Story Maps

Looking at story structure from Aristotle to Christopher Vogler.

“...in every piece we write, we contemplate a world; and as that world would not otherwise exist, we create it even as we discover it.”
— Maps of the Imagination: The Writer as Cartographer by Peter Turchi

We can look at story structure as maps to help us find our way through unfamiliar territory. Many of these are developed by critics, teachers, and writers who are responding to written works (the cartographers of known land).

Let’s begin our exploration.

Some Early Beginnings in Western Storytelling

Poetics by Aristotle

The plot must be Complete and a Unity of Action.
Simple plots, when the change of fortune takes place without Reversal of the Situation and without Recognition.
Complex Plots is accompanied by Reversal, or by Recognition, or by both (which turn upon surprise).

Freytag’s Pyramid (1863)

The German playwright and novelist Gustav Freytag wrote Die Technik des Dramas, considering the 5-act dramatic structure, in which discussed what is known as Freytag's pyramid.

Exposition (originally called introduction)
Rising action (rise)
Climax
Falling action (return or fall)
Catastrophe, denouement, resolution, or revelation

More Recent Maps

Screenplay by Syd Field

Field’s book, released in 1979, was one of the first to communicate the three-act structure of screenplays.

Act 1 is the setup, which “introduces your main character, establishes the dramatic premise, creates the situation, and lays out scenes and sequences that build and expand the information of your story.”
- It’s 30 pages long.– At page 25-27, there is a plot point—an incident, episode, or event that “hooks into the action and spins it around into another direction.”
Act 2 is the confrontation, where “your main character will confront obstacles and conflicts that must be resolved and overcome in order for your character to achieve his or her dramatic need.”
- It is 60 pages long.– Contains a second plot point that moves the story into the resolution (pg. 85-90).
Act 3 is the resolution.
- 30 pages long.– It “resolves itself, resolution being defined as ‘the solution.’”

Field’s Act 1

In the first 10 pages you must:

hook your reader.
introduce your main character.
establish the dramatic premise, “what the story is about.”
and create the dramatic situation, “the circumstances surrounding the action.”

In the next 10 pages you must:

define the problem.
follow the focus on the main character and the dramatic premise.
“Your story is always moving forward with direction, a line of development.”

In the final 10 pages:

we understand what the problem is.
“define the problem” (he literally repeats the phrase in the book.)
Dramatize plot point 1.

Field’s Act 2

Here he added the midpoint, where “something happens.”

The midpoint is “a pit stop, a destination, a beacon that guides you and keeps you on course during the execution of your storyline.”
It divides Act 2 into two halves. The first half focuses on what comes of the turn at Act 1, then the second half focuses on the hook at the end of the first half.
(I know this is vague, but we will build it out more soon.)

He also added the “pinch points,” which occur in the middle of each half.

These “tie it together and keeps your story on track.”
It can be a scene, a sequence, a plot point.
Often it is a connected to a quiet character moment.

Where is Act 3?

Field doesn’t leave a lot of notes for the final act.

He asks: “What is the resolution of your story? When you establish that, you can decide on the specific ending. You’ve always known your ending, now you can execute it.”

The Writer’s Journey by Christopher Vogler

Christopher Vogler released his book in 1998 and is an interpretation of Joseph Campbell’s The Hero With a Thousand Faces, which breaks down the structure of a wide range of myths from all over the world, into what is known as the mono-myth or Hero’s Journey:

A hero ventures forth from the world of common day into a region of supernatural wonder: fabulous forces are there encountered and a decisive victory is won: the hero comes back from this mysterious adventure with the power to bestow boons on his fellow man.

Some of you may recognize this structure from Dan Harmon, which will speak about shortly.

A breakdown of Vogler’s beat

Ordinary World - The world as it is.
Call to Adventure - The hero is presented with a problem, challenge, or adventure to undertake. Establishes the stakes of the game.
Refusal of the Call - This one is about fear. The hero balks at the threshold of adventure.
Mentor - Meeting with the wise old woman or man. The kick in the pants to get the adventure going.
Crossing the First Threshold - The hero commits to the adventure and fully enters the Special World of the story.
Tests, Allies, and Enemies - The hero encounters new challenges and new people, and learns the rules of the Special World.
Approach the Inmost Cave - The edge of the dangerous place, often the headquarters of the hero’s greatest enemy. The approach covers all the preparation for entering
Ordeal (in the Inmost Cave) - The fortunes of the hero hit bottom in a direct confrontation with death or supreme danger. It is the belly of the beast.
Reward (Seizing the Sword) - Having survived death, beat the dragon, the hero takes possession of the treasure.
The Road Back - The return home, but without the reconciliation with the dark forces behind them, and the ordinary world ahead.
Resurrection - The hero that has been to the other world must be reborn and cleansed in one last Ordeal of death. Have they learned the lessons of their journey? A moment of death, choice, and catharsis (release).
Return with the Elixir - The hero returns to the ordinary world with the reward.

So now let’s return to the circular nature of the story:

Dan Harmon took this idea and transformed it into 8 beats for his episodic structure:

Save the Cat

Blake Snyder came out with his book in 2005.

Opening image (1) - The first impression of the movie: tone, mood, type, scope. Matches with #19, the Final Image.
Theme stated (5) - Often posed as a statement or question to the main character by some that are usually not the main character.
Setup (1-10) - Set up the hero, the stakes, the goal of the story, and the thesis. The world as it is before the adventure starts. Often indicates Six Things That Need Fixing.
Catalyst (12) - The first call of the adventure.
Debate (12-25) - Where the hero asks, “Should I go on this adventure?”
Break into Two (25) - Where we leave the old world behind and proceed into a world that is the upside-down version of that. The antithesis.
B Story (30) - The love story, the relationship story, and the upside-down version of the “relationships” of the setup.
Fun and Games (30-55) - The promise of the premise. The trailer moments that we were promised. The heart of the movie.
Midpoint (55) - Either a false win or a false loss. The fun and games are over. Matches with the All is Lost moment.
Bad Guys Close-in (55-75) - The bad guys regroup (external or internal) and things start going well for our hero.
All is Lost (75) - The opposite of the midpoint. It all falls apart and the hero is furthest from their goal. They brush against death and may have lost their best friend or mentor or they realize how far they’re from their goal and their true self.
Dark Night of Soul (75-85) - The hero is lost after their brush with death and this is their response. Imagine being drunk and crying and walking in the rain. That moment.
Break into Three (85) - This is the moment the hero makes their final run for the solution. It often starts at the bottom of the well and answers to solve the problem emerge. It is also a synthesis of what they knew (thesis) and what they learned (antithesis).
Gather the team - This is the beginning of the Finale (85-110), the final push to the end. The hero must make amends for their mistakes to prepare for the final run at the goal.
Execute the plan - Team gathered, this is the run at the Castle, the stronghold of the villain, or the home of the goal.
High Tower Surprise - Sure the hero has learned some lessons, has made amends, and gathered his team, but the Villain has a trick up their sleeve as well. This is where the hero realizes it.
Dig Deep Down - If the hero is going to defeat the villain, they are going to do the unexpected, the deep lesson they’ve learned. Often, it means they must be willing to make the ultimate sacrifice in order to win.
Execute the New Plan - This is seeing that final sacrifice through, no matter what it takes.
Final Image - Matches with the opening image. It is proof that your hero has grown and changed.

TV Structure

A half-hour sitcom is about 40-50 pages (not the 1:1 ratio that we’ve spoken about). The drama series is around 60 pages (unless faster paced, which leads to 70).

Teaser - The brief one-minute or so cold open of a show.
The acts - Sitcoms usually have two or three acts. Dramas have four or five acts (or six acts in the case of ABC). This adds up to around 8 pages per act or 15 minutes including the commercials (or 10 pages/minutes per act if six acts long).
Tag - The epilogue - About a minute that ties up the loose ends.

Due to the structure, you build around springboard and cliffhangers, that propel the conflict forward, then hooks you to return after the commercial break.

For example:

Teaser - The character is called to find a solution to a problem.
Act One - First steps towards that solution.
End of Act One - A problem occurs that thwarts that solution.
Act Two - The character deals with the new problem while pursuing their original focus.
Act Three - The real problem reveals itself.
Act Three break - The character is in serious trouble (stakes are raised).
Act Four - Resolution and solving the problem.

But the moment you lose commercials, the rules begin to change. Cable, Prime, and Netflix, all of these rely on formats not fitting the constraints.

And on larger shows, with multiple storylines, they are stacked.

The Harold

Also there is The Harold from improv and used in shows like Modern Family.

Although much of it is word-of-mouth, the Improv Wiki describes it as being constructed as an introduction, that leads to separate scenes, then back to a group scene, then repeat the separate/group scene cycle. It looks something like this:

Opening
Scenes A1, B1, C1
Group Game
Scenes A2, B2, C2
Group Game
Scenes A3, B3, C3

Other Structures

Here are several other approaches that are mentioned in Robert McKee’s Story.

Classical Design

Causality
Closed ending
Linear Time
External Conflict
Single Protagonist
Consistent reality
Active protagonist

Minimalism

Open ending
Internal conflict
Multi-protagonist
Passive Protagonist

Anti-structure

Coincidence
Nonlinear Time
Inconsistent reality

The differences

closed vs. open endings - are all the questions and emotions satisfied?
external vs. internal conflict - where is the focus of the struggle?
single vs. multiple protagonists
active vs. passive protagonists - are the characters pursuing their desire or are they reactive?
linear vs. nonlinear time - even stories with flashbacks can xbe linear. The real question is whether the story skips through time and blurs temporal continuity to confuse what happens before or after.
causality vs. coincidence - causality drives a story in which motivated actions cause effects that in turn become the causes of yet further effects. Or do unmotivated actions trigger events that may not trigger further events?
consistent vs. inconsistent realities - Does the world of the story remain consistent or does it jump from one version of reality to another, leaning towards absurdity?
change vs. stasis - is change visible? To what extent? Or does the story world refuse to change?

Each of these choices communicates the theme, as well as decides on the marketability of your story.

Other Patterns of Development

You can also consider forms similar to the development of an essay:

Increasing importance - could be attached to raising the stakes (which is increasing the likelihood of a negative outcome)
Increasing complexity - showing the intricacy of a complex topic
Illustration or support - showing all aspects
Division and classification - break the problem into pieces
Comparison and Contrast - the positives and negatives of two things (through action)
Analogy - comparison to another thing
Cause-and-effect analysis - a breakdown of cause and effect
Process analysis - how is a thing made

Story structure is flexible

You can have 3 acts (or 4 acts), 5, 6, or however many you want.

You can break the structure and reshape it in as many ways as you want.

But it comes at a cost.

The audience you choose wants the structure of the story to rhyme.

It’s got to sound like what they want. If they like classical shapes, you have to consider the conventions that come with them.

Seth Godin calls this “genre”:

The people you bring your work to want to know what it rhymes with, what category it fits in, what they’re supposed to compare it to. Please put in a container for us, they say. We call that container “genre.”

He continues:

Genre permits us to be original. It gives us a framework to push against... Not generic which is boring, but genre, which gives your audience a clue as to what this work is about... Genre is a box, a set of boundaries, something the creative person can leverage against. The limits of the genre are the place where you do your idiosyncratic work.

And of course, back to WOARO

The beauty of WOARO is that it operates in many of these structures (maybe not anti-plot, but it does give something to push against).

It isn’t formulaic like Writer’s Journey or Save the Cat, but a form. It is an understanding of how we operate in the world and can be applied within many of the different structures discussed.