Anything you write, or a video you create - has a narrative. And it’s important to understand the different pillars of any narrative. May you tell great stories!

Story99.com is a Branding & Storytelling Consultancy for B2B, Tech & Deeptech

1. Narrative Angles

It’s important to be clear on what the narrative is about (the central topic or core subject) rather than how it is structurally built.

1. Updates of what’s happening in my life / business

   1. milestones & successes

   2. present challenges

2. Personal life-lessons / looking-back narrative

3. What we tried

4. Confessions

5. Recommendations

6. Comparing two or more things

7. Journey stories (eg: origin story)

8. Stories of others - customers, those who I’ve helped, friends etc

9. Knowledge / playbook / how to to do something / how something is done / how things work (explainers)

10. Myth busting

11. BTS

12. Breaking News

13. Whistleblower / Revealing Secrets: Exposing hidden information or deception

14. Philosophy / POV

    1. contrarian take

    2. skeptic POV

    3. ‘advice’

    4. right vs wrong

15. Vision stories - how I want the world to be

16. Prediction for the future

17. Product intro (or feature / new-service intro)

18. Review

19. Selling the benefits / advocacy / making a case

20. Shout out to someone for their achievement

21. Recounting accomplishments

22. Calling out someone / something

23. Why Behind Something: Zooming into the deeper philosophy or intent behind a choice

24. Observation Stories

    1. What catches my attention - people, systems, market, news etc - with may be my reaction / reflection / review on that

    2. What’s changing in the industry / world / people around me

Below is an example that uses the ‘journey’ angle:

2. Narrative Themes

1. Drive Stories: Exploring intrinsic motivators like autonomy, mastery, and purpose

2. Explaining Change of Emotion

3. Opportunity Stories: a forward-looking focus on emerging trends, gaps, and what could be

4. Change Stories: exploring internal / external adjustments that need to happen

5. I Am Inspired: elaborating on the transformative power of an external role model or idea

6. Stories of Failure - usually with some valuable lesson

7. Stories of Sacrifice: the idea is to reveal deeply held values

8. Rule Breaking Stories: when some established norms, laws, or expectations have been defied and there is some takeaway from that

9. Transformation / growth stories

10. Stories of resilience

11. Stories of ambition

12. Identity and belonging stories

13. Stories of trust, betrayal

14. More: stories of courage, fear, sacrifice, failure, redemption, discovery, curiosity, conflict, justice / fairness, freedom / autonomy, mastery, purpose, love / relationships, loss / grief, hope, survival, power / control, responsibility, temptation, obsession, perseverance, rebellion / success / achievement, regret, change of belief / worldview
    

3a. Narrative Structures - Classic

These are overarching literary blueprints that dictate the emotional journey or physical trajectory of a protagonist.

1. Quest (Need → Obstacles → Achieve): Pursuing a meaningful goal against odds (think of Bahubali or Bajrangi Bhaijaan or Star Wars)

2. Overcoming the Monster (Fight → Lose → Fight again → Win): A hero facing a powerful threat, initially failing, but returning stronger (think of RRR or KGF)

3. Man in the Hole (Comfort → Trigger → Crisis → Recovery): A fall-and-rise arc where a protagonist stumbles and comes out wiser (think of Sanju or Sultan)

4. Rags to Riches: Rising from a position of disadvantage to strength or success (KGF, Pushpa, Dhoni)

5. Rebirth (Action → Reflect → Change): Growing or maturing due to specific events or rites of passage (Kantara, Top Gun)

6. Voyage and Return: Leaving the familiar, facing a near-death crisis, and returning transformed (Dhurandar or Avatar for example)

7. Tragedy (Pride → Fall → Downfall): Exploring a downfall caused by a fatal flaw or hubris (think of Devdas, Animal or Joker)

Others (typically some variation of the above list): Coming of Age, Mystery / Revelation, Revenge, Escape, Pursuit / Chase, Rise and Fall, Fall and Redemption, Forbidden Love / Relationship Arc, Transformation / Metamorphosis, Circular / Return-to-Beginning Structure

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3b. Narrative Structures - Others

1. News → Explanation → Implication: Starts with an attention-grabbing finding, explains the context, and concludes with the broader consequences

2. Do’s & Don’ts

3. Curiosity → Exploration → Conclusion: Sparks intrigue with a mystery, explores the details, and ends with a satisfying resolution

4. Listicle

   1. Ranking / Best-to-Worst

5. Q&A / FAQ

6. Claim → Evidence → Conclusion

7. Compare → Contrast → Verdict

8. Setup → Twist → Resolution

9. Thesis → Antithesis → Synthesis

10. Problem Landscape → Options → Recommendation

11. Framework-led structure, Step-by-Step / Process structure

12. Arrangement options: Chronological / Timeline, Reverse Chronological, Past → Present → Future, In Medias Res, Circular Structure, Parallel Narratives / Intercutting, Nested Story / Story-within-a-story, Countdown, Episodic / Chapter-based, Case-by-case / Example-led

13. Other structures: Interview-led structure, Diary / Log structure, Annotated breakdown, Case-study structure, Before-During-After, One central question with multiple answers/perspectives

4. Narrative Approaches

While the Narrative Structure gives an overall lay of the land, these themes could often just be bits and pieces of an overall narrative. Sometimes, just one approach could be the overall structure (especially for short-format).

1. Cause → Effect: Traces how an action directly leads to a consequence

2. Problem → Blow Up: Surfaces a challenge and sits in the conflict to build tension before resolving

3. Problem → Solution: The classic arc of moving from disruption/chaos toward clarity and victory

4. Fear → Address: Taps into a relatable fear, then walks the audience toward empowerment

5. Skeptic → Believer: Walks the audience through a transformation from initial doubt to eventual belief

6. Question → Answer (Q → A): Poses a compelling question, then systematically provides the resolution

7. Data / Numbers → Context: Opens with a jarring statistic, then “zooms out” or “zooms in” to explain the meaning

8. Before → After: Showcases a clear contrast between a previous state and the resulting state of a transformation

9. When X then Y: Highlights a strong correlation or inherent pairing

10. Compare and Contrast: Placing two ideas side by side to reveal nuance

11. Right vs Wrong: Pitting flawed, conventional wisdom against the “right” alternative

12. Choices to be Made: Exploring the pros, cons, and consequences of critical decisions

13. How Not To: Highlighting common mistakes and pitfalls to imply the correct approach

Below is a good example of the “News → Explanation → Implication” format.

5. Narrative Formats

These dictate the packaging or medium-style of the content.

1. Explainer - how things work

2. Case Study - how we solved a problem and the impact thereafter

3. Listicle / Guidebook / How-To: Delivering information via a series of tips or steps

4. Research / Experimentation Stories: Framing the story around a systematic trial (hypothesis, methodology, results)

5. Funny Stories / Comedy: Creating amusement through witty observations or absurdity

6. Breaking News

7. Life Updates

8. POV / hot-take

Below is an example of the “explainer” format.

6. Some Narrative Techniques

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These are specific tactics used primarily to set a tone, or flavor the writing, or even to grab attention at the beginning of a piece (as hooks)

1. Superlatives: Using extremes (biggest, fastest, first) to immediately command attention

2. Show Something: Prioritizing an immediate visual, sound, or captivating scene before giving context

3. Proclaim Association with a Group: Explicitly declaring affiliation with a community to build an immediate connection

Below is an illustration of how one can start off with showing something first.

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Story99.com is a Branding & Storytelling Consultancy for B2B, Tech & Deeptech