The Evolution of the Story Map

Before Gustav Freytag's pyramid was introduced to the world another thinker, Aristotle, had noticed the differences between a good story and a bad story. He had discovered that it had a beginning, middle and end the same way Fretag had. It was this realization that was fed down the line through writers who wanted to make compelling stories until it took the form of an M.



This M shaped story line is called a story map and is used to help guide writers through the pitfalls of their writing.Story Maps can show a writer where the holes in their story and help make it more engaging to the audience.

As noted on the picture the story map is an expanded version of the Freytag Pyramid. With the added categories, the story map is easier to use as a guideline but one feature of the story map is it's ability to map out internal conflict as well. The story map can show the transformation between the character's sense of self in the beginning of the story versus her sense of self near the end.