Story Structure
(This month's post is an excerpt from The 90-Day Screenplay, coming out Feb. 21st.)
Creating a story is a process of moving from the general to the specific. We begin with a basic sense of a story, and through inquiry, our imagination fills in the details of character and circumstance. If we hold on tightly to any story element, we limit our story from moving in the direction of its most fully realized form.
Elisabeth Kübler-Ross’ seminal book On Death and Dying illustrates five key experiences that one moves through in the grief process. In the same way, there are a series of experiences that are essential in tracing our protagonist’s arc leading to his transformation.
Although the five stages of grief may overlap, they tend to move in a particular direction: denial, anger, bargaining, depression, acceptance. Just as the five stages of grief are universal, so are the key experiential stages that lead to our protagonist’s transformation. Notice that the five stages of grief cannot exist without an individual wanting something. Without a desire to live, none of these stages can follow. It is the same with our story. Our protagonist must want something, and the stakes must be life and death.
By exploring the key experiences in our hero’s journey, we will discover moments that make our story more dynamic and help us see beyond our fixed idea of how the story ought to go. Here are the key experiences in our hero’s journey:
ACT ONE
OPENING/FALSE BELIEF: (page 1) Our hero wants something. Without a powerful want, there is no story. Our protagonist also carries with him a false belief, a mistaken idea of himself and/or his world. Because the purpose of transformation is to reveal a wider perspective, the story often begins with a false belief that is founded on a set of incontestable facts, but as the story progresses, the interpretation of these facts evolves.
DILEMMA: (page 3-5) Our hero’s desire is wrapped up in a false belief about what his goal actually means, which creates a dilemma. For example, a character may want love because he believes that it will complete him. Through the story, he may learn that his desire for love actually prevents him from ever having it because, as long as he believes that he requires love in order to feel complete, he will be unable to accept that he is already complete.
INCITING INCIDENT: (page 10) This is the “Why is this day unlike any other?” moment. Whether it is Toto’s disappearance in The Wizard of Oz or Katniss’ sister being chosen as a tribute in The Hunger Games, something happens that causes our protagonist to respond, thus providing a context for the dilemma. It might originally have been universal, but now we understand how it is personal to the hero.
OPPOSING ARGUMENT: (page 15-20) This is a moment in the middle of Act One where we realize the problem is greater than it initially appeared. This moment is necessary because it clarifies the hero’s dilemma. Until our reader understands the nature of the dilemma, as opposed to the appearance of the problem, there will be no context for his decision at the end of Act One.
DECISION: (page 25-30) At the end of Act One our protagonist makes a decision that he cannot go back on. Notice the reluctance that precedes this decision. Without reluctance, we will not have a context for the dilemma.
ACT TWO
FALSE HOPE: (page 40-45) Our hero achieves success toward achieving his goal. It appears that his goal is within reach. Without this moment, we do not have a context for the meaning that he makes out of his goal. If his desire is to be loved and he succeeds in getting a woman to fall for him, he has yet to confront the real problem, which may be the meaning that he has made out of her love.
MIDPOINT: (page 50-55) As a result of our hero’s false hope, an event happens that causes our hero to respond through temptation. He is pulled in two different directions between what he wants and what he needs. He has come a long way and has made great strides, but is now faced with a crisis of conscience: he can take a shortcut or risk everything for his dream.
SUFFERING: (page 70-75) He had no idea it was going to be this difficult! If he had known, he might never have begun this journey. The suffering is a direct result of the hero’s dawning suspicion that what he wants is impossible to achieve. His suffering is the death rattle of his old identity. He’s going to give it one last try.
SURRENDER: (page 85-90) We surrender when we have run out of choices. The end of Act Two is where our protagonist recognizes the impossibility of achieving his goal.
ACT THREE
ACCEPTING REALITY: (This scene immediately follows the surrender) By reframing his relationship to his goal, he accepts the reality of his situation. In Argo, when Tony Mendez realizes that the CIA care more about their image than they do about the hostages, he understands the true nature of his situation: if the hostages are to be rescued, he will have to put his own life on the line.
ACTION: (page 90 - 110) This is the meat of Act Three. Our protagonist takes action toward giving himself what he needs. Rocky may still want to win the fight, but what he needs is to go the distance. The action he takes is to fight Apollo Creed in spite of the fact that he cannot win.
BATTLE SCENE: (page 110-115) This is the climax where our protagonist makes a choice between what he wants and what he needs. In Goodfellas, Henry Hill must make a choice between snitching on his friends, or going to prison for a long time.
NEW EQUILIBRIUM: (page 120) This is the ending of our story, where our hero is returned home. How is he relating differently to the other characters in the story? What has he come to understand? How can we show, through a single image, the arc of our protagonist’s journey? In Goodfellas, Henry Hill stands at the doorway of his suburban tract house while he tells us that in the suburbs he is no longer feared and respected. And the spaghetti is lousy.
Creating a story is a process of moving from the general to the specific. We begin with a basic sense of a story, and through inquiry, our imagination fills in the details of character and circumstance. If we hold on tightly to any story element, we limit our story from moving in the direction of its most fully realized form.
Elisabeth Kübler-Ross’ seminal book On Death and Dying illustrates five key experiences that one moves through in the grief process. In the same way, there are a series of experiences that are essential in tracing our protagonist’s arc leading to his transformation.
Although the five stages of grief may overlap, they tend to move in a particular direction: denial, anger, bargaining, depression, acceptance. Just as the five stages of grief are universal, so are the key experiential stages that lead to our protagonist’s transformation. Notice that the five stages of grief cannot exist without an individual wanting something. Without a desire to live, none of these stages can follow. It is the same with our story. Our protagonist must want something, and the stakes must be life and death.
By exploring the key experiences in our hero’s journey, we will discover moments that make our story more dynamic and help us see beyond our fixed idea of how the story ought to go. Here are the key experiences in our hero’s journey:
ACT ONE
OPENING/FALSE BELIEF: (page 1) Our hero wants something. Without a powerful want, there is no story. Our protagonist also carries with him a false belief, a mistaken idea of himself and/or his world. Because the purpose of transformation is to reveal a wider perspective, the story often begins with a false belief that is founded on a set of incontestable facts, but as the story progresses, the interpretation of these facts evolves.
DILEMMA: (page 3-5) Our hero’s desire is wrapped up in a false belief about what his goal actually means, which creates a dilemma. For example, a character may want love because he believes that it will complete him. Through the story, he may learn that his desire for love actually prevents him from ever having it because, as long as he believes that he requires love in order to feel complete, he will be unable to accept that he is already complete.
INCITING INCIDENT: (page 10) This is the “Why is this day unlike any other?” moment. Whether it is Toto’s disappearance in The Wizard of Oz or Katniss’ sister being chosen as a tribute in The Hunger Games, something happens that causes our protagonist to respond, thus providing a context for the dilemma. It might originally have been universal, but now we understand how it is personal to the hero.
OPPOSING ARGUMENT: (page 15-20) This is a moment in the middle of Act One where we realize the problem is greater than it initially appeared. This moment is necessary because it clarifies the hero’s dilemma. Until our reader understands the nature of the dilemma, as opposed to the appearance of the problem, there will be no context for his decision at the end of Act One.
DECISION: (page 25-30) At the end of Act One our protagonist makes a decision that he cannot go back on. Notice the reluctance that precedes this decision. Without reluctance, we will not have a context for the dilemma.
ACT TWO
FALSE HOPE: (page 40-45) Our hero achieves success toward achieving his goal. It appears that his goal is within reach. Without this moment, we do not have a context for the meaning that he makes out of his goal. If his desire is to be loved and he succeeds in getting a woman to fall for him, he has yet to confront the real problem, which may be the meaning that he has made out of her love.
MIDPOINT: (page 50-55) As a result of our hero’s false hope, an event happens that causes our hero to respond through temptation. He is pulled in two different directions between what he wants and what he needs. He has come a long way and has made great strides, but is now faced with a crisis of conscience: he can take a shortcut or risk everything for his dream.
SUFFERING: (page 70-75) He had no idea it was going to be this difficult! If he had known, he might never have begun this journey. The suffering is a direct result of the hero’s dawning suspicion that what he wants is impossible to achieve. His suffering is the death rattle of his old identity. He’s going to give it one last try.
SURRENDER: (page 85-90) We surrender when we have run out of choices. The end of Act Two is where our protagonist recognizes the impossibility of achieving his goal.
ACT THREE
ACCEPTING REALITY: (This scene immediately follows the surrender) By reframing his relationship to his goal, he accepts the reality of his situation. In Argo, when Tony Mendez realizes that the CIA care more about their image than they do about the hostages, he understands the true nature of his situation: if the hostages are to be rescued, he will have to put his own life on the line.
ACTION: (page 90 - 110) This is the meat of Act Three. Our protagonist takes action toward giving himself what he needs. Rocky may still want to win the fight, but what he needs is to go the distance. The action he takes is to fight Apollo Creed in spite of the fact that he cannot win.
BATTLE SCENE: (page 110-115) This is the climax where our protagonist makes a choice between what he wants and what he needs. In Goodfellas, Henry Hill must make a choice between snitching on his friends, or going to prison for a long time.
NEW EQUILIBRIUM: (page 120) This is the ending of our story, where our hero is returned home. How is he relating differently to the other characters in the story? What has he come to understand? How can we show, through a single image, the arc of our protagonist’s journey? In Goodfellas, Henry Hill stands at the doorway of his suburban tract house while he tells us that in the suburbs he is no longer feared and respected. And the spaghetti is lousy.
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