Story

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To make changemeaningfirl you must expressit, and the audi'
ence must react to it, in terms of a value. By values I dor't mean
\.iltues or the nafiow, moralizing "family values" use of the word.
Rather, StoryVairesrefeK to the broadestsenseofdre idea. Values
are the soul of siorytelling. Ultimately ours is the art of er?ressing
to the world a perceptionof values.
sToRY VALUESare the universal qualities of human
experiencethat may shifi from positive to negative, or
negative to positive,from one moment lo the nexl,
For example: alive/dead (positive/negative)is a story value, as
are love/hate, freedom/slavery, truth/lie, courage/cowardice,loyalry/betayal, wisdom/stupidity, strength/wealcress, excitement/
boredom and so on. All such binary qualities ofe4eience drat can
reve6e tleir chargeat any moment are Story Values. They may be
moral, good/evil; ethical, right/wong; or simply chargedwith
value. Hope/despair is neither moral nor edlical, but we cetainly
know when we are at one end ofthe experienceor the other.
lmaginethat outsideyour windowis r98os EastAfrica,a realm
of drought. Now we have a value at stake: survival, life/death. We
begin at the negative: This terrible famine is taking lives by the
thousalds.Ifthen it shouldrain, a monsoonthat b ngs dre earth
back to green, animals to pasture, and people to survival, this rain
would be deepiy meaningful becauseit switches the value ftom
negativeto positive, from deathto life.
However, as poweful as this event would be, it still does not
c1ua1ifi
as a StoryEventbecauseit happenedby coincidence.Rain
finally fell in East Africa. Although there's a place for coincidence
in sto4telling, a story cannot be built out ofnothing but accidental
e!enls.no maflerhowcharged
with ralue.
A story Event (reates meaningful change in the life
situation of a (haracter ihat is expressedand experien(ed in terms o{ a value and ACHIEVEDTHROUGH
CONFLICT.

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Again, a world of drought. Into it comes a man who imagines
himself a "rainmaker." This character has deep inner conllict
between his passionatebelief that he can bdng rain, although he
has never been able to do it, and his terrible fear that he's a fool or
mad. He meets a woman, fa1lsin love, then suffers as she tries to
believein him, but tums away,convincedhe's a charlatan or wolse.
He has a strongconflictwith society-some follow him as ifhe's a
messialj others want to stone him out of town. Lasdy, he faces
implacable corllict r .ith the physical world the hot winds, empty
skies, parched earlh. Ifthis man can struggle through all his inner
and personal conflicts, against socraland environmental forces and
finally coax Iain out of a cloudless skf, that storm vrould be
majestic and sublimely meaningful-for it is change motiltated
throwh conf.ict.What I have describedis THE MINMAKER,
adaptedto the sdeen by fuchard Nash from his own play.

S(ene
For a qpical film, the writer will chooseforiy to sixty Story Events
or, as they'r€ commonly lcrown, scenes.A novelist may want moie
thansixq. a playu,rightrarel) ac man) asfort).
A SCENEis an a<tion through (onflid in more or less
continuoustime and spacethat tums the value-charged
condition of a character'slife on at least one value with
a degree of per<eptiblesignificance,ldeally, every scene
is a STORYEVENT.
Look closelyat eachsceneyou've written and ask: What value is
at stakein my character'slife at this momentl Lovel Truth! What!
How is ihat valuechargedat the top of the scenel PositivelNegative! Someofbothl Male a note.Nextturn to the closeofthe scene
and ask,Wtere is this valuenow) PositivefNegative!Bothl MaIe
a note and compare.lfthe answeryou write down at the end ofthe
scene is the same note you made at the opening, you now have
another impotant cluestionto ask: Why is this scenein my scriptl

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If the value,charged condition of the character,s life stays
unchanged from one end of a scene to the other, nothing meaningfu1 happens. The scene has activiry-talking about this, doing
that-but nothing changesin value. It is a nonevent.
Why then is the scenein the storyl The answer is aimost cer_
tain to be "exposition." It's there to conveyinformation about characte$, world, or history to the eavesalropping audience. If
er?osition is a scene's sole justification, a disciplined writer will
ash it and weaveits information into the film elsewhere.
No scenethaLdoesn'ttw?. This is our ideal. We work to tound
every scenefrom beginning to end by tuming a value at stake in a
character'slife from d1epositive to the negative or the negativeto
the positive. Adherenceto this principle may be difncult, bui it's by
no meansimpossible.
DIE HARD, THE FUGITIVE,and STMW DOGSdearly meet
this test,but the ideai is also kept in subder,though no less dgorousways,in REMAINSOF THE DAY and THE ACCIDENTAL
TOURIST. The difference is Ihat Action genres tum on public
values such as freedom/s1averyor justice/injustice; ld7eEducation
geffe turns on intedor valuessuch as self-awareness/selfdeception
or lifb as meaningful/meaningless. Regardlessof genre, t1reprinciple is universal Ifa sceneis not a tiue event,cut it.
For examplei
Chis and Andl are in loveawl liue together.Thq wakeup one
'Iheirspatbuildsi . thekitf,hen
momingandstafito squa.bblz.
as
theyhury to makebreakfast.
Itl thegarage,tl.cfight becakvsnasti7r as thE clinb into thei car to di1)eto work together.Finally
wordserplodeinto riolenceon ttu highway.Anq wrench'sthecar
to theshouLder
andjumps out, mding theirrelationship.
Tnisseies
of a!:tiansand locationscreates
a scene:
It takesthecauple
from th,
positi|e(in loveand,tagether)tu rhenegath)e
(in hatea.ndapart).
The four shifts of place-bedroom to kitchen to garage io
highway are camera setups but not irre scenes.Although they
intensify behavior and make the critical moment credible, they do

not changethe valuesat stake.As the argument moves*rough the
morning, the couple is still together and presurnably in love. But
when the action reachesits Tuming Point-a slamming car door
and Andy's declatation, "It's over!"-life tums upside down for the
lovers, actrvity changesto action, and the sketch becomes a com'
plete scene,a StorYEvent.
Generallythe test ofwhether a seriesofactivities constitutesa fue
sceneis this: Could it havebeen written "in one," in a unity of time
and placel In this casethe a sweris yes.Thei aigument could begin
in a bedrcom,build in the bedroom,and end the relationship in the
beilroom. Coundessrelationshipshave ended in bedrooms. Or the
kitchen. Or the garage.Or not on the highway but in the ofice elevator.A plqafiight might wnte tle scene"in one" becauseihe staging
limitations ofthe theate often forceus to keepthe unities of time and
place;the novelistor screenwriter,on the other hand, might travelihe
scene,pa$ing it out in time and spaceto establishfuture locations,
Chris's tastein lirmiture, Andy's driving habits-for any number of
with anothel scene,pelhaps
rcasons.This scenecorid evencloss-c11t
involving another couple.fhe variationsare enilless,but in all cases
this is a single StoryEvent,the "loversbreakup" scene.

Beat
Insidethe sceneis the smallestelementofstructure,the Beat.(Not
to be confused with [beat], an indication within a column of dialoguemeaning"shortpause".)
A BEAT is an ex<hange of behavior in actionrreaction'
Beat by Beat these (hanging behaviorsshapethe tuming
oJ a s(ene.
Taking a closerlook at the "lovers break up" scene:As ihe
alarm goesoff, Chris teasesAndy and he reactsin kind. As they
dress,teasingturns to sarcasmand they throw insults back and
forth. Now in the kitchen Chis tlreatens Andy with: "If I left you,
baby,you'd be so miserable. . ." but he callsher bluffi .ith "That's

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a nisery I'd 1ove."In the garageChris, aftaid she,slosing him,
begs Andy to stay,but he laughs and ridicules her plea. Finally, in
the speedidgcar, Chris doubles her fist arrdpunches Andy. A fight,
a squeal of brales. Andy jumps out with a bloody nose, slams the
door and shouts,"lt's over,"leavingher in shock.
This scene is built aro11lldsix beats, si{ distinctively different
behaviors,sir clearchangesofaction/reaction:teasingeachother,followed by a give-andtale of insults, ihen theatening and dering each
od1er,next pleadingand ridicr.rLing,and Iinally exchangesofviolence
t]]at lead to the last Beat and Tuming Point Andy,s decision and
action that endsthe rclationship,ar]d Chris's dumbfoundedsur?rise.
Sequence
Beatsbuild scenes.Scenesdren build the no.t largest movement of
story design, the Seqr€iicr.Everyhrre scenetums dte value-charged
condition ofthe character'slife, but ftom event to event the deglee
ofchange can differ gready.Scenescauserelativelyminor yet significant change.The capping sceneof a sequence,however,deliverc a
more powe#ul, detetminant change.
A SEQUENCE
is a series of s<enes-generally two to
(ulminates
five-that
wiih greater impact than any prevrous scene.
For example,this three-scene
sequence:
S.'tup: A loung busine.<women $hos hro a notable
careerin the Midwesthas beenapproached
by headhunters
and inteffiewed for a position widl a New York coryoration. If she wins this post, it'll be a huge step up in her
career. She wants the job very much but hasn't won it yet
inegative).Sheis one of six finalists.The corporateheads
realize that this position has a vital public dimension to it,
so they want to see tlese applicantson their feet in an
informal setting before making the final decision. They
invite all six to a paty on Manlattan,sEastSide.

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s<€ne One: A west side Hotel where oui protagonist
prepares for d1e evening. The value at stake is self-confi_
dence/se1f-doubt.She'll need all her confidence to pull off
this evening success{Llly,but she's filled with doubts (negative).Fearlmots her middle as shepacesthe room, telling
herselfshewasa fool to comeEast,theseNew Yorkerswill
eat her alive.Sheflings dothes out ofher suitcase,trAing
on this, trying on that, but eachoutfit looks worse than the
one before.Her hair is an uncombabletangle offrizz. As
she grappleswith her clothesand hair, she decidesto pack
it in and savehe*elfthe humiliation.
Suddenly,the phone rings. It's her mother, calling to
lace a good-luck toast $'rth guilt trips about loneliness and
her fear of abandonment. Barbarahangs up, realizing that
the piranhas of Manhattan are no match for the great white
lhi.sjob! Shethen amazesherself
shark at home. Shefleed.s
with a combinationof clothesand accessories
she'snever
tried before. Her hair falls magically into place. She plants
herself in front of d1e mirror, looking great, eyes bright,
glowing with confidence (positive).
s(ene Twor llnder the holel marquee. Thunder, lightning, pelting min. BecauseBarbara'sfiom Tere Haute,
she didn't l<Ilow to tip the doorman five bucks when she
registered, so he won't go out into the stom to find a cab
for a stiff Besides,when it rains in New York there are no
cabs.So she studresher visitoIs' map, ponderingwhat to
do. Sherealizesif she ties to run from the West Eighties
over to Cenilal Park West, then all the way down CPW to
Fifty-ninth Streei, across Central Park South to Park
Avenue,and up into dle EastEighties,she'll nevet get to
the pafy on time. So she decides to do what they wam
never, ever to do-to run through Central Park at night.
This scenetakes on a new value: life/death.
She coversher hair with a newspaperand dads into the
night, daring death (negative).A lightdng flash and, bang,
she's surounded by that gang that is alwaysout there, rain

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or shine, waiting for the fools \^/horun through the park at
night. But she didn't tate karate dasses fbr nothing. She
kick-fights her way through the gang, breaLing jaw' scat_
tering teeth on the concrete,until she stlimbles out of the
park,alive(positive).
s(ene Thr€e: Mirrored lobby-park Avenue apartment
building. The value at stake now switches to social success/social
failure.She'ssurvived.But then shelooksin the
miror and seesa dr:ownedrat: newspapershreddedin her
hair; blood ail over her clothes-the gang,sblood_but
blood nonetheless.Her seif-conJidence
plummets past
doubtand fearuntil shebowsin personaldefeat(negative),
crushedby her socialdisaster(negative).
Texis pull up widr the odler applicants. All found cabs;
all get out looking New york chic. They take pity on the
poor loser from the Midwest and usher her into an elevator.
In ihe pendrousethey towel off her hair end find mis.
matched clod1esfor her to wear, and becauseshe looks like
this, the spodight'son her all night. Becauseshe knoms she
has lost anyrvay,she rclaxesinto her natural self arrd ftom
deep\ rithin comesa chutzpai she neverlanewshe had; she
not only tells ihem about her battle in the patk but makes
jokes about it. Mouths go slaclt with awe or wide with
laughter.At end ofthe evening,all the executivesknow exactly
who they want for the lob: Anyone who can go though that
ieror in the pa:rkand displaythis kind of cool is dearly the
pe6on lor them. The eveningendson her personaland social
triumphs as sheis giventhe job (doublypositive).

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THE JOB. Frcm het point ofview THEJOB is a value of such magnitude she risked her life for it.
It's uselirl to tide eachsequenceto make clearto youlsellwhy it's
in the film. The story purposeofthis "getting the iob" sequenceis to
takeher from NO JOB to JOB It could havebeen accomplishedin a
single scenewith a personnel omcer. But to say more dran "she's
qualified," we might createa fi-dl sequencethat not only gets her the
iob bui dramatizes her irner character and relationship to her
mother, along with insights into New York Ciry and the cor?oration.

Act
Scenestlrm in mi,@rbut sigrrificantways;a sedesof scenesbuilds a
sequencethat turns in a moderak,more impactfirl way; a series of
sequencesbuilds the nerdlargeststructure,the Act, a movementthat
ir-rrnson a major rcversalin the value-chargedcondition of the characte/s life. fhe differencebetweena basicscene,a scenethat climaxes
e sequence,and a scenedlat dimexes an act is the degreeofchange,
or, more precisely,the degreeof impact that changebas, for betteror
worse,on tl,e duracter-on the chancte/s inner life, perconalrelationships,foltunes in the world, or somecombinationofall d1ese.
An ACTis a seriesof sequen<es
that peak in a climactic
scene which (auses a major reversalof valuet more
powertul in its impact than any previous sequenceor
scene.

Story
Eachscenefurns on its own valueor values.SceneOne: selfdoubt to self-confidence.SceneTwo: deatl to life; self-confidence
to defeat.SceneThree: socialdisasterto socialtriumph. But the
three scenesbecomea sequenceofanother, greatervalue tlat ovel_
des and subordinatesthe others,and that is IHEJOB. At the
beginning of the sequenceshe has NO
JOB. The third scene
becomesa SequenceClima-rbecausehere socialsuccesswins her

A seriesofacts builds the largeststrucftue ofall: the Story.A story is
simply one huge master event.When you look at dre value-charged
situation in tle lile ofthe chalacterat d1ebeginning ofthe story,then
compareit to the value-chargeat dre end ofthe story,you should see
tlte arc of theflm, the greatsweepof changethat takeslife from one
condition at the opening to a changedcondition at the end. This final
condition, dris end change,m.ustbeabsolukand itrnersible.

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Change causedby a scenecorid be rcve$ed: The lovers in the
previous sketch could get back together; people fall in and out a4d
back in love again every day. A sequencecould be reve$eal: The
Midwest businesswomancould win her job only to discovert_hat
she repofts to a boss she hates and wishes she were ba& in Terre
Haute.An actclima-xcouldbe reversed:
A characiercoulddie, asin
the Act Two clima{ of E.T.,and then comebackto life. Why notl In
a modem hospital, reviving the deadis commonplace.So, sceneby
sequenceby act, the writer creates minot, moderate, and major
change, but conceivably,each of those changescould be reversed.
This is not, however,the casein the climer ofthe lastact.

STORY
CLIMAX:A story is a seriesof actsthat build to
a last ad climax or story climaxwhich brings about
absoluteand irreveEiblechange.
If you make the smallestelelnentdo its job, the deeppurpose
ofthe telling will be sewed.Let everyphraseof dialogueor line of
description eidler tum behavior and action or set up the conditions
for charrge.Male your beatsbuild scenes,scenesbuild sequences,
sequencesbuild acts,actsbuild story to its climax.
The scenesthat tum the life of t_heTelre Haute protagonistfrom
self-doubtto self-confidence,ftom dangerto suivival, ftom socialdisasterto successcombineinto a sequencethat takeshet fioln NOJOB
to lOB. To arc the telling io a Story C.Lirnax,
perhaps this opening
sequencesetsup a seriesofsequencesdrat takeshei ftom NOJOB io
PRESIDENTOF THE CORPORATIONat dre Ad One climax. This
Act One di ax seis up an Act Two in which intemecine corpomte
wars lead to her betrayalby fiiends and associates.At the Act Two
dimax she'sfired by the board of directorsand out on the strut Thls
rnajor rever$l sends her to a ival corpontion where, srmed with
businesssecretsgleanedwhile she waspresident,she cluiclly reaches
the top again so she car' erjoy destrayigher pretiousemployersThese
actsarc her ftom the hadworking,optinistic, end h.onelyo.Jr.rg
professionalwho opensthe fi1mto the ruthlEss,
cykical,and,comtptvetenn ol
corporatewais who endsdte fiim-absolute, irreversiblecha:nse.

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THE STORYTRIANGLE
In some litenry circles "plot" has become a dirly wotd, taEed
with a connoation of hack commercialism. The loss is ours, for
plot is an accurateterm that names the intemally consistent,inter_
related pattem of events that move through time to shape and
desigr a story. Wlile no fine film was ever written without flashes
of fortuitous inspiration, a screenplayis not an accident. Material
that pops up willy-nilly cannot remain willy-nilly. fhe writer
redra{ls inspiration again and again, making it look as itan instinctive spontaneityceated the film, yet knowing how much effort and
unnaturalnesswent into making it look natural and effofiless.
To PLOTmeans1o navigate through the dangercusterrain of gtory and when (onfbnted by a dozen branching
pos5ibilitiesto choose the (orrect path. Plot is the
witer's choiceof eventsand their designin time.
Again, what to includel Excludel Put before and after whatl
Evert choices must be made; the writer chooseseither well or ill;
the result is plot.
WhenTENDERMERCIESpremiered,somereviewersdescribed
it as "plodess,"then praisedit lor tlat. TENDER MERCIESnot orlly
has a plot, it is exquisitelyplotted through some ofthe most difficult
fiLm terain of all a story in which the arc ofthe Iilm tales place
within the mind ofthe protagonist.Here the protagonister:pedences
a deep and ireversible revolution in his attitude toward life and/or
towardhimself
For the novelistsuch stodesare natural and facile. In either
third-person or first'person, ihe novelist can direcdy invade
thought and feeling to dramatize the tale entirely o the landscape
ofdle protagonist'sinner life. For the screenwdteisuchstoriesare
by far the most fragile and difficult. we cannot ddve a cameia lens
through an actor's foreheadand photograph his thoughis, although
tltere are those who wouJd try. Somehowwe must lead the audi
enceto interpret the inner life from outer behayiorwithout loading

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