Narrative Arc in Less Than 100 Words: Example 2

Very simple picture books still have a narrative arc, even though the word count is extremely small. Yesterday, we looked at an example of a great simple narrative in My Friend, Rabbit. Today, here’s a look at a narrative arc in 80 words (with the help of some illustrations), as it appears in A Splendid Friend, Indeed by Suzanne Bloom. This book was named a Theodor Seuss Geisel Beginning Reader Award Honor Book in 2006.

Narrative Arc in 32 pages, 98 words

Here’s a great example of a narrative arc in only 98 words.
p. 1 Title
2-3 copyright/dedication
4-5 Characters established: Polar Bear and Goose
6-7 1st repetition: Goose wants to be part of what Bear is doing: he is attempting to be a friend.
8-9 Bear says he likes to read.
10-11 Goose attempts friendship by taking over the book.
12-13 2nd repetition: Goose wants to be part of what Bear is doing.
14-15 Bear says he likes to write.
16-17 Goose friendship by saying he likes writing, too.
18-19 3rd repetition: Goose wants to be part of what Bear is doing.
20-21 Goose decides to take it’s own action – get a snack
22-23 Goose brings back a snack
24-25 Goose has a note for Bear
26-27 Goose’s note says Bear is “my splendid friend.”
28-29 Touched, Bear says I like you, too.
30-31 Bear & Goose hug: they are splendid friends.
32 Friends share a snack

Narrative Arc analyzed

98 words
P. 1-3 Front matter
4-5 Characters established
6-11 1st attempt at friendship – tries to take over
12-17 2nd attempt at friendship – tries to fit in
18-19 3rd attempt at friendship – failure
20-27 Goose attempts friendship by offering something, instead of trying to fit in
28-32 Goose & Bear are friends.

Narrative Arc Written as a Synopsis

This is the story about Goose, who wants to be friends with Bear. Goose tries to be friends by taking over Bear’s book, by trying to write like bear and by trying to figure out what Bear is thinking. Finally, Goose decides to BE a friend. He gets a snack, comes back, and shares a letter of friendship. Bear and Goose, now friends, eat a snack together.

A complete story in less than 100 words is hard. In yesterday’s example of a great simple narrative, My Friend, Rabbit, there were lots of wordless pages, where the images carried the story. Here, there are fewer wordless pages, but still some. In both cases, though, the characters are established, the problem presented, three attempts at resolving the problem, before the climax. These are nice examples of how to do it and do it well.

COMING AUGUST 15:. The Book Trailer Manual. Click to read about it.

Narrative Arc in Less Than 100 Words: Example 1

Very simple picture books still have a narrative arc, even though the word count is extremely small. Here’s a look at a narrative arc in 80 words (with the help of some illustrations), as it appears in My Friend, Rabbit, by Eric Rohmann, winner of the 2003 Caldecott Award for Best Illustrations in a children’s book for the year.

Narrative Arc in 32 pages, 80 words

Here’s a great example of a narrative arc in only 80 words.

1st person POV from Mouse’s POV, talking about his friend
p 1. Title page
2–3 Introduce Mouse and Rabbit
4-5 Problem establish: Rabbit always gets into trouble
6-7 Rabbit has confidence he can get out of trouble (Characterization_
8-9 Rabbit’s idea begins to unfold (pulling a large beast onto page)
10-11 Elephant is in place
12-13 Rhino pushed forward
14-15 We now see Rhino on Top of Elephant, while Rabbit brings in Hippo.
(start to understand that he’s stacking animals to reach the plane stuck in a tree)
16-17 More animals to stack up, each smaller than the previous
18-19 The stack has failed. But Rabbit is still confident and has a final idea
20-21 Rabbit gets Mouse involved in the idea.
It succeeds – mouse reaches the plane! But there’s also disaster . . .
22-23 . . . and the disaster is going to be bad because everyone is running out of the way. . .
24-25 . . . as animals –big and small–fall everywhere.
26-27 Animals are all mad at Rabbit
28-29 Mouse swoops in with the plane to rescue Rabbit (Rabbit’s friendship–because he means well–endears him to Mouse.)
30-31 Rabbit accidently covers Mouse’s eyes, so he can’t see to fly. . .
32 And they are stuck in the tree again, but this time, they are in the plane and Rabbit confidently says, I have an idea.

Narrative Arc analyzed

Word count: 80 (plus 10 words of dialogue on p. 30-31)
Characteristics of Rabbit: Means well, Trouble follows him, Supremely confident, an adventurer.
Characteristics of Mouse: Loyal to friend, an adventurer.

p. 1-3 Characters introduced
p. 4-5 Problem established
p. 6-19 Attempt to solve problem
p. 20-21 Attempt to solve problem fails, but there’s one last heroic effort. Success. Followed immediately by Disaster.
p. 21-28 Disaster threatens to overwhelm Rabbit
p. 28-29 Mouse saves his friend, Rabbit
p. 30-32 Circular ending: similar problem established again.

Narrative Arc Written as a Synopsis

I realized that this story is written in first person POV from the Mouse’s POV. That makes him the main character! I thought at first that Rabbit was the main character. But the POV, combined with the dramatic rescue by Mouse, makes this Mouse’s story. So, from the POV of Mouse, here’s the narrative arc written as a synopsis. (Of course, there are several ways to look at this, but this version makes sense to me.)

This is a story about Mouse, who more than anything wants to remain loyal to his friend, Rabbit, even though Rabbit gets in trouble. When Rabbit gets Mouse’s plane stuck in a tree (first test of loyalty) Rabbit tries to get it out by building a tower of animals. Mouse, (2nd test of loyalty) joins in by being the final link in the tower and finally he reaches his plane. However, the animal tower falls and Rabbit is in trouble, so Mouse (3rd and final test of loyalty and resolution) flies down to rescue him. But in the rescue, they wind up back in the tree (loyalty tests begin again).

See another example tomorrow of a simple narrative arc, as we look at My Splendid Friend, Indeed, by Suzanne Bloom.

COMING AUGUST 15:. The Book Trailer Manual. Click to read about it.