(You can find "Story Rules Part 1: Kill your ego" here)
Storytelling should be easy. It is something we do everyday. It is something we've taken part of since we where born. It is something that comes naturally when we speak. So why then is storytelling so hard?
Some how we start "unlearning" what we know when we start over-thinking on a subject. Just as when we try to walk perfect and natural we end up walking stiff and unnaturally, when we try to tell a story perfectly the story often ends up being stiff and unnatural. Often the reason we do this is because we try to reinvent the wheel as a cube.
A well told story has structure, and there are a lot of "screenwriting gurus" in the world and they all have their own perfect recipe for a perfect story structure. These recipes or story structures are not bad, but at times the structure gets in the way of the story.
I believe it was Da Vinci who said that "Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication" and the same applies to story structure.
When we talk and argument for something, the way we structure the facts comes naturally for us without even thinking about it. It is how we've learnt to communicate since we where small.
Argumentation follows a three act structure of presentation, argumentation and summary. The presentation tells the listener what your talking about ("I think you are wrong..."),. The argumentation is made up of two parts, first a critique ("… because blah blah blah.") and then a solution ("… Instead you should blah blah blah."). Last comes the summary which, if focusing on the critique part of the argumentation is negative ("… If you follow your way you will fail."), or if focusing on the solution is positive ("… If you follow my way everything will be great!"). A story is structured the same way. I like to call this the PAS structure.
(presentation) A character has a flaw that creates problems for her.
(argumentation part 1: critique) She makes a naïve attempt to solving the problem but without addressing her weakness things get worse.
(argumentation part 2: the solution) She is at rock bottom and is forced to face her weaknesses and sees that she has to change to solve her problems.
(summary - if negative) But instead of changing she continues on her old path and it leads her to a tragedy.
(summary - if positive) She addresses her weakness and in doing so she finds the answer to solving her problem.
If you've read my previous articles you may notice how the 5-point story structure applies to the same story.
(context creates conflict)A character has a flaw that creates problems for her.
(conflict creates complication) She makes a naive attempt to solve the problem but without addressing her weakness and things get worse.
(complication sets up the climax) She is at rock bottom and is forced to face her weaknesses and sees that she has to change to solve her problems.
(climax 1 creates a new worse context) But instead of changing she continues on her old path and it leads her to a tragedy.
(climax 2 creates a new better context) She addresses her weakness and in doing so she finds the answer to solving her problem.
The main difference between the PAS structure and the 5-point structure is that the PAS structure focuses on the message/theme of the story while the 5-point structure focuses on the actions that are what communicates the message. Neither is better or worse. They can both be used together to see the story from different angles.
When writing a longer story a more detailed structure at times is helpful but a too detailed structure tends to get in the way of creating in the beginning. The easiest solution to this is by fractalising the structure.
This is not as complicated as it sounds. A fractal is a picture of (generally) a snowflake that is built through mathematics in a way that you can zoom in more and more on the picture without losing detail. A fractal builds on it self.
Both the PAS and 5-point structure can build on themselves. In the PAS structure, each part, or step, can be made up by its own PAS argumenting for the message of that part.
The same applies to the 5-point structure. Between each point another smaller 5-point structure lies. CONTEXT consists of a context that creates a conflict that creates a complication that creates a climax that creates a new context wich also is the context of the next story point CONFLICT.
You could keep splitting up the story in to smaller and smaller PAS and 5-point structures, but just because you can do something it doesn't mean that you should. Again "Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication.". Things don't get simpler by making them more complicated. Too much detail can get in the way. Only work with the minimal information needed to move forward with a clear path.
Thank you for taking your time!
Peter Hertzberg
Storytelling should be easy. It is something we do everyday. It is something we've taken part of since we where born. It is something that comes naturally when we speak. So why then is storytelling so hard?
Some how we start "unlearning" what we know when we start over-thinking on a subject. Just as when we try to walk perfect and natural we end up walking stiff and unnaturally, when we try to tell a story perfectly the story often ends up being stiff and unnatural. Often the reason we do this is because we try to reinvent the wheel as a cube.
A well told story has structure, and there are a lot of "screenwriting gurus" in the world and they all have their own perfect recipe for a perfect story structure. These recipes or story structures are not bad, but at times the structure gets in the way of the story.
I believe it was Da Vinci who said that "Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication" and the same applies to story structure.
When we talk and argument for something, the way we structure the facts comes naturally for us without even thinking about it. It is how we've learnt to communicate since we where small.
Argumentation follows a three act structure of presentation, argumentation and summary. The presentation tells the listener what your talking about ("I think you are wrong..."),. The argumentation is made up of two parts, first a critique ("… because blah blah blah.") and then a solution ("… Instead you should blah blah blah."). Last comes the summary which, if focusing on the critique part of the argumentation is negative ("… If you follow your way you will fail."), or if focusing on the solution is positive ("… If you follow my way everything will be great!"). A story is structured the same way. I like to call this the PAS structure.
(presentation) A character has a flaw that creates problems for her.
(argumentation part 1: critique) She makes a naïve attempt to solving the problem but without addressing her weakness things get worse.
(argumentation part 2: the solution) She is at rock bottom and is forced to face her weaknesses and sees that she has to change to solve her problems.
(summary - if negative) But instead of changing she continues on her old path and it leads her to a tragedy.
(summary - if positive) She addresses her weakness and in doing so she finds the answer to solving her problem.
If you've read my previous articles you may notice how the 5-point story structure applies to the same story.
(context creates conflict)A character has a flaw that creates problems for her.
(conflict creates complication) She makes a naive attempt to solve the problem but without addressing her weakness and things get worse.
(complication sets up the climax) She is at rock bottom and is forced to face her weaknesses and sees that she has to change to solve her problems.
(climax 1 creates a new worse context) But instead of changing she continues on her old path and it leads her to a tragedy.
(climax 2 creates a new better context) She addresses her weakness and in doing so she finds the answer to solving her problem.
The main difference between the PAS structure and the 5-point structure is that the PAS structure focuses on the message/theme of the story while the 5-point structure focuses on the actions that are what communicates the message. Neither is better or worse. They can both be used together to see the story from different angles.
When writing a longer story a more detailed structure at times is helpful but a too detailed structure tends to get in the way of creating in the beginning. The easiest solution to this is by fractalising the structure.
This is not as complicated as it sounds. A fractal is a picture of (generally) a snowflake that is built through mathematics in a way that you can zoom in more and more on the picture without losing detail. A fractal builds on it self.
Both the PAS and 5-point structure can build on themselves. In the PAS structure, each part, or step, can be made up by its own PAS argumenting for the message of that part.
The same applies to the 5-point structure. Between each point another smaller 5-point structure lies. CONTEXT consists of a context that creates a conflict that creates a complication that creates a climax that creates a new context wich also is the context of the next story point CONFLICT.
You could keep splitting up the story in to smaller and smaller PAS and 5-point structures, but just because you can do something it doesn't mean that you should. Again "Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication.". Things don't get simpler by making them more complicated. Too much detail can get in the way. Only work with the minimal information needed to move forward with a clear path.
Thank you for taking your time!
Peter Hertzberg
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