How to structure a story

I often visualize story structure with two vertical lines. The top is the beginning, and the bottom is the end. The distance between the lines reflects how detailed the story is at that point. Visualizing it this way helps me remember different structures. Here, I’ll discuss the following: the hourglass, the Klein bottle, and the Minto pyramid.

The hourglass

The hourglass structure starts wide to capture a broad audience. As the story continues, it becomes increasingly detailed. Toward the end, the lines widen again as the storyteller makes broader statements and places the story in a larger context.

A typical example of this structure is in academic publications or presentations. Publications often have a double hourglass structure: one for the abstract and one for the main text.

abstract main text

For the abstract, this is beautifully illustrated by this template abstract by Fabrizio Gilardi from ETH Zürich:

Everyone agrees that this issue is really important. But we do not know much about this specific question, although it matters a great deal, for these reasons. We approach the problem from this perspective. Our research design focuses on these cases and relies on these data, which we analyze using this method. Results show what we have learned about the question. They have these broader implications.

Everyone agrees this issue is important.There are many unknowns, but they are vital.We approach the problem from this angle.We uses these data, analyzed with this method.Results show what we learned.They have broader implications.

Similarly, the structure of the main article follows the hourglass structure: introduction, methods, results, discussion, conclusion.

introductionmethodsresultsdiscussionconclusions

The Klein bottle

The Klein bottle is a curious shape that has only a single surface.

By Tttrung - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, Link

A Klein bottle story starts wide, often with an anecdote or trivia, to capture a large audience. Then, it goes into increasing detail. At the end, the storyteller returns to the opening anecdote.

introduction with anecdotegoing into more detailcoming back to the anecdote

The Minto pyramid

This structure was developed by Barbara Minto, hence the name. It starts with the main point, conclusion, or answer. The main point is then supported by arguments, and finally by data and facts.

main pointsupporting argumentssupporting data and facts
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