Out of all the lectures,this was the one I've been looking forward to since I feel like I could use with some pointers on writing tips as there is definitely room for improvement in this department.From the previous lecture on layout,it only seemed to be the tip the iceberg when it came to story structure.
There were some very basic but true quotes that I picked up from this talk ;
"Stories are so powerful that we lie, exaggerate and omit the truth in favour of telling a good story." - Errol Morris
"Promise your audience to lead them towards the story."
"Make it care."
That last quote sums it up perfectly.How many times have you watched a film or read a book and continued reading even though you cannot relate to any of the characters? Hopefully your answer is never as this is what every good story is based on.In some shape or form, the audience must be able to relate to the main characters or at least, understand their motives and why they feel the way they do.It sounds so simple but I find personally that this is a regular occurence.How many times have you sat on the couch just flicking through channels and settled to watch some programme you hate just because there is nothing else on? Actually don't answer that one...
The key in making the audience care about your characters and story is to add spines to them and build the skeleton,muscle and flesh from the core.What are their goals? What motivates them? What ticks them off? Every classic character in fiction whether they be Rocky Balboa or Wile E. Coyote have these traits which make them identifiable characters.The more recognisable the goal, the more you can exploit their traits.As long as its set in a relam of normalacy, that is.There must be rules in order for this to work.That's not to say these can be broken at some point.How you delve into this territory depends on where you want this story to end up.
When it comes to drama in story, it can be defined as a point in the plot when anticipation is mixed with uncertainty.Which characters cross over each other and how does it effect the general feel of the developments before and after these moments.Do things improve for the characters and does this keep the audience engaged or do they lose interest? This is when things can get a little complicated - its almost like weaving a web,one false move could destroy the structure of what your trying to create.Fortuately there are some useful formulas we can use to help us get a better understanding of how we can avoid this.
For example Dan Harmon, writer for Community uses a circle with 8 points that cycle through a typical process for a character he's writing.
1. Comfort zone
2 Want/need
3 Unfamiliar territories
4 Adaption
5 Achieve their goal
6 Pay a price
7 Comfort zone
8 Development
Kurt Vonnegut famously used an algorythm to shape his stories.Depending on how erratic the graph seemed to be determined how interesting a story could be.
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