Organizing materials in chronological order or event development order is called vertical structure.

Organizing materials according to the transfer of space or the nature of events is called transverse structure.

There is a crisscross structure between the above two structures.

1, vertical structure

It can make readers understand the story of a character or the development process of an event, grasp the ins and outs of the growth of a character or the development of an event, highlight the center more easily, and give people a deep and complete impression. However, when writing, we should pay attention to determining the beginning and end, be detailed and concise, highlight the key points, and avoid telling straight stories and running accounts.

Organize materials according to the time sequence or process sequence of events, and the narrative method is called chronological narrative. In the vertical structure, besides sequential narration, there are three narrative modes: flashback, insertion and supplementary narration.

The so-called flashbacks are not written completely in chronological order. Write something that happened later or the result of something first, and then write the reason, the occurrence and development of something.

The so-called narration is to temporarily interrupt the narrative clue and insert a situation related to the central event in the process of narrating the central event, so as to supplement and set off the plot and make the central idea more vivid.

The so-called supplementary narrative means that in some narratives, people or things related to the main content are often supplemented with two or three sentences or a short paragraph.

The difference between supplementary narrative and inserted narrative is that inserted narrative is a supplement to plot development, which can make the article appear ups and downs; Before and after the insertion part, there are often transition words, the former is to transition the topic to the insertion part, and the latter is to transition the topic back. Most supplementary narratives have no plot, and there is often no transition before and after. If the supplementary narrative is removed, the content before and after can still be connected.

There is no rigid format for sequential narration, flashback, interpolation and supplementary narration. When writing, you can organize the materials, arrange the order and use them flexibly according to the needs of expressing the central idea.

2. Horizontal structure

The horizontal structure organizes materials and narratives according to the shift of space or the classification of the nature of events. Its advantages are: not limited by time, writing according to the nature of the problem, highlighting several major issues, or several major events or events.

3. Staggered structure

A combination of vertical structure and horizontal structure.