What Changes?
I'm deep into the second re-outlining for Shattered Magic - the one I do at about 50K and the one that's going to be the final structure. I usually take a long time in working this last outline because it's got to be right.
My friend september888 provided me with this link: http://www.changeminds.org/disciplines/storytelling/plots/propp/propp.htm
It's basically a story structure of folktales, similar to the Hero's Quest or the Monomyth, with 31 narative elements. Now, not every tale/ folke tale/ novel / story deals with each and every narative element, which is good because there's not a villain who's changing the magic. But the structure is a starting point and is definitely useful. In this instance, it's helping me get over the hump of the Great Swampy Middle.
One aspect of this structure, though is it's circular nature. The hero returns home and goes through one final test, where he's successful and ascends to kinghood/ godhood, etc.
But what changes? The whole point of telling a tale is to document how something changed. "How the Tiger got his Stripes" or "How the White Wizards solved the mystery of the Shattered Magic". So what changes?
For a short story, the answer is usually pretty simple. For a novel, there are a lot of answers, personal as well as global. As I find those answers, I'm figuring out the rest of this story.
What changes in your story? Or do you even think of it that way? Please comment :)