<Make a list, and analyze!>
High-concept <premise-description + hook>
3 Act 8 Sequences (each 15min)
1. Act 1 (30min/100p) 2 sequences
- opening image
- meet the hero/ine
- Here/ine's (inner and) outer desire
- Hero/ine's arc
- Inciting incident/Call to Adventure
- Meet the antagonist(and/or introduce a mystery, which is what you do when you're going to keep your antagonist hidden to reveal at the end) (villain often has the same purpose but via a different way)State the theme/what's the story about
- Allies
- Mentor (possibly. May not have one or may be revealed later in the story)
- Love interest
- Plant/Reveal
- Hope/Fear
- Time clock (possibly. May not have one or may be revealed later in the story)
- Sequence One climax
- Central Question
- Act One climax
Climax
2-A. Act 2 (total:60min /200p) 4 sequences
Part ONE (30 min /100P)
- Crossing the Threshold/ Into the Special World (may occur in Act One/ Matrix<a red pill>)
- Threshold Guardian/ Guardian at the Gate (possibly)
- Here/ine's Plan
- Antagonist's plan
- Training Sequence
- Series of Tests
- Picking up new Allies
- Assembling the Team
- Attacks by the Antagonist (whether or not the Hero/ine recognizes these as coming from the antagonist)
- In a detective story, Questioning Witnesses, Lining Up and Eliminating Suspects, Following Clues
The Midpoint
- Completely changes the game
- Locks the hero/ine into a situation or action
- Can be a huge revelation
- Can be a huge defeat
- Can be a "now it's personal" loss
- Can be sex at 60 - the lovers finally get together, only to open up a whole new world of problems
Part TWO(30min/ 100P)
- Recalibrating - after the shock or defeat of the game-changer in the midpoint, the hero/ine must Revamp The Plan and try a New Mode of Attack
- Escalating Actions/ Obsessive Drive
- Hard Choices and Crossing The Line(immoral actions by the main character to get what s/he wants)
- Loss of Key Allies (possibly because of the hero/ine's obsessive actions, possibly through death or injury by the antagonist)
- A Ticking Clock (can happen anywhere in the story)
- Reversals and Revelations/Twists
- The Long Dark Night of the Soul and/or Visit to Death (also known as: All Is Lost)
The Second Act Climax
- Often can be a final revelation before the end game: the knowledge of who the opponent really is
- Answers the Central Question
Act 3 (20min/ 60p) 2 sequences
The third act is basically the Final Battle and Resolution. It can often be one continuous sequence - the chase and confrontation, or confrontation and chase. There may be a final preparation for battle, or it might be done on the fly. Either here or in the last part of the second act the hero will make a new, FINAL PLAN, based on the new information and revelations of the second act
The essence of a third act is the final showdown between protagonist and antagonist. It is often divided into two sequences:
1: Getting there (Storming the Castle)
2: The final battle itself
- Thematic Location - often a visual and literal representation of the Hero/ine's Greatest Nightmare
- The protagonist's character change
- The antagonist's character change
- Possibly ally/allies' character changes and/or gaining of desire
- Possibly a huge final reversal or reveal(twist), or even a whole series of payoffs that you've been saving
- RESOLUTION: A glimpse in the New Way of Life that the hero/ine will be living after this whole ordeal and all s/he's learned from it.
- Closing Image
Hero/ine 's change of Motive (to inner ones)
Antagonist's change (turns out to be an ally of hero/ine)
Make it Universal motive
<Tech>
- Visionally Story telling (Study from movies < an Establishing shot & a Master shot >, Setpiece scenes)
- Creating suspense (insects-esque scene, naked, water, when you are not prepared for attacking, "who is doing this?" question-hanging approach)
- Plants and Payoffs (a picture in Back To the Future , a rose in Beauty and Beast/ often inserted later)
- Big twist (big secret, misleading narrator, antagonist turns out to be an ally)
- Character Introductions (irresistible character introduction)
- Fairy Tale Structure (kind to readers/ three fairy tale theory. Three-task structure, Three-sibling structure, Three-magical ally structure)
- Meta Structure (energia / "story designing principle"// "sometimes there is just a perfect way to tell a story").
- Top things I know about Editing (Cut,cut,cut; Read your book aloud. All of it. Cover to cover; Find a great critique group; Do several passes; Whatever your genre is, do a dedicated pass focusing on that crucial genre element; Know your Three-Act structure; Do a dedicated desire line pass; Do a dedicated Emotional pass; Do a dedicated sensory pass; Go back through your story grid and check for all the story elements we've discussed in this book )
