We were all taught in English class of the importance of having an introduction, a body and a conclusion in our essays.
This is still the most basic of principles when writing a story… whether that story is fiction or nonfiction.
This is also known as the 3 Act Story structure.
Here is a very simple chart used in film story structure…
The above image is for a basic screenplay, but this principle can be used for many types of writings.
Even with a blog post or article you can use the same introduction, a body and a conclusion principle.
You could also use the introduction, body and conclusion approach for essays, assignments, cover letters, resumes and pretty much any other type of writing.
Even technical writing. Perhaps even more so with technical writing like medical or financial reports because the information needs to be set out as clearly as possible. The reader will be looking and scanning for particular pieces of information and how they fit together. So, it needs to be presented efficiently.
Here’s an example of how the introduction, a body and a conclusion principle can be used outside of a story line:
- For the introduction discuss the topic and set up the points you want to tell people about.
- Then expand on the points you made in the introduction… perhaps with bullet points included
- Lastly, you sum it up by telling the reader what you just told them in a concise manner.
Having an introduction, body and conclusion, is also a writing principle for the 1st, 2nd and 3rd act in a novel, play or screenplay.
In the introduction section, make sure you’ve made your points early so your reader can begin the step by step psychological process of taking in information.
This ‘intake’ process is universal.
The steps are almost identical for all human beings. It’s been this way from the beginning of time.
Next, in the body of the writing, fill in the details of the points/information you gave them in the introduction.
Continue to flesh out that information until your points/story are made. For a post/article you could even add a call to action here.
For storytelling, the ‘body’ is the part where you want to include the “climax” of the story. There always needs to be a ‘do or die’ moment on the body of the story. Sometimes there is another high point near the end, but there really should be a climax in the body of the story.
So when tackling any type of writing you can always start with the basic principle of introduction, body and conclusion.
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