Okay, so we all know about three-part structure: Rising Action, Climax, and Falling Action. It centers around the main conflict of the plot, and is simply How Stories Work. I found out recently that there is another way.

Kishotenketsu is a story structure that has nothing to do with conflict. (The story may or may not have some, this style doesn't care.) Instead, the plot is presented like this:

1. Ki (Introduction) - Elements of the story (setting, main characters) are introduced.

2. Sho (Development) - These elements are elaborated upon; we learn how characters interact and how everything fits together.

3. Ten (Twist or Surprise) - Suddenly, the story takes an unexpected turn. Maybe we cut away to a seemingly unrelated scene, or something happens out of the blue. It's an element of chaos for the narrative.

4. Ketsu (Resolution/Reconciliation) - The weirdness in the third part gets reconciled with the first two. We learn how the cutaway relates to the main plot, or how our characters deal with the sudden development. The story becomes a cohesive whole again.

An example from Wikipedia:
Quote
Introduction (ki): Daughters of Itoya, in the Honmachi of Osaka.
Development (sho): The elder daughter is sixteen and the younger one is fourteen.
Twist (ten): Throughout history, generals killed the enemy with bows and arrows.
Conclusion (ketsu): The daughters of Itoya kill with their eyes.

The first verse introduces the female characters of the story. The second verse gives more details about both. Verse three goes astray to an unrelated territory. Verse four explains: The main characters of the story seduce men with their eyes – killing them just as the, until now, unrelated generals who kill with bows and arrow – thus showing the relation of the daughters of Itoya and the killing generals.

As I said, I only recently discovered this, and others explain it better. Here's the Wikipedia Article, and a much better Introduction for Beginners. There's also this YouTube video of Eastern vs Western Story Telling which is how I learned about it in the first place.

Anyway, I think it would be neat to see some fics in this style. If you don't feel up to trying a full-length story with it (and who should blame you?) feel free to try a four-line poem like the one in the sample, just to get your feet wet and see how it feels.

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