When you’re looking to write a piece, the 5 Point Writing form is both simple and versatile. It can be adopted to sketches, screen work, novels, and anything that contains a story or a narrative. Though not the only option for forms, it remains one of the most ubiquitous. Let’s look a little closer at each of the elements of five point storytelling.
If you reduce a story to the simplest elements possible, you can get all the way down to 3: Beginning, Middle, and End. However, that doesn’t give you a great sense of the actual shape of your story. 5 point structure can help you think of your story in the elements and events that you wish to include. We’re going to take a closer look at each of the elements of 5 point and tell you a bit more about them to help you align them in your next story.
Exposition. The exposition is where we learn about your world and your characters. Depending on your format, we should get an idea of the world that our characters are living in, who the main characters are, and what sort of perspective is in place. What is the lens you are viewing this world through? Is your world totally real, a little unusual, or completely fantastical?
Rising Action. The transition to rising action generally occurs when the first unusual thing about your world occurs. This can be big or small depending on your story, but we should notice that something in our world has changed. Harry Potter receives his letter, Ash catches his first Pokemon, and we are set on our way with our story. From there, the story builds and increases until the Climax.
Climax. Your climax is when everything comes to a head. Whatever the main element of your story is, this is the portion of the story where it has begun being addressed. Whether it’s the big battle is being fought, the profession of love, orwhatever the main element of your story is, it’s happening here and it’s happening in a big way.
Falling Action. This is essentially the aftermath. How did the events of the climax affect our story and our characters? Has the world changed as a result? This is also not to say that all the action is done in our story. The climax of Romeo and Juliet is when Romeo kills Tybalt and is banished, but of course the parts of the story people find the most memorable are not until much later.
Denouement. This is the final portion of our story when we, both author and audience, make the exit from the piece. How do we leave our characters? If we introduced a strong opinion, has it changed or evolved because of our story? Hopefully things about our characters and world have changed, and they are addressed, and the audience comes to understand where the world is going to go from here.
And there you have it! 5 point is a great starting point for any story. When you feel like you’ve outgrown that form, there are many more detailed and intricately structured forms out there, if using a form works for you! Even if you enjoy using a form, remember to let your story breathe and flex around that form in the way that best suits your story. You’ve got this!