This is a story of Riki Rimau, Prince of the Rain Forest. He sets to explore his habitat and meets some dubious and unscrupulous characters.
In this sample, he meets some tree cutting monkeys.
Riki Rimau adventure is actually following his trips/visits around the rain forest. The structure presented here follows the traditional 3 acts story structure and Pixar's Story Principle.
Structure
Most of us love to take a trip—the anticipation, the packing, the trip itself and the unusual adventures along the way are experiences readers of all ages can relate to, whether they’re traveling to another country or just down the street to grandma’s house. Organizing a story around a journey can be an effective way to tell both fiction and nonfiction stories. The overarching goal of these types of stories is always the same: to reach the destination.
Theme: Saving nature, ecosystem, go green, sustainability
Who: RIKI RIMAU / Character development Human-like Tiger Cub. Human age 7. Curious. Brave. Explorer. Interact with various characters.
Supporting characters: Other tropical animals. Monkey, Rhino. etc.
What: Plot point Meet animal characters that ruin nature. Most, without knowing they destroy nature.
When: Time Now, 2014
Where: Setting Johor jungle area.
Why: Drama, pacing, and character motivation Coming of age. Fast. Action pack. Motivate to save others. Show curiosity. Anger.
How: Plot point
PIXAR STORY STRUCTURE
Take for example the plot of Finding Nemo.
1. Once upon a time there was … a widowed fish, named Marlin, who was extremely protective of his only son, Nemo.
2. Every day … Marlin warned Nemo of the ocean’s dangers and implored him not to swim far away.
3. One day … in an act of defiance, Nemo ignores his father’s warnings and swims into the open water.
4. Because of that … he is captured by a diver and ends up in the fish tank of a dentist in Sydney.
5. Because of that … Marlin sets off on a journey to recover Nemo, enlisting the help of other sea creatures along the way.
6. Until finally … Marlin and Nemo find each other, reunite and learn that love depends on trust.
ACT 1: ESTABLISH CHARACTER AND SETTINGS| Setup- Tells who the characters are, where they are (setting) and what they do.
Once upon a time…
Whether you use these exact words or not, this opening reminds us that our first responsibility as storytellers is to introduce our characters and setting – i.e., to fix the story in time and space. Instinctively, your audience wants to know: Who is the story about? Where are they, and when is all this taking place? You don’t have to provide every detail, but you must supply enough information, says McDonald, “so the audience has everything it needs to know to understand the story that is to follow.”
A) Once upon a time there was a tiger named Riki Rimau.
Riki Rimau was the prince of the tropical jungle.
And every day… With characters and setting established, you can begin to tell the audience what life is like in this world every day. In The Wizard of Oz, for example, the opening scenes establish that Dorothy feels ignored, unloved, and dreams of a better place “over the rainbow.” This is Dorothy’s “world in balance,” and don’t be confused by the term “balance.” It does not imply that all is well – only that this is how things are.
B) Everyday he explored the jungle to get to know his habitat better.
ACT 2: CONFLICT | Inciting Incident- An incident that happens that causes a problem for the main character.
Until one day… Something happens that throws the main character’s world out of balance, forcing them to do something, change something, attain something that will either restore the old balance or establish a new equilibrium. In story structure, this moment is referred to as the inciting incident, and it’s the pivotal event that launches the story.
In The Wizard of Oz, the tornado provides the inciting incident by apparently transporting Dorothy far, far away from home.
C) One day he saw some monkeys cutting down trees.
And because of this… | Try-Fail
Your main character (or “protagonist”) begins the pursuit of his or her goal. In structural terms, this is the beginning of Act II, the main body of the story.
After being literally dropped into the Land of Oz, Dorothy desperately wants to return home, but she is told that the only person who can help her lives far away. So she must journey by foot to the Emerald City to meet a mysterious wizard. Along the way she will encounter several obstacles (apple-throwing trees, flying monkeys, etc.) but these only make the narrative more interesting.
D) Because of that he was denied of shades. He talked to the a monkey to stop cutting down trees but he ignored him. The truth is monkeys just take orders from their leader.
And because of this… | Try-Fail
Dorothy achieves her first objective – meeting the Wizard of Oz – but this is not the end of her story. Because of this meeting, she now has another objective: kill the Wicked Witch of the West and deliver her broomstick to the Wizard. “In shorter stories,” says McDonald, “you may have only one ‘because of this,’ but you need at least one.”
E) Because of that he felt hot and sweaty. He roared to the monkeys to stop cutting down trees and the paused for a while. They then continued cutting down trees. The truth is monkeys just take orders from their leader.
ACT 3: RESOLUTION| CLIMAX
Until finally… | Try- Success
We enter Act III and approach the story’s moment of truth.
Dorothy succeeds in her task and presents the Wizard with the deceased witch’s broom, so now he must make good on his promise to help her return to Kansas. And this he does, but not quite in the way we initially expect.
F) Until finally he talked to the leader of the monkeys. He said they cannot cut down trees indiscriminately as it would ruin the jungle ecosystem. He allocated 10 trees for the monkey to cut and make their houses. He ordered the monkeys to replant the forest areas that they cleared. The leader of the monkeys agreed.
RESULT
ClOSING And ever since that day…
G) And ever since that day the monkeys did not cut down trees as they please. Riki Rimau allocated areas for them to work on prudently. And they planted trees for the future generation.
Once we know what happened, the closing scenes tell us what the story means for the protagonist, for others in the narrative, and (not least of all) for those of us in the audience. When Dorothy awakens in her own bed and realizes she never actually left Kansas, she learns the lesson of the story: what we’re looking for is often inside us all along.
SAMPLE STRUCTURE PICTURE BOOK STRUCTURE
PROPOSED INTERACTIVE CHILDREN PICTURE BOOK
