As the third of the life cycle’s archetypal character arcs, the Queen Arc is that of the mature adult who has completed the youthful arcs of Hero and Maiden and is now challenged to grow into a position of greater responsibility and leadership. This is the tale of someone who has so far proven herself […]
September 20, 2021 by 19 Comments CharactersArchetypal Antagonists for the Queen Arc: Invader and Empty Throne
September 13, 2021 by 27 Comments CharactersArchetypal Antagonists for the Hero Arc: Dragon and Sick King
The well-known Hero Arc offers us the exciting story of a brave youth fighting to discover and earn his own worthiness. It follows on the heels of the Maiden Arc‘s initial individuation from the Authority Figures that dominate one’s youth, and it offers the young adult the opportunity to discover what he is meant to […]
September 6, 2021 by 24 Comments CharactersArchetypal Antagonists for the Maiden Arc: Authority and Predator
As the first transformational archetype within the “life arcs” cycle, the Maiden Arc is the quintessential “coming-of-age” story. It is the story of teenage angst, the joys and heartbreaks of growing up, and the struggle to individuate into a fully autonomous and mature human being. Like all arcs, the Maiden’s doesn’t just happen. Nor (for […]
October 12, 2020 by 71 Comments PodcastThe Link Between Your Story’s Pinch Points
Of all the paired structural beats in a story, the Pinch Points are perhaps the most obvious. There are only two of them, they have the same name, and they perform essentially the same function in both their first and second iteration. They’re also perhaps the least known and most confusing of all the major […]
October 5, 2020 by 47 Comments PodcastThe Link Between Your Story’s First Plot Point and Third Plot Point
I often talk about cohesion and resonance as being two of the most important qualities of great stories. Many factors are involved in achieving these effects, but one of the subtlest and yet most powerful is found within the structure of story itself. This is the hidden “circle” of story structure, in which all the important […]
January 20, 2020 by 56 Comments Characters2 Different Types of the Lie Your Character Believes
The Lie Your Character Believes. It’s the atom waiting to be split, the bomb waiting to go off, the change waiting to happen in your character’s life. Even when hidden beneath layers of plot and theme, the Lie Your Character Believes is your story. You know this, of course. But did you know that sometimes […]
November 25, 2019 by 42 Comments CharactersHow to Choose the Right Antagonist for Any Type of Story
Here’s how to choose the right antagonist for your story. You know “If I Didn’t Have You”—that song John Goodman and Billy Crystal belt out at the end of Monsters, Inc.? It’s this total bromance duet about the undying friendship of our two favorite monsters. But pretty much every lyric in there could also be […]
September 30, 2019 by 61 Comments Characters5 Questions for Choosing a Protagonist Who Represents Your Story’s Theme
Choosing a protagonist is often more of an event than a process. Writers sometimes feel more like the protagonist chooses them than the other way around. While most of us heed our first instinct to simply chase after this character to see where he goes, it’s important that at some point we analyze the soundness […]
September 2, 2019 by 49 Comments CharactersCreating Your Character’s Inner Conflict: Want vs. Need
Man vs. Self—it’s the most archetypal of all stories. This is because all stories are ultimately rooted in the primal and personal struggle of a character’s inner conflict. As individuals, our conflicts with others or the world itself are almost inevitably either reflections or projections of our inner conflicts—our cognitive dissonances, our conflicting wants and […]
August 26, 2019 by 102 Comments CharactersHow to Use a “Truth Chart” to Figure Out Your Character’s Arc
“How do I figure out my character’s arc?” This is a question I receive commonly—and with good reason. Not only is your character’s arc central to all your other story choices—plot and theme foremost among them—character arc can also seem like one of the most daunting parts of story. Mostly this is because of its […]
