A Starting Point, Threads

A Story

A dramatic storyline is comprised of five stages.

1. The way it's been
2. The strange event
3. Trying and failing
4. The crisis point
5. Final resolution

Every other concept in this new story modelling system exists in these five sections, so when you describe a character as having an attitude, e.g. Logical, then they may start out that way, but become less logical as the story progresses, or gain this attachment as the story progresses  Characters are only attached to characteristics when it benefits them.


A Single Mind

Where I agree with Dramatica is the idea of the Story Mind - which is the entire argument for the defence created by the writer as a super lawyer in a court case.  Like a human mind, the Story Mind cannot believe two things to be true at once.  It can see truths of differing levels.  It can change its mind about people over time.


The Four Story Threads

Where I disagree is the way the Story Mind is divided.  I think the Story Mind is divided up into Four levels, one above the other.  Each level is a thread in itself, a story thread.  The story being told at the level should also prove the Premise of the story, but in a different way, according to its scope.  Each story thread could be a story on its own, if you took the other three away, it would still be a coherent story.

1. The Personal Thread

This is the intimate story of the main character of the story.  This is mainly about the internal growth of the person over time, the particular skills and abilities that person has.  The Star Wars example is Luke Skywalker starts as a whiny farm-boy on a boring planet, dreaming of becoming a pilot, then unexpectedly loss his family, discovers a Jedi, leaves on an adventure which leads him to fighting for the rebels in a spectacular space battle.

2. The Interpersonal Thread

This is the story of how the main character's relationship with the most important supporting character changes over time.  This could be the enemy, the best friend, lover, parent.  It's the closest to what Dramatica calls the Impact character.  In Star Wars, Luke sees Ben as an old fool, then a link to the unknown past, then a teacher, then a mentor and constant presence.  For Ben, he sees Luke as an opportunity, student, and then hope for the future.

3. The Ensemble Thread

This is the story of the groups of characters which form over the course of the story, and all the interpersonal and inter-group relationships.  In Star Wars, this is the eventual core group of Luke and Leia, Han and Chewbacca, and the Droids.  After the course of the events of the story you know these people are bonded forever.  The group of Darth Vader, Grand Moff Tarkin, and the admirals is another.  The rebellion is a grouping.  So is the Empire.  Each take part in the Ensemble Story.

4. The Historical Thread

This is the story of the events as if they were being recorded in a history book.  Names and dates may not be known, but the general chronology of events are recorded from the point of view of a dispassionate distant observer. In Star Wars, the Historical Thread is the story of the rise of the Empire, the Rebellion staring, and the attempts to crush it.  It is the destruction of the death star as a major milestone in the campaign to defeat the Empire.  The Historical Thread is this story.


Echoes and Resonance

Now when we choose a top level theme for our story, then that theme should be reflected in all of the threads underneath.  Each thread will offer a perspective on that theme with a particular story involving it.  In this way the theme will resonate throughout the story.  Let's see if it's true for the movie Star Wars.

1. Personal
Luke Skywalker starts off as a farm-boy, but what he doesn't know is he is the son of a brilliant Jedi pilot.  He discovers this Potential as the story progresses, and finishes the story using the Force and destroying the Death Star.

2. Interpersonal
Ben Kenobi can see the potential in Luke and tries to tempt him away.  When the accident of the Empire destroying his family happens, he is quick to exploit the potential of this for turning Luke into a Jedi student.  Luke and Ben realize the Potential of their master-student relationship.

3. Ensemble
The rag-tag group in the Millennium Falcon start off as a couple of smugglers they meet in the Space Port.  Luke thinks they are trouble, but Ben sees the Potential.  Han is a skeptic about the world, but over the course of the story comes to believes in the rebellion.  Leia is a single-minded rebel leader with no time for personal niceties, but by the end comes to love them all.  Nobody knew this rag-tag band could have the Potential to defeat the empire.

4. Historical
The Empire has almost succeeded in crushing the Rebellion, and is building a massive space station to patrol the galaxy to enforce this.  The rebels have been pushed back to a single planet.  The end looks near.  Nobody could tell that the rebellion has the Potential within its ranks to defeat the Empire.

In Star Wars, the Theme is Potentiality.  The idea behind Potentiality is surprise.  Everybody thinks things are going one way, but there is something special and surprising about one of the elements which means that the tables are turned.  This happens at all levels in all threads of the story.

So can we do the same thing for other classic dramatic fiction?

Jaws

Personal: Brody has given up his career as a New York cop for a second chance at a career in a sleepy island community, but it doesn't work out that way and he's faced with danger

Interpersonal: Brody sees scientist Hooper as his second chance at proving the shark risk is real. Hooper sees Brody as his second chance at scientific glory..

Ensemble: Quint, Brody and Hooper are on the brink of failure after the first shark attack, but a second chance allows them to pull together and defeat the shark.

Historical: The seaside resort of Amity has already had a couple of shark attacks, but the Fourth of July weekend is a second chance for the community to come through.

The theme which resonates on all four levels is the idea of a second chance, or Redemption, if you want a one word description.  The idea that the first go was a failure, and this is the second chance to put things right.


So I think I'm onto something

So I think that my suspicion that themes need to resonate is real.  But how do you choose a theme?  Potentiality and Redemption are two examples of themes but can we list them all?  I'm not sure I have to.  Part of where Dramatica went wrong was to try to limit and box in the entirety of human thought - I would say there are a million themes, and we understand them implicitly without definition, so why try to categorise them?

The advantage of the four levels is that you can think of one theme, and then move it over to the other levels of thread and you come up with a whole load of new material for free!


Next time

I will look at how these Themes adapt over the timeline of the story.