ATTENTION WRITERS: Ive seen a lot postings recently from those looking for some quick and easy writing advice. I work in Hollywood doing coverage for a production company, which means its my job to read all incoming scripts and decide whether or not theyre worth my boss time to read as well. And as a writer myself, and someone who reads scripts all day, I can say this is the single most helpful tool Ive learned. ALMOST ALL COMICS/TV/FILMS HAVE SEVEN PLOT POINTS: 1) Set-Up: We meet our protagonist and his world as it is on a normal day. We learn his/her flaws and whats missing from his/her life. The tone of the story is established here. 2) Catalyst: Something happens that completely changes our protagonists world. The act of catching your loved one cheating, discovering a monster onboard the ship, getting powers in a freak accident, etc... 2a) Our protagonist makes a decision on how to handle this new problem and begins to work towards a solution. Often times this is also when the love story (called b-story) is introduced. 3) Promise of the Premise: This is the fun part of the story. This is where you follow through with the kind of story youve set up. Indiana Jones tries to beat the Nazis to the Ark, the detective finds the most clues and dodges the most bullets. This is the meat of your story. Have fun. 4) Midpoint: Depending on your story, this is the moment when everything is great or awful. This is when your protagonist gets everything they think they want (great) or doesnt get what they think they want at all (awful). (What we think we want may not be what we need) This will directly mirror your ending. Generally, a happy ending means an awful midpoint, and a sad ending means a great one. 5) All Is Lost: The opposite of the midpoint. This when our protag realizes theyve lost everything theyve gained, or what theyve gained means nothing. This is their lowest point. They almost give up until... 6) Finale: The Final Battle. Our protag makes another attempt at achieving his/her goal, but this time they incorporate what theyve learned over their journey; using the experience from the A-Story and the context from the B-Story. They overcome! 7) The opposite of the Set-Up, showing the after affects of our protags journey and how things have changed. If you have any general questions regarding formatting, story structure, or character development, feel free to send me a message. Hope this helps. Good luck!
Posted on: Wed, 09 Jul 2014 01:01:02 +0000
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