To help you see how these styles function in practice, here is either a creative writing prompt or a famous literary example for each of the 50 narrative formats.
Point of View (POV) & Perspective
First-Person Central: Prompt: Write about the moment you realized you were the villain of someone else’s story.
First-Person Peripheral: Example: Nick Carraway in The Great Gatsby, who observes Gatsby's life while remaining a secondary character.
Second-Person: Prompt: "You wake up in a room with no windows and a single locked door. On the table is a key and a note with your name on it."
Third-Person Limited: Example: Harry Potter in the Harry Potter series; the reader only knows what Harry thinks and feels.
Third-Person Omniscient: Example: The narrator in Pride and Prejudice, who knows the internal motivations of the Bennets, Mr. Darcy, and the townspeople.
Third-Person Objective: Prompt: Describe a tense breakup taking place in a crowded restaurant using only dialogue and physical movements.
Deep POV: Prompt: Write a scene where a character is terrified of heights, focusing only on their visceral reactions (the sweat, the blurring vision) without saying "he felt afraid."
Alternating POV: Example: Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn, which alternates between Nick’s and Amy’s perspectives.
Unreliable Narrator: Example: The narrator in The Tell-Tale Heart, who insists on his sanity while describing a murder.
Collective "We" (First-Person Plural): Example: The Virgin Suicides by Jeffrey Eugenides, where the story is told by a group of neighborhood boys.
Structure & Chronology
Linear Narrative: Prompt: Trace a marathon runner’s experience from the starting gun to the finish line.
Non-Linear Narrative: Example: The film Memento, where scenes are spliced together out of order to mimic memory loss.
Reverse Chronological: Prompt: A story about a divorce that ends with the couple’s first meeting.
In Media Res: Prompt: Start a story with a character hanging off the edge of a skyscraper.
Framed Narrative: Example: Frankenstein, where Robert Walton’s letters frame Victor Frankenstein’s story, which in turn frames the Creature’s story.
Epistolary: Prompt: Tell the story of a failing space colony through a series of weekly status reports.
Circular Narrative: Example: Finnegans Wake by James Joyce, where the last sentence of the book leads back into the first.
Parallel Narratives: Prompt: Write about a baker in 1920 and a chef in 2020 who are both using the same haunted kitchen.
Fragmented Narrative: Prompt: Tell a story using only "found items" in a character's trash can over the course of a week.
Picaresque: Example: The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, following a rogue-like protagonist through various episodic adventures.
Linguistic & Tone Styles
Stream of Consciousness: Example: Virginia Woolf’s Mrs. Dalloway, where the text follows the uninterrupted flow of the character's thoughts.
Minimalist: Prompt: Write a 100-word story about a death in the family using only four-word sentences.
Maximalist (Ornate): Example: The sprawling, complex prose of David Foster Wallace in Infinite Jest.
Colloquial/Vernacular: Prompt: Write a dialogue between two gold miners in the 1840s using their specific slang and accents.
Formal: Prompt: An intergalactic treaty written in the style of 18th-century legal documents.
Satirical: Example: Animal Farm by George Orwell, using a farm setting to critique the Soviet Union.
Allegorical: Example: The Pilgrim’s Progress, where characters have names like "Christian" and "Hopeful" to represent spiritual journeys.
Parody: Prompt: Write a "hardboiled detective" story about a five-year-old trying to find a missing juice box.
Poetic Prose: Prompt: Describe a thunderstorm using metaphors and rhythmic language, but keeping it in paragraph form.
Hardboiled: Example: Raymond Chandler’s Philip Marlowe novels, featuring cynical, gritty dialogue.
Genre-Specific Styles
Magical Realism: Prompt: A man wakes up one morning to find that his shadows has detached and is making breakfast.
Gothic: Prompt: A young governess arrives at a crumbling estate where the wind sounds like a woman screaming.
Noir: Prompt: A private investigator is hired by a "femme fatale" to find a man who doesn't exist.
Found Footage/Mockumentary: Prompt: A script for a documentary about a town where nobody has slept for three years.
Mythic: Prompt: Write about a modern-day office worker who discovers they are the reincarnation of Icarus.
Fable: Prompt: A story about a greedy squirrel who learns that sharing is the only way to survive the winter.
Grimdark: Example: The First Law series by Joe Abercrombie, where there are no true heroes and the world is brutally violent.
Surrealist: Prompt: A dinner party where the guests are clocks and the food is made of light.
Metafiction: Prompt: A character stops mid-sentence to argue with you (the author) about how the plot is going.
Bizarro: Prompt: In a world where people are made of sentient gelatin, one man dreams of being "solid."
Technical & Modern Formats
Journalistic/Reportage: Prompt: Write a "Breaking News" article about the first alien landing in Central Park.
Listicle Narrative: Prompt: "10 Reasons Why I Am Currently Hiding in Your Closet."
Flash Fiction: Prompt: Write a complete story with a beginning, middle, and end in exactly 50 words.
Vignette: Prompt: Describe the atmosphere of a laundromat at 3:00 AM without using any plot or dialogue.
Choose Your Own Adventure: Prompt: "If you decide to open the blue chest, turn to page 4. If you run for the exit, turn to page 12."
Transmedia: Example: The The Blair Witch Project, which used a fake website, police reports, and "found" video to tell its story.
Choral Narrative: Prompt: A town reacts to a lottery win, with each sentence coming from a different resident.
Oral History: Example: World War Z by Max Brooks, told through a series of "interviews" with survivors of a zombie apocalypse.
Historical Fiction (Stylized): Prompt: Write a letter from a Roman soldier stationed at Hadrian's Wall to his mother.
Graphic/Visual Narrative: Example: Maus by Art Spiegelman, using sequential art and anthropomorphic animals to tell a Holocaust survivor's story.
Would you like me to take one of these prompts and write a short opening scene for it?
Here are an additional 50 narrative format styles (51–100), ranging from structural experiments to specific tonal shifts and modern digital adaptations.
Structural & Conceptual Styles
Rashomon Effect: The same event is told through the eyes of several different characters, with each version contradicting the others.
Prompt: Write about a missing office stapler from the perspective of the thief, the victim, and the janitor who saw everything.
The "Wait, What?" (Twist Narrative): A story designed specifically to upend the reader’s understanding in the final sentence.
Example: The Sixth Sense (film) or "The Lottery" by Shirley Jackson.
Hypertext Narrative: A digital-first style where the story contains links that allow the reader to jump to different sections or "rabbit holes."
Prompt: Create a Wikipedia-style entry for a fictional city where every blue link leads to a new piece of lore.
Footnote Narrative: The main story is standard, but the "real" story—or a secondary meta-commentary—is told entirely in the footnotes.
Example: Pale Fire by Vladimir Nabokov.
Recursive (Infinite Loop): A story that ends by leading directly back into its own beginning, often implying the characters are trapped.
Prompt: A man enters a room to find himself sitting at a desk, writing a story about a man entering a room.
Interlocking Stories: A series of short stories that seem independent but are revealed to be connected by a single event or character.
Example: Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell.
The Case Study: A narrative written in the style of a medical, psychological, or legal report.
Prompt: Write a psychological evaluation of a superhero who is struggling with their secret identity.
Inventory Narrative: Telling a story through a list of objects found in a specific location (a suitcase, a crime scene, a locker).
Prompt: Tell the story of a 20-year marriage using only the items found in a junk drawer.
Chrono-Illogical: A story where time doesn't just move backward or forward, but jumps randomly, reflecting a character’s fractured state of mind.
Example: Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut.
Dictionary/Glossary Narrative: Defining fictional words or terms to build a world or tell a story.
Example: The Dictionary of the Khazars by Milorad Pavić.
Perspective & Voice Nuances
Free Indirect Discourse: A third-person style that adopts the tone and "flavor" of the character's thoughts without using "he thought."
Example: Much of Jane Austen’s work or Madame Bovary.
Interior Monologue: A more structured version of Stream of Consciousness, focusing on a character’s inner "speech" rather than just sensory input.
Prompt: Write the internal debate of someone deciding whether or not to press a "Do Not Press" button.
Direct Address: The narrator breaks the "fourth wall" to speak directly to the reader, often to justify their actions.
Example: Jane Eyre ("Reader, I married him.").
Anthropomorphic POV: A story told from the perspective of a non-human entity (an animal, a tree, or an object).
Prompt: Tell the history of a house from the perspective of the front door.
Hagiography: A narrative that intentionally idealizes its subject, treating them as a saint or hero regardless of their flaws.
Prompt: Write a biography of a notoriously grumpy local baker as if they were a divine being.
Confessional: A deeply personal, often "shameful" account told as if to a priest, a therapist, or a diary.
Prompt: "I didn't mean for the fire to start, but I did mean to buy the matches."
Polyphonic: A narrative that gives equal weight to many distinct voices, often representing an entire community.
Example: As I Lay Dying by William Faulkner.
The "Ghost" Narrator: A story told by someone who is already dead, observing the living.
Example: The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold.
Unreliable Witness: Unlike the narrator, this is a character within the story whose testimony the reader must decode.
Prompt: A child describes a "monster" in the house that the reader realizes is actually a malfunctioning appliance.
Self-Referential (Meta-Fiction): The story is aware of its own tropes and comments on them as it goes.
Prompt: A character complains that the author is giving them too much "unnecessary backstory."
Genre-Specific Styles (Sub-types)
Cozy Mystery: A "softboiled" detective style that avoids graphic violence and focuses on a small, quaint community.
Example: Agatha Christie’s Miss Marple series.
Southern Gothic: Focuses on the macabre, ironic, and flawed characters of the American South.
Example: The works of Flannery O'Connor or Harper Lee.
Kitchen Sink Realism: A style focusing on the gritty, mundane, and often bleak lives of the working class.
Prompt: A tense dinner conversation about a past-due electric bill.
Cyberpunk: A high-tech, low-life narrative focusing on artificial intelligence and corporate dystopia.
Example: Neuromancer by William Gibson.
Solarpunk: An optimistic narrative style focusing on a future where humanity has solved environmental issues through technology and nature.
Prompt: A day in the life of a rooftop gardener in a city powered entirely by stained-glass solar panels.
Cosmic Horror: A style that emphasizes the insignificance of humanity in the face of ancient, unknowable gods.
Example: H.P. Lovecraft’s "The Call of Cthulhu."
Bildungsroman: A traditional coming-of-age story focusing on the moral and psychological growth of the protagonist.
Example: David Copperfield or The Catcher in the Rye.
Künstlerroman: A sub-type of the coming-of-age story specifically about an artist’s growth to maturity.
Example: A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man by James Joyce.
Roman à Clef: A novel about real life overlaid with a "key" of fiction (real people with different names).
Example: The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath.
Slipstream: A "weird" style that sits between literary fiction and science fiction/fantasy, where reality feels slightly "off."
Example: The works of Haruki Murakami.
Modern & Format-Flips
Instruction Manual: Telling a story through a series of "How-To" steps.
Prompt: "How to Successfully Disappear Without Leaving a Trace."
Recipe Narrative: Each chapter is a recipe where the ingredients and instructions reflect the character's emotional state.
Example: Like Water for Chocolate by Laura Esquivel.
Police Report: A narrative told through dry, bureaucratic forms and witness statements.
Prompt: File a "Suspected Supernatural Activity" report for a suburban cul-de-sac.
Obituary Narrative: The life story of a character told through the lens of their death notice and what people chose to remember.
Prompt: Write an obituary for a man who lived a completely secret second life.
Travelogue: A story structured around a journey, focusing as much on the geography as the internal change.
Example: On the Road by Jack Kerouac.
Manifesto: A narrative driven by a central, aggressive ideology or call to action.
Prompt: A leader’s speech to a group of rebels about to storm a castle.
Transgenerational: A story that follows a single family or location across several centuries.
Example: One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel García Márquez.
Interview Script: A story told entirely through a transcript of a Q&A session.
Prompt: An interview with the first person to return from a black hole.
Found Manuscript: A story presented as a "lost" book or scroll discovered by the narrator.
Example: The Name of the Rose by Umberto Eco.
Field Guide: A narrative built by describing the "flora and fauna" of a fictional world.
Prompt: Write a field guide entry for the "Coffee-Shop Dweller" (Homo Espresso).
Tone & Linguistic Variations
Gallows Humor: A narrative that treats morbid or tragic situations with dark, cynical comedy.
Example: Catch-22 by Joseph Heller.
Diatribe: A long, angry, and frustrated narrative directed at a specific person or society.
Prompt: A character’s three-page rant about why modern architecture is ruining their soul.
Parable: A simple story used to illustrate a moral or spiritual lesson.
Example: The Parable of the Prodigal Son.
Mock-Heroic: Using the grand, elevated language of an epic (like the Iliad) to describe a trivial event.
Prompt: Describe a high-stakes game of "Tag" as if it were a battle for the fate of the universe.
Aphoristic: A story told through a series of short, punchy, and wise-sounding statements.
Prompt: Write a life story using only "proverbs" that the character made up.
Eulogy: A narrative written as a tribute to someone (or something) that has been lost.
Prompt: A eulogy for a character's childhood treehouse.
Dialect-Heavy: Writing phonetically to capture the exact sound of a specific region or subculture.
Example: Trainspotting by Irvine Welsh.
Surrealist Automatism: Writing without a conscious plan, letting the "subconscious" dictate the flow of the story.
Prompt: Set a timer for 10 minutes and write without stopping, letting your thoughts jump from a blue bird to a melting clock.
The "Last Man Standing": A narrative that begins with a crowd and ends with only one person, emphasizing isolation.
Prompt: A story about a giant New Year's Eve party where, one by one, the guests simply vanish.
Prosimetrum: A narrative that switches back and forth between prose (paragraphs) and verse (poetry).
* Example: The Consolation of Philosophy or certain Japanese Haibun.
Would you like me to take one of these styles and draft a full page-long scene for you to see how it works in depth?
I have selected Style #54: The Footnote Narrative. This format allows for a "dual-layer" story: the main text provides a formal or mundane surface narrative, while the footnotes reveal the character's true emotions, a secret subtext, or a secondary plot that eventually overtakes the first.
The Archive of Lost Echoes
A Narrative in Two Layers
The researcher, Dr. Aris Thorne, arrived at the Aethelgard Archives precisely at dawn, carrying only a single leather satchel and a permit signed by the High Curator [1]. The air inside the rotunda was remarkably still, smelling of vellum and the peculiar, sharp scent of ozone that often accompanies ancient, magically-treated manuscripts [2]. Thorne was directed to Table 14, where the Codex of Unspoken Rites lay waiting under a glass casing that hummed with a low-frequency protective ward [3].
Thorne’s task was simple: transcribe the marginalia of the third chapter and cross-reference the astronomical symbols with the 14th-century Solstice Charts [4]. As the sun rose higher, casting long, amber fingers across the marble floor, Thorne began the painstaking process of ink-mapping [5]. The quill moved with a rhythmic scratch-scratch-scratch against the parchment, the only sound in the vast, hollow chamber [6]. By midday, the first three pages were complete, though the symbols seemed to shift slightly whenever Thorne blinked [7].
The High Curator approached briefly to offer a cup of lukewarm tea, noting that Thorne looked "pleasantly focused" [8]. Thorne thanked him without looking up, the researcher's eyes fixed on a specific sigil—a weeping eye entwined with a serpent—that appeared to be bleeding a faint, silver mist onto the table [9]. The work continued until the shadows grew long once more, at which point the Archive's bells chimed, signaling the end of the session [10]. Thorne packed the satchel, returned the Codex to the attendant, and walked out into the cool evening air, appearing to all observers as a man who had simply completed a productive day of academic labor [11].
The Footnotes
[1] The "permit" was actually a forged document, printed on the back of a grocery receipt and enchanted with a low-level glamour. I have never met the High Curator; I am terrified of what he would do if he saw my real face.
[2] The ozone wasn't from the books. It was coming from the skin of my forearms. Ever since the incident at the dig site, I smell like a thunderstorm before it breaks.
[3] The "ward" didn't keep people out; it was designed to keep the book in. I could hear the parchment thumping against the glass, like a trapped moth with the weight of a lead brick.
[4] This was the cover story I gave the guards. In reality, I was looking for my sister’s name. She disappeared into this book three years ago, and I am the only one who remembers she ever existed.
[5] "Ink-mapping" is a generous term for what I was doing. I was actually feeding the book my own blood. Just a drop per page. It’s the only way the hidden text reveals itself.
[6] If I stopped moving the quill, the silence became a scream. The rotunda isn't empty; it’s filled with the ghosts of librarians who forgot to hold their breath while reading.
[7] They weren't shifting. They were reaching for me. I saw a tiny, inked hand emerge from a semicolon and try to grab my sleeve. I pretended not to notice.
[8] He didn't offer tea. He offered a warning. He whispered, "Don't let it see you seeing it," and his eyes were entirely white, like polished bone.
[9] The mist tasted like copper and old memories. I saw a flash of my sister’s blue dress in the silver vapor. She was screaming, but she had no mouth.
[10] The bells don't chime. They toll. One for every soul the Archive has claimed since the last full moon. Today, they tolled twice.
[11] I am not Thorne. Thorne is still in the rotunda, or what’s left of him is. I am the thing that walked out wearing his satchel. The evening air feels cold on my new skin, but I think I can make this disguise last until I reach the city.
Would you like me to try this same scene in a different style—perhaps the "Rashomon Effect" or "Cyberpunk"—to see how the story changes?
To demonstrate how a change in style completely reconfigures the "DNA" of a story, here is the same scene rewritten in Style #74: Cyberpunk.
Notice how the "Archive" becomes a digital vault, the "Codex" becomes a corrupted data-core, and the supernatural horror shifts into a technological nightmare.
The Aethelgard Data-Silo
Style: Cyberpunk
The rain hitting the Aethelgard Server Farm sounded like static on a dead channel. Thorne adjusted the collar of his lead-lined duster, the neon "OPEN" sign of a nearby noodle bar reflecting off his chrome ocular implants in a rhythmic, sickly pink. He didn't have a permit—he had a Level 9 bypass chip he’d bought from a black-market dealer in the Sprawl.
The air inside the rotunda was filtered and freezing, vibrating with the hum of ten thousand cooling fans. It didn't smell like vellum; it smelled of scorched copper and the ozone of high-voltage "Ice"—the security software designed to fry the brain of any unauthorized deck-jock. Thorne moved to Terminal 14. Locked behind a flickering laser-grid was the Codex-7 Drive, a prototype neural-core rumored to contain the "unspoken rites" of the city’s founding AI.
Thorne didn’t use a quill. He pulled a neural jack from his wrist, the cable snaking out with a wet click, and slammed it into the terminal’s port.
Immediately, his vision flooded with neon-blue code. This wasn’t academic research; it was a digital heist. He was looking for his sister’s "Ghost"—the digital imprint left behind after the corporation had "archived" her consciousness. As he bypassed the first layer of encryption, the haptic feedback in his nervous system began to spike. The data wasn't just files; it was a living virus that shifted every time his processors tried to map it.
By midnight, his internal temperature was hitting the red zone. The High Curator—a localized holographic avatar with a glitching face—flickered into existence beside him. It didn't offer tea. It offered a diagnostic. "Your core temperature is 104 degrees, Thorne. Synaptic failure is imminent."
Thorne didn’t look up. He was staring at a specific string of corrupted code—a weeping eye icon entwined with a serpent-shaped firewall. Silver static began to bleed out of the terminal, crawling up his chrome fingers. Inside the static, he saw a pixelated fragment of his sister’s face, her mouth moving in a silent, low-res scream.
The facility’s sirens began to wail—one for every security breach detected. Thorne didn't pull the jack. He let the silver static flood his neural pathways, rewriting his personality bit by bit. When the guards finally arrived, they found Terminal 14 empty. A man in a lead-lined duster walked out into the rain, his ocular implants glowing a new, terrifying shade of silver. He looked like Thorne, but his internal OS was now running a program that hadn't been seen in the physical world for a century.
What Changed?
The Tone: Shifted from "Eerie/Gothic" to "Gritty/Technological."
The Medium: The quill and ink became a neural jack and code.
The Stakes: The threat moved from a magical curse to a neural-overwriting virus.
The "Ozone": In the first version, it was a hint of magic; here, it’s the literal smell of overheating hardware.
Would you like to see this scene one more time in a Minimalist (Hemingway) style to see how the story works when stripped of all the "fluff"?
To transform the "Archive" scene into a Eulogy, the focus shifts from the immediate action to a reflective, bittersweet tribute. The narrative is no longer about what is happening, but about who was lost and the legacy they left behind.
A Remembrance for Dr. Aris Thorne
Style: Eulogy
"We are gathered today not to mourn the silence that now dwells at Table 14, but to honor the man who spent his life listening to it."
Aris Thorne was a man of quiet corners and ink-stained fingertips. To many in this city, the Aethelgard Archives are merely a cold monument to the past, but to Aris, they were a living conversation. He didn't just study history; he held its hand. He walked among the stacks with a reverence that bordered on the sacred, believing that as long as someone was there to read the names, no one was ever truly gone.
I remember seeing him on that final morning. He carried that weathered leather satchel—the one with the broken buckle he refused to replace because it had belonged to his father. He looked toward the rotunda with a focus so sharp it felt like a prayer. He was searching for something, as he always was. We liked to joke that Aris was looking for a ghost, but looking back, I realize he was looking for a way to bring someone home.
His dedication was absolute. Those of us who worked beside him will never forget the rhythmic scratch-scratch-scratch of his quill against the parchment—a heartbeat in a room filled with dead air. He sat at Table 14 until the very end, immersed in the Codex of Unspoken Rites, a work so complex that only a mind as brilliant and gentle as his could hope to navigate it.
They say that on his last day, the Archive bells tolled with a particular weight. When we reached his desk, Aris was gone, leaving behind only his satchel and a final, unfinished page of transcription. Some call it a tragedy—an academic lost to the obsession of the archives. But I prefer to think that Aris finally found the door he was looking for.
He always said that books are the only places where time doesn't matter. Aris Thorne has simply moved into the margins now, becoming part of the very stories he loved so dearly. May he find the peace in those pages that he could never quite find in the world of men.
What Changed?
The Perspective: The narrator is now a peer or friend speaking to an audience, rather than an observer of the action.
The Intent: Instead of building suspense or horror, the text seeks to provide closure and emotional "meaning" to the events.
The Imagery: Elements like the "ozone" or "shifting symbols" are replaced with sentimental objects like the "broken satchel" and the "unfinished page."
The Tone: It is reverent and nostalgic. The horrific ending of the previous versions is reinterpreted as a "peaceful disappearance" or a "spiritual journey."
Would you like to see how this scene would look if told as an Epistolary (Letters/Emails) narrative, perhaps through the frantic correspondence Aris sent before he vanished?
To transform the story of Aris Thorne into an Obituary Narrative, we shift the perspective to a formal, public-facing document. While a eulogy is an emotional speech for friends, an obituary is a permanent record for the community. It often polishes the rough edges of a life while hinting at the mysteries left behind.
THORNE, Dr. Aris W.
Style: Obituary Narrative
AETHELGARD — Dr. Aris W. Thorne, 44, noted philologist and Senior Researcher at the Aethelgard Archives, is presumed deceased as of January 14, following a disappearance during a sanctioned research session at the Great Rotunda.
Born in the coastal village of Oakhaven to the late Thomas and Martha Thorne, Aris was a child of the stacks. He earned his doctorate in Ancient Linguistics from the University of Valerius, where his thesis on "The Phonetics of the Unspoken" remains a definitive, if controversial, text. His colleagues remember him as a man of "uncommon stillness," possessed of a rare ability to sit for hours in the presence of manuscripts that others found physically unsettling.
For the past decade, Dr. Thorne’s life was defined by his tenure at the Archives. He was instrumental in the restoration of the Shattered Psalter and was recently granted the rare privilege of studying the Codex of Unspoken Rites. While his work was largely solitary, his impact was felt throughout the academic world; he had an uncanny knack for finding meaning in the margins where others saw only decay.
He is preceded in death by his parents and his sister, Elena Thorne, whose own unresolved disappearance three years ago was a shadow Aris carried with him into every room. It was this devotion to family, friends say, that drove his final, exhaustive research into the Archive’s deepest vaults.
He leaves behind no immediate survivors but is mourned by a global community of historians and the silent halls he called home.
In lieu of flowers, the family—represented by the Aethelgard Historical Society—requests that donations be made to the Thorne Foundation for Linguistic Preservation. A memorial plaque will be placed at Table 14 in the Great Rotunda. The public is reminded that the Rotunda remains closed for the ongoing investigation into the atmospheric anomalies reported on the evening of his departure.
Key Differences from the Eulogy Style
| Feature | Eulogy | Obituary Narrative |
| Tone | Intimate and emotional. | Formal, public, and biographical. |
| Audience | Friends and family at a funeral. | The general public/newspaper readers. |
| Focus | Shared memories and character. | Accomplishments, lineage, and "official" facts. |
| The "Truth" | Often admits the character was "troubled" or "searching." | Usually sanitizes or glosses over the "weirdness" (e.g., calling the horror "atmospheric anomalies"). |
Would you like to see this scene reimagined as a "Police Report" (Style #83) to see the dry, bureaucratic version of these same events?
This version strips away the mystery and emotion, replacing them with cold facts, timestamps, and bureaucratic jargon. In this format, the "magic" or "horror" is reduced to "unidentified residue" and "atmospheric anomalies."
AETHELGARD METROPOLITAN POLICE DEPARTMENT
INCIDENT REPORT: #2026-BF-902
DATE: January 15, 2026
REPORTING OFFICER: Det. M. Vance (ID: 8842)
LOCATION: Aethelgard Archives, Rotunda Sector, Table 14
SUBJECT: Thorne, Aris (DOB: 05/12/1981) — MISSING PERSON
1. INCIDENT SUMMARY
At approximately 1945 hours on January 14, dispatch received a call from High Curator Elias Vance regarding a suspected disappearance at the Aethelgard Archives. Reporting officer arrived on scene at 2010 hours. Upon entry to the Rotunda, officers found Table 14 occupied only by personal effects belonging to the subject. Subject was last seen by staff at 1600 hours during a routine wellness check.
2. PHYSICAL EVIDENCE COLLECTED
Item 01: One (1) leather satchel containing various academic journals and a forged research permit.
Item 02: One (1) wooden quill, nib fractured.
Item 03: Residual silver-colored particulate matter (approx. 4g) recovered from the table surface. Sent to forensics for chemical analysis.
Item 04: Video surveillance footage (Hard Drive #4). Note: Footage between 18:02 and 18:05 exhibits significant electromagnetic interference (EMI) rendering the subject's departure invisible.
3. OFFICER’S OBSERVATIONS
The scene showed no signs of a struggle. However, the air surrounding Table 14 maintained an ambient temperature of 42°F, significantly lower than the rest of the climate-controlled facility. A distinct odor of ozone was detected.
The Codex of Unspoken Rites was found open to Page 214. Forensics noted that the ink on this page remained "wet" to the touch despite the book not having been touched for three hours prior to police arrival. Analysis of the ink reveals a biological match to the subject’s blood type (O Negative).
4. WITNESS STATEMENT SUMMARY
Witness 01 (E. Vance, Curator): Stated that the subject appeared "highly focused" and had been a regular visitor for several months. Admitted the subject had an obsessive interest in the "disappearance" files of a relative (Thorne, Elena - Case #2023-ET-09, CLOSED/UNRESOLVED).
Witness 02 (Security Personnel): Reported hearing "metallic chiming" at the time of the disappearance, though no alarms were triggered.
5. STATUS
Case Status: ACTIVE.
Primary Lead: Investigation of prior Case #2023-ET-09 for potential connections.
Caution: Forensic teams are advised to wear Level B PPE when handling the Codex due to reported nausea and auditory hallucinations among initial responding officers.
What Changed?
Language: Words like "sacred," "reverence," or "terror" are replaced by "sanctioned," "EMI," and "O Negative."
Focus: The narrative prioritizes timestamps, evidence numbers, and measurable data (temperature, weight of particulate).
Mystery vs. Procedure: The supernatural elements are treated as "hazards" (Level B PPE) rather than wonders.
The Sister: She is no longer a "ghost" or a "shadow"; she is a "Prior Case Number."
Would you like me to try this scene in a "Recipe Narrative" (Style #82), where the "disappearance" is described through the instructions for a specific, dangerous ritual?
To transform the story of Aris Thorne into Meta-Fiction, the narrative becomes self-aware. It recognizes that it is a piece of writing being manipulated by an author (or an AI) and comments on the very tropes we have been using in the previous styles.
The Draft of Aris Thorne
Style: Meta-Fiction
Aris Thorne entered the Rotunda at precisely dawn, because that is when "serious" literary protagonists always begin their transformative journeys. He paused to ensure the amber light hit the marble floor at a sufficiently dramatic angle, fulfilling the requirement for Atmospheric Setting (Trope #12).
He carried a weathered leather satchel. He didn't actually like the satchel—it was heavy and the strap pinched—but the Author had decided it was a "Symbol of Academic Burden," so he was stuck with it for the duration of the scene.
Aris sat at Table 14. He knew, with the weary resignation of a character in a mid-level mystery, that he was about to engage with the Forbidden Tome. In this case, it was the Codex of Unspoken Rites. A bit on the nose, isn't it? If the Author had wanted to be subtle, they might have named it Inventory Records: Volume IV, but subtlety doesn't keep a reader scrolling through fifty different narrative styles.
"I’m looking for my sister," Aris said aloud, addressing the empty room. He knew his dialogue was serving as Exposition. His sister, Elena, was currently trapped in the "Missing Relative" sub-plot, a convenient device used to provide Aris with a "Tragic Backstory" and "Relatable Motivation."
Suddenly, he smelled ozone.
"Really?" Aris thought, looking up at the ceiling. "Ozone? We used that in the Cyberpunk version and the Gothic version. Can we get a fresh sensory detail?" The prose ignored him. The ink on the page began to shift and bleed. Aris sighed and reached for his quill. He knew what came next: the Ambiguous Ending. He wouldn't be found, the mystery wouldn't be fully solved, and the reader would be left to wonder if he had ascended, died, or simply been deleted by a tired writer.
As the silver static (a carry-over from the Cyberpunk draft that the Author forgot to edit out) began to consume him, Aris turned toward the "camera" of the reader’s mind. "I hope you’re enjoying the exercise," he whispered. "But just once, I’d like to be in a story where I just go home and have a sandwich."
Then, the paragraph ended, and so did he.
The Meta-Fiction Breakdown
| Meta-Element | Purpose |
| Breaking the Fourth Wall | Aris addresses the Author/Reader directly to highlight the artifice of the story. |
| Trope Identification | Explicitly naming devices like "Atmospheric Setting" or "Exposition" to show how stories are constructed. |
| Intertextuality | Referencing the "previous versions" (Cyberpunk/Gothic) to acknowledge that this character exists in a cycle of rewrites. |
| Critique of Genre | Mocking the "on the nose" title of the book or the overused "ozone" smell. |
What Changed?
In this style, the "truth" of the story isn't about Aris's sister or the magic book; it’s about the relationship between the writer and the written. The stakes aren't life or death—they are the constraints of the page.
Would you like to see the final "game-play" version of this story in a "Choose Your Own Adventure" (Style #45) format, where you decide what Aris does next?
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Narrative format styles refer to the structural, linguistic, and perspectival techniques used to tell a story. While "50" is an extensive list, we can categorize them by Perspective, Structure, Genre-Specific Styles, and Literary Techniques.
Point of View (POV) & Perspective
First-Person Central: The protagonist tells their own story ("I").
First-Person Peripheral: A supporting character tells the protagonist’s story (e.g., Nick Carraway in The Great Gatsby).
Second-Person: The narrator addresses the reader as "You."
Third-Person Limited: Narrator knows the thoughts/feelings of only one character.
Third-Person Omniscient: Narrator knows everything about all characters and the world.
Third-Person Objective: Narrator only reports dialogue and actions, like a fly on the wall.
Deep POV: A technique where the narrator’s voice is so submerged in the character's mind that tags like "he thought" are removed.
Alternating POV: Shifting between different characters' perspectives in different chapters.
Unreliable Narrator: A narrator whose credibility is compromised (due to mental state, bias, or dishonesty).
Collective "We" (First-Person Plural): The story is told from the perspective of a group.
Structure & Chronology
Linear Narrative: Events are told in the order they happened.
Non-Linear Narrative: Events are portrayed out of chronological order.
Reverse Chronological: The story begins at the end and moves backward.
In Media Res: Starting the story in the middle of the action.
Framed Narrative (Story within a Story): A main story serves as a lead-in to other stories (e.g., The Canterbury Tales).
Epistolary: Told through documents like letters, diaries, or emails.
Circular Narrative: The story ends where it began.
Parallel Narratives: Two or more separate stories that run simultaneously and often intersect.
Fragmented Narrative: A story told in snippets or shards, often mirroring a broken memory.
Picaresque: A series of loosely connected adventures featuring a roguish hero.
Linguistic & Tone Styles
Stream of Consciousness: Mimics the continuous, often chaotic flow of human thought.
Minimalist: Using sparse, simple language with little description (e.g., Ernest Hemingway).
Maximalist (Ornate): Dense, descriptive, and complex prose.
Colloquial/Vernacular: Written in the local dialect or informal speech of the characters.
Formal: Academic or high-register prose.
Satirical: Using irony and exaggeration to critique subjects.
Allegorical: A narrative where characters and events represent abstract ideas or political situations.
Parody: Mimicking the style of another work or genre for comedic effect.
Poetic Prose: Using rhythmic or lyrical language within a standard narrative.
Hardboiled: Gritty, unsentimental, and focused on "tough" realism.
Genre-Specific Styles
Magical Realism: Realistic setting with magical elements treated as mundane.
Gothic: Focuses on gloom, horror, and the supernatural.
Noir: Dark, cynical, often centered on crime and moral ambiguity.
Found Footage/Mockumentary: Presenting fiction as a recorded real-life document.
Mythic: Telling a story with the weight and structure of ancient mythology.
Fable: A short narrative intended to teach a moral lesson, often with animals.
Grimdark: Extremely dark, violent, and nihilistic fantasy or sci-fi.
Surrealist: Using dream-like sequences and illogical progressions.
Metafiction: A story that acknowledges it is a story.
Bizarro: A contemporary genre focusing on the weird and absurd.
Technical & Modern Formats
Journalistic/Reportage: Writing a story as if it were a news report.
Listicle Narrative: Telling a story through a series of lists.
Flash Fiction: Extremely brief narrative, often under 1,000 words.
Vignette: A short, impressionistic scene that focuses on a moment rather than a plot.
Choose Your Own Adventure: Second-person narrative where the reader makes choices.
Transmedia: A story told across different platforms (books, social media, videos).
Choral Narrative: Many voices contributing to a single story arc.
Oral History: A story compiled from interviews and spoken accounts.
Historical Fiction (Stylized): Writing in the specific prose style of a past era.
Graphic/Visual Narrative: Storytelling through the combination of text and sequential art.
Would you like me to provide a writing prompt or an example for any specific style on this list?
An infographic's format is largely determined by the type of data you are presenting and the story you want to tell.
Here are 50 different infographic format styles, categorized by their primary function:
1. Data Visualization & Statistical Styles
These focus on making complex numbers and data sets easy to digest.
Statistical Infographic: Uses large typography and icons to highlight specific stats.
Data Visualization: Heavy use of complex charts (Scatter plots, Treemaps).
Bar Chart Infographic: Uses various bar styles (stacked, horizontal, 3D).
Pie Chart Infographic: Focuses on parts-of-a-whole relationships.
Line Graph Infographic: Best for showing trends over time.
Bubble Chart: Uses bubble size to represent data value.
Pictogram: Uses icons to represent small units of data (e.g., 1 icon = 10 people).
Area Chart: Similar to line graphs but emphasizes the volume under the line.
Radar/Spider Chart: Compares multiple quantitative variables.
Donut Chart: A variation of the pie chart with a hollow center for a key stat.
2. Informational & Educational Styles
Best for explaining concepts, "how-tos," or summarizing long-form content.
List-Based: A simple, vertically oriented numbered or bulleted list.
How-To/Instructional: A step-by-step guide for a process.
Anatomical: Breaks down the parts of an object (e.g., "Anatomy of a Perfect Landing Page").
Dictionary Style: Defines complex terms with brief visual aids.
Cheat Sheet: A quick-reference guide for specific tasks or shortcuts.
FAQ Infographic: Visualizes answers to common questions.
Summary Infographic: Distills a long article or white paper into key points.
Fact Sheet: A dense collection of facts about a specific topic.
Case Study: Visualizes the results and process of a specific project.
Myth vs. Fact: A side-by-side layout debunking common misconceptions.
3. Comparison & Decision Styles
Designed to help the viewer choose between two or more options.
Comparison (Side-by-Side): A "This vs. That" split layout.
Versus (Battle): A more stylized, competitive comparison.
Pros and Cons: Lists the advantages and disadvantages of a topic.
Before and After: Shows the transformation or impact of a service/product.
Decision Tree/Flowchart: A "Choose Your Own Adventure" style to reach a conclusion.
Table/Matrix: A grid-based comparison of features.
Quadrant Map: Places items into four categories (e.g., "High Effort/High Impact").
Venn Diagram: Shows overlapping relationships between concepts.
Feature Comparison: Highlights specific technical specs between models.
4. Timeline & Process Styles
Focuses on chronological order or the flow of a system.
Chronological Timeline: Shows a sequence of events over dates.
Vertical Timeline: A top-to-bottom scroll of historical events.
Horizontal Timeline: A left-to-right progression (common in presentations).
Roadmap: Visualizes future goals or a project's development path.
Process Flow: Shows how a system works from start to finish.
Cycle Infographic: Shows a continuous, repeating process (e.g., Water Cycle).
Supply Chain Map: Visualizes the path of a product from origin to consumer.
Biographical Timeline: Highlights the life and milestones of a person.
5. Geographic & Hierarchical Styles
Uses physical location or importance to organize information.
Choropleth Map: Areas are shaded in proportion to a variable (e.g., population density).
Pin Map: Uses icons to show specific locations or points of interest.
Isotype Map: Uses symbols on a map to represent data.
Pyramid: Shows a hierarchy (e.g., Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs).
Inverted Pyramid: Focuses on the most important info first, narrowing down.
Organizational Chart: Visualizes the structure of a company or group.
6. Creative & Narrative Styles
Styles that use unique layouts to grab attention or tell a story.
Interactive Infographic: Web-based layouts where users click or hover for data.
Scrolling/Parallax: Changes as the user scrolls down a page.
Animated (GIFographic): Uses movement to explain a concept.
Photo-Based: Uses real photography instead of icons or illustrations.
3D/Isometric: Uses perspective to create a sense of depth.
Comic/Cartoon: Uses characters and speech bubbles to relay information.
Vintage/Retro: Uses old-school aesthetics (textures, muted colors).
Would you like me to create an outline or a text-based mockup for one of these styles regarding a specific topic you're working on?
Newspaper design has evolved significantly, ranging from the dense, text-heavy formats of the 18th century to the visual-led digital layouts of today.
Here are 50 newspaper format styles, classified by layout, typography, and historical era:
Physical Dimensions & Standard Formats
Broadsheet: The traditional large-format paper (e.g., The New York Times).
Tabloid: A smaller, more compact format, often associated with sensationalist news but also used by "compact" quality papers.
Berliner: A format mid-sized between tabloid and broadsheet, popular in Europe (e.g., Le Monde).
Compact: A broadsheet-quality newspaper printed on a tabloid-sized sheet.
Quarter-fold: A very small format often used for community newsletters or local circulars.
Front Page & Layout Structures
Modular Design: News is organized into rectangular "modules," making the page easy to scan.
Vertical Layout: Emphasis on tall columns and vertical images.
Horizontal Layout: Articles and headlines stretch across several columns.
Circus Layout: A chaotic, high-energy design with multiple fonts and colors (common in sensationalist tabloids).
Grid-Based Layout: Strict adherence to a column grid for a clean, architectural look.
Above the Fold: Designing the most critical content to be visible when the paper is folded.
Skybox Layout: Small teasers or promos placed above the main masthead.
Basement Layout: Placing a large feature or advertisement at the very bottom of the page.
Dog-Leg Layout: An L-shaped article wrap around an image or advertisement.
Typographic & Graphic Styles
Old English / Blackletter: Traditional, Gothic mastheads (e.g., The Washington Post).
Modernist: Clean, sans-serif typography (like Helvetica) with lots of white space.
Victorian: High-density text, very small margins, and intricate woodcut-style headers.
Art Deco: Stylized, geometric fonts and borders popular in the 1920s and 30s.
Swiss Style: Minimalist, focuses on readability and objective presentation.
Brutalist: Raw, unpolished looks with heavy bold lines and high-contrast elements.
Typewriter Aesthetic: Using monospaced fonts to evoke a "breaking news" or "noir" feel.
Regional & Cultural Styles
Fleet Street Style: The classic British tabloid look (bold red mastheads, heavy use of puns).
Continental Style: Common in Europe, featuring sophisticated typography and artistic photography.
American Metro: Focuses on high-impact local photography and bold, clear headlines.
Japanese Vertical: Text runs vertically from top to bottom, right to left.
Nordic Minimal: Ultra-clean, airy layouts common in Scandinavian publications.
Section-Specific Styles
Financial / Pink Paper: Specialized layout on tinted paper (e.g., Financial Times).
Sunday Magazine Style: Glossy, high-resolution imagery with long-form narrative layouts.
Classifieds: Dense, text-only columns with minimal formatting.
Op-Ed Layout: Distinctive "opposite the editorial" page with structured columns and political cartoons.
Sports Tabloid: Action-oriented photos with large, "screaming" headlines.
Historical & Retro Styles
Gazette Style: 17th-century style with single-column text and no headlines.
Penny Press: 19th-century layout focusing on human interest stories for the working class.
Yellow Journalism: Late 19th-century style featuring "scare" headlines and lavish illustrations.
Mid-Century Modern: 1950s layouts with experimental photography and bold, sans-serif accents.
Psychedelic 60s: Underground press styles with wavy text and neon ink.
Digital & Hybrid Styles
Responsive Digital: News layouts that adapt to mobile, tablet, and desktop screens.
Infinite Scroll: A digital format where news items feed continuously.
Newsletter Style: A single-column, curated "digest" format (e.g., Substack or Axios).
Card-Based UI: News stories presented as individual "cards" or tiles.
Interactive Longform: Digital stories with embedded video, parallax scrolling, and data viz.
Specialized Formats
Alternative Weekly: Artistic, often "grunge" inspired layouts for local arts and culture.
Journal Style: Academic or high-brow look with very few images (e.g., Wall Street Journal).
Zine Style: Hand-drawn elements, photocopied textures, and non-linear layouts.
Newsletter (Tabloid): Focuses on brief, bulleted information for corporate or niche audiences.
Commuter Free-Sheet: High-density, short-read articles designed for a 20-minute train ride.
Gazetteer: A purely informational, list-heavy format.
Broadsheet Feature: Using the massive space of a broadsheet for a single, giant infographic.
Hybrid Glossy: Newspaper layouts printed on high-quality semi-gloss paper.
Minimalist Digital: Stripping away all ads and sidebars for a "reader mode" experience.
Would you like me to generate a specific layout template or a front-page mockup for any of these styles?
There is a vast range of publishing formats used today, spanning traditional print, digital-first platforms, and academic standards. Here are 50 publishing format styles categorized by their primary use case:
Digital & E-book Formats
EPUB (.epub): The industry standard for reflowable e-books.
MOBI (.mobi): An older Amazon Kindle format (largely replaced by AZW3).
AZW3 (.azw3): Amazon’s "Kindle Format 8," supporting modern CSS and styling.
PDF (.pdf): Fixed-layout format used for print fidelity across devices.
Fixed-Layout EPUB: Used for highly visual books like cookbooks or children's books.
iBooks (.ibooks): Apple’s proprietary format for interactive multi-touch books.
Digital Flipbook: An HTML5 web-based format that mimics the turning of physical pages.
Vellum Style: A specific digital aesthetic known for elegant typography and flourishes.
Print Book Bindings & Trim Sizes
Hardcover (Case Wrap): Printed image glued directly to the heavy board.
Hardcover (Dust Jacket): Cloth or paper-bound board with a removable paper cover.
Trade Paperback: High-quality softcover, typically found in bookstores.
Mass Market Paperback: Smaller, "pocket-sized" books printed on lower-quality paper.
Spiral Bound: Plastic or metal coil used for workbooks and manuals.
Saddle Stitch: Pages folded and stapled in the middle (common for brochures/zines).
Perfect Bound: Pages glued to a wrap-around cover (standard paperback).
Comb Bound: Plastic "teeth" used for office documents and reports.
Library Binding: Reinforced hardcover binding designed for heavy use.
Academic & Citation Styles
APA (American Psychological Association): Common in social sciences and education.
MLA (Modern Language Association): Standard for humanities and literature.
Chicago Manual of Style (CMOS): Used widely in history and book publishing.
Turabian: A simplified version of Chicago for student researchers.
AMA (American Medical Association): For medical journals and research.
IEEE: The standard for engineering and computer science papers.
Bluebook: The definitive style for legal citation.
Harvard Referencing: An author-date style used internationally.
Periodical & Journalism Formats
Broadsheet: Large-format traditional newspaper (e.g., The New York Times).
Tabloid: Smaller newspaper format, often with more photography.
Newsletter: Brief, targeted updates (e.g., Substack or internal bulletins).
Journal (Scholarly): Formally structured research papers.
Glossy Magazine: High-production value periodicals with heavy imagery.
Trade Journal: Specialized publications for specific industries.
Digest: Small-format magazines (e.g., Reader’s Digest).
Content Marketing & Corporate Formats
White Paper: Authoritative reports used to solve problems or present findings.
Case Study: A detailed account of a specific project or achievement.
Lookbook: A collection of photographs designed to show off a collection or brand.
Annual Report: Comprehensive report on a company’s activities and finances.
Press Release: Standardized format for sharing news with the media.
Pitch Deck: Highly visual slide-based format for presentations.
Technical Manual: Instructional guides for hardware or software.
Artistic & Specialty Formats
Zine: Self-published, small-circulation, non-commercial works.
Coffee Table Book: Oversized, hardbound, illustration-heavy books.
Graphic Novel: Book-length stories told in comic strip format.
Chapbook: A small book containing poems or short stories.
Artist's Book: Books intended as unique works of art themselves.
Graphic Memoir: An autobiography told through illustrations.
Web & Emerging Formats
Blog Post: Chronological, informal web articles.
Wiki: Collaborative, hyperlinked knowledge bases.
Micro-publishing: Short-form content (e.g., threads on X or LinkedIn).
Audiobook: Narrated versions of printed text.
Podcast Transcript: The text-based publishing of audio episodes.
Would you like me to go into more detail on the specific requirements for any of these, such as the APA or Chicago style guidelines?
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