The Beauty of Form

In nature and in architecture, we find beauty in balance and symmetry. And so it is in writing. There is a lot of talk about story structure. Why do we teach story structure? 

A story is like a bridge with a beginning, middle, and end. When you get to that bridge, it only takes one step to be on it. That’s the beginning. From here you can see the end. That’s where you want to go. Once you step off that bridge, the story ends. Everything between, lifted from the world as you know it, is your story.

Writers write stories, whether in fiction, memoir or nonfiction. At some point, they have enough material and they search for a structure. A structure that supports their argument and leaves the deepest impact on the reader. A structure readers can depend on. That supports their reading journey, lets them turn the pages, all the way to the end.

You want the reader to trust your story like they trust a bridge. But some writers take too long before they let the reader set foot on that bridge. Remember, everything that’s not part of the bridge is not part of the story. Writers need to push their main character to make that journey. That is the inciting incident. It forces the character to make the first step onto that bridge, and the story begins. It is the moment the reader settles in with your book and your promise of an exciting adventure. 

You want the reader to trust your structure. Like they trust a bridge that it will hold firm until they reach the end. That is the beauty of a structure. We recognize it like we recognize a bridge. A bridge gets us to a place we cannot reach otherwise. No matter how difficult, each step brings us closer to where we want to go. 

Halfway there, you stop. Why do you stop in the middle? As far as bridges go, this is where you get the best view. A view you only get when you are as far away from the beginning as you are away from the end. At the midpoint of our story, we are closer to achieving our goal. But now we discover obstacles we couldn’t see at the beginning, and we do not know that we will make it to the other side. 

A bridge engineer needs to know the purpose of the bridge to find the right structure. What do they need to bridge? A creek, a river, or a bay? The structures of the Brooklyn Bridge or the Golden Gate Bridge are beautiful in their unique form.

A writer writes a memoir, a poem, or a novel. These are forms in which the narrative unfolds. By choosing a form, the writer determines the foundation of their story. Without structure, they are drifting. Without form, they waste years before they cross that bridge.

The beauty of a structure attracts us, and we keep reading in search of balance and symmetry.