As you climb higher, the wind howls. You find a firm branch where you can sit sheltered from the worst of the rain and wind. Suddenly, a bolt of lightening strikes the tree, and with a spasm of fear and rigid muscles, you die.
As you climb higher, the wind howls. You find a firm branch where you can sit sheltered from the worst of the rain and wind. Suddenly, a bolt of lightening strikes the tree, and with a spasm of fear and rigid muscles, you die.
I know this is just a sample story, but doesn't this branch also end too suddenly?
The story is kept small so it won't get in the way of the meta-story.
Your problem is that you've decided to slim down your demo story so much that it barely qualifies.
They fit into the overall map, though. Authors tell themselves a story about the likely paths readers will follow. The author imagines a movement with beginning, middle, end, decisions, and outcomes: that's a plot for a narrative of the reader's experience, separate from the plot of the story the reader is going through