Narrative: a retelling of any sequence of events

This week in media we’re looking at narrative and the key elements involved in creating a good story. Naturally, this means re-hashing the basics such as the three-act structure and the need for conflict and drama. Re-visiting these concepts can be interesting though, as it forces me to think about the finer details that I tend to over look.

For example, we were discussing protagonists and antagonists in narrative and how antagonists aren’t necessarily the protagonists enemy, but simply the character that causes change and or trouble for the protagonist. This the kind of thing that I tend to forget sometimes, as the word antagonist is so often used to describe characters that are clearly written to represent evil and the conflict with a narrative.

Brian used the example of Mistaken for Strangers, a documentary about a band called The National to demonstrate the three-act structure, which I initially found to be a strange choice. We don’t tend to think of documentaries of following conventional narrative structures, as they are designed to documenting real life, and reality doesn’t follow a set structure. There isn’t always a neat resolution. But of course, the more I think about it, documentaries can still be classified as narrative, as they are only a representation of reality, a representation that is edited in order to tell an engaging story.

I find all of these narrative theories fascinating, as there will always be a story that breaks the rules and can still be considered to be entertaining or well constructed. Yet these guidelines can be useful, especially for us students who may not have much experience of writing and benefit from having a start point.