorcerer.
7. Reversal as a result of the critical choice and climax the status of the major characters, especially the protagonist changes. E.g. Aladdin defeats the sorcerer who had returned with evil intent.
8. Resolution The ending creates a new point of stasis and the character is wiser or otherwise changed by events. E.g. Aladdin marries the princess and gives up his ne’er-do-well ways.
Keeping Readers in Mind
One risk of over-focusing on narrative arc theory is forgetting what readers, who rely on intuition more than literary theory, appreciate. The following are recommended for general readers of short stories.
• Hooks – High interest aroused in the first few paragraphs if not lines.
• Prompt Action – Key things happen on the first page that lead to emotional involvement with the characters.
• Tension – Plausible events create conflict and suspense. However, each genre has its own rules for plausibility. What works in a fairy tale or ghost story may not work in a western or crime story?
• Satisfactory Ending – The reader’s emotional involvement means they want an ending that strikes them as suitable.
Types of Short Story Endings
Some of these might be combined. Not all are fashionable or recommended.
Linear The linear story sticks with the chronological order. E.g. Telling Aladdin without flashback or flash-forwards and ending with the last thing that happened, such as Aladdin and the princess lived happily ever after.
Circular The story begins with the ending or part of it and then, via extended flashback, relates the events leading up to the ending. E.g. Aladdin is married to the princess and then we learn he had been poor and had adventures that led to his wealth and marriage.
Unresolved Often used to convey that life is not so simple that experiences, efforts and realisations always produce a desirable result. E.g. Aladdin ends with him finding no way of persuading his in-laws, who regard him nouveau riche, that he is their equal.
Epilogue What happened after the story. E.g. Rather than merely saying Aladdin lived happily ever after, adding details such as having six children, succeeding the king and being a wise ruler.
Closed Nothing more can happen. E.g. If the central character of Aladdin was the sorcerer, his death could provide a closed ending.
Open The reader is left if not encouraged to wonder what happened next. E.g. “Although Aladdin became for the most part a reliable husband, caring father and wise king, at times the urge for further adventures overwhelmed him. But those are stories for another time.”
Ambiguous Story ends in such a way that what happened or the significance of this is open to interpretation. E.g. Aladdin closes without the reader knowing whether the genie controls the hero or he controls the genie.
Cliff-hanger Has elements of open and ambiguous endings. Everything rides on what will happen in the near future. E.g. Aladdin as king hides in a locked room as those seeking to kill him take an axe to the door.
Nick of Time Rescue at the last minute or knowledge that rescue is about to happen. E.g. Aladdin realises that he wants a life of adventure and not marriage. As he waits for his bride to arrive at the wedding, he realises he is stranding on a magic carpet and uses it to flee.
Relentless Circumstances / personality are such that the main character/s appear doomed to continue leading flawed if not deteriorating lives. E.g. Aladdin can’t stop gambling and is losing his newfound wealth and status.
Reflective The narrator or a character looks back at the events of the story. E.g. Aladdin tells his story to his children and then remarks on what he learned from the experiences related.
Twist An ending that is not expected and leaves the reader amused or agog. E.g. Aladdin is revealed to be a genie himself. Readers like being stunned, but not if the twist lacks plausibility. Outside of magical tales, good surprises are hard to create.
Shock Similar to twist ending, but the focus is on a character’s reaction to a discovery. E.g. Aladdin’s reaction to finding that the princess is a vampire when he finds her feeding on the blood of a child.
Deus ex Machina Literally means “god from the machine”. This harks back to theatres using devices that lent to the illusion of a god appearing to resolve the dramatic issues. The term is now often used to suggest a clumsy and/or implausible addition to a story. E.g. Aladdin as king is presented with a magical lamp and finds he cannot control this genie. Aliens arrive in a spaceship and sort out the problem.
Moralistic Reader is told the lesson to be learned from the story or it ends with a laboured account of a villain’s just deserts. E.g. Narrator concludes Aladdin with, “So beware of men claiming to be your uncle and offering new lamps for old or other things too good to be true.”
Poetic Justice The moral is implied rather than made explicit. E.g. Aladdin ends with the sorcerer condemned to work in a mine no less dark or dangerous that the cave where he abandoned the hero.
Quote Story ends with quote. E.g. Narrator of Aladdin concludes with, “For as Michel de Montaigne said, Wickedness sucks in the greater part of its own venom, and poisons itself therewith.”
Ironic Given that couples seldom live happily ever after, an adult may smile at the irony of these words ending a fairy tale. But ironic endings can be more intentional than traditional. E.g. Aladdin wastes all his wishes and wealth and becomes a drudge at the palace that he might have ruled and spends his days polishing lamps.
Epiphany The protagonist experiences a flash of insight profound enough to change her / his outlook. It may also change behaviour, but sometimes habits, despair or the environment prevent this. E.g. Aladdin, seeing how close he came to dying and leaving his mother in poverty, resolves to avoid idleness and adventures.
Realization An insight less profound than an epiphany and therefore less likely to lead to change. E.g. Aladdin ends with the hero learning that the sorcerer was his uncle and that therefore his father’s family are tainted with evil.
Symbolic Items or actions are used to represent a state of affairs within the story.
E.g. At the end of Aladdin, he and his wife plant two vines side by side that grow intertwined and yield a wine of unparalleled sweetness.
Cataclysmic A natural or human disaster or a shocking act of violence brings the story to close. E.g. Aladdin is sailing home with his new wealth when a storm combined with a drunken crew leads to loss of every life on the ship.
Sugary Everything works out fine for everybody with the possible exception of baddies who get their come-uppance. Works well in fairy tales like Aladdin, less useful in stories for adults.
Pitiful Reader left feeling sad for human or animal character/s who face ongoing hardships. E.g. Aladdin is tricked into becoming the genie’s slave and works in isolation twenty hours a day with barely enough food to keep him going.
Tragic Story ends with a death or another tragic event. E.g. Aladdin falls of a flying carpet and is left with major brain damage that means he can neither speak nor understand speech.
Destination Story ends with arrival at a destination. Aladdin crosses a desert to reach his bride and their wedding.
Soothsayer Story ends with a character saying in effect I told you so. E.g. Aladdin’s mother tells the king at the wedding that she always knew that her son would be a great man.
Stand-off Rather than the protagonist winning a complete victory, the tensions are suspended, not resolved. E.g. Aladdin knows that the sorcerer is undefeated and may well threaten him again.
Butterfly The protagonist moves from one pursuit to another in the way a butterfly flits from flower to flower. E.g. Aladdin ends with the hero about to be married, seeing a flying carpet and dropping everything to become the owner of such a marvel
Summarising Encapsulating the story in the last paragraph or two. This might be useful if the plot is complicated, but in such a case it would be probably better to simplify the story or to tell it more clearly.
