What is the scope of a story?

Welcome, Fatmanny1901, but I have to ask - what have you done for the past year - writing related, that is?

A story has a beginning, a middle, and an end, and takes place 'somewhere'. The main character usually has a problem to solve, or an objective to reach, and usually solves the problem or achieves the objective by the end of the story, perhaps after a few setbacks en route.

What is the story idea in your mind?

I'm not sure what your real issue is here.

Have you read stories of the type you wish to write?

Forgive me, but Google Leviathan Method - and read it -The Kitty one at the top. It explains what the scope is and it couldn't be clearer.

I just googled it and I don't really understand your problem.

Do you have difficulty googling, perhaps?

This is the "Leviathan method" being referred to in the OP.

This is the section about scope, about the range or compass of a particular story.

Finally, this isn't really a BWQ; it's more an SF/F question. I'm going to check with the appropriate mods about moving it there.

ETA: After checking with the various Mods, I'm going to move this to Novels, since it's not really a genre-specific question.

For those interested in the Leviathan Method, there's a Scrivener template for Leviathan as well.

AW Admin: Thank you for posting those resources.

fatmanny1901 said:

I'm very new to writing and deciding to try to tackle the ideas in my head. I'm trying out the Leviathan method, which is telling me to write a paragraph describing the scope of the story. I can't find a clear answer when searching as to exactly what it is I am supposed to be doing. Does anyone know?

Click to expand...

"Scope" refers to the size of your story. Not the word count or number of pages, but how much story terrain it covers. Is it a story about one fateful day in the life of a character? Is it a story covering one year in the tangled lives of certain people living in a small town? Is it a story about an intergalactic war, told from the perspective of three differenct alien races? Is it a story about a character caught up in historical events spanning three continents and ten years? Are there many characters and plotlines or are there only a handful of characters and single but compelling plotline? Stories that are large in scope will have many characters, plotlines, and potentially could take place over a large geographical area and possibly a long period of time (though not necessarily). A story that's narrow in scope will be focused on fewer characters with one or two conflicts.

There's no right or wrong answer; all they're asking is for you to write a short paragraph explaining what your story does.

Interesting method. Will look into it properly later.

Thanks for the question, OP, and for the links, Lisa.

as Beth says.

It's spending some thought on the ground you want to cover.

Helliconia has vast scope, thousands of years and a full cast of characters through the ages.

Mrs Dalloway has a much narrower scope; one person, a handful of hours, intensely examined.

Can't say I am familiar with the system but I'm so glad you find it helpful, Manny, and that's the main thing.

(pardon the name abbreviation but I can't bring myself to call someone fatmanny).