Dan Wells on Story Structure

If you're as impatient as I am, you can skip the first 2:50 minutes




Story structure as it applies to the genres of romance, tragedy, and horror


I love the way he weaves the different plot types together

Story Structure - The Hero's Journey

Why Star Wars Still Resonates

Moving into Act II

The 5 Major Plot Points

An informative look at plot points.

The Hero's Journey - the Hunger Games

An excellent, straightforward analysis of The Hunger Games structure.

The Hero's Journey - A Comparison

I especially love the first part of this. The symmetry is fascinating.



And now I have a burning desire to watch Lord of the Rings again.

The Hero's Journey

Yes, I've posted about the Hero's Journey/story structure before, but it bears repeating because it takes repetition to lodge it firmly in your mind.

The Hero's Journey

The hero's journey is one way to look at story structure. It's not a difficult concept to grasp, but implementing it isn't all that simple, so it's worth reviewing the high points on a regular basis.

Nuggets for December

NaNoWriMo always inspires great blogs about story structure. Two of the blogs I follow have especially good tips.

Alexandra Sokoloff has a screenwriter's sensibilities about story. She's done a wonderful series of articles about story structure
Preplanning:
http://www.screenwritingtricks.com/2013/11/ready-set-nano.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+AlexandraSokoloff+%28Alexandra+Sokoloff%29
The first ten pages:
http://www.screenwritingtricks.com/2013/11/nanowrimo-something-has-to-happen.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+AlexandraSokoloff+%28Alexandra+Sokoloff%29
The Inciting Incident
http://www.screenwritingtricks.com/2013/11/nanowrimo-inciting-incidentcall-to.html
Act 2:
http://www.screenwritingtricks.com/2013/11/nanowrimo-plan-act-ii.html
The Midpoint:
http://www.screenwritingtricks.com/2013/11/nanowrimo-midpoint.html
The Third Quarter:
http://www.screenwritingtricks.com/2013/11/nanowrimo-third-quarter-drop-dead.html
  
Jessica Page Morrell also did some great blog posts. I recommend the entire series of November posts
http://thewritinglifetoo.blogspot.com/2013_11_01_archive.html#5035542581007438090

Thursday Writing Quote ~ Christopher Vogler

It’s best to acquaint yourself with the Hero’s Journey ideas and then forget about them as you sit down to write. If you get lost, refer to the metaphor as you would check a map on a journey. But don’t mistake the map for the journey. You don’t drive with a map pasted to your windshield. You consult it before setting out or when you get disoriented. The joy of a journey is not reading or following a map, but exploring unknown places and wandering off the map now and then. It’s only by getting creatively lost, beyond the boundaries of tradition, that new discoveries can be made. ~ Christopher Vogler

Nuggets for August

Alexandra Sokoloff always has interesting things to say. Maybe it's her screenwriting background. Or maybe it's that she writes horror (those folks are always a little "different.") But her slightly altered perspective
http://thedarksalon.blogspot.com/2012/06/perfect-words-to-create-suspense-or.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+AlexandraSokoloff+%28Alexandra+Sokoloff%29

A different perspective on pricing ebooks
http://www.deanwesleysmith.com/?p=7190

Patricia Wrede has some suggestions on what to do with that novel with the great beginning that you don't know what to do with.
http://pcwrede.com/blog/the-first-veil/

Another thoughtful post by Kristine Rusch about what should be deal breakers in publishing contracts.
http://kriswrites.com/2012/07/18/the-business-rusch-deal-breakers-2012/

Whether you're looking to make your manuscript rise above to catch an agent's eye or you intend to publish independently, a developmental editor may be what you need. How do you know? The book deal explains what you should get from a developmental editor at http://www.alanrinzler.com/blog/2012/07/03/what-should-you-expect-from-a-developmental-editor/  Don't miss following the link about how to find a good one.

Story structure isn't as easy to implement as it seems, so I love when Larry Brooks writes about it because he really understands it. http://storyfix.com/the-moment-that-makes-or-breaks-your-story

First Plot Point

Most stories are told in a 3-act structure. Each act takes the hero/ine into a different world. Blake Snyder (author of Save the Cat! which I reviewed here) defines these three worlds as

• the thesis world (where the character is comfortable)
• the antithesis world (where the hero/ine's world turns upside-down)
• the synthesized world (the new world the hero/ine proves him/herself and applies what he/she has learned.)

There are some basic things to look for for each of these turning points. The first one (where the character steps out of their comfortable world in act one), which comes about 1/4 of the way into the story, is usually easy to spot, if you know what you're looking for. The common wisdom says that the main things to look for are:

• The hero must make a choice. (In the Hero's Journey based on Joseph Campbell's analysis of myths, this is where the hero/ine answers the Call To Adventure) The hero may make this choice kicking and screaming and often doesn't really understand what they're getting into, but it must be his choice. (This is what they all tell you, but is it true? We'll look at that, too.)
• The story must change directions 
• 
  

Movies tend to be more universally familiar to everyone, so I'm going to use a number of them to illustrate this.

In Romancing the Stone, Joan Wilder's sister has been kidnapped and needs her to bring a map to Columbia. In spite of the fact that she gets motion sick on escalators, Joan goes, thereby stepping out of her comfort zone in Manhattan and into a third world country she's totally unprepared for.

Sara Conner in The Terminator makes her choice by taking Kyle's hand when he says, "Come with me if you want to live."

In Dirty Dancing, Baby makes the choice to become involved with the dancers' problems when she asks her father for the money because "someone's in trouble." For the first time in her life, she lies to her father, denying that it's for something illegal (as abortion was back then.)

Ethel and Norman agree to keep 13-year-old Billy for the summer in On Golden Pond, so their daughter and the boy's father can take a trip to Europe.

In Sleeping with the Enemy, Laura chooses to fake her own death to escape her abusive husband, leaving the hell she knows for a new life.

After forging a successful New York career, Melanie returns to Alabama to get her husband to sign divorce papers so she can marry the mayor's son in Sweet Home Alabama.

In The Sting, Redford and Newman make the choice to run a revenge con on the man who killed Redford's conman mentor.

Luke Skywalker refuses to join Old Ben Kenobi until the Empire's storm troopers kill his aunt and uncle in Star Wars, but in the end he chooses to sign on, spawning five more movies.

Small town cop and neatnik Scott Turner's life is turned upside-down when he reluctantly takes responsibility for Hooch, an unmannerly junkyard dog, who is the only witness to his previous owner's murder in Turner and Hooch.

In Victor/Victoria, Victoria and Toddy hatch a plan to pass her off as a female impersonator. Though she's skeptical at first, she lets him convince her.

In all these cases, the hero/ine made the choice to step into an alternate world. Sometimes that choice is the only reasonable one to make. But is that step into the new world always the hero/ine's choice? The movies below would argue it's not. In these stories, the only choice the character has is to deal with what life has dealt them. Let's look at some of those.

When the seeds of the sacred tree perch all over Jake's body, Avatar changes directions. Jake is no longer an alien invader but the special someone who has been foretold in Neytiri mythology. Though Jake doesn't understand what this means, at this moment, he can no longer be who he was before.

In Peggy Sue Got Married, Peggy Sue is thrust back in time to high school, not long before she got pregnant by her boyfriend. This isn't her choice, but it most certainly changes the direction of the movie. Once she's in the past, she has little choice but to go with it. (Unless you count telling everyone the truth and being thought crazy.)

In P.S. I Love You, Holly steps into the second act when her husband dies. Does she choose this? Hell, no.

In Ransom, Tom Mullen steps into an unknown world when his son is kidnapped. Again, not his choice.

A chemical specialist for the FBI is told he will go with the seal team on their mission to free Alcatraz from the military rouges who have taken over The Rock. Maybe this is a choice, if he you count his ability to quit his job as an option.

After a bathroom accident, ad man Nick Marshall can hear women's thoughts which pushes this misogynistic man into a world he neither chose nor wanted in What Women Want.

Twelve-year-old Josh Baskin makes a wish to be "Big" which is magically answered. Though this might be considered a choice, he never actually expected his wish to be granted nor is the result really what he had in mind. This is, in many ways, the same movie as Peggy Sue Got Married because the real choice comes at the end of the movie when the characters choose their old lives.

In many of the examples where the character didn't make a choice, the protagonist is thrust into the antithesis world by magical means, but not all of them. This seems to argue that having the character make the choice strengthens the story, but that it's not a deal breaker if they don't. The story must, however, change directions at the first plot point.

How do your stories change direction? Does your protagonist make the choice?

Star Wars Deconstruction

If you’ve visited here before, you’ve probably picked up that I’m obsessed with learning story structure. My “bible” of choice for this mission are the Save the Cat! books. (You can find an overview of what these books have to offer here and here.)

I’ve been watching movies, trying to get a handle on what the story beats look like in different kinds of stories. Sometimes I can nail the movie, sometimes I get lost trying to figure out if a scene fits this beat or that beat (my short-coming undoubtedly—this ain’t always as easy as Blake made it look.)

I’ve had some successes that make me feel like maybe I’m getting it figured out, so I thought I’d share one or two.

I decided to deconstruct Star Wars because it has such a classic theme of good and evil and because I’ve seen it so many times that I can track the high points without even watching the movie.

For instance, the first plot point (aka Break into 2) clearly happens after Luke finds his aunt and uncle dead. This is the moment the story changes direction with Luke stepping out of the world he’s always known to something new—the antithesis world. And when they reach the Alderan system to find the world destroyed and they’re caught in the death star’s tractor beam the stakes are raised and the story changes direction again—that’s the midpoint. The whiff of death at the All is Lost Moment is hard to miss, especially since I’ve seen it flat-out stated that this is where the mentor dies. (Can’t get any more obvious than that, can you?) And the moment they head for the rebel base is clearly the beginning of the Finale. So yes, I knew I’d have checkpoints for the entire movie that would keep me on track.

The numbers before the beats indicate the order they’re normally found in. The number after in parenthesis indicates how many minutes into the movie the beat is usually found at. The version I have is the "enhanced" version with added scenes, so the times noted are slightly different that what they'd be in the theatrical version.

So let’s deconstruct 

1. Opening Image (1): 

As their space ship is being boarded by storm troopers, two droids, surrounded by fighting, seek a safe place. Momentarily separated, C3PO glimpses Princess Leia with the R2D2. Princess Leia is captured, and the droids escape in an escape pod. R2 is already talking about his "mission" which C3PO discounts. We get our first glimpse of Darth Vader who wants the plans the ship intercepted. And so the audience has some dramatic clues about what's at stake.

3. Set-up (1-10):  

On the planet's surface, the droids split up. C3PO flags down a transport; R2 is attacked and bought by the same transport that now has C3PO and a collection of other droids.

Not having found what they were looking for on the ship, storm troopers track the escape pod to the planet and start looking for the droids.

At minute 17, Luke’s uncle buys the two droids for the farm. The set-up is supposed to only take the first ten minutes with the catalyst coming at minute 12 (assuming a 2 hour movie) so we’re running a bit late here, but there’s just no other way to distill this and we run late through the entire first half of the movie.

The first act runs longer than is ideal, but an extended setup may be expected in Science Fiction, or indeed, in any movie where the world is unfamiliar to the audience.

4. Catalyst (12) aka Inciting Incident:

5. Debate (12-25):

I’ll happily admit that I had help defining the Catalyst here because in one of the STC! books, Blake Snyder uses Star Wars to illustrate that a Catalyst can have a double beat—a setup and payoff. In Star Wars, the setup beat comes at minute 20, when Luke triggers a partial message from Princess Leia to Obi Wan Kenobi, and so we step into the Inciting Incident several minutes late.

Because of the double beat, the Catalyst and the Debate beats are heavily intertwined. Each Call to Action (as the Catalyst is sometimes called) is followed with Luke either declining or accepting the Call. Each time he declines, it’s marked by a Debate beat.

The setup beat with the debate (refusal to answer the call):

The setup beat comes when Luke stumbles across the video message in the R2 unit. Intrigued by the droid’s claim that he belongs to Obi Wan Kenobi, Luke mentions the name to his aunt and uncle, only to be brushed off with what we all know is their attempts to avoid the issue. The debate scene also includes Luke expressing his desire to transfer to university this year instead of next with his uncle’s statement that he needs Luke on the farm which sends Luke outside to contemplate the future that appears to be going nowhere in the impatient eyes of youth (more debate.) This also sets up Luke’s second refusal to Answer the Call.

The second Call to Action?

At minute 26, Luke discovers the R2 unit has gone, forcing him into action he doesn’t want to take. In the morning, Luke and C3PO go after R2. When sand people attack, the hermit Old Ben saves them. Luke asks him if he knows Obi Wan. Ben admits that Obi Wan is a name he used to go by. He also tells Luke that his father was a Jedi and him his father's light saber. They see Princess Leia's full message, which gives them the mission to Alderan. This actually looks like another Call to Action to me, which would mean-I think—that there’s a triple Catalyst beat here, but since Blake Snyder didn’t define it as such and I’m not confident enough to challenge the Master, I’m merely going to point out that this is how I see it. But . . . It follows the same call-refusal pattern when Luke declines to answer this call (min 36), using his Uncle’s need for him on the farm as his excuse. (Ironic, since he argued against this need when he wanted to transfer to the university with his friends.)

The payoff Catalyst beat:

This time, when Luke finds his aunt and uncle dead, he answers the call, which leads them to step into the Unknown World (aka Act 2)

6. Break into 2 (25)

In Los Eisley (at minute 43), they hire a ship (minute 48) and pilot, Han Solo, to take them to Alderan. Han has complications, since he has a price on his head (minute 50).

7. B Story (30):

Sometimes there’s more than one B story (Blake Snyder makes this point in STC! Goes to the Movies with his analysis of Titanic.) The B story carries the theme. Since the theme of Star Wars is good vs. evil, I believe any scene with Darth Vader is the B story. Vader is, of course, the personification of the evil Empire. All through the first act, there have been scenes that focus on the B story.

(minute 37) on board the Death Star, Vader demonstrates the power of the dark side. The information that the stolen plans may reveal a weakness in the death star. 

(minute 41) when Vader tries to get the location of the rebel base from Princess Leia with a mind probe.

(min 51) The commander of the death star decides to use the station to convince Leia to tell them where the rebel base is. They set course for Alderan.

8. Fun and Games (30-55):

(min 55) They blast out of Mos Eisley with storm troopers on their tail. Han jumps to light speed and into hyperspace.

(min 57) On the Death Star, under threat of the destruction of her home world, Leia revels that the rebel base is on a moon at Dantooine. They still destroy Alderan.

(min 59) On the Milineum Falcon, Obi Wan senses the destruction of the planet. Luke practices with the light saber. R2 plays "chess" with Chewbacca (the Wookie is Han's second.) Han denies any belief in the force. Obi gets Luke to fight blind, relying on the force. This scene is where Obi Wan describes what the force is which leads to:

(min 1:03) Vader discovers that the princess lied. There's nothing at Dantooine.

9. Midpoint (55): (1:03) The A & B story cross at the midpoint, just as they’re supposed to, when Luke and company arrive where Alderan used to be. They get caught in the Death Star's tractor beam and jettison escape pods, hiding in the bins Han uses for smuggling.

Vader orders the ship scanned. They take out a couple of storm troopers and dress in their uniforms. With Chewie's help, the take over the port HQ, Plugged into the computer, R2 ID's the tractor beam control. Obi Wan goes to fix them. 2. Theme Stated (5): (minute 1:09) May the force be with you. (Theme = Good vs. evil) The movie is so obvious in its theme that the “bad guys” (Vader) wears black and through most of the movie, Luke (the hero) wears white. This is really basic stuff.

10. Bad Guys Close In (55-75):

(1:11) R2 also finds the princess on the detention level, scheduled to be terminated. Luke bribes Han into going with him to rescue Leia. (1:14) In the detention ward, the rescue doesn't go well and they end up in the garbage chute. The droids who've had their own problems have to rescue them. Obi Wan shuts down the tractor. Storm troopers, aware of their presence, pursue Luke and the others through the station. They’re definitely worse off than they were before.

11. All Is Lost (75):

Obi Wan faces Darth Vader (1:30) which draws off the ship's guards. Luke and company head for the Falcon. Obi Wan is defeated (the whiff of death where the mentor dies—right on cue.)

12. Dark Night of the Soul (75-85):

Luke is miserable over Obi Wan's death, but this is a George Lucas movie, so to cheer him up Han invites him to play video games where they shoot down the Empires fighter ships. (Boys and their toys. No, that’s not a beat. That’s a snide observation.)

Darth Vader has placed a homing beacon on their ship. Leia figures it out. Han makes it clear that he's in it for the money. To jerk Luke's chain, Han expresses interest in Leia.

13. Break into 3 (85): At 1:38, They reach the rebel base with the Death Star approaching behind them.

14. Finale (85-110):

The Five Point Finale (Storming the Castle): 

Gathering the Team: After identifying a weakness, the rebel leaders brief their pilots.

Executing the plan: In spite of Han's defection, the pilots easily reach the approach to the target because the Death Star’s designers didn't see small fighters as a threat; the target is small, but Luke has targeted womp rats back home which aren’t much bigger.

The High Tower Surprise: Enemy fighters (including Vader) come out to fight them. The rebels start to lose pilots, taking heavy losses. The death star is coming into range of the rebel base.

"Dig Deep Down": On their first pass, in spite of a computer-guided targeting," it doesn't work. It's Luke's turn. Vader takes out his wingmen. He senses that the force is strong with this one, but he's got him in his sights.

The execution of the new plan:  Hearing Obi Wan's voice in his head, Luke turns off his computer. R2 takes a hit. Vader has Luke in his sights, but Han comes up behind him and bounces Vader's fighter away. Letting the force guide him, Luke hits his target, setting of the chair reaction that destroys the Death Star. 

15. Final Image (110):  

(2:00) In front of the gathered rebel forces, Princess Leia awards medals to Han and Luke are awarded medals (Princess Leia officiating.) Emotionally this scene is very different from the opening scene. We started with a battle in progress, now we have victory celebration. 

I hope this give everyone some food for thought. I know I'll be looking at other movies as I hone my eye for story structure. Maybe I'll share some of those as well.

Finding the Theme - It's Easier than You Think

      I don't know any novelist who likes to talk about theme. Lord knows, I don't. Or at least, I didn't used to. 

It's no surprise to anyone who's followed my ramblings here that I'm a huge fan of Blake Snyder's Save the Cat! books. One of the myriad of things STC! taught me is to listen for a movie's theme to be stated in plain terms, usually in the first ten minutes of the movie and usually it will be said to the movie's protagonist. Once I started listening for it, it was usually so easy to spot that I have to wonder if I was stupid or just deaf before. 

Since nothing proves a point better than real-life (or in this case, real-movie) examples, I've listed some below. The first group are examples from STC! Goes to the Movies.

Alien:
Parker says to Kane: "Anybody ever tell you that you look dead?"
Theme: What is it to be alive -- and human?


Fatal Attraction:
Anne to her daughter: "Ellen, I don't want you messing with my makeup. I told you a million times."
Theme: Trespassing into places we don't belong is the running theme.


What Women Want:
Alan Alda tells Mel: "If we don't evolve and think beyond our natural ability, we're gonna go down."
Theme: Change or die.


Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind:
Clementine to Jim: "I can't tell from one minute to the next what I'm going to like, but right now I'm glad you're here."
Theme: The battle between the Ideal and the Real.


Sleeping with the Enemy:
Julia's husband says to her (about her fear of water): "We can't conquer our fears by running away."
Theme: We can't conquer our fears by running away--yes, they can be said that clearly.


When Harry Met Sally:
Harry to Sally: "It is impossible for men and women to be friends."
Theme: As with Sleeping with the Enemy, this theme needs no interpretation because it's plainly stated. (Remember, the theme statement isn't necessarily true. It's what the story is going to prove or disprove.)


Titanic:
At dinner, Leo says: "Make each day count."
Theme: Another directly stated theme.


The Lion King:
Mustafa to Simba: "There's more to being king than getting your way all the time."
Theme: There's more to life than getting your way all the time.


The Matrix:
Neo says: "Do you ever wonder if you're awake or dreaming?"
Theme: What is reality?


So why is knowing your theme important? As writers, knowing our theme helps keep us focused. It's easier to look at the story and find places where we missed opportunities to reinforce our theme. Knowing our theme allows us to strengthen our stories and to do so with confidence.



These are some of the movies I've watched recently (for the umpteenth time) where the theme statement jumped out at me.


P.S. I Love You:
Gerry to Holly: You can't keep waiting for your life to start.
Theme: Live each day.


On Golden Pond:
The theme is expressed so many times in this movie because of Norman's obsession with dying that it's difficult to pinpoint just one. If I had to choose one within the first 10 minutes (where the theme is usually found) it would be when Ethel says to Norman: "Your obsession with death is beginning to frazzle my good humor" but the place where I think it's stated most clearly is later when Ethel says to Chelsea, "Life marches by,Chels.I suggest you get on with it."
Theme: Life is short; grab on to it while you can.


Dirty Dancing:
Robby the creep says to Baby: "Some people count; some people don't."
Theme: Just what is says. True or not true: Some people count; some people don't.


Sweet Home Alabama:
10-year old Jake to 8-year-old Melanie: "Lightning never strikes the same place twice."
Theme: Can a broken relationship be resurrected?


The Wedding Date:
Said twice. First from Kat quoting Nick's statement in a magazine article, then from Kat's dad on her sister's wedding day: "Every woman has exactly the love life she wants."
Theme: Does every woman have exactly the love life she wants?


So it turns out that theme isn't as scary or as obscure as we think it is. Neither is it as generic as some writing books seem to want it to be. (Love conquers all? Really?)

Can you put the theme from something you've written into the mouth of one of your characters? What would that character say?