A good story has to have an intriguing conflict as well as a rewarding resolution. However, neither of these are possible without the dramatic structure. Suspense is also a key component.
Dramatic Structure.
There is really no story without it. The exposition introduces the main character (MC) usually and the reader/viewer immediately creates an opinion about them. Generally, the audience creates a positive idea about the MC and continue to root for them as the story goes on. Even if the MC is not the best of people, the supporting characters tend to be worse to sway the audience as Darious explains. This leads up to the most important aspect, the exciting force also known as conflict.
Conflict is what makes the entire storyline. At this point something occurs that alters the MC’s life and it’s interesting enough to hook the readers in. After this they are either staying till the end or have decided this isn’t the story for them. In The Dionaea House Andrew(a side character) kills a random couple at a diner in a state he didn’t live in. This made Mark (the MC) extremely uneasy and leads his quest to find out what made Andrew do what he did. In this story the conflict would be internal with Mark’s needing answers. In the game Colossal Cave Adventures the conflict would be getting lost in the cave. You enter the cave in curiosity and looking for clues or supplies and cannot get out easily.
Then comes suspense. The viewer cannot tell if the MC is going to find a resolution or die trying. It keeps them intrigued with dramatic music, detailed descriptions, or long pauses depending on the form of digital story. In the Dionaea House every time Mark found out new information that rose questions his writing would have more details or simply more questions making the viewers heart race. At some point in Colossal Cave Adventure music starts playing making the viewer nervous and act faster. Alexander refers to this music as the soundtrack. He says soundtrack “can expand one ’s sense of the story—what is most important, what might be hidden and need accentuation.” The author used it to add accentuation.
Resolution. The “closing book” feeling at the end of a digital story. The main character has had some sort of “transformation” as Darious referred to it. As the dramatic structure chart says this could be a catastrophe as well. In Dionaea House I would say it ended in catastrophe because Mark was never found. In Colossal Cave adventures the resolution would be getting out of the cave.
When Conflict, suspense, and resolution are combined these elements make a perfect digital story in my opinion.
Work Cited
The Dionaea House. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://creepypasta.wikia.com/wiki/The_Dionaea_House
D4Darious. (2016, March 24). What Makes A Good Story? Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DCzcoyDp2fY
Crowther, William: Woods, Don (1977) Colossal Cave Adventure. Retrieved
Alexander, B. (2017). The new digital storytelling: Creating narratives with new media. Santa Barbara: Praeger.
