Deepening the Impact of Your Story With Chiasms

 

Let’s talk about story structure.

Readers and writers both know when a story feels “right.” What is it that gives us that feeling?

It’s when a story is constructed in a way that resonates with our souls.

Basic story structure is simple.

And it is the same pattern, no matter the genre.  

In a romance: boy meets girl, love blooms, conflicts happen that lead to near death of the relationship, a pivotal change happens in both characters, love grows, they face a major conflict together, they live happily ever after.

In an adventure story: the hero is called to action, he/she makes mistakes pursuing the quest, he/she has a virtual death/rebirth experience, faces the quest with renewed vigor, slays the virtual (or real) dragon, he/she lives happily ever after.

In a mystery: the sleuth is faced with a crime, the sleuth pursues the bad guy without success, the sleuth has a pivotal change happen in his/her life, the sleuth tracks down the bad guy and wins, he/she lives happily ever after.

Basic story structure! It works!

But…how can you deepen your readers’ experience? How can you add depth to your story that will make it resonate even more fully?

This literary device is key.

A literary device sounds like it might be a trick, but it isn’t anything sneaky. It’s a smart and subtle way to add substance to your story. If you’re a word-geek like me, take some time to study classical rhetoric. You’ll be blown away by the possibilities when you consciously add literary devices to your writing.

The Greek term for this literary device is “chiasm.” (pronounced ki-AZ-um)

Basically, it’s a form of writing that states a truth or tells a story in a structure we can describe as

 A-B-C-B-A.

The Bible is full of chiasms, and this illustration might help you understand what they are - Let’s take Jesus’ statement in Matthew 11:18-30. I’m using the NASB, but the structure is the same in any translation.

            A. Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden

                B. and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you,

                    C. and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart;

                B. and you shall find rest for your souls.

            A. For my yoke is easy, and My load is light.

 

Do you see how the A statements are related? The same with the B statements?

The connected statements reflect and reinforce each other, then the C, or central statement, is the pivot point.



How does this relate to our writing?

Take a look at this expanded story diamond:

 
See the arrows that connect the plot points? If I wrote this out using the same method as the Bible passage above, it would look like this:

                A. Inciting Incident

                    B. Plot Pivot One

                        C. Twist One
    
                            D. The Pivotal Scene, or Moment of Grace

                        C. Twist Two

                    B. The Black Moment

                A. Plot Pivot Two, or the Final Battle



So, what does this look like when we’re writing a story?

These are the major plot points to start with when we construct our story.

        A - A  The Inciting Incident reflects and reinforces the Final Battle.

        B - B  Plot Point One reflects and reinforces the Black Moment.

        C - C  Twist One reflects and reinforces Twist Two.



Let’s see how this works using two of the connected plot points in our chiasm. We'll use a romantic plot:

In the Inciting Incident, Benjamin and Heather meet at a county planning commission meeting. He’s there to ask permission to build a playground on Lot A at the edge of town, and she’s there to convince the planning commission to deny permission.

So, what happens in the Final Battle? Benjamin and Heather, now firmly united in love, join forces to convince the planning commission to give permission to build the playground on Lot B on the other end of town (rather than on top of the toxic former battery plant location on Lot A.)

Do the two plot points reflect and reinforce each other? Yes!

Do you see how when these two plot points are related to each other, the story comes around full circle and closes the circle? 

Do you see how closing that circle gives your reader the satisfying story conclusion that makes her get all teary-eyed and smiling at the end?

Plotting a story isn't easy, but then, what part of writing is? I like to look at plotting as a puzzle - a puzzle that lends speed and ease to the actual writing process because when you have the plot points laid out, you know the story is going to work.

So let's play with this puzzle in the comment section. How would you connect the other two plot-point-pairs in our story about Benjamin and Heather?

When you play the brain-storming game with us (or make any comment,) you'll be entered in a drawing for one of my Love Inspired Historical Amish romances. Your choice of title!

Thanks for playing with us today!