Structure - The Final List

Okay, I admit it, this list looks either scary or stupid depending on your point of view. It's just a
list of all the things that I think are worth checking when you are in the process of creating plot. So
when you are plotting (and if you like this idea) then go through the points one by one, and see if
they will add anything to your story.
A lot of these points will be used in most of your plots. You can't get away from the fact that
without a Catalyst (or Inciting Incident, or Trigger) you are not going to have much of a story. It is
also worth noting that while you might object to the idea of plotting by numbers, many readers
(script-readers, that is) will be looking to see if they are included. They expect them, and I think
that maybe your audience, too, unconsciously expect them to be there.
Context
You need to put things in a context of very early on. For the really well-known genres like war
films and westerns, you can rely on your audience knowing the kind of context right from the start.
But for many other genres, you have quite a lot of work to do because in order to make your
screenplay or book stand out from the others you will have to come up with a novel context, and
so this can be quite a challenge.
1. Opening Image
Whether it's a book or a film, it is not a bad idea to start with a very strong image. You need
something which says 'How did this situation arise?', or 'What is going to happen next?' or by
some other means you need to intrigue your audience. Many people have said that you need a
strong image (or in the case of a book, a strong descriptive passage which will form an image in
the reader's mind). The alternative, isn't going to grasp your audience's attention - who wants a
weak image? If you can manage it, go for a symbol of all that the story is about. I'm not saying that
you need to beat your audience around the head with a wet fish, in fact the audience or to be
completely unaware of what you are doing to them. For a kick-off, it's the beginning of the film
and so they have no idea that your image sums up the whole of the film because haven't seen the
whole of the film. But in some subliminal way, you are telling them what you are going to tell
them. In the film Sleepless In Seattle, the opening shot is of a man and his young son at the funeral
of the man's wife and the boy's mother. We see them at the top of a small rise where the woman is
being buried. It's a low shot, and after the explanation, the camera goes up on a crane - not too far,
and keeping the horizon at the same place on the screen. Behind the father and son, the living city
seems to rise from the graveyard. What we are being told, very subtly, by this scene being shot in
this way, is that life will rise up and carry on after the death of another.
Key Line
Usually there is a Key Line somewhere in the first 10 minutes that lets you know what this is. In
Sleepless in Seattle, this is the main character stating the complete opposite: his belief that 'it
[love] just doesn't happen twice', and okay, he is stating the opposite, but we all know that the film
is going to tell us that he is wrong and that it can happen twice. In City Slickers, Billy Crystal's
wife tells him to 'go and find your smile', and that's what he does.
Theme
Unlike Snyder, I don't believe in stating your theme directly - in fact I believe that it shouldn't
really be stated indirectly either. It should be so subtle that the audience doesn't consciously
recognise that you are preaching to them. Nevertheless, you still have to establish your theme very
early on.
Genre
Yes I know that you chosen genre long before you started plotting, or that the plot demands a
certain genre in itself (most vampire film score example fall into one category here). What you
need to do however, is to show the (script)reader that you know what you are doing. Make sure
that you have shown them within the first few pages, that you know your business. Make sure that
you have put in some foreshadowing early on so that the audience will know something good is
going to happen - or maybe that something bad is going to happen - but either way, that something
is going to happen.
Stability
You need to show the audience what a 'normal' situation is so that they know what the stakes are
for your characters. Your characters might be going to lose something they value, or they might be
going to lose something they really hate and get something much better. Either way, the difference
must be significant. And this is a little bit different from 'context': it is, if you like, an extension of
that. Having set the scene, you now need to show what the characters are like. To some extent of
course, you will have been doing this up to this point anyway. But now the audience knows the
background, you can concentrate on fleshing out the characters.
2. Character In Action
You need to show at least your main character in action. What you find is that many films will
have a small scene early on which demonstrates to the audience the kind of person that character
is. It needs to be showing the audience how that character is at the beginning of the story, what
they are capable of, and if you can, in some way to mirror the whole story.
3. Ghosts And Scary Things
No, not just ghost stories and horror movies, there might well be something in your characters' past
which will come back to haunt them. Some terrible event that they haven't come to terms with like
failing to save someone, or some kind of relationship that needs to be sorted out. This, of course,
all happened in the backstory but must come out fairly early on to explain the characters drive and
determination, and other actions which would otherwise seem strange or unreasonable. even if the
audience don't know exactly what the ghost is, they need to have some fairly heavy hints in the
early stages of the film that there is some secret in the background that needs to be addressed.
4. Disruption
Into the stable situation comes something to screw up for our main character. Whatever the stable
situation is, it can't go on forever. It may be blindingly obvious that something has happened
because terrorists have stormed a building, or our MC has fallen madly in love. Or it may not be
obvious to the main character, but the audience know about it, like in Diehard where the audience
sees the terrorists in the van outside the building, but inside the building they are still unaware that
anything is going to happen. Or it may be done in a way which means that even the audience only
realise that they saw something significant when it all falls into place later on in the story.
5. Catalyst
The Catalyst is a turning point as far as we are concerned here. A catalyst in chemistry is
something that kicks off a reaction without getting affected itself. In a plot, the Catalyst is pretty
similar in many ways. Very often our hero is dragged into something else that is already
happening and although he will eventually do something about it, when he first enters the
equation, whatever is that he is about to get involved with, doesn't really notice. Blaufelt carries on
stroking his cat, and carries on with his plan for world domination while James Bond has to leave
London and tried to find out what is going on. James Bond's world has been affected, while that of
Smersh doesn't care about James Bond at all.
6. Bookend
Another thing the audience or reader notices but doesn't notice. There's a scene at the end that
mirrors one in the beginning. It may only be a phrase, it may be a place or a tiny sequence. It's
purpose is to signal the end, so the gurus would have you believe. The audience knows that already
by the time they have been in the cinema, the reader is no unaware that there aren't many pages
left. The bookend isn't to let us know the story is ending, it is there to signal 'full circle', it tells us
'this is where we came in'. And that adds to the completeness and satisfaction we feel. In a less
subtle way, it can be a test - the final proof that the hero has learnt his lesson well. What he failed
at the start, he passes at the end. Or it can be the start of the cycle again. The film starts with a new
client walking into the PI's office and ends with another client walking into the PI's office. In the
case of Pulp Fiction, it's actually the same scene (reshot). It tells us 'OK, now you know enough to
understand what I showed you at the beginning'.
7. Limited Reaction
Unless your hero all your audience morons, then no one is going to believe that your main
character is going to jump in with both feet right from the start. There are films where this has
happened, but these are usually romantic comedies where somebody falls madly in love and then
pursues the person of his dreams until they finally get them. In most adventures, the main
character is drawn in bit by bit. In Pretty Woman, the two characters meet when Richard Gere asks
Julia Roberts for directions to his hotel. He doesn't just stop at the side of the road and ask the to
marry him. This part of the sequence can be thought of as the replacement for The Refusal in the
Hero's Journey. It is a chance for the main character to get to know the other characters involved
and in this way you can make it seem more reasonable for the main character to go off and do
something dramatic.
8. Bonding
Later, you'll lock some of the characters together, but for the moment you are introducing them
and getting them interested in each other for whatever reason (love, business, sporting rivalry,
legal battle, climbing Everest...the list is endless. Unless, of course, they already are from the
backstory - in this case you need to explain it, not show it in real-time. Flashbacks are out of
favour in most genres (CSI et al are 'versions' - illustrations of what people are suggesting - and
last only moments. Best to stick to 'the bastard who killed my family got out of jail today' or
similar, if you can.
9. The Happy Plan
Not surprisingly the limited reaction either doesn't work, in which case a more serious response is
needed. Or it does work, and then you have an excuse to do it again but other grander scale. Unless
you are in the army and forced to do things then you are unlikely to volunteer for something which
is obviously terrible. Therefore when your protagonist first sets off on his adventure he's probably
be quite cheerful and he will think that he is just out to have a good time. Even if he is in the army,
you don't want to send him into the worst situation that you can think of, because then you got
nothing left for the rest of the film, and a film where things start of terrible and then gradually get
better isn't going to bring people into the theatre. It may have a book where the protagonist is
trying to improve things, even then they will probably get worse before they get better, but even if
things do slowly improved, then it's going to get more and more difficult for your protagonist to
improve things. Such is life in the fictional world.
10. Come Up With A Plan
And now it gets more interesting because you have a bigger, better plan for your characters to
pursue. If your main character group is an army unit then they have discovered something that
needs sorting out when they went and did a bit of recon in the 'limited help' part of this act. In
Pretty Woman, the limited help part went okay, so Richard Gere asks her to stay for the night.
11. Commitment
The hero commits themselves to do something about the problem they have discovered or been
told about or had dumped upon them, or they decide to pursue the opportunity that has opened up.
Very often, this actually is the start of a journey.
12. Turning Point One
This is where your hero leaves the normality of the setup, takes up the reins, and heads off into
adventure. Quite often our intrepid hero leaves behind his or her old life quite literally. It can
involve a journey (for example, someone goes somewhere new, as in Sleepless In Seattle, or it
could be an army unit being sent to conflict zone, or it could be someone in a new job).
13.Movement
This is the traditional start of Act Two. The way I'm splitting it up, this is the beginning of a proper
response to the problem. The normal reaction didn't work. All the normal reaction worked and led
to something else. Now I realise that is a bit vague, but there are a number of things that could
have happened. In Pretty Woman, Richard Gere has asked Julia Roberts for directions and that
worked okay. In other situations, someone might have offered a limited amount of help but that
didn't work, and now because they have got a little bit involved, they decide to help a bit more. So,
whether it worked or not, our main character is getting more involved in the situation.
14. Getting Active
From here on, the protagonist goes active. In Act 1, the protagonist is much less active. She may
give a little help of advice, but she is basically on the back foot and just absorbing what is
happening. Turning Point 1 is just that, she commits to the problem and starts to make things
happen
15. Lock The Characters Together
A lot of stories depend on two incompatible people having to work together. (Too many in my
opinion). Dirty Harry gets a spick (or, worse, a woman) as a partner. Danny Glover gets a suicidal
Lethal Weapon to work with. But anyway, conflict or not, you really need to have the buddy or
love- interest locked together because that way they can't just say 'Sod this for a game of soldiers'
and just bugger off. On the other hand, conflict between the protagonist and the antagonist is pretty
much essential, and you need to lock these two together as well, starting now. Depending on the
storyline, this could have happened in Act 1 or the feud could have been simmering for years, it
could be the Ghost.
16. Travelling To The Scene
I've put this in here because it turned out quite a lot in plots. It's pretty obvious if you need this
stage, because your characters are in the wrong place and have to get to the right place.
Nevertheless, I mention it because you might likes to consider the possibility of the main action
happening away from your MC's natural environment. There are many advantages to doing this:
firstly, your MC will have to discover things for herself and in this way you can explain them to
the audience as well. Moving venue also means that the MC can feel lost and lonely if that suits
your needs, or can be inquisitive and get themselves into trouble that way. For comedies, it opens
up the possibility of all sorts of problems and misunderstandings.
17.Focus Point One
Focus Points are also called 'pinches' for a good reason. They are like the narrow part of an
hourglass: they concentrate everything back to a single point, partly to remind the hero what is
supposed to be doing, and partly to remind the audience what the hero is supposed to be doing.
Focus Point One is a 'reveal'. This is where our hero (and the audience) discovers something new
about the plot. Whatever is revealed here need to be something that will get hero back on track.
18. A More Serious Plan
Our main character now have some new information and realises that she has to modify her plan
somewhat in order to reach a goal. So, happy in the knowledge that she now has all the
information she needs (yeah, right) and reinvigorated, she heads off happily towards the point of
no return. In a love story, she has properly discovered something about the man of her dreams
which she thinks will give her the edge.
19. A Big Reveal
The More Serious Plan appears to be working well since this is Act Two A. And then our heroine
runs into a brick wall. She may find out that the man of her dreams is married or betrothed, but
unlike Focus Point One, the reveal at this point is serious enough for her to have to change the plan
rather than just adjust it. This is a serious setback, and requires a serious rethink.
20.The Point Of No Return
The Point Of No Return is, well, exactly what it says it is. It is the decision to go to the next stage.
From that point on, it is more difficult to go back and is to carry on. In almost all cases, it is
actually impossible to go back for one reason or another. The main character is, at this point, faced
with a choice of going on or going back. Either that or at this stage in the story circumstances force
the character to go on. In a war film, the unit will probably be cut off and have to make their way
back through the jungle. In a crime caper, the gang has managed to pull off a robbery, and now has
to get away with it. In a love story, the lead commits fully in some way. In City Slickers, Billy
Crystal decides to join his two friends and get the herd safely to its destination even though all the
professionals and the other amateurs are either dead, or have left them.
21. Goal Reversal
This has been around for years, but recently it's become popular. The idea is that the main
character pursues one goal for half the film or book, and then changes his or her mind and goes for
something else. The Big Reveal has always meant a dramatic change of plan at the Goal Reversal,
and this is just an extension of that idea. For example in ET, Elliott at first wants to keep ET, and
then at the halfway point, he decides he wants to help him get back to wherever he came from.
22.Bridges Burnt
This is Act Two B in the 3-Act (but 4 really) thinking. It is where it gets really serious for your
protagonist and his or her friends. Having passed the Point Of No Return, then there is, rather
obviously, no going back. Your [wo]man has to make it work and get out by moving forward - the
chance to run back to Mama is long-gone. It depends on the kind of story that you are telling just
how serious it gets. In a gritty drama, it will get pretty serious. In a comedy, the protagonist is
more committed, and the stakes are higher. In City Slickers, they might well die, even though this
is a comedy film. Of course, we all know that the chances of this happening are zero, but in
movieland, the possibility is there.
23. Things Get Worse
Well obviously things are going to get worse. If they were to get to much better, the story would
end. And things have to get worse, or it's not going to hold the reader's attention. If someone is in
hospital fighting for their life, and then they come off life support and are sitting up chatting and
eating hearty meals three times a day, and carrying on their business over a mobile phone, then
you can see that people will stop being concerned. The same is true for your story: you have to
rack up the tension in steps, always going a bit further than last time but not so far that you can't
think of anything for the next time.
24. Ticking Clocks
Snyder is very fond of the Point Of No Return kicking off a ticking clock. I.e. from this point
onwards, there is a time limit of some sort. You know the kind of thing: the Mayor wants your
badge now, but I'll if you 24 hours; the girl is buried in a coffin underground with only eight hours
of air; the nuclear bomb with the rather handy big red numbers and a beep will destroy New York
(and it always is New York) will explode when the numbers reach zero. I can understand the
appeal of wanting to have these ticking clocks, but I find that they can be done terribly badly.
Mind you, they have been done terribly badly, but they did actually make it into film, so maybe I
shouldn't criticise.
25.The Big Plan
So then we come to the Big Plan. This is the last attempt that is properly planned (or at least,
vaguely planned). This is the last time that the main character uses any real logic. Act Three is
more clutching at a straw than anything that has really been planned. In the first half of this act, the
main character has been following this plan and a focus point two it becomes obvious that nothing
can be left in reserve, so our main character has to go all out. But before doing that, he had to take
a moment to plan what is going to happen, and make sure but everybody knows what is going on.
As far as being a writer is concerned, this is your chance to delay the inevitable for the audience,
they know what is going to happen and want the main character to get on with it, but if you make
them wait just a little while, then they will get more satisfaction from your story because it is like
waiting for new bread to bake: you know it's on its way, and your pleasure is increased if you have
a certain amount of anticipation first.
26. The Big Plan In Action
With all the planning done, the Big Plan goes into action. That's about all I can tell you about this
part. It's your story, and your big plan.
27.Focus Point Two
Focus Point Two is just like Focus Point One, except that it is the second one and not the first one.
It is there to remind the hero and the audience what the whole point of this is. It is reveal, and it
notches the tension up another, er, notch.
28.The Big Plan Fails
The Big Plan fails. Your hero has tried everything and although he's not quite 'out', he is definitely
down. He has thrown everything at it and has nothing left.
29. Turning Point Two
So, a turning point then. But this time everything has turned against our hero. It is a turning point
because it has to be: our main character cannot possibly carry on with what he is doing at the
moment because he has hit a brick wall. But what can you do? He has used up every idea, he has
nothing, he's beaten, he is imprisoned, and many other nasty things have happened limited only by
your imagination as a writer. If you're writing a romance, then it is at this point that the MC has
failed to stop the wedding, the object of their affection is leaving for the honeymoon, and the MC
doesn't know where they are, where they are going, or how to get in touch with them, and anyway
what is the point since the wedding had taken place.
30.The Nadir
Or Act Three starts. The Nadir (a word meaning - no, not a boxer - the opposite of 'zenith' - and
therefore the lowest point of a cycle). Your main character is not having a good day. As noted
above, an incredible amount of brown sticky stuff has been in contact with the personal air-
movement system and the shit is all over the place. Your main character needs a bit of a sit down.
She needs a rest, and so should the audience if the end of the last act was an exciting as it should
have been. So it is not unreasonable at this point to have a bit of a quiet patch for everyone to
recover. If it is possible, you should leave her there and take your audience off to the main subplot
and leave them wondering what the hell is going to happen to her.
31.The Ray Of Hope
It's a chance in a million, but it might just work.' Your hero discovers something, or sees
something, or remembers something, or is told something, or overhears something that gives them
an idea that it might be possible to get out of this alive. Or with whatever it was they wanted back
at the beginning of the story. If it's something pretty unlikely and/or relies on some special skill
that your protagonist has, then you need to have set the audience up for this way back before now.
32.The Final Plan
This is where you put it all right. It's a challenge for writer to get to this point: you have managed
to get your main character into what the audience think is an unredeemable position. But, clever
person that you are, you have built in a little secret (which he laid the plans for back in act one
with a bit of foreshadowing) and your main character as a way out, even though she hasn't found
out what it is yet. Less of a plan, and more of a run for the line. Your protagonist doesn't really
have much of a choice and all he can do at this point is to think it through and make sure he won't
actually definitely die in a worse way than he is going to die at the moment. His only motto is 'We
might as well die trying'. But he has to think it through, and explain it to a minion, so that the
audience know what he's going to do, too. Of course the alternative to doing this is to intrigue your
audience by not telling them and see how far you can get before they realise what is going to
happen.
33. Preparation
This Chance In A Million might need a little preparation. The A-Team would retire to a shed at
this point. Your romcom character will probably not need any preparation, but will probably just
run and run and run.
34. Put Into Action
So we see how this last chance plays out.
35. The Compulsory Scene
The Compulsory Scene is the only scene that you absolutely must have in your book or screenplay.
It is when the protagonist meets the antagonist. It is, at one level, the whole point of the film. The
main character faces up to his enemy. It doesn't matter if the enemy is something like overcoming
agoraphobia, this is the place in the story where our hero succeeds or fails, wins or loses. in a
Kung Fu movie, the whole scene plays out like a mini movie: you can see that the protagonist gets
thumped a few times by the baddie who doesn't play by the rules, and then a protagonist is the
living daylights out of the opposition for a while (this is like Act Two A). In next the stage (Act
Two B), the opposition gets the upper hand and the protagonist gets a bit of a hammering. It seems
that the protagonist is beaten, he's down on the ground injured, bloodied, and with a bit of a
headache, but in a final effort he pulls himself together and manages a victory against all the odds
at the last moment.
36.The Result
Well obviously there has to be a result. Does the protagonist win? Does the protagonist win in
theory, but lose in practice because it is a hollow victory? Does the protagonist appear to lose, but
has if you look at in the right light actually won something because he now has a better
understanding of the world and will have a happier and more fruitful life in the future? Or did he
just lose everything? Let us hope that he won in almost every way you could look at it. The poor
bugger's been through enough.
37. The Other Bookend
The other one. This is a small scene, part of a scene that mirrors one that appeared at the
beginning. It may only be a phrase, it may be a place or a tiny sequence. It's purpose is to signal
the end is nigh, so the gurus would have you believe. But the audience in a cinema know that they
have been there nearly two hours and so they don't really need to be told that the film is nearly
over. The fact that the baddie is dead and that the goodie has got the girl is properly going to be
enough. If you're reading a book, then the fact that there are only three pages left is a bit of a hint. I
would say that the bookend is there to signal 'full circle'. It tells us 'this is where you came in'. It
adds to the feeling of completeness and to the satisfaction that we feel. In a less subtle way it can
also be a test for the hero - what he failed at the beginning, he passes at the end - or maybe it just
shows the change in him.
38.Saying Goodbye
The audience or the readers of your book need a chance to say goodbye to the characters they have
come to know. You can't just finish at the end of the problem: big explosion, roll credits? Nah...
You have to show just a little bit of where your characters are going. The audience needs to know
that they are going to be happy, or at least it looks like they are going off to be happy.
39. Back To Stability
And so it's Red Sails In The Sunset. It's the final shot, it's the final page, and the car disappears off
down the straight desert road. Or over the cliff in the case of Thelma and Louise. Or you could go
for something in between, like in the 'real' version of The Italian Job, and have a real cliff-hanger.
40. The Final Image
And so it's Red Sails In The Sunset. Scarlet is at the door. Rick and Renault walk into the mist. It's
the final shot, it's the final page, and the car disappears off down the straight desert road. Or over
the cliff in the case of Thelma and Louise. Or you could go for something in between, like in the
'real' version of The Italian Job, and have a proper cliff-hanger.
Tomorrow is going to be another day. It could even be the beginning of a wonderful friendship. Or
the opening shot of a sequel.