6. Stasis, Catalyst, and Climax: Understanding Story Arc
Fiction has a set shape; in fact, stories follow a structural formula. The shape of a story is called the story arc, and understanding the traditional structure of a story can help you organize your games into tales that make sense to the player.
Readers expect to enter a story or game and get a sense of the situation. Where are they? Who are they? What is happening around them? That initial information-gathering place in the story is called stasis. Then something happens that triggers the action—otherwise known as the catalyst. Finally, the action is tied up with a moment of resolution called the climax, and the players relax into an ending that lets them know that all will be fine in ...
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