Your Story on Steroids Workbook FINAL - Jennifer...

Your Story On Steroids: A 4-Day Novel Development Intensive Larry Brooks: www.storyfix.com and Jennifer Blanchard: www.jenniferblanchard.net

YOUR STORY ON STEROIDS: A NOVEL DEVELOPMENT WORKBOOK

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http://www.storyfix.com

http://www.jenniferblanchard.net


Pre-Test This is not a structural exercise. This pre-test asks you to examine the different story essences and forces – the physics of your story – from your point of view as the author, all before diving in to the material presented in this workshop.

The goal is to see if your self-grade changes after a discussion of what these various essences are. Indeed, the goal is to achieve an upgrade in your grade, all from you evolved point of view and understanding.

STORY ELEMENT OR ESSENCE GRADE (A-F)

1. Concept (the presence of something conceptual)

2. Dramatic Premise/Arc (hero’s quest, goal)

3. Dramatic Tension (conflict via an antagonistic element)

4. Vicarious Reader Experience

5. Compelling Characterization

6. Reader Empathy (what the reader roots for)

7. Thematic Weight, Relevance and Resonance

8. Effective Story Architecture (aka: structure)

9. Optimal Pacing

10. Scene Execution

11. Writing Voice

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Idea, Concept and Premise The story idea you have in mind right now may be just that, an idea. Most initial ideas are not enough for a story, because that idea may not yet be a conceptually-fueled premise. An idea is just the very early beginnings of a story.

If it’s not at that level, the most important thing you need to focus on before you go any further is evolving your idea into a viable Concept and a Premise, for which there are specific definitions and criteria.

To begin with, you need to understand this: concept and premise are different things in a story. They can and should be culled out separately, with the understanding that, when they work, your concept will, in essence, become the fuel that makes your premise compelling.

The Concept Think of Concept as: the thing that adds the “I’ve gotta read that!” factor, even before a character is introduced (*Unless the charac-ter is what’s conceptual, which is often the case in mysteries and super-hero stories). Concept is often what brings a vicarious experience to the story.

Consider:

• What type of setting would give your story inherent tension and conflict? (Example: a murder mystery set in the White House… that’s highly conceptual because of the setting, even before you add a hero and a caper.)

• What would give your characters a landscape to play on, and the drama to unfold upon? (Example: In “The Help,” the story unfolds in 1962 Jackson, Mississippi, and the landscape is both the place and time, as well as the cultural givens of that place and time.

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Again, this is conceptual… still no hero or plot yet.)

• What condition, situation, proposition or notion can come into play? (What if a meteor suddenly changes course and is heading straight toward the earth, giving everyone only two weeks to get their affairs in order? That’s a notion, a proposition… a concept… again, even before a hero or a specific character-centric plot hits the page.)

• When does this story take place? (In a historical novel, for example, the time/era is the concept. Same with futuristic stories. People come to these stories because that’s the only way they can experience these past/future lives.)

• Where does it take place? (This can be geographic, political or cultural. A love story set at a political convention, or a murder mystery set in a funeral industry convention… these are very different locations and cultures, which define the parameters of the story itself. Thus, this becomes part of the concept… again, even before you add a hero or a plot.)

The Premise Think of Premise as: what happens in the story (aka: the First Plot Point, aka: the Antagonist), and where things go from there (the plot of the story). Premise is actually a summary of the plot itself, both in terms of drama and character. One without the other is incomplete, especially in genre fiction. “A story about a lonely girl falling in love” isn’t a good premise, because there is no drama yet. It has been said that it isn’t a story until something goes wrong, and whatever goes wrong needs to be part of your premise, along with what is at stake and what blocks the hero’s path.

Consider:

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• What is the core dramatic plot of your story?

• What does your Protagonist want or need in the story? What is the hero’s problem or opportunity? How does this result in a quest (proactive efforts to get what they need or want)?

• Who in the story will oppose your Protagonist (the Antagonist, usually a human villain or group of villains, sometimes a situation or force, such as a storm or a disease or nature itself)? And why?

• How will this antagonist/villain play in the story, in terms of blocking the hero’s path to succeeding in their story quest?

• What happens to launch the hero down the core story path (at the First Plot Point), after the setup chapters that precede that moment? Action Step: grab your notebook and brainstorm as many possible Concepts and Premises you can think of for your story. Try to make sure they meet the criteria presented here (don’t worry, we’ll go deeper into those criteria during the presentations). Now go deeper by thinking about potential themes or messages you want your story to portray (theme). Then go even deeper and consider how this premise introduces conflict to the story, and brainstorm ways to escalate and evolve that conflict over the arc of the story, all while upping the stakes and applying more dramatic pressure on your hero. Too many stories – especially those that begin with just an idea rather than a more evolved concept and premise – don’t do this. Make sure yours isn’t one of them.

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Refining Your Concept and Premise

Finding your core dramatic story to accompany the story of your character’s journey (which is the purpose of the dramatic arc, to give your protagonist something to do) is a matter of asking yourself a long list of important questions related to your story. Considering and answering these questions is how you best find your core story… and it’s also how you discover any plot holes that exist (not to mention perhaps cutting down on the number of drafts you’ll need to reach the goal line).

Pretend you’re a story journalist and you have to take your idea seed and tear it to pieces, so that way you get to the core of the idea. That’s how you make yourself ready develop a concept and premise.

Always, the more you know about your story, on multiple levels, before you write it, the better your draft will be. Those who use drafting to discover these answers are doing just that – getting to a place where a viable draft becomes possible.

Who are these characters, especially your hero and your villain? What do they want? What stands in their way of getting it, and for what reasons and opposing motivations?

In his book, Story Engineering, Larry Brooks talks about asking “What If” questions in order to find your best story. Finding “a”story is orders of magnitude easier and faster than finding your best story, and writers who shortcut that process are lessening their odds of success.

What if he does this? What if she does that? What if he can’t get there in time? What if something unexpected pops into the story, and where does it come from?

When you ask these types of questions, you’re able to pull apart the details and see what you’ve got to work with.

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An Example

If your idea seed is about two people meeting and falling in love, you can use this as the jumping off point for further questioning.

So in this example, here are some questions you’d need to ask:

• Who is this guy? (Bob. He’s 45, single and dreams of traveling the world)

• Who is this girl? (April. 35. World traveler. Divorcee.) • What does he want? (He wants to get up the courage to quit his

job and go backpacking overseas.) • What does she want? (She wants some stability in life. She’s

done the travel thing.) • How does what they want change once the First Plot Point is

introduced? (They fall in love. He wants to travel. She wants to build a home base. Now what?)

Notice, though, that even with great questions here, you don’t have a dramatic arc yet. Most of this is character backstory, and the identification of inner landscape issues they may have to deal with once you do given them a dramatic story quest/arc to deal with.

Once you have answers to these questions, you can dig even deeper:

• How will these characters change over the course of the story? How are they forced to confront their inner demons in order to step up to the challenge at hand? Do the unforgiving learn to forgive? The selfish learn to give? The timid how to become bold?

• How does the journey you’re giving them change them? Will it

tear them apart before they come back together at the end? What eventually does bring them together at the end (this is for romances, obviously).

These questions are just barely scratching the surface of this idea seed. There are still a lot more details that need to be figured out, some of which can be planned, some of which will come to you in the actual drafting phase.

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Remember – whether you plan your stories out ahead of time, or write a draft early in the process, both are actually seeking the same thing, and thus, they are two different ways to pursue the same goal: the search for your best story.

Do what works best for you. But know this: neither plan will be efficient, and possibly not even effective, unless and until you understand the core elements and essences of story, beginning with concept and premise.

Asking questions about your story will be your guide to discovering the structure, nuances and essences of it. Once you have all the pieces, you’ll be able to figure out where each pice needs to go within the story grid (a generic guideline/paradigm) in order to make the story cohesive and engaging.

Action Step: grab your notebook and start asking and answering questions about your story. Don’t censor what comes to mind, this is the best time for free-form thinking (versus within a draft). Just ask and respond. See where it leads.

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Part One: Set Up

It’s time to look closer at the setup for your story. The set up, which comprises just less than the first quartile of your entire manuscript, includes everything that happens prior to the First Plot Point (FPP).

And there’s a lot that needs to happen here.

Here is what you must accomplish during the setup of your story:

•Introduce the hero/heroine, usually within the first few scenes.

•Hook the reader with a dramatic foreshadowing or related mechanical prelude that becomes a hint of what’s to come (within first 20 pages). This is often a scene that starts big, and has no real setup or context for the reader. Thus, it becomes something they recognize later in the story, when it does have context and relevance.

•Introduce the thematic context of your story.

•Foreshadow the conflict to come, including the FPP.

•Show us the hero’s inner landscape and its demon(s).

•Establish/set up the stakes, which will become part of the hero’s motivation along the new path you are about to put before her/him.

•Show where hero is currently in life, all of which is about to be put on hold, or changed, or put into sudden urgency, via the First Plot Point (which is where the core dramatic story begins, after all these setup chores).

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•Give us the hero’s backstory. This is the best and often the only segment of the story where this can be on-the-nose.

•Make readers care about the hero (as deeply as possible), which will carry over the journey about t0 launch.

•Foreshadow or introduce the villain of the story (or the antagonistic force), even though at the time the reader may not recognize him/her/it as such.

•Build tension through a clear ramp up to the FPP moment.

To help you understand what setup is and how it looks in a story, here are some examples from movies:

• Liar Liar: prior to the FPP, you meet Jim Carrey’s character and see where he is in his life. You learn about his flaws, and see the stakes he has—losing his son and becoming a partner at the law firm where he works.

• Rudy: we meet him prior to the FPP, a small-town kid who has always been smaller than everyone around him. You see where he works, where he is in his life, who his friends are, and what his dream is: to play football for Notre Dame.

• Titanic: prior to the FPP, you meet Leonardo DiCaprio’s character and Kate Winslet’s character and see where they are in their lives currently (one in first class, one in third). You see them starting to like each other and learn from each other. You’re seeing the setup of the stakes and challenges these characters will face after the FPP hits the page.

We do all this to lend emotional depth and empathy when the all-important First Plot Point hits, which is the turning point between these initial setup chapters, and the Part 2 chapters that follow the FPP (showing the hero’s response to it and the new path/challenge/need before them).

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Imagine if Titanic opened with the ship hitting the iceberg. The emotional experience for the audience would be completely different, without anywhere near the empathy a proper setup imparts.

What is the setup for your story? What needs to be included to de-fine the stakes, backstory and reader empathy for your Protago-nist, prior to your FPP?

How do you use the setup pages to foreshadow the story, including any mechanical elements that need to be put into place and/or into play to facilitate the FPP itself?

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Part Two: Reaction

This is where the story really launches from a dramatic context. Even if there is some level of drama in the opening pages and chapters, a properly executed FPP will introduce, escalate or accel-erate it, giving your hero something to respond to, something he/she must do (even if it is simply, for the time being, running for their lives).

The path your Protagonist needs to take has been defined (in its initial stages) and the antagonist has been introduced (at the FPP)… or if not, then such a presence is now felt and is driving the tension.

Part two of the story—which is the part between your First Plot Point (FPP) and the (literal) Midpoint (MP) story turn—is when we see your hero REACTING to the manner in which the FPP has launched her/him down a new path, usually fraught with risk, threat, danger or confusion.

Everything changes at the FPP. Even if the hero and the reader aren’t quite sure how, or to some degree. And because of that change, the hero’s life is suddenly different, this new story path becomes their most urgent need and priority.

Why? Because of the stakes and the presence of threat.

Your hero can’t take too much proactively successful action in the story yet—it’s too early. The detective can’t find the killer yet, the lost travels can’t be found this early. No, they have to suffer first, they have to flee and seek information and find clues and assistance. In general they need to find the path to successfully negotiating their new challenge… just not at this point. Right now your hero is simply reacting. Any attempts to act must result in a deepening of dramatic tension, and the hero must learn something from fruitless effort.

This is a passage from Story Engineering by Larry Brooks:

“What would you do, in real life, if everything changed? If someone was out to get you? If the world were about to crash

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around you? If your dream-shot was suddenly within reach? Would you immediately jump in and try to seize the day? Would you be the hero right off the bat? Would you make the best decision the first time out? Would you try to make it all go away overnight?

Probably not. No, first and foremost you’d seek shelter, an-swers, advice. You’d run. You’d hide. You’d shield yourself and those you love from danger. Seek information. You’d find a safe haven to take stock of what just happened. Explore options. Regroup.”

Just as Brooks says in the passage above, the Part 2 “response:” quartile is where your Protagonist is reacting, laying low, trying to figure out what he/she should do next.

Another example from Story Engineering, for even further clarification:

“If the hero’s lover tells him that he is not the one, he retreats in pain. He seeks an explanation. He tries harder to win her back. Or perhaps tells her to buzz off and leave town.

If his lover or someone else tries to kill him, he defends himself. He hides. He reports her to people with badges. He seeks to understand. He makes a plan. If the airplane the hero is in loses an engine and begins spiraling to the ground, he screams. Then he prays. Then he comforts the person next to him.

What the hero doesn’t do is rush the cockpit and take over. That comes later. For now the hero is still very human. And his reactions need to be in context to that humanity.”

In essence, in Part 2 your hero is not yet a hero. They have to earn that name tag… which happens for the most part in the Part 3 quartile, not here in Part 2.

Got it? Part two is about responding to the new path, the core dramatic story, as introduced and launched (more fully than when it was only foreshadowed up to now) at the FPP.

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How does your Protagonist start to respond to what happened at the FPP? What does he do? Where does he go? Who does he talk to?

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Part Three: Attack

In Part 3 of your story, your hero is Attacking the problem, and likely the obstacle in front of her/him, and doing it proactively (versus the reactive context of the Part 2 quartile). Your hero has a strategy, something that is newly informed by the information you’ve put into the story at the Midpoint milestone (which divides Parts 2 and 3). This is where your hero is ready to start taking action—not always with full success, but in a more a more confrontative fashion, an approach that puts into play all that has been learned from prior failures and false starts.

This is the part of the story where the Antagonistic force (usually a villain) begins to more openly test and challenge the emerging hero in your Protagonist

Here in Part 4, your hero is no longer merely reacting to what happened at the FPP, but rather, is now attacking the problem with more information and learning to go on.

Just as importantly, this is the part of the story where your hero really begins to take action against any inner demon(s) that have been part of the lack of success thus far.

Part 3 is all about Attacking the problem at hand (a villain or some other form of antagonist), showing some progress in having conquered those inner demons.

How does your Protagonist start attacking in Part 3 of the story? What does he do? How does he take action?

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Part Four: Resolution

The Second Plot Point shifts the story into Part 4: The Resolution.

This is the part of the story where your hero finally earns hero status. Where she/he steps up and confronts the antagonist, often as part of a strategic approach. Or not, it can also be an overt challenge to fight to the death (all this depending on your genre and how you’ve taken the reader to this point thus far). This is when the Hero becomes, in effect, a martyr – figuratively or even literally - willing to do whatever is required to defeat the Antagonist. These actions lead to a final confrontation or showdown, and/or having brilliantly and courageously duped the villain into their own demise or failure.

In the Resolution of the story, the hero demonstrates that she/he has, either permanently or just for now, conquered the inner demon(s) that has plagued the journey thus far.

In do so the hero must demonstrate courage, creativity, brilliance and/or out-of-the-box thinking in order to resolve the conflict in the story.

Keep in mind, your hero cannot be rescued. Your hero must be the primary catalyst to the Resolution if not the primary resolver of the conflict.

Unlike the other three quartiles, which have specific contexts and pathways into the next section of the story, Part 4 is a blank canvas with parameters of your own creation, though the story that brings the reader to that point. There are few “rules” here – no rabbit-out-of-the-hat endings, no deus ex machina endings (arising out of blind and unlikely coincidence), no appearances by catalytic characters that haven’t made an appearance until that point).

Note: If this novel is one in a series of novels, you need to tie up the main loose ends in this story and leave some for the next book. This means resolving the book-specific dramatic question, and leaving some form of the macro-series-specific dramatic question for ensuing books in the series.

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The one thing you cannot do here is leave your book with an unresolved cliffhanger relative to the book-specific plot. Each book in your series has its own dramatic plot, even if it is part of or parallel to a series-specific plot (like Harry Potter trying to find out who killed his parents, which isn’t revealed until the end of the final book in the series).

How does your Protagonist earn the title of Hero in your story? What decisions and actions does your hero impart to the story that are truly courageous, outrageous, brilliant and/or heroic? How do these decisions and actions combine and escalate to ultimately defeat the Antagonist?

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Story Structure Worksheet

Using what you’ve just learned about story structure (refer to the Story Structure Cheat Sheet for refreshing), come up with the structure for your story:

Hook:

How will you give an early hint at what’s to come (once the First Plot Point hits)?

First Plot Point:

What happens to launch the hero down the core story path, thus commencing the primary story journey? How does this introduce or imply an Antagonistic force that will, at some point going forward, become and obstacle to the hero’s path toward a clear goal or need? How does this change the hero’s path at this point (versus what you showed them doing prior to the FPP), thus defining the first steps on the journey/problem/quest that has to be overcome for the remainder of the story?

Pinch Point One:

How will you give a direct reminder (to the reader and/or your hero… your call) of the Antagonistic force (or villain), and help clarify what is at stake in the story?

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Midpoint:

What new information will be imparted to the story (through revelation or new events… your call) at the middle of the story, resulting in a “parting curtain” of information that changes and informs the path of your hero from this point forward?

Pinch Point Two:

How will you again give a direct reminder of the story’s source of threat or antagonism (which may have evolved or even changed from the first time you did it, back in the center of Part 2), and what remains at stake in the story?

Second Plot Point:

What final piece of the story puzzle (new information, or a new strategy inspired by something that has changed) will come into play (at roughly the 75th percentile, separating Parts 3 and 4) to shift things into Resolution mode?

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Character Arc Worksheet

Your Protagonist should grow and transform over the course of your story. This is known as character arc, and it’s an important part of creating a story that works.

Character arc should include information about who your character is at each phase of the story—how she/he starts out, how she/he starts to make changes, and how she/he has transformed into a version of their better self by the end of the story.

In order to make character arc work, your protagonist will likely have an inner demon(s) that hold them back, and must be overcome before a credible heroic profile can take charge of the story.

As a quick review:

•Part One is the Orphan phase—this is when the Protagonist has not yet been fully born into the core dramatic story come, is living a day-to-day life pursuing and perhaps haunted by other things, be-cause she/he is yet to be “adopted” by a new path that they must pursue, which is the mission of the First Plot Point milestone.

•Part Two is Wanderer phase—now the Protagonist is almost literally wandering though what seems like available and likely options that are either there or are made manifest by their decisions. This aligns with the “reaction” context of Part 2, because the new options (or lack thereof) are there because of what just happened at the First Plot Point.

•Part Three is Warrior phase—in this part of the story the Protagonist begins to fight for what she/he needs or wants, which pits them against all obstacles (antagonism, including a villain) standing her/his way.

•Part Four is the Martyr/Hero phase—the Protagonist is now shifted into do-whatever-it-takes mode to defeat the villain (or survive some other form of obstacle) and resolve the story.

Action Step: Define how your character’s arc unfolds in each part of the story, keeping in mind the mission of each part of the story:

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Character Name:

Inner Demon(s):

•••

Orphan context/life (Part 1):

Wanderer context/life (Part 2):

Warrior context/life (Part 3):

Martyr/Hero context/life (Part 4):

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SCENE CHECKLIST

This checklist is excerpted from Story Engineering by Larry Brooks (Chapter 44), and is a way for you to make sure you know enough about each scene in your story.

As Brooks says in that chapter, “A writer needs to know more about the scene in question than the reader ever will.”

Use this checklist to make sure you optimize each scene for maximum conflict and impact in the story:

◻ What is the mission of the scene?

◻ What is the primary piece of story exposition (information) that the reader will receive in this scene?

◻ Does that piece of expository information move the story forward? How?

◻ Does the new information require any foreshadowing or set up from prior scenes?

◻ What is the precise moment—in action, dialogue, or other narrative context—at which this information will be exposed in the scene?

◻ What is the latest moment you can enter this scene without compromising either the information itself of the potential for a dramatic experience that becomes the vehicles for that delivery?

◻ Is your plan for the scene designed like a short story, with its own tension and stakes and flow?

◻ What is the reader experiencing —feeling, understanding, clarifying, or other emotion—as the scene unfolds?

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◻ What is the level of anticipation during the scene, as paid off by the moment when the morsel of story exposition is exposed? Or, if it’s a deliberate surprise, how have you tricked or set up the reader to make that moment as jarring as possible?

◻ How are you demonstrating character in the scene? Is characterization driving exposition (in other words, is the primary mission of the scene to show the reader something about the character), or is exposition driving character (how the character reacts and handles the news)?

◻ Is the scene efficient? Does it drive gracefully and fluidly toward its payoff moment (the mission)? Or does it mark time needlessly?

◻ Does the mission of the scene stick close to the linear spine of the story line? Or is it a side trip that an editor might as, “What’s this have to do with this story?” even though you originally believed it to be interesting? (Note: interesting isn’t the point…storytelling momentum and relevance is.)

◻ Does your scene end with a cut and thrust? Does that transition align with the mission and content of the next scene? Is the transition in keeping with how you’ve established earlier transitions?

◻ If you have more than a single scene within a chapter, have you separated them with a skipped line of white space? If not, have you transitioned from one scene to the next in a manner that is clear and smooth?

◻ Does your scene open with something clever, poignant, surprising, or intrinsically interesting? Have you avoided redundant or unnecessary descriptions of setting, place, character appearance, or other issues of ambiance?

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Story Beat Sheet The beat sheet is a great way to get started figuring out the scenes you’ll need in your story. It is nothing more than a sequential list of scenes, identified by however you want to name them (most likely in context to the main thing that happens within the scene, or by its mission), with certain key scene milestones called out to create a framework for the story as a whole.

Use the outline below to start filling in your story scenes. Remember, you can add more/less depending on how many scenes you need. Just make sure that your story is balanced (meaning you don't have 10 scenes in Part One and 25 scenes in Part Two, etc):

Story Working Title:

1.2.3.4.5.6.7.8.9.10.11.12.13.14. 15. First Plot Point: 16.17.18.19.20.21. 22. Pinch Point 1:

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23.24.25.26.27.28.29.30. Midpoint: 31.32.33.34.35. 36.37. Pinch Point 2: 38.39.40.41.42.43.44.45. Second Plot Point: 46.47.48.49.50.51.52.53.54.55.56.

59. Climax/Resolution: 60(ish). Aftermath:

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Story Roadmap If you want to create a detailed roadmap that still allows for creativity while giving you all the information you need to write each scene in your novel, then you should try the story roadmap.

Here’s an example of how you create this roadmap:

Below is a Story Roadmap for you to fill in with your story scenes. There are 14 scenes per section (this is flexible; as your outline evolves this number may go up or down, one factor being scene length). This is an average number—your story may require more or less scenes. As long as your story is balanced (meaning you have an about-equal number of scenes in each part of your story; you don’t have 50 scenes in Part One and 10 scenes in Part Four), you’re good to go.

Scene Example

[A one-sentence description of this scene] Jillian discovers Sam is the killer

Mission: the purpose of this scene SPP, final piece of new information

Location: where the scene takes place The shed behind Old Mac’s boat house

Time: when the scene takes place (time of day/date/etc) Sunset

Notes: anything else about the scene that you need to keep track of/write down

• Sam lures her to the boat house with an anonymous tip about the killer

• make sure to expose Sam’s weakness • “I had no idea,” Jillian says to Sam when he takes his mask off.

“That’s because I didn’t know how to tell you.” (Sam says)

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Also, know that scenes are not chapters. This roadmap focuses on scenes only. You can have as few or as many scenes with a chapter as you see fit, as informed by your story sensibilities.

You can also use this method with large Post-its or index cards if you prefer portability.

Title of WIP:

Scene 1

Mission:

Location:

Time:

Notes:

Scene 2

Mission:

Location:

Time:

Notes:

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Scene 3

Mission:

Location:

Time:

Notes:

Scene 4

Mission:

Location:

Time:

Notes:

Scene 5

Mission:

Location:

Time:

Notes:

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Scene 6

Mission:

Location:

Time:

Notes:

Scene 7

Mission:

Location:

Time:

Notes:

Scene 8

Mission:

Location:

Time:

Notes:

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Scene 9

Mission:

Location:

Time:

Notes:

Scene 10

Mission:

Location:

Time:

Notes:

Scene 11

Mission:

Location:

Time:

Notes:

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Scene 12

Mission:

Location:

Time:

Notes:

Scene 13

Mission:

Location:

Time:

Notes:

First Plot Point

Mission:

Location:

Time:

Notes:

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Scene 16

Mission:

Location:

Time:

Notes:

Scene 17

Mission:

Location:

Time:

Notes:

Scene 18

Mission:

Location:

Time:

Notes:

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Scene 19

Mission:

Location:

Time:

Notes:

Scene 20

Mission:

Location:

Time:

Notes:

Scene 21

Mission:

Location:

Time:

Notes:

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Scene 22

Mission:

Location:

Time:

Notes:

Scene 23

Mission:

Location:

Time:

Notes:

Scene 24

Mission:

Location:

Time:

Notes:

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Scene 25

Mission:

Location:

Time:

Notes:

Scene 26

Mission:

Location:

Time:

Notes:

Scene 27

Mission:

Location:

Time:

Notes:

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Midpoint

Mission:

Location:

Time:

Notes:

Scene 29

Mission:

Location:

Time:

Notes:

Scene 30

Mission:

Location:

Time:

Notes:

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Scene 31

Mission:

Location:

Time:

Notes:

Scene 32

Mission:

Location:

Time:

Notes:

Scene 33

Mission:

Location:

Time:

Notes:

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Scene 34

Mission:

Location:

Time:

Notes:

Scene 35

Mission:

Location:

Time:

Notes:

Scene 36

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Scene 37

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Scene 40

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Scene 43

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How to Deconstruct a Story (movie or novel)

We recommend studying movies because it's such a fast and fun way to learn how story structure works. We use movies in most of our examples because it's easier to watch a bunch of movies in a short amount of time (whereas reading several novels can take a lot longer, at least for me).

When it comes down to it, movies and novels have the same general structure, screenwriters just use different terminology.

So if you want to dive into studying movies to learning more about how structure works in novels, here's what you can do:

1. Pick A Movie

Choose a movie that you want to deconstruct. Try to pick something in your chosen genre, it’ll be easier to spot the relevance that way. Keep in mind, though, that some movies are much easier to decon-struct than others. Films that have a very straight-forward plot are easier to decipher than indie movies or episodic narratives that don't have an easily-visible structure (yes, movies and novels like this do exist, though they don't do well in sales), and highly character-driven, action-lite films can be challenging if you’re new to the structural principles.

If you find this difficult, don’t worry. The more you know about the core generic structural model the quicker you’ll see it in a film, and the converse is true, as well.

I like to pick movies in my genre most of the time, but it helps a lot to also choose movies that are not in your genre. The more you understand story, the more you'll see that structure is universal and works in any genre.

It may be helpful to keep this diagram close-by as you study and de-construct a film. Keep a watch handy, too, because rather than pages in a novel, you are looking for minutes of running time to determine

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the length of the four parts and the specific placement of the major story milestones.

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The timing for optimal length of the parts and the milestones that separate them are this:

- First Plot Point – 20 to 25 percent of the total running time, minus opening titles and closing credits.

- Midpoint – squarely at the 50 percent mark of total running time, minus opening titles and closing credits.

- Second Plot Point – usually from 75 to 80 percent through the total running time, minus titles and credits.

2. Find Out the Run Time

If you have the DVD, it will tell you the total run time of the film on the back (usually near the bottom). On Netflix or Amazon Instant Video, it's listed with the description. Or you can always find the DVD version on Amazon and find the run time there. If all else fails, Google it.

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Structure in a film does not account for opening titles and closing credits, so if you don’t subtract them from the running time it may cause a slight variance in what you see.

Don’t worry if this happens, the real value is seeing the milestones and recognizing how they execute on their assigned narrative mis-sion. And, to notice how each of the four parts aligned with it’s assigned narrative context, as well (setup, response, attack, resolution).

Usually the DVD version will tell you the time in minutes (for example, 120 minutes). But the Netflix version will tell you in hours and minutes. So in that case, you'll need to convert it to minutes (for example, if it says the run time is an hour and a half, you know that means 90 minutes).

Knowing the run time in minutes is important for step 3.

3. Figure Out What 25%, 50% and 75% Into the Movie Is

What that means is, take the run time in minutes, and figure out what percent of that number is 25, 50 and 75. That will give you a general estimate of when you can expect the plot point scenes to show up.

It’s also helpful to figure out what percent 20 and 80 is, because 20 percent is really the optimal location for the First Plot Point and 80 percent is the latest percentage for the Second Plot Point. That helps me to really nail the plot point scenes.

Sometimes they'll show up a little before, and sometimes a little after (though rarely before 20 percent and hardly ever after 80), but having these times as guides will help you find the plot point. If variance does occur, you can be sure this is because of the editing of the film, rather than how it was written in screenplay form. Editors have free reign over the final length, and editors, while contributing greatly to the overall effectiveness of a movie, are not writers who have their feet held to the fire (much more than novelists are) where structure is concerned.

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For example, if the movie you're deconstructing is 90 minutes long, then here's what the times would be:

• 20% = 18 minutes • 25% = 22.5 minutes • 50% = 45 minutes • 75% = 67.5 minutes (aka: 1 hour and 7.5 minutes) • 80% = 72 minutes (aka: 1 hour and 12 minutes)

Again, these are the optimal times in the movie where the plot points may show up. But it’s not an exact science… for screenwriters, or for you. That said, it’s best to master the principles of structure before being tempted to stretch or violate them.

Note: if you're trying to deconstruct a novel, you can use a similar method to figure out what page the plot points will fall on (give or take), using pages numbers of the major milestones as a percentage of the total page count.

4. Watch the Movie and Deconstruct

I will keep a notebook by me with the plot point run times written down and space to make notes on when they actually show up (at what time in the movie), what happens and any story exposition I want to keep track of.

This is just one method to deconstruct a movie.

Here’s another valuable way to “chart” a story. Divide a blank piece of paper into two columns. Number each scene sequentially as they appear, and identify them by its content (such as, Dick and Jane meet in an airport lobby).

Then, use the first column to write a generic mission for the scene (like, “the lovers meet for the first time”). Then use the second column to record any specifics about how the scene executes, including any foreshadowing that you can spot.

This technique will quickly give you an intimate familiarity with the way the story flows across the structural arc, and how the scenes ramp into, and from, the major story milestones themselves.

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And… if you’re stuck in your own story, try this using a film in your genre. Chances are ideas will spark in your mind as you chart the film, because familiarity breeds success, and what works it catchy.

If you want a third method, check out the book, Something Startling Happens by Todd Klick. He has a section in the book intro that talks about how to deconstruct movies.

Regardless of which deconstruction method you use, we hope you'll start to watch movies (and read novels) like a story detective. It really will make all the difference in how you understand story.

Have fun! Deconstructing movies is one of our favorite "down time" activities.

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The Movie Deconstruction Worksheet Movie Title: ______________________________________Genre: _____________________________

How Does the Story Open?

What is the Hook?

What is being Set Up in the beginning of the story?

What is the First Plot Point?

How does this FPP introduce an Antagonist and define what’s at stake?

How does the Protagonist react to the First Plot Point?

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What is the Midpoint? How does it shift the story?

How does the Protagonist begin to Attack the Antagonist?

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The “You Can’t Hide” Questionnaire Welcome and Overview

Welcome to what could be the biggest and best opportunity you’ll ever have to improve your story and upgrade it to a professional level of expectation. This isn’t a test, it is a story development exercise, one that challenges you to succinctly define what you know about your story across the arc of its exposition.

Some of these questions may, in your opinion, call for redundant answers. This is an intentional design, please answer each question directly, even if you feel you’ve covered that same ground. Try to keep answers under 50 words per question. Most can be answered using only a sentence or two.

Current working title and genre?

Which “voice” will you use: first person past, first person present, or third person omniscient?

Concept and Premise

What is the DRAMATIC CONCEPT (the conceptual notion or proposition that becomes its contextual framework) of your story?

Restate your CONCEPT in the form of a “WHAT IF?” question?

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What (in one sentence) is the PREMISE of your story?

Write a 30-second ELEVATOR PITCH for this story:

What is the CORE DRAMATIC THREAD (unspooling sequence) of the story, as introduced in your statement of premise? (This is a critical question. I am not looking for a synopsis here, just a 10,000 foot view of how the story unfolds. Example: Once the de-tective finds himself engaged with the case, he must draw a line between protecting his family and the reputation of the Depart-ment in order to bring the guilty party to justice.)

What is the dramatic goal of your hero within this story?

What external obstacles (an antagonistic force, usually a villain) will your hero need to confront and conquer to achieve that goal?

What will your hero need to do or achieve to reach that goal?

What “DRAMATIC QUESTION” does this present?

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What are you asking your reader to ROOT FOR in this story, and why should they?

What are the goals/motivations/rationale of that antagonist?

What is AT STAKE for the hero (what they’re playing for, or risk-ing… why they must attain their goal, or else… or else what?) – or in general - relative to attaining (or not) the goal?

How do any inner issues/demons directly plague your hero (in-fluencing actions and decisions) through this story?

How does your hero handle, and ultimately conquer, those inner demons and personal issues over the arc of the narrative? What catalyst comes to bear on the hero’s overcoming of them?

Yes or No: do you have a clear vision for how the story will resolve (you will be asked to describe this with specificity later… for now, just wanted to get this essential mandate into the mix… because if you don’t know, you’ve just explained why some of this feedback may be really drastic)?

What is your THEMATIC INTENTION for your story?

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Part 1 – the Set-Up Quartile

What is your opening hook?

When and how do you introduce your hero in this quartile?

What is your strategy to cause the reader to relate to (or like) your hero in this first quartile? When the First Plot Point arrives (at the end of this setup Quartile), there will suddenly be clear and important stakes in play, in ways that are not yet fully engaged here. What will those stakes be, and how are you introducing and setting them up here?

What plot set-up mechanisms and foreshadowing are you using in this quartile to tee up the forthcoming First Plot Point, as well as the rest of the unfolding story?

What world views, goals and issues pertain to your hero here in Part 1, and how will those change (or go on hold) at the First Plot Point (where you actually launch the primary dramatic thread)?

What does your hero care about (as illustrated here in Part 1… before the FPP changes everything), and how will that be threat-ened, challenged or be tested later?

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The First Plot Point

This is the transition moment between the setup of the story and the actual dramatic spine… it is the launch of the core dramatic thread of the story. It can be a moment, or the last in a series sum of several key moments that culminate here. The FPP concludes the Part 1 Setup quartile, thrusting the story into its Part 2 “Reaction” quartile. Earlier you were asked what the “core dramatic thread” of your story is. The FPP is the point in the story in which that is fully ignited, if not totally defined at this point. In effect, the true core story begins here, at the FPP… everything that came before this point was a setup for this point, as well as what follows.

What is your First Plot Point (FPP), and how does it play?

Explain how your First Plot Point creates the need for your hero to respond in some way? What is that response, initially?

To what extent is the story’s antagonistic force (the “bad guy(s)”) visible within the mechanism of your First Plot Point?

How have you foreshadowed this moment (if appropriate) in Part 1?

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How are the primary stakes of the story suddenly thrust into the forefront of the hero’s and the reader’s consciousness here at the FPP?

How does this spin the story in a new direction? In what way does this begin or alter your hero’s journey?

At what point in your story does your First Plot Point occur?

The Part 2 “Response” Quartile

A successful FPP changes everything about the context, direction an pace of a story, beginning here in the Part 2 quartile.

Everything changes at your FPP. Tell us how it changes in your story:

What is your hero’s initial response (based on new knowledge, need, fear, opportunity, etc.) to the FPP?

What goes “on hold” for your hero because this response is necessary?

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Why is this response necessary (stakes and consequences)?

The risk here is to have your hero become too heroic too early. Rather, this quartile is where they flinch, they flee, they swing back, they gather information, they aren’t sure what they’re up against, yet the threat or pressure is right there all along.

Is your hero making things worse in any way because of how they are responding? If not, how does their response serve them and set-up what is about to transpire?

In general (again, this is a high level overview, versus a scene-by-scene summary) what happens in your Part 2 scenes?

Do you have a PINCH POINT moment (reminding the reader of the nature and perhaps the source of threat or conflict) in the middle of your Part 2 sequence… and if so, what happens?

What is the MID-POINT contextual shift/twist in your story?

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What new information does it impart to the story, and how does this shift the hero’s context (the framework for their previous responses and actions) from “responder/wanderer” to “attack-er/warrior?”

The Part 3 “Proactive/Attack” Quartile

The context of the entire narrative shifts here, perhaps subtly (or not), but nonetheless in service of an unspooling narrative. That context moves from the hero in response mode (responding to the a path created by the advent of the FPP)… into a more proactive attack mode. This is where they begin to take charge, to do what needs to be done, to learn what must be learned, to begin to overcome fears.

But… the antagonistic force (usually a villain, but it can be a story, a disease, or a circumstance that your hero can defeat, rather than one that cannot be defeated or changed) is ramping up their game, as well, forcing the hero toward even greater darkness and heroic feats. This is where direct confrontation occurs, where a cat-and-mouse game of chess between hero and villain gets really serious.

What will the hero, and/or the read, be surprised to learn at this Midpoint revelation?

What is your hero’s new path and new need at this point, directly because of the new information imparted at the Midpoint?

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Very generally, what happens in Part 3 of your story, now that your hero is in proactive attack (of the EXTERNAL problem/goal) mode?

What is your strategy to escalate dramatic tension, pace and stakes beginning here in the second half of your story? In other words, how has the story evolved, both in terms of exposition and pacing?

How, if at all, have the stakes of the story evolved and changed?

What is the most proactive decision and action take by your hero here in Part 3, and how does this serve the hero’s objectives and thrust the hero deeper into a point of no return in seeking resolution?

What is a second Pinch Point (again reminding us what the nature and source of the antagonistic force and threat is)

The Second Plot Point & Part 4 Resolution

This is a major twist in the story. It can be new information, or a major change in strategy and direction on the part of the hero,

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based on new information or context imparted to the story. It occurs, optimally, at the 75th percentile mark. Other than a surprise ending (which needs to have been foreshadowed and/or read as logical despite the surprise), this is the last opportunity to inject new meaningful exposition into the narrative.

What new information enters the story at the 2nd PP, and how does it alter the hero’s context, goals, decisions and actions, or the stakes of the story?

How does this moment create a new crescendo of threat, tension and risk in the story, either just prior to or at the moment of reve-lation?

What will surprise the hero, and/or the reader, about the 2nd PP moment?

How does this information thrust the hero down a final, irre-versible path toward what we already know will be resolution?

How does this new path challenge the hero’s inner demons and, at the same time, summon her/him to greater heroism?

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How does the hero create the resolution? What is that resolution?

How does this allow the hero to reach their goals… or if they don’t, what alternate upside or downside is the result?

How does the resolution change both the near and distant future path for the hero, and what final image or taste or emotion does it leave with the reader?

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The Short and Sweet Concept/Premise Analysis Questionnaire

People will ask you, “what is your story about?” Can you answer them succinctly, or will you give a rambling narrative punctuated by uncertainty? These questions are designed to help you know the core of your story.

The title and genre of your story:

What is the CONCEPT of your story?

Restate your concept using a “WHAT IF…?” proposition:

What is the PREMISE of your story?

What are you asking the reader to root for and care about in this story?

What do you believe will distinguish your story in a crowded marketplace, setting it apart from and above the competition to attract the attention of agents, editors and readers.

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Post-Test: Grading Your Story Across 12 Key Elements and Essences If this looks familiar, it should. This is the same self-assessment exercise you were asked to complete at the beginning of the workshop. Our hope is that what you’ve learned and the degree to which your story sense has evolved as a result may have one of two outcomes, or perhaps both.

First, you may apply a different grade than your original opinion. This could work either way… with your increased knowledge you may now see how you were too generous before, or, now realize that this essence is better off than you’d hoped.

Either way, this becomes the informed raw grist of improving your story. If you change nothing at all about your story from this experience, one of two things is likely true: you’re way better than you thought you were, and everything you’ve experienced here only serves to reinforce the strength of your story sense going in.

If that’s you, congratulations. Know that this is extremely rare and unlikely.

Or, more likely, you now see ways you can evolve, revise and generally strengthen the story you arrived with, even if it has already been written.

Whatever your experience, either with the workshop experience or relative to this exercise, we hope our time together has served your highest goals and expectations.

If you find yourself facing a revision and would like to revisit some of these principles from this context, consider studying Larry’s latest writing book, “Story Fix: Transform Your Novel from Broken to Brilliant.”

Like storytelling itself, the more you know about the principles involved, the better writer you’ll be, and the better your story will be as a result.

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STORY ELEMENT OR ESSENCE GRADE (A-F)

1. Concept (the presence of something conceptual)

2. Dramatic Premise/Arc (hero’s quest, goal)

3. Dramatic Tension (conflict via an antagonistic element)

4. Vicarious Reader Experience

5. Compelling Characterization

6. Reader Empathy (what the reader roots for)

7. Thematic Weight, Relevance and Resonance

8. Effective Story Architecture (aka: structure)

9. Optimal Pacing

10. Scene Execution

11. Writing Voice

12. Narrative Strategy

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My Practice Plan When it all comes down to it, the only real, true way to write better stories is to practice. A lot. That means studying story, and planning, developing and writing stories of your own.

Fill out the following practice plan once a week, and then use it as your guide to writing better stories:

My intention for my writing this week is:

This week’s writing and/or planning sessions are scheduled for:

•

•

•

The movie(s) and/or novels I will study this week is/are:

•

•

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Your Story on Steroids Workbook FINAL - Jennifer...

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