I’m a huge advocate of story above all else. Style? Cinematography? Visual effects? Forget about ‘em. Without story you’re lost and no matter how well made something is it will fall down on not having an effective and engaging story. We’re hard-wired to understand stories, and everyone knows – consciously or not – when a story doesn’t work.
Now I’m not a big fan of people professing ‘The Rules’ about how to write a script. Writing is a very personal thing, but on the most part it has to be read and related-to by others in order for it to be ‘successful’ in the modern media sense of the word. So it was a nice surprise to discover that Dan Harmon, the creator of US sitcom Community, has written extensively on story structure, all of which is available via Channel 101.
…life, including the human mind and the communities we create, marches to the same, very specific beat. If your story also marches to this beat- whether your story is the great American novel or a fart joke- it will resonate.
…the REAL structure of any good story is simply circular – a descent into the unknown and eventual return – and that any specific descriptions of that process are specific to you and your story.
His points cover some of the basic ground rules and while I wouldn’t take all of them at face value, it’s good to be acquainted with them. Here are some of the points I’ve picked out from his notes, but do read his full thoughts over on Channel 101.
Story wheels
Dan uses story wheels to plot out his episodes, character arcs, and even plot out the run of several series of his shows. The first step is to draw a circle like this:
The numbers on the wheel relate to these plot points or pivots in your story:
- A character is in a zone of comfort,
- But they want something.
- They enter an unfamiliar situation,
- Adapt to it,
- Get what they wanted,
- Pay a heavy price for it,
- Then return to their familiar situation,
- Having changed.
Stories, character arcs, and even scenes can be mapped onto this structure to make sure your story is complete.
Dan says: “That horizontal line dividing the circle is the first one you want to think about when creating a story. What’s above it and what’s below it?” He cites these stories as proof:
- Robocop: Above the line, cop. Below the line, Robocop.
- Die Hard: Above the line, bad marriage. Below the line, terrorist attack.
- Citizen Kane: Above the line, news reel. Below the line, truth.
- MacBeth: Above the line, hero. Below the line, villain.
- Star Wars: Above the line, farm boy. Below the line, adventurer.
- The Incredible Talking Dog: Above the line, dog can’t talk…
- Back to the Future: 1985 / 1955
A distilled version of the story wheel is this:
- You
- Need
- Go
- Search
- Find
- Take
- Return
- CHANGE
The details
Dan then goes into more detail about the story points. It’s worth remembering that these points can be applied to any story no matter how small in scope. If it doesn’t cover all the bases it’s probably an incomplete story. I’ve picked out some choice quotes, but you can read his full notes here.
Step 1
You: “The audience picks someone to whom they relate. When in doubt, they follow their pity.”
Step 2
Need: “Demonstrate that something is off balance in the universe, no matter how large or small that universe is.”
Step 3
Go: “What’s your story about? The adventure, regardless of its size or subtlety, has begun.”
Step 4
Search: ” The protagonist has been thrown into the water and now it’s sink or swim. We are headed for the deepest level of the unconscious mind, and we cannot reach it encumbered by all that crap we used to think was important.”
Step 5
Find: ”Meeting the “goddess”. The goddess could be a character’s confession that they lost their job. The goddess can be a gesture, an idea, a gun, a diamond, a destination, or just a moment’s freedom from that monster that won’t stop chasing you.”
“Your hero-in-the-making just found what they were looking for, even if it’s not quite what they knew they were looking for. This is a very, very special pivot point. This is where the universe’s natural tendency to pull your protagonist downward has done its job, and for X amount of time, we experience weightlessness. Anything goes down here. This is a time for major revelations, and total vulnerability.”
Step 6
Take: “This half of the circle has its own road of trials – the road back up. The one down prepares you for the bed of the goddess and the one up prepares you to rejoin the ordinary world.”
“When you realize that something is important, really important, to the point where it’s more important than YOU, you gain full control over your destiny. In the first half of the circle, you were reacting to the forces of the universe, adapting, changing, seeking. Now you have BECOME the universe. You have become that which makes things happen. You have become a living God.”
Step 7
Return: ”The natives of the conscious and unconscious worlds justify their actions however they want, but in the grand scheme, their goal is to keep the two worlds separate, which includes keeping people from seeing one and living to tell about it.”
“This is a great place for a car chase. Or, in a love story, having realized what’s important, the hero bursts out of his apartment onto the sidewalk. His lover’s airplane leaves for Antartica in TEN MINUTES!
Step 8
Change: “The protagonist, on whatever scale, is now a world-altering ninja. They have been to the strange place, they have adapted to it, they have discovered true power and now they are back where they started, forever changed and forever capable of creating change.
One really neat trick is to remind the audience that the reason the protagonist is capable of such behavior is because of what happened down below. When in doubt, look at the opposite side of the circle.
It’s slightly different in TV
For TV, Dan says there is slight difference in the story wheel.
The joy of TV is in the moment. TV isn’t selling revolution, it’s selling a hygienic, relatable substitution for your own filthy, unmarketable humanity. The characters must start in the ordinary situation, descend into a new situation, adapt to it, become native to it, pay the price and then flock back to basics having “changed.”
His points for TV are:
- I
- notice a small problem,
- and make a major decision.
- this changes things
- to some satisfaction, but
- there are consequences
- that must be undone
- and I must admit the futility of change.
Conclusions
It’s not rocket science, but it is a useful way to visualise your task when creating stories. I was pleased to find a lot of my stories adhere to Dan’s points, but I’m well aware that this is nothing but a framework. The flesh of writing style, production, acting, lighting, sound recording, editing etc etc has to be added before a story can truly be deemed successful. Theory is worth knowing at some level, and I think Dan’s got it right in being based in structure and theory to allow for creativity to flourish around it.
