Anatomy of a Premise Line

4

The Visible Structure

The Visible Structure is the structure you see; it is the concrete expression of your story that plays out on the page or on the screen.

You should have noticed something subtle and important in our discussion of the Invisible Structure in chapter three. We began that discussion in the abstract, and then we slowly moved toward the concrete. All seven of the component elements of the Invisible Structure were introduced as almost impressions and feelings—not literal or fully formed things. As we moved through them, however, the words and the metaphors I used to illustrate and express these impressions became more substantive, ...