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21 " The classic strategy for dramatizing the hero’s moral line is to give him a moral flaw at the beginning and then show how his desperation to beat the opponent brings out the worst in him. In short, he has to get worse before he gets better. Slowly but surely, he becomes aware that his central moral problem comes down to a choice between two ways of acting. "
― , The Anatomy of Story: 22 Steps to Becoming a Master Storyteller
22 " 6. SELF-REVELATION The battle is an intense and painful experience for the hero. This crucible of battle causes the hero to have a major revelation about who he really is. Much of the quality of your story is based on the quality of this self-revelation. For a good self-revelation, you must first be aware that this step, like need, comes in two forms, psychological and moral. "
23 " BIG (by Gary Ross & Anne Spielberg, 1988) A boy who suddenly wakes up to find he is a full-grown man promises to be a fun comedic fantasy. But what if you write a fantasy not set in some far-off, bizarre world but in a world an average kid would recognize? What if you send him to a real boy’s utopia, a toy company, and let him go out with a pretty, sexy woman? And what if the story isn’t just about a boy getting big physically but one that shows the ideal blend of man and boy for living a happy adult life? "
24 " Tristram Shandy isn’t a story with a main plotline interrupted by digressions. It is a story of digressions interrupted by what appears to be a main plotline. "
25 " Genres are types of stories, with predetermined characters, themes, worlds, symbols, and plots. Genre plots are usually big, emphasizing revelations that are so stunning they sometimes flip the story upside down. Of course, these big plots lose some of their power by the fact that they are predetermined. The audience knows generally what is going to happen in any genre story, so only the particulars surprise them. "
26 " After the designing principle, the most important thing to glean from your premise line is the fundamental character change of your hero. This is what gives the audience the deepest satisfaction no matter what form the story takes, even when the character change is negative (as in The Godfather). Character change is what your hero experiences by going through his struggle. "
27 " W × A = C where W stands for weaknesses, both psychological and moral; A represents the struggle to accomplish the basic action in the middle of the story; and C stands for the changed person. "
28 " The key to doing this is to start with the basic action and then go to the opposites of that action. This will tell you who your hero is at the beginning of the story (his weaknesses) and who he is at the end (how he has changed). The steps work like this: 1. Write your simple premise line. (Be open to modifying this premise line once you discover the character change.) 2. Determine the basic action of your hero over the course of the story. 3. Come up with the opposites of A (the basic action) for both W (the hero’s weaknesses, psychological and moral) and C (changed person). "
29 " KEY POINT: Write down a number of possible options for the hero’s weaknesses and change. "
30 " Starting with this basic action, you might come up with these opposites for possible weaknesses and changes. Notice that each weakness and change is a possible opposite of the basic action. • An uptight, henpecked man becomes involved with a gang of outlaws and gets a divorce. W—weaknesses at the beginning: uptight, henpecked man A—basic action: becomes involved with a gang of outlaws C—changed person: gets a divorce • An uptight, haughty banker becomes involved with a gang of outlaws and gives aid to the poor. W—weaknesses at the beginning: uptight, haughty banker A—basic action: becomes involved with a gang of outlaws C—changed person: gives aid to the poor "