Something, Something, Something Story Structure

When I look at a story, presented in any form, and try to determine if I will be interested in it, what first draws me in, and what ultimately has the greatest impact on my opinion , is the plot. Characters, setting, and all the other literary elements that you've learned about in English that make a good story a great story without you realizing it enhance the plot, but for me the initial attraction is always the plot, simply because; I love a good story. The more complex and twisted the better. 

Yet when one typically starts thinking about stories and storytelling, they probably think there's only a finite number of ways to tell a story, and all of them have been done before. But there are so many different ways that everyone knows; they just don't think of them because they are known subconsciously. When you start thinking about it, most of the fun in storytelling comes down to how you tell the story. Personally, I love changes to the traditional chronological story structure; it keeps the audience on their toes, and lets them gain a deeper understanding of all aspects of a story: plot, characters, setting, etc, etc. My favorite alterations are non-linear, reverse chronological, and multiple vantage points. These make the greatest changes to the traditional story structure, and consequently make it more interesting by providing the audience with a greater knowledge of events than the characters, increasing the tension and providing a more balanced view of things. 

Frequently, these types of stories allow for a high degree of complexity that not only serve to hook the audience, but give them greater insight. You know, probably. Maybe? I don't know. So many of my favorite books, films and TV shows alter the traditional storytelling format that I felt it was worthwhile to look at the their different formats and think about how they serve the story and make it so interesting.