In the realm of storytelling, the traditional three-act structure serves as a valuable tool for maintaining momentum and organization. However, for a more nuanced and immersive narrative experience, consider embracing the Seasonal Story Structure.In the realm of storytelling, the traditional three-act structure serves as a valuable tool for maintaining momentum and organization. However, for a more nuanced and immersive narrative experience, consider embracing the Seasonal Story Structure. Divide your story into four distinct seasons: winter, spring, summer, and fall. Each season represents a different chapter, symbolizing a unique tone and narrative arc. Winter: Begin your story on a blank canvas, like a snowy winter landscape. Introduce characters in need of change, hinting at the promise of personal growth. Spring: As the story progresses, the problem blossoms and grows, mirroring the vibrant awakening of spring. Introduce tension and conflict, signaling the characters’ journey toward resolution. Summer: The heat of mounting tension and action intensifies, reaching its peak. This is where the characters confront the complexities of their dilemma. Fall: Change emerges, like autumn leaves. The problem cools down, and the intensity of the situation wanes. The characters experience personal growth and lessons learned. By shifting the seasons, you can manipulate the tone of your story, leaving your readers with a lasting impression. Starting with spring and ending with winter might evoke a sense of despair. Conversely, beginning with summer and concluding in spring suggests growth and resilience. This narrative structure offers a unique way to craft a captivating story, keeping both readers and writers engaged throughout the journey. Embrace the power of the seasons to enhance your storytelling prowess.
Nerdvana presents Small Press Saturday – also known as Lessons Learned Self-Publishing Comics
Last week I alluded to the classic three-act story structure, specifically when I described how I approach my annual 24 Hour Comic Challenge . To recap, the 24 Hour Comic Challenge is a challenge for cartoonists to create a 24-page comic book in 24 consecutive hours. I do this challenge every year, and I add a performative element to it by drawing in the window of Drawn to Comics in downtown Glendale, Arizona for one day straight (1:00 p.m. to 1:00 p.m.).
By the way, I’ll be taking on that challenge this year on August 24th, if you’re in the area and want to stop by and say hello. But I digress.
The three-act structure has often helped me address the problem of momentum when creating a story in just 24 hours. Once I have the story concept (or the problem, as I explained last week), I divide those approaching 24 pages into three acts of eight pages each, so that I have little benchmarks to hit as I work toward my overall goal. When I reach page eight, and then 16, I get that celebratory rush of completing an act, and I look forward to finishing the next one.
A few years ago I came up with a slightly different structure that made the storytelling process a bit more interesting and expansive. I’m not sure if it’s been done before, but I’ve kept this scheme in the back of my mind ever since, because it helped segment the 24 hour deadline a bit more succinctly and gave my story a bit more focus and intent. The storytelling strategy is simply this:
Divide your story into four parts or chapters, each representing a different season of the year, such as winter, spring, summer, and fall. I call this the Seasonal Story Structure – copyright protected!
This worked especially well for a 24-page comic; I divided those 24 pages into four six-page chapters. By assigning each chapter a season, I helped with the tone of those chapters, both narratively and visually. Visually, I assigned appropriate color palettes to each chapter; the “winter” chapter had cooler tones, spring had earthy tones, warm tones for summer, and maroon tones for fall. The reader was subconsciously experiencing 365 days of transition, and they didn’t even know it!
Narratively, this structure helped the story move forward, especially in presenting the problem of the story. By beginning with winter, my characters were on a blank slate with the reader—the proverbial tabula rasa of a blanket of snow. Every story begins with characters in need of change—the promise of a personal spring. By that second chapter, the problem has blossomed and grown, as has the promise of spring itself.
In chapter three, “Summer,” the characters feel the “heat” of mounting tension and action. This is when the problem is most intricate and matters seem most pressing. In the final chapter, they experience change, like autumn leaves—a “cooling” of the intensity of the problem and the vividness of its lessons. You see, the three-act structure still exists, but these symbolic seasonal transitions help the writer define and present its progression in a different, and perhaps ancient, way.
Interestingly enough, shifting the seasons changes the tone of the story depending on the impression you want to make on your reader and where you want to leave your characters in the end. If you start with spring, you end with winter, which means your characters can start in a state of vitality and then end in a period of despair. If you start with summer, things can be intense from the start, but that means you end in spring and your characters can then blossom from the ordeal. This scheme is a tool designed to help craft a story – use it however you see fit!
I actually present this narrative structure to my fellow storytellers who struggle with pre-writing or plot point development. Prioritizing tonal shifts not only keeps your reader engaged, but also you, the author. Trust me, when I’m slogging through the 13th hour of a 24-hour drawing blitz, a small change does me good! However long it takes to craft your story, it can do you good, too.
My Maker Mantras, aka Small Press Saturday: Lessons Learned in Self-Publishing Comics
Russ Kazmierczak, Jr. is a Phoenix-based cartoonist and the creator of Amazing Arizona Comics, a mini-comic book that pokes fun at local news, history, and culture with superhero adventure. He was named Phoenix New Times’ 2018 Best Storyteller and one of The Copper Courier’s “9 People Who Are Making A Difference in Arizona” in 2023. Russ has taught comics classes at Bookman’s in Phoenix and Mesa, Phoenix Art Museum, Gilbert HD South, and other locations in the Valley. Follow his work and ask about his classes on Instagram @amazingazcomics.
