The First Act of the human experience—roughly the first thirty years—may be thought of as a period of Initiation. It is a period of integrating the parts of one’s self. In many ways, it is a period in which the overarching, symbolic antagonist may be thought of as Fear. We use the arcs of this […]
February 1, 2021 by 58 Comments PodcastAn Introduction to Archetypal Stories
All art is necessarily both reflective and generative of the human experience. And in that way, all art both reflects and generates archetype. Some stories do this more simply and obviously than others. Those stories that we recognize as myth or fable are most blatantly archetypal. But even hyper-realistic stories—when they are well done—offer up […]
January 25, 2021 by 88 Comments PodcastStory Theory and the Quest for Meaning
Story has been our constant companion throughout the journey of human existence. Why is that? Modern audiences are inundated and entranced by advanced storytelling. But stories have been with us from as far back as we can remember. Is it because they entertain us? Is it because they inform us? Because they distract us? Yes, […]
November 16, 2020 by 53 Comments Podcast5 Questions About Scene Sequences
In many ways story structure is a fractal pattern. The same patterns we find on the macro level of the entire story arc also repeat themselves, within an ever-tightening spiral, from scene structure all the way down to sentence structure. Somewhere in between story and scene, we find scene sequences. Within the story’s larger narrative, […]
November 2, 2020 by 68 Comments PodcastThe Power of Chiastic Story Structure (Especially in a Series)
When writers put on their story theorist caps, nothing is more exciting than those moments when you get to recognize consistent patterns emerging within obvious story forms. This is the basis of all of our understanding (and musing) about story, including the chiastic story structure we’ve been studying these past few months. Although writers sometimes […]
October 26, 2020 by 51 Comments PodcastThe Midpoint as the Swivel Point of Your Story’s Linked Structure
The “saggy middle” of a story is one of the biggest challenges writers face. The Second Act is twice as long as the other two acts and yet is often less clearly defined. What’s a writer to do to keep the pacing just as tight and the events just as interesting over the long haul […]
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 […]
September 28, 2020 by 38 Comments Beginning Your BookThe Link Between Your Story’s Hook and Resolution
On a theoretical level, art often comes down to patterns. As readers and even writers we are not always conscious of these patterns, but whenever we are able to recognize that a story works—or does not work—usually what we are responding to is the comparative effectiveness of certain underlying patterns. This is perhaps nowhere more […]
September 14, 2020 by 76 Comments PodcastThe Crucial Link Between Your Story’s Inciting Event and Climactic Moment
We talk about story being an arc, but in many ways it is more of a circle. A well-constructed story is a seamless whole in which its two halves reflect each other. We see this clearly in classic story structure, and perhaps nowhere more crucially than in the link between a story’s Inciting Event and […]
August 10, 2020 by 61 Comments PodcastCritique: 4 Ways to Write Sequel Scenes That Grip Readers
Scene structure asks for a one-two punch pairing of action and reaction—or as Dwight V. Swain named them in what has come to be considered “classic” scene structure, scene and sequel. The need to write sequel scenes, the reaction half of the equation, is sometimes overlooked and misunderstood. This is unfortunate, since the reaction phase […]
