A question about story structure

[Clover Heart 978]

So, first, I think it's important to note that I don't read. I find reading to be difficult, so I don't do it much. As such, I don't know a lot of things that stories are meant to entail. I think I can write fairly well, but sometimes, I miss some of the basics.

 

That said, I've started writing a story. So far, I've written something like 13,000 words, if memory serves. I still have a lot, yet, to write. I wanted to enter NaNoWriMo, which requires 50,000 words. I dunno if I would reach that amount, but I would expect to reach at least three times what I already have, which would be 35,000-40,000 words.

 

The problem I have is that I don't know if my story can function as, like, a story. The thing I sort of see as a problem is the formatting. Rather than the typical beginning, rising action, climax, conclusion, it's more like... not... that...

 

What it is is a story which follows one character throughout his life, his struggles and the aftermath of his death. It's rather linear, telling of the events in order. I suppose it may be difficult to imagine without knowing the story, but that's basically what it is.

 

Is this a legitimate story format? Like a character study or something? Can this make for an interesting story that someone will follow? Or should I cut my losses and just scrap the idea?

[TenorSounds 832]

Readers, much like movie-goers and video-game players, are used to a linear story with a traditional plot structure. I always find it interesting when media is able to go outside those bounds and create something unique and interesting.

 

Without reading it I don't know if your work is interesting, but the concept isn't inherently bad. It would all depend on the content and format of the writing itself. 

Edited December 19, 2014 by TenorSounds

[Jeric 46,878]

@Clover Heart, I edited the topic title to focus more on the issue at hand. 

 

 

 

Is this a legitimate story format?

 

 

It is indeed

 

 

 

Like a character study or something?

 

What you are talking about is a character driven narrative, and not plot driven. Your point of view and tense will help guide you in how this should be formatted and presented. This could easily be presented as a memoir format of sorts, as if the 1st person POV narrates his views on past situations and his life. That is fairly common in a story, but in most cases there is normally a transition to a 3rd person fixed with the narrator being the future self of the character (thing Catcher in the Rye).   

 

There should be a universal there or something to anchor chapters or segments of the story together. That will lend to its cohesion. 

[Red Cedar 1,408]

There are some ways you can break the mold when it comes to a story. One of my favourite authors, Robert A. Heinlein, frequently kept readers engaged by putting not one but two climaxes into the same novel. While the second one, near the end of the novel, would usually be the most significant, there would be a definitely climax about midway through which would serve as a major turning point in the story before the action began to build again.

 

There are ways around a traditional structure, but there needs to be some sort of hook.