Story Structure
The Backbone of Great Audio Stories
by Nick Dunkerley
Ever wondered what makes an audio story truly captivating? Narrative Structure!
All stories have narrative structure. It's the backbone of any good story. Without it, stories can feel scattered and confusing.
But with the right structure, your story can paint pictures, stir emotions, and hold your audience's attention from beginning to end.
Let's dive into these structures, see how they work, and learn how you can use them to make engaging audio stories.
Linear
beginning, middle, end
"For sale: baby shoes, never worn."
In just six words, the baby shoe story follows a narrative structure.
Exposition: "For sale". Rising Action: "Baby shoes". Conflict: "Never worn".
A linear narrative unfolds events in a straightforward, chronological order from start to finish.
This is the most common structure, providing a clear and easy-to-follow progression for listeners.
🎧 This American Life often follows a linear progression.
Its predictability allows listeners to immerse themselves without getting distracted by complex twists.
🎧 99% Invisible uses a linear narrative to explore the hidden aspects of design and architecture, following a clear progression from introduction to conclusion.
🧩 Structure:
- Exposition: Introduction of setting and characters.
- Rising Action: Development of the plot and building of tension.
- Conflict: The main problem or challenge faced by the characters.
- Point of No Return: A critical moment where characters can’t go back.
- Climax: The peak of the story’s tension and action.
- Falling Action: Events following the climax that lead towards resolution.
- Resolution: Conclusion where conflicts are resolved, and the story ends.
💫 Tip:
Use clear narration to guide your audience through the story’s progression, ensuring each stage is distinct and engaging.
Keep the audience's attention through predictable parts by adding vivid descriptions and dynamic voice modulation.
🎧 Clear Exposition:
Start with a strong introduction that sets up the setting and characters, so your audience understands the context from the get-go.
🎧 Build Tension in the Rising Action:
Gradually develop your plot and build tension, keeping the audience invested in what comes next.
🎧 Highlight the Conflict:
Make the central problem or challenge clear, so your audience feels the stakes.
🎧 Create a Point of No Return:
Show the moment when characters can no longer go back, escalating the stakes and pushing them toward the climax.
🎧 Craft a Climax:
Reach the peak of tension where the stakes are highest — keep it dynamic and intense.
🎧 Satisfy with Falling Action and Resolution:
Tie up loose ends smoothly, offering closure that resolves the conflict and leaves the audience with a sense of completion.
The Linear Story Structure
This is the most basic structure and the one most people instantly relate to and read into.
Alongside its universal appeal, it also carries the danger of becoming a bit dull, as we, the listeners, might not be sufficiently stimulated or intrigued when we can easily predict the next step in the story.
So, unless you have a very complex or inherently intriguing story, or one with a highly unlikely outcome, you might want to consider a structure that is more challenging for the listener. It can often be more captivating and hold attention longer.
On the other hand, if you are new to storytelling, don’t hesitate - this is still perhaps the strongest story structure there is. In fact, the listener’s ability to predict the next step can be a positive thing, as it provides a sense of achievement, much like solving a riddle.
Also, you should bear your audience in mind; for younger children, you would generally choose the more basic approach.
Image: For a lot of storytellers it can be of great help to visualise the structure of your story and to "Play" with it as small bricks.
Non-linear
jumping around in time
"Do I believe the world's still there?"
A non-linear narrative defies chronological conventions by jumping between times, using flashbacks, or shuffling events. This structure can create suspense, add layers of meaning, or reflect the fragmented nature of memory.
The movie "Memento" is a prime example of a non-linear narrative, where the story is told in reverse order and through fragmented sequences, reflecting the protagonist's disoriented memory and creating a puzzle for the audience to piece together.
🎧 Radiolab: Frequently employs non-linear storytelling, pulling listeners across different timelines to enrich the narrative layers.
🎧 S-Town: Starts with a linear story but quickly delves into a non-linear structure, exploring the life and mysteries surrounding John B. McLemore.
🧩 Structure:
- Fragmented Time: Events are not presented in chronological order.
- Flashbacks/Forwards: Scenes from the past or future are interspersed.
- Multiple Perspectives: Different viewpoints are explored to add depth.
- Puzzles and Revelations: Gradual uncovering of key information.
- Connecting the Dots: Listeners piece together the story from various fragments.
💫 Tip:
Use sound effects, musical cues, and distinct voice changes to indicate shifts in time or perspective, helping listeners keep track of the story.
Ensure each shift is clear and purposeful to avoid confusing your audience.
🎧 Fragmented Time:
Break away from chronological order, but be sure that each event or scene is meaningful and contributes to the overall story.
🎧 Flashbacks/Forwards:
Weave in scenes from the past or future to enrich the narrative. Each shift should reveal something new or enhance understanding.
🎧 Multiple Perspectives:
Present different viewpoints to add depth and complexity. Let each perspective shed light on various layers of the story.
🎧 Puzzles and Revelations:
Gradually unveil key pieces of the story, building suspense and keeping your audience engaged in uncovering the bigger picture.
🎧 Connecting the Dots:
Ensure listeners can piece together the fragmented elements, guiding them through the disjointed narrative in a satisfying way.
The Non Linear Story Structure
The next step from the linear structure is, so to speak, to rearrange the building blocks of your story.
This is often done by focusing on what is most important to the narrative, so the story builds toward a “climax,” which does not necessarily have to come at the end.
In this way, you can make the story more intriguing and, at the same time, more precisely guide the audience’s focus to what matters most.
Image: At this stage, many creators find it helpful to use their visual overview to experiment. Moving pieces around until the narrative feels just right.
The Hero's Journey
once upon a time
“Luke, I am your father.”
In every great story, there's a journey - a quest that takes the protagonist through a series of trials, revelations, and transformations.
This narrative structure, known as "The Hero's Journey," was famously outlined by Joseph Campbell and is a staple in storytelling from ancient myths to modern movies.
📖 The Odyssey and 🎬 Star Wars are classic examples of stories built on the quest narrative.
🎧 The BBC’s radio adaptation of The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy follows an episodic narrative with elements of the quest narrative.
🎧 Missing Richard Simmons follows the quest narrative as the hosts embark on a journey to uncover why fitness guru Richard Simmons disappeared from public life.
🧩 Structure:
- Call to Adventure: The hero is called to leave their ordinary world.
- Crossing the Threshold: Entering the unknown world.
- Trials and Challenges: The hero faces various obstacles.
- Helper/Mentor: The hero receives guidance.
- Climax/Battle: The hero faces the main challenge.
- Transformation: The hero undergoes a significant change.
- Return with the Elixir: The hero returns home with newfound wisdom or a boon.
💫 Tip:
Create a sense of journey and progression through changes in ambient sounds, music that reflects different stages, and varied pacing to emphasize different parts of the hero’s journey.
Keep the momentum with cliffhangers and unresolved tensions to keep listeners coming back.
The Hero's Journey story structure
Another classic story structure that fits countless stories, and is again widely and universally understood, is the Hero’s Journey. It’s a basic framework that resonates with us as humans because we like to see our own life paths reflected in these narratives: the journeys of those who inspire us, and even those who don’t, but whose paths still impact us.
You could, in many cases, compare it to a narrative visualization of mastering or coping techniques.
However, unlike a straightforward mastery or coping technique (where we already know the mastering outcome from the start), the hero, when setting out, does not yet fully understand what mastery will mean. The goal may be clear, but its deeper purpose and significance are only revealed through the challenges and discoveries along the way.
This is the very foundation of the Hero’s Journey structure: a story of transformation, uncertainty, and eventual insight. It’s a structure that can make stories with lessons or morals far more interesting and easy to digest - often turning even dull or ordinary topics into captivating and adventurous tales.
Image: A hero sture has quite a schematic build up and there fore a visualisation can be used for a sort of checklist for your buildup of your story and if you might be missing some parts that you need to have focus on.
Viewpoint
well, it's my perspective
A viewpoint narrative gives an intimate look at events through one or more characters' perspectives. This approach helps listeners connect deeply with the characters' emotions and thoughts.
The movie "Gone Girl" uses a viewpoint narrative by alternating between the perspectives of Nick and Amy, offering deep insight into their thoughts, emotions, and unreliable perceptions.
🎧 Planet Money often follows a linear narrative to explain complex economic topics in an accessible way, incorporating elements of the viewpoint narrative with interviews and personal stories.
🎧 Serial adopts the viewpoint narrative, presenting diverse perspectives on central events, enabling listeners to navigate the labyrinth of subjective truths.
🧩 Structure:
- Single Perspective: The story is told from one character’s point of view.
- Multiple Perspectives: Different characters’ viewpoints are explored.
- Inner Monologue: Insight into characters’ thoughts and feelings.
- Subjective Reality: Events are colored by the narrator’s perception.
- Empathy Building: Listeners are encouraged to connect emotionally with characters.
💫 Tip:
Use voice acting to distinguish different perspectives and employ sound design to reflect the subjective experiences of each character.
Ensure each perspective is distinct and transitions are smooth to maintain clarity.
🎧 Distinguish Perspectives:
Use unique voice acting or tonal shifts to differentiate characters’ perspectives clearly.
🎧 Emphasize Subjectivity:
Reflect the character’s internal world through sound design.
🎧 Smooth Transitions: Ensure smooth transitions between different perspectives.
🎧 Inner Monologue: Incorporate moments of introspection, where the character’s/storyteller's thoughts are revealed directly to the audience, deepening the emotional connection and adding complexity to their motivations.
🎧 Layered Storytelling: If using multiple perspectives, layer the stories carefully so each viewpoint adds depth without overwhelming the listener. Create a sense of progression through each character’s story arc.
🎧 Build Empathy: Focus on the emotional journey of the character- make the listener feel what the character feels. Use soundscapes that evoke emotions to enhance empathy.
The Viewpoint story structure
The viewpoint narrative can be the foundation on which a story is built, but it can just as well be used as an addition to other narrative structures.
This structure helps the listener connect to emotions and thoughts, drawing them closer to the story and its dilemmas. It can also be a powerful way to lead the audience toward the climax. Not along one single, straightforward path, but through multiple perspectives and approaches. This can be very effective for building up tension and suspense.
Keep in mind that the viewpoint approach can stretch far beyond the core story. For example, if you’re building a series or going live regularly, plan how perspectives outside the main narrative can support and expand your story across platforms.Your listeners aren’t just tuning in; they’re following and taking part in your story. So shape that world with intention.This approach can be used in many ways and for a variety of purposes.
The perspective narrative is a great way to open up a story that is stuck in its progression, making it more dialectical or even giving meaning to a story that has a definite ending.
Image: Here, you might not only play with the storyline but also decide which characters and personalities are essential to your story in order to cover it the way you envision.
The Viewpoint Narrative
added to a Non Linear
story structure
Here’s an example of how a viewpoint narrative structure can be added to a non-linear storyline.
Both are relatively simple narrative techniques, but when combined, they can create a complex buildup.
If done correctly, this combination can create something truly captivating, opening your listeners’ minds, and perhaps even their hearts, to your story.
Image: A helpful trick when working with complicated storylines is to visualize your basic storyline — in this case, the linear storyline — along with the visualization of how all your elements come together. This ensures you don’t lose track of the overall narrative.
the Circular
the end is the beginning
"life is like a box of chocolates"
A circular narrative is a story that ends in the same place it started, connecting the beginning and the end. This structure can emphasises themes of cycles, destiny, or life truths. This structure shows how events repeat and how the end mirrors the beginning, creating a sense of completeness.
In the movie "Forrest Gump," the story begins and ends with Forrest sitting on a bench, narrating his life story to strangers. This framing device creates a circular structure.
🌍 Folktales from various cultures often adopt circular narratives, concluding where they began, echoing the cyclical nature of life.
🎬 The mind-bending layers of Inception and the relentless loop of Memento continue this enigmatic tradition.
🎧 20 Thousand Hertz often explores the world of sound in a way that may circle back to a central theme, highlighting the cyclic nature of auditory experiences.
🧩 Structure:
- Beginning and End Match: The story starts and ends in the same place or situation.
- Journey: The characters embark on a journey or series of events.
- Change and Reflection: Characters experience change but ultimately return to the start.
- Recurring Themes: Repetition of motifs or themes throughout the story.
- Resolution: The return to the beginning provides closure and insight.
💫 Tip:
Use recurring musical themes and sound motifs to highlight the cyclical nature of the narrative and to bring the story full circle.
Introduce subtle variations to keep the listener engaged and avoid repetition fatigue.
🎧 Revisit the Opening: Consider ending your podcast by revisiting a key moment or theme introduced at the beginning, with added context or understanding.
🎧 Use Sound Design: Use sound cues or music that echoes earlier moments to create a sense of return or full circle.
🎧 Build Emotional Resonance: Ensure the return to the beginning feels emotionally impactful by highlighting the protagonist’s or listener’s growth throughout the journey.
🎧. Create Foreshadowing: Offer subtle hints early on that will only make sense or feel complete when the story returns to the start, creating a “wow” moment for the audience.
The Circular Story Structure
By now, you’ve probably guessed the theme.
Once again, we have a basic, universally understood story structure that emphasizes a way of seeing and describing life. Logically, circular structures are great for stories that involve repetition in some form.
They are especially effective for conveying ideas about fate, personal growth, or the inevitability of certain events. Examples include coming-of-age stories, mythology and folklore, existential or philosophical narratives, stories where the outcome is preordained, and stories where people or a person change due to an experience - without necessarily involving the “hero” aspect.
Of course, there are many more possibilities that feature this returning or irreversible structure.
Image: Again, like with linear storytelling, the structure can feel quite predictable because we relate to it so well as listeners. However, there are ways around this. One such method is to incorporate perspective, as mentioned above, which can bring new angles into the story. This can twist the narrative, make it more appealing, surprising, and open to interpretation - all of which spike curiosity.
the Nested Loop
it's complicated
"It's you who's in the hot seat, my friend!"
A nested loop narrative is a layered structure where stories reside within stories. This approach creates depth, drawing listeners deeper into the narrative with each unfolding layer. Each story within the main story adds new dimensions and complexity, making the overall experience more engaging and immersive.*
The film Slumdog Millionaire tells the story of Jamal, who recounts how his life experiences helped him answer questions on a game show. Each flashback forms a sub-story that connects back to the main narrative.
📖 One Thousand and One Nights stands out as a nested narrative. As Scheherazade narrates tales to King Shahryar, listeners dive deeper into interwoven stories, each offering its own universe of intrigue.
🎧 Radiolab often uses nested narratives, with stories residing within stories to create depth and pull listeners deeper into the narrative universe.
🧩 Structure:
- Main Story: The overarching narrative that frames the inner stories.
- Sub-Stories: Stories within the main story, often with their own themes and characters.
- Interconnected Layers: The sub-stories may connect back to the main narrative.
- Depth and Complexity: Each layer adds depth to the overall narrative.
- Closure: The conclusion of sub-stories ties back to the main story, creating a cohesive whole.
💫 Tip:
Clearly differentiate each layer of the story with distinct voices or sound effects, and ensure smooth transitions to keep the audience engaged and oriented.
Maintain coherence across layers by using consistent themes or motifs to tie everything together.
🎧 Clarity in Layering: Ensure each sub-story is clearly defined, with distinct voices or sound cues to keep the audience grounded in the shifting layers.
🎧 Maintain Flow: Transition smoothly between layers to avoid disorientation — use sound cues, pauses, or visual markers to guide the listener.
🎧 Reinforce Connections: Tie back sub-stories to the main narrative with recurring themes or motifs to create a cohesive experience.
🎧 Pacing is Key: Balance the pace of each sub-story so the audience isn’t overwhelmed; give each layer the time it needs to breathe before moving to the next.
🎧 Surprise in the Conclusion: Use the conclusion of your nested loops to bring all the layers together, revealing new insights or creating that “aha!” moment that makes the whole structure feel worth it.
The Nested Loop Story Structure
This is where things get a bit more complicated, but also where you can achieve so much more in creating captivating, spellbinding stories. It’s also a structure that’s particularly well-suited for audio storytelling, where all your creativity as a storyteller and sound engineer can truly be ignited.
The nested loop is particularly good at building tension and suspense by gradually revealing layers of information. It provides a deeper understanding of a central theme or concept through repeated, mirrored elements, and it engages the audience by offering a multifaceted view of a central conflict or idea.
Generally speaking, it’s especially effective for stories that involve multiple layers or subplots, often where one story loop is nested within another, creating a sense of depth and complexity.
Examples of stories where this structure works well include complex mysteries or thrillers, historical or multi-generational stories, character-driven dramas or psychological stories, fantasy or science fiction tales with multiple realities, romantic stories with parallel relationships, stories with flashbacks or time jumps, stories about secrets or hidden truths, and narratives that explore social or political issues - or anything that sparks your creativity.
Image: It might look simple... Remember the reward is great.
the FISH MODEL - with a tail wag
Splash, Swoosh, Smack!
“Madness, as you know, is like gravity… all it takes is a little push.”
The Jokers final lines | Dark Night 2008
This model, which we’d like to finish off with, swims a little differently.
It’s a trusted tool in the daily work of journalists - simple, clear, and effective - but you’ll find it popping up everywhere in storytelling.
🧩 Structure:
The Hook: Before diving in, you must catch the listener’s attention.
This could be a provocative question, an intriguing statement, or an emotional prompt that gets the audience thinking.
It’s the bait that pulls them into the narrative.
For example, in a podcast, this could be the opening lines that tease a story without giving too much away, creating anticipation or curiosity.
The Head: After the hook, you begin with a clear introduction, question, or premise that further draws the listener in.
This stage sets up the central idea, establishing the core of what’s to come.
The Body: The story takes a deep dive into complexity - tension builds, layers unfold, and multiple perspectives are explored.
This is where the narrative truly evolves, and you create engagement through conflict and depth.
The Tail: The story resolves or reflects, answering the question or tying up the narrative threads.
It provides closure and often introduces a meaningful reflection or conclusion.
The Tail-Wag: A final twist or subtle surprise that challenges the listener’s assumptions, sparks curiosity, or leaves the story open for interpretation.
This wag can deepen the meaning or completely reframe what came before, leaving the audience with something to ponder long after the story ends.
Where to find it:
🎧 Heavyweight frequently uses the tail-wag with last-minute humor or poignant reflection.
🎬 The Sixth Sense or The Usual Suspects - both end with a twist that invites you to reconsider the entire story.
And in The Dark Knight (2008), the Joker’s chaos-inviting philosophy perfectly embodies that playful, unsettling twist that flips everything on its head.
The structure of the film iis not a classical fish model but more like a school of fish models make a combined narrative embodying the insight of the tail-wag with the Jokers final lines.
🎤 Storytelling events:The Moth storytellers often end with a personal twist, opening a story from anecdote to universal insight.
💫 Tip:
🎧 Use sound design or a musical cue that hints at the twist without giving it away.
🎧 Allow a pause before the wag — silence can make the twist land with greater impact.
🎧 The wag doesn’t have to be dramatic; a subtle nudge can linger longer in the listener’s mind than an overt twist.
The Fish Model story Structure
As simple as it is this structure is incredible strong and a craft full guideline tool for both the experienced as well as the expert storyteller.
Here are some other examples of its usage in podcasts:
1. This American Life - “Fiasco!”
🧩 Head: Starts with funny, chaotic stories of plans gone horribly wrong.
🧩 Body: Builds bigger and bigger messes that seem absurd.
🧩 Tail & wag: You think it’s just comedy and human error - but the last act suddenly reframes the chaos as a reflection on control and how tightly we try (and fail) to manage life. That little wag leaves you thinking about human vulnerability instead of just laughing.
🧩 Head: Explores repetitive cycles in nature and behavior.
🧩 Body: Delves into scientific and emotional loops.
🧩 Tail & wag: Ends on a moment where one story loops back to the storyteller in a completely unexpected personal way - you realise the episode itself is a loop, and that lands with a satisfying but mind-bending twist.
Image: This model should be on top of your screen... maybe ;-)
Epilogue
Narrative structures are more than mere vehicles for storytelling; they shape the story's essence.
Without structure, stories can feel jumbled and hard to follow.
Applying structure to your story can resonate deeply with listeners and keep them engaged.
Whether it's the predictable comfort of linear tales, the transformative arcs of quests, or the complex layers of nested narratives, these structures offer a range of options to storytellers, allowing them to create vivid audio experiences for their listeners.
So, get out there and experiment with these structures in your own storytelling.
See which ones resonate most with your style and audience.
And don't hesitate to share your experiences or questions - we'd love to hear how these frameworks help you craft your stories.
About the author:
Nick Dunkerley // CEO at Hindenburg Systems, Keynote Speaker,
Nick Dunkerley is the founder and Director of Hindenburg Systems. He’s a keynote speaker, lecturer, and lifelong advocate for audio storytelling. With a background as a radio host, sound engineer, and producer at Danish National Radio (DR), he has spent his career exploring how audio can help us better understand the world we live in.
In an era of AI-driven misinformation, “fake news,” and the erosion of truth, he believes long-form radio is one of the most powerful ways to achieve authenticity.
Ironically, for someone who built an audio software company, he doesn’t actually like software. To him, it’s a necessity for professional audio production—but it should never get in the way of creativity. That’s why Hindenburg is designed to make storytelling as effortless as possible, a tool embraced by professionals around the world.
For Nick, it’s all about the story. Always has been. Always will be.
START LISTENING WITH NICK
Some of the examples above, featuring stories told with specific narrative structures, can be found in our CEO Nick Dunkerley’s “desert island list” that he put together for 2024.
It includes his 10 favorite podcasts, which we promise will offer great inspiration in storytelling and insight into how to structure stories in a compelling way.
Hindenburg has always been a top-quality editor for spoken word content - fast, precise, and easy to use. It could be the best thing to happen to podcasting.
Hindenburg PRO for storytellers
At Hindenburg, we're all about the story. Our tools are designed specifically with audio storytelling in mind, giving you everything you need to navigate and edit complex stories seamlessly. From Multitrack recording, transcriptions, clipboards, sound libraries and publish tools - Hindenburg Pro has you covered.
If you are considering a life in audio, then begin with a 30 day trial of Hindenburg PRO.
