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Magic Star of Dramatic Writing

STORY

A compilation of guidance from classical and contemporary experts on crafting great dramatic stories.


ARISTOTLE

Is the story structured/engineered around a . .
  • beginning, that which does not necessarily follow on something else, but after it something else naturally is or happens;
  • middle, that which naturally follows on something else and something else on it; and
  • end, that which naturally follows on something else, either necessarily or for the most part, but nothing else after it?



DAVID BALL

Is the story structured/engineered around . .
  • stasis
  • intrusion
  • battle for new stasis
  • climax
  • new stasis?



SYD FIELD

Is the story structured/engineered around a . .
  • set-up
  • confrontation, and
  • resolution?

Do the first ten pages show the . .
  • main character
  • dramatic premise--what the story is about
  • dramatic situation--the circumstances surrounding the action?



BERNARD GREBANIER

Is the story structured/engineered around . .
  • dramatic incidents, and not a situation, that are continuous to the end of the play, one leading to another--all other incidents being subordinate and contributory?
  • meaning delivered moment by moment and instantaneously?
  • a plot that stands as a logical unity quite independently of the ideas or concepts the play exhibits?

Is the story structured/engineered around . .
  • the Proposition, or logical statement--analyzing only the main action actually in the play-- incorporating the
    • condition of the action--the first significant event of the play which holds the root of the cause of the action
    • cause of the action--event which follows from the condition of the action, involves the central and second characters, and raises the question which the rest of the play must answer
    • resulting action--which answers the question raised by the cause of the action?

Is the story structured/engineered around . .
  • a climax or turning point that:
    • determines more or less what the direction of the rest of the plot is to be--notwithstanding some later unexpected turn;
    • is the moment in which the most violent dislocation occurs in the relationship between the central and second characters;
    • begins to answer what the play is about;
    • is a deed performed by the central character and involving not the second character but a third person?



MICHAEL HAUGE

Is the story structured/engineered around . .
  • establishment of the . .
    • setting
    • characters
    • situation and
    • outer motivation
    . . for the hero?
  • building of the
    • hurdles
    • obstacles
    • conflicts
    • suspense
    • pace
    • humor
    • character development and
    • character revelations?
  • resolution of everything, particularly the "outer motivation" and conflict for the hero?



CHRISTOPHER VOGLER

Is the story structured/engineered around . .
  • The pattern of the mythic hero's journey--one that is universal, occurring in every culture, in every time--including the stages of:
    • ordinary world
    • call to adventure
    • refusal of the call
    • meeting with the mentor
    • crossing the first threshold
    • tests, allies, enemies
    • approach
    • supreme ordeal
    • reward
    • the road back
    • resurrection
    • and return with elixir?



RICHARD WALTER

Does the story have . .
  • just enough predictability?
  • wrinkles and reversals?
  • only one coincidence, best used to launch the tale's fundamental action or aid in the resolution of the story?
  • the Big Gloom, occurring just before the beginning of the end, where the protagonist is furthest from achieving his goal?
  • a beginning that starts late?
  • an ending that finishes early and leaves 'em wanting more?




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