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One More Post on Story Structure
NOTE: This is part of a series on story structure. I will be collecting them all up and putting them into a book once I’m finished, as part of my Business for Breakfast series.
Fair warning: I’ve never written either a short story or a novel completely in this format. But I’ve used this format in pieces, I’ve read both short and long fiction using this form, and I have opinions about it.
The rags to riches structure is considered one of the basic Western-style plot structures. You’re probably very familiar with it from fairy tales, such as Cinderella. It could also be considered the American Dream writ large.
The basic template for a rags to riches structure starts with the main character in horrible straits. Generally, they’re impoverished both monetarily as well as in terms of social class. The main character tends to be young. Sometimes they were born into these conditions, often they had a tiny bit of a better life first, then a tragedy and they’ve been stuck ever since.
They may or may not be impoverished socially, that is, with few social resources. They may have good friends who are outside of the family unit who can help them feel better, though not for long. The friends may even be an impediment to improving their situation, always asking why the main…
