Resource Story Writing - The Armature.

[Nakiya]

NTN 001

I have been reading a book called "The Invisible Ink" by Brian Mcdonald. He describes 'The Invisible Ink' as "the writing below the surface of the words."
He talks about many things in that book but for today, I would like to talk about The Armature.

The Armature is essentially the idea upon which we hang our story. most commonly people have used the word 'Theme' to describe it. However, i find that the word is not descriptive enough and it often leads to confusion. In children's Fables, it is what we call 'Moral'. Stories typically have a sort of truth to it and that truth is consistent throughout the entire narrative. Essentially, The Armature is what you want to say about your piece. Your story should be sculpted around The Armature.

If one wishes to try story writing, They should figure out what The armature of their story is. I know this comes across as obvious but having to understand what your story is about makes it much easier to write your story. There is an old piece of advice usually given to someone that wants to give a speech. "Tell them what you want to tell them" This is no different for story writers. But how exactly do you put this into practice? First you must know where you are going or you will never get there. By understanding the armature of your story, It gives you a direction that would help you guide readers to the places you want to take them. Show them the armature and they will surely follow.

Jokes are a good instructional tool because they are short stories and are great for teaching structure. One can learn much about structure by studying jokes. Just as how all elements of a joke supports the punchline, All elements of a story should support the armature. Good story Structure means that nothing is irrelevant. Every element leads to an inevitable conclusion.

So if you want to write a story, Think about what the armature is and it would be a great start for figuring out how to structure your narrative.

 

[webb&flow]

The Armature is essentially the idea upon which we hang our story.

Armature (sculpture) - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Armature for a classical pose of a figure holding a lyre.

In sculpture, an armature is a framework around which the sculpture is built,[1] when the sculpture could not stand on its own. This framework provides structure and stability, especially when a plastic material such as wax, newspaper or clay is being used as the medium. When sculpting the human figure, the armature is analogous to the major skeleton and has essentially the same purpose: to hold the body erect.

An armature is often made of heavy, dark aluminium wire which is stiff, but can be bent and twisted into shape without much difficulty. The wire is affixed to a base which is usually made of wood. The artist then begins fleshing out the sculpture by adding wax or clay over the wire. […]