Part I: The Protagonists Journey as Narrative Imperative -- Chapter One: The Protagonists Journey Due to their central role, engaging the Protagonist is the most important aspect of the story-crafting process -- Chapter Two: Character Arc In movies, there exists a recurring variety of character arcs including the most popular: positive transformation -- Chapter Three: Disunity The Protagonist needs to change as reflected in their initial state of disunity -- Chapter Four: Deconstruction Entering the New World, a series of challenges and trials deconstructs the Protagonists old ways of being -- Chapter Five: Reconstruction Freed from their old ways of being, the Protagonist is reconstructed by embracing heretofore untapped inner potential.-Chapter Six: Unity The Protagonist brings together all they have learned in the storys final struggle and in doing so achieves unity -- Chapter Seven: The Protagonists Place Within the Screenplay Universe The Protagonists journey interweaves between the External World and the Internal World -- Part II: The Protagonists Journey as Family of Characters -- Chapter Eight: Primary Character Archetypes Five narrative dynamics common to movies represented by these archetypes: Protagonist, Nemesis, Attractor, Mentor, Trickster -- Chapter Nine: Nemesis By providing opposition to the Protagonist, the Nemesis generates sustained conflict which creates the central drama of the story -- Chapter Ten: Attractor During their journey, the Protagonist intersects with Attractor characters who connect with the Protagonists emotional development -- Chapter Eleven: Mentor The Protagonist meets another type of ally, the Mentor who provides wisdom and contributes to the Protagonists intellectual growth -- Chapter Twelve: Trickster A shapeshifter tests the will of the Protagonist by switching from ally to enemy, enemy to ally, and generating complications -- Chapter Thirteen: Subplots Each Protagonist relationship with key characters is a mini-story with its own arc, theme, and contribution to the overall narrative -- Chapter Fourteen: Character Map There is a structure to the Protagonists relationships with the storys major characters -- Part III: The Protagonists Journey as Screenplay -- Chapter Fifteen: Breaking the Story I Begin the story-crafting process by engaging the storys central character with a Protagonist Character Treatment -- Chapter Sixteen: Breaking the Story II Use a series of brainstorming exercises to explore the story universe and develop its characters -- Chapter Seventeen: Breaking the Story III A first pass at wrangling the plot by working with Four Primary Plotline Points -- Chapter Eighteen: Breaking the Story IV Track the Protagonists transformation arc through Four Themeline Movements -- Chapter Nineteen: Breaking the Story V Expand the framework of the plot by identifying Ten Major Plotline Points -- Chapter Twenty: Breaking the Story VI Construct the final story structure, both Plotline and Themeline into a Narrative Throughline -- Chapter Twenty-One: Writing the First Draft Break down the writing process into sets of scenes from one Plotline Point to another all the way through the Denouement. .
Summary:
Character drives plot. Based on this principle, this book walks aspiring writers through the fascinating world of character-driven screenwriting. When a writer engages their characters, they start a process which naturally leads to the storys structure and everything else that makes for a well-written narrative. Exploring the protagonists journey and their "unity arc", Myers explains how a family of characters surrounds the protagonist and influences their transformation process. This easy-to-follow guide features activities that will help writers of any level develop their stories from concept to scene-by-scene outline. Based upon a popular workshop Myers has led with over a thousand writers at all levels of experience, this book is a must-have for screenwriting students, both undergraduate and graduate, and those looking at advanced story development.
This resource is supported by the Institute of Museum and Library Services under the provisions of the Library Services and Technology Act as administered by State Library of Iowa.