Story arc

A connected sequence of events that develops a narrative’s plot or characters toward a meaningful change or resolution. Its shape links an initial situation to a consequential ending.

Plot: The arrangement of events and actions that make up a narrative. An arc is a shaped progression within the larger arrangement of narrative events.
Exposition (narrative): Narrative information that establishes a story’s setting, characters, and initial circumstances. Exposition establishes the conditions an arc will disturb or develop.
Three-act structure: A dramatic framework dividing a narrative into setup, confrontation, and resolution. It is a specific structural model, while an arc describes a developing sequence more broadly.
Oedipus Rex: An ancient Greek tragedy by Sophocles in which Oedipus discovers his role in the crimes he seeks to solve. Its revelations drive a tightly connected arc from investigation to catastrophe.
Conflict (narrative): A struggle between opposing forces that drives tension and change in a narrative. Conflict gives the arc pressure and obstacles to develop.
Inciting incident: An event that disrupts a narrative’s initial situation and sets its central action in motion. It often initiates the change that the arc follows.
Hero’s journey: A recurring mythic pattern in which a hero departs, faces trials, and returns transformed. It offers a recognizable transformation pattern that only some story arcs follow.
Pride and Prejudice: Jane Austen’s novel about Elizabeth Bennet and Fitzwilliam Darcy overcoming mistaken judgments and social obstacles. Its arc develops through revised perceptions as well as romantic resolution.
Character development: The changes in a character’s traits, beliefs, or behavior over the course of a narrative. A character’s transformation can provide the arc’s central movement.
Rising action: The sequence of complications and developments that builds tension toward a narrative climax. It supplies the accumulating pressure between the arc’s beginning and turning point.

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