Where your Main Character starts in a story and where he ends up are crucial for an audience to understand the meaning of your story. It is the similarity or difference between the two that defines the Main Character’s growth. The rest of the story must support this growth. Even if you have a great bit of storytelling - if it confuses the Main Character’s growth, you’ve got to throw it out. Leaving it in would be a problem…as it was for the latest Bond film.
Entries Tagged with 'backstory'
Casino Royale: Rewinding your Main Character
April 23rd, 2007 · No Comments
Filed under: Analysis
digging down to find your main character’s wound
August 21st, 2006 · 3 Comments
Inspiration and insight can come from anywhere. When it does, and when you can see something differently for the first time, you get so excited that you have to share it with someone. I had a breakthrough like this last weekend that had to do with the Main Character and the baggage he [...]
Filed under: Story Structure
balance in the beginning
September 7th, 2005 · No Comments
The initial change that happens to start your story will either be an external change or an internal change.
As mentioned before, previous to the story’s beginning there is balance. This doesn’t necessarily mean there is peace. Remember, a Justification is a form of balance - a balanced inequity. There is still an imbalance [...]
Filed under: Story Structure
backstory/forestory Steadfast MC
August 17th, 2005 · No Comments
And the reverse is true as well…
Removing the justification is the Forestory for a Change Main Character and the Backstory for a Steadfast Main Character.
For a Steadfast Main Character this would be more about creating the position he will hold on to. It would be about how he got to where he is through some experience [...]
Filed under: Story Structure
backstory/forestory Change MC
August 16th, 2005 · 2 Comments
Previously I had interpreted what Chris had said about Tearing Down or Building Up to be tied to the Main Character Growth. This was wrong.
Sort of.
It really depends on whether you are talking about resolving the inequity or creating the inequity.
If I don’t have a problem, then I have a problem, but I don’t want to deal [...]
Filed under: Story Structure
comfortable with their misery
June 9th, 2005 · No Comments
To continue with the Tearing Down story -
You have a MC set up in the beginning with this problem buried within them. They may or may not be aware of it. Most Main Characters in this kind of story attempt to hide from their problem. But then as each Act Turn comes, it [...]
Filed under: Story Structure