StoryWeaver – Exposition of Structural Character Roles

A StoryWeaver user recently asked:

Inside the story weaver software in the stage 3 Exposition part, inside the character folder, and precisely at the structural role, it says I should describe how I will reveal to my readers or audience the structural role of my characters.  Please does that mean that I should bring out the story points and then describe how each character played, and put them in scenes or dialogue, please what doe this mean?

My reply:

The structural roles are the functions of the characters as players in the plot, rather than as people. For example, the Protagonist is the one leading the effort to achieve the goal. If you have a character who is the Sage, he would promote the use of Wisdom in solving the story’s problems, just as a Reason Archetype would promote (and employ) logic as the best way to solve the problem.
 
But the question StoryWeaver is asking in Stage 3 (Exposition), Characters:
 
“Describe how you will reveal your characters’ structural roles to your readers or audience.”
 
 is all about the kinds of instances you will create in your story that will allow your reader or audience to identify the structural roles represented by each of your characters. You don’t need at this point to write actual scenes or fully developed dialog but rather describe the kinds of scenes or dialog you will use to convey this information about your characters to your readers or audience.
 
For example, you might answer this question in part by saying, “Bob has an argument with Sally in which he says here personal issues have no bearing on his decision because survival is at stake and that makes the logic of the situation the only factor that should be considered.” This then describes one way in which you will illustrate to your readers or audience that Bob is a Reason Archetype.
 
Try to come up with as many different examples as you can to convey the structural role (function) of each of your characters. You don’t have to use them all, but later when you build your scenes or chapters you can select from your examples the ones you want to use, rather than having to devise them while you are also trying to write.
 
For example, another instance of Bob being a Reason Archetype might be that he organizes all the foods on his plate in a particular order because his research has shown that this sequence of consumption will assist in digestion. Another character asks him, “But doesn’t it taste better to mix them up and eat several of them in the same bite?” Bob replies, “Irrelevant.”
 
Hope this helps.
 
Melanie