Chapter 3: The 7 Step Key Story Structure Flashcards
(18 cards)
What is the 7 step structure?
- Weakness and Need
- Desire
- Opponent
- Plan
- Battle
- Revelations
- New Equilibrium
What is the 1st step to story structure? Can you describe it?
Weakness and Need.
From the beginning of your story, your hero has 1 or more weaknesses at are holding him back. Something is missing within him that is profound, and is ruining his life. This need is what the hero must fulfill himself in order to live a better life. It usually involves him overcoming his weakness and changing, or growing, in some way.
The hero should not be aware of there need at the beginning.
Make sure to give them both a moral and psychological need.
What is the 2nd step to story structure? Can you describe it?
What is the 3rd step to story structure? Can you describe it?
What is the 4th step to story structure? Can you describe it?
What is the 5th step to story structure? Can you describe it?
What is the 6th step to story structure? Can you describe it?
What is the 7th step to story structure? Can you describe it?
How are stories like living creatures?
Living creatures appear to grow in one continuous motion, but on closer inspection, they have certain steps or stages in their growth, just like a story.
What is story structure?
It’s how the story develops.
What is a psychological need?
A psychological need involves overcoming a serious flaw that is hurting no one but the hero.
What is a moral need? How does it affect the psychological need?
The moral need always hurts others in some way at the beginning of the story. (Denji killing his father or killing the mafia members/devils) (Mark struggling to fight and kill others because of his morals getting more people killed)
The moral need also prevents them from being a perfect character or victim.
What do all good stories start with? Can you give an example? How does this involve weakness and need?
All good stories start with the hero already in trouble. The problem is the crisis the hero finds themselves in on page one, they don’t know how to solve it and the problem is not one of the 7 steps, but an aspect of weakness and need.
What can help define a character very quickly?
Crisis defines a character quickly. It should be an outside manifest of the heros weakness. Crisis highlights the weakness for the audience and gives the story a quick start.
7-step tech: how do you create a moral need?
Remember the simple rule of thumb: to have a moral need, the character must be hurting at least 1 other person at the beginning of the story.
What are 2 good ways to come up with the right moral need?
- Connect it to the psychological need
- Turn the strength into a weakness
The moral need usually comes out of the psychological need. Because the character usually has a psychological weakness that leads to them taking it out on others, whether intentional or not.
How do you make the right moral and psychological need?
- Begin with the psychological weakness
- Figure out what kind of immoral action might help naturally come out of that.
7-step tech 2: how do you create a good moral need?
Push a strength so far it becomes a weakness:
1. Identify a virtue in your character. Then make him so passionate about that it becomes oppressive.
- Come up with a value the character believes in. Then find the negative version of that value.
