What do Sean Penn’s Into the Wild and M. Night Shyamalan’s The Sixth Sense have in common? Much more than you would probably think. Beyond the obvious differences in genre and subject matter the basic structure of each story is almost exactly the same…except for one major difference.

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But not every character should necessarily change. This runs contrary to the prevailing wisdom in modern storytelling. From screenwriting gurus to studio executives, a successful screenplay is thought to be one in which the principal characters in a story undergo significant change. But is that really true? Must every character grow in such a way that they see the world through different eyes? Partly yes, and partly no.

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One of the most important things I learned from the Dramatica theory of story was this idea of a separation between the Main Character’s storyline and the overall storyline. It’s a basic concept but one that, if not done correctly, can cause all kinds of problems when trying to write a meaningful story. The biggest is the idea that the Main Character is always the Protagonist.

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Why does it take so long to tell a meaningful story? Most movies require at least two hours. Novels sometimes need hundreds of pages. Is there a reason why successful authors can’t cut to the chase and simply tell an audience what their story is really about?

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Can there be anything more dramatic than a story of revenge?! That initial stinging feeling of being unjustly wronged, the wicked and intensely private scheming that goes on as one plans what is dutifully owed the offender, and finally the execution of said sweet reward. Nothing is more universal than the satisfaction of one getting what one so rightly deserves.

But how does one go about constructing a story like this?

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Snippets of a great screenwriting course are now available online.

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A great story consists of two fundamental arguments: the headline and the heartline. One argument plays towards the logical side of our existence; the other plays more towards the emotional. Both are essential. Why? Because you want to create stories that are both logically satisfying and emotionally fulfilling. Leave one side out and the audience feels cheated.

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A Story Limit is one of the most important things you can put into your story. Whether it be a Timelock or an Optionlock, a writer must let the audience know when the story will be over; to leave this out is tantamount to lying to your audience. And while it is important to pick one of these and stick to it, it turns out that there are some stories that are a bit more nebulous when it comes to defining how their endings will come about.

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Stories come to an end for one of two reasons: the characters either run out of time or they run out of options. Being told that there are only two ways of bringing about the end of a story can seem very stifling to an author; how can you possibly reduce the entirety of narrative fiction down to an either/or choice?

As with all things, a slight change in perspective can make all the difference.

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When you come to the end of a story and you look back on everything that happened, what event could you call the most important? Was it the one at the end that brought everything to a satisfying close? Was it that tragic downturn that brought the Main Character to their lowest point? Or was it in fact, that event that started everything off; that event that, if removed, would erase the need for anything that came after it?

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