STORY BY NUMBERS (STORY KINETICS) by Adam Skelter & Ashlyn Wilde

Author:Adam Skelter & Ashlyn Wilde [Skelter, Adam & Wilde, Ashlyn]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Riot Act Industries
Published: 2022-02-15T06:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 12: LANDMARKS

Okay, so we’ve pulled way back to the ten thousand foot view of our story – we know the Dramatic Question, Climax, and Impetus. We’ve taken the time to develop some dimensions to the protagonist and have some strong ideas for the supporting cast of characters and antagonists.

In a prototypical story where the character arcs, we want to structure the plot so the conflicts and trials drive the protagonist to transform. For this we stake out major turning points that profoundly affect the protagonist. These turning points are Landmarks.

Landmarks are emotional events where the protagonist experiences the full range of emotions from the highs to the lows.

Typically this follows the four act structure of strategies: Routine, Naïve, Reactionary, and New Perspective. As we’ve said before every scene needs to have an emotional turn or it doesn’t qualify as an event. What makes these landmarks different is they are the culmination of different sequences. Where other scenes tend to be minor emotional turns, these landmarks describe major shifts in the emotional trend. In Act 2 for example, the protagonist follows an upward trend, this usually means they are achieving small goals, and each conflict results in a win. Then they arrive at the Midpoint and are presented with often earth-shattering news that turns the trajectory of their conflicts to a series of failures and consequences.

Why would we want to structure it that way?

If we look at story as a proposition, and the conflicts are ways to illustrate the value of a given claim or belief, then this approach allows us to thoroughly evaluate the claim in terms of benefits and liabilities. We’re specifically talking about the Achilles’ Heel. This is the false or limiting moral belief that will be transformed.

- Act 1 Presents the Achilles’ Heel (limiting belief).

- Act 2 Demonstrates the strengths and values of the Achilles’ Heel.

- Act 3 demonstrates its limitations, weaknesses, and liabilities and forces the protagonist into crisis.

- Act 4 shows either the internalization of the Moral Imperative, Synthesis of the new value with the Achilles’ Heel, or total rejection and failure.

These four phases show the broad landmarks of a character arc.

Every story will have a map of highs and lows as unique as a fingerprint. It is possible to switch the order of the phases, some great films already have. But it becomes difficult to show the weaknesses first, then the strengths, and then force the protagonist into crisis. When they’re winning there’s very little incentive to change. I recommend experimenting as much as you can.

Check out the Story Kinetics Podcast [storykinetics.com] where we look at several movies and map out their structure in detail and use the diagrams as a method to vivisect the story. The following chapters present a prototypical, or an average structure. But as you map out your plot points feel free to adapt the landmarks [the highs and lows] in a pattern that is most compelling for your story.

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