A rakugo story consists of descriptive parts and dialog, and when the story comes to a point the conversations between the characters are exchanged in an increasingly lively rhythm and the descriptive parts become fewer; this characteristic is not seen in another narrative art called kodan (vaudeville storytelling).
地の文と会話文（対話文）で構成されているが、噺の勘所にくると会話文によってテンポよく話を進めてゆき、説明的な地の文が少なくなる（この点が話芸としての講談との相違である）。