Archives for August 2012

Stories are about struggles—successful or not—to grow in wisdom and understanding.

In a HAPPY story, the hero starts from a position of relative weakness or vulnerability, decides to face his fear, struggles to overcome his concrete problems, and eventually succeeds in doing so because of an increase in personal wisdom.

The three-act structure is built to support the notion of personal growth. The protagonist often refuses the Call because of a perceived weakness (“I’m not brave enough”, “I’m incompetent”, and so on). But the Intervening Mentor convinces the protagonist that the protagonist is the only one who can do what must be done. Despite being afraid, the protagonist crosses the first threshold. He pursues his Act 2 Goal, but experiences defeat at the end of that act. The hero realizes that he wasn’t addressing the problem on a sufficiently fundamental level, so he readjusts his goal in Act 3. In the Act 3 Climax, the hero faces his fear directly, proving that his struggles have taught him bravery, competence, or whatever he needed to learn. And, because of that internal change, the hero triumphs.

If there is a negative outcome—to be reductive, if the story is SAD—it will be about a failed struggle to grow in wisdom or understanding.

A strong story hangs from the clear, simple spine of a consistent, though deepening goal. The protagonist refines his goal and his understanding of his goal changes, but he does not shift his focus from one distinct goal to another. To say this another way: the Act 3 goal emerges from the Act 2 goal. Or, to express this as a formula: Act 2 Goal + deeper understanding = Act 3 Goal.

In a strong story, all of the narrative steps clearly support the simple spine created by the evolving goal. One step builds upon another so that there is a sense of constant accumulation. In the Call to Adventure, for instance, the protagonist is invited to embark on a quest, the quest that he will pursue, in an ever-deepening way, throughout Acts 2 and 3.