Lois & Clark Forums Forums Fan Fiction Fanfic Challenge Asian Story Structure

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:

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.

(ki) I have been looking at some of the stories on the archive using the Random feature at the bottom of the splash page.

(sho) I have found some absolute gems there, some which are only cut glass, and some which are paste imitations (IMHO only).

(ten) I found this introduction to Eastern vs. Western storytelling fascinating, never having considered that one could tell an interesting story which lacked a central conflict.

(ketsu) I believe that some of the short stories which did not tickle my fancy can fit into this story form quite nicely, including some of the vignettes for which the authors apologized in advance for having no A-plot (central conflict).

Kishotenketsu is certainly different. I'm not sure the structure would support a long-form story whose target audience is steeped in Western-style storytelling, but it's still fun to expand one's knowledge and viewpoints. And I'm pretty confident that the authors who declined to include a central conflict were not consciously using this structure.

And I learned a new word. I have added it to my microscopic Japanese vocabulary. Konishi wa. (It's morning somewhere.)

Hi Queenie,

What a fascinating story structure. It is indeed quite alien to me, but I'll have a go at it:

(ki) Clark Kent is Superman.
(sho) He is vulnerable only to kryptonite and magic.
(ten) Lois tried a new recipe.
(ketsu) Clark discovered a third weakness.

Joy,
Lynn

OMG Lynn I love it! XD

Edit: Okay, I should probably put my own money where my mouth is, so here goes:

1. Lois Lane, ace reporter.
2. She has a knack for getting into trouble.
3. Superman stops a runaway train.
4. His heart stops when he realizes Lois is one of the passengers.

Hi Queenie,

I like your story, too. Our stories feel like bookends to each other to me.

Joy,
Lynn

There was something naggingly familiar about Kishotenketsu when I read the Queenie's post and it finally came to me. The writers of Boston Legal wrote court arguments for William Shatner's character, Denny Crane, using this form. During the ten, there was plenty of "Mr. Crane, please get to the point," but then the ketsu knocked the feet out from the opposition from a completely unexpected direction.

It worked and I think it was one of the best features of the show. It probably isn't long-form but the audience for courtroom drama television is about as Western as it gets. If Kishotenketsu could work in a formulaic lawyer show I think there are possibilities.

Wow! That is a really awesome way to build a story structure. Makes me wonder if there's really science behind the art of story telling..