Story Structure Architect

FROM INDEPENDENCE DAY:

MARTY: A countdown … wait, a countdown to what, David?

DAVID: Ah, it’s like in chess … first you strategically position your pieces, and then when the timing is right, you … strike. See? They’re positioning themselves all over the world, using this one signal to synchronize their efforts. In approximately six hours the signal’s going to disappear and the countdown will be over.

MARTY: And then what?

DAVID: Checkmate!

MARTY: (Gasps in fear) Oh my God! Oh my God! I’d better call my brother! I’d better call my housekeeper! I’ve gotta call my lawyer! Ahh, forget my lawyer.

The Roller Coaster Ride is just that—a story that takes the audience on a ride of tension and suspense, never letting up on the gas.

Instead of having one major Climax at the end of the story, as with Traditional Structure, this structure has several Climaxes throughout the story. Each one builds upon the previous one, holding the reader in its thrall until the very end. Slowly the train climbs up the hill. It reaches the peak and then dives toward the ground where it starts uphill once again.

There is still a sense of a clear three-act beginning, middle, and end to it, but the acts themselves have their own mini acts:

This Structure is very plot driven. Just as a roller coaster moves people around the track—and not vice versa—the events of a Roller Coaster plot move the story forward—not the characters.

The characters are compelled to react to the events around them because failure to do so would mean disaster. They are at the mercy of the story events and have virtually no time to think things over. They can formulate plans of action but they are not able to stop the events from happening. They are only able to deal with events once they are already in motion. (They can’t keep the Villain from planting a bomb, but they can try to stop it from going off.)

One of the major elements of the Roller Coaster Ride is what is known as the Ticking Clock. There is often a sense of urgency in this type of story structure to keep the story moving forward and the reader on the edge of her seat. For example, in one hour the bomb will go off, killing a lot of innocent children. Can the hero find the bomb before then?

There is an Extremely Major Problem at Stake that is usually Life or Death. This story structure is very plot driven, with little time to explore the characters and their inner feelings when they are racing against the clock. So the problem has to be strong enough to carry the story forward and hold the reader’s interest.

There is not much time for Mood and Theme to be presented, at least not in depth. Readers usually know going in that they are going to be taken on an action ride. Instead the Villain and his crazy way of thinking or acting can be shown to set up what he is capable of doing. Think of the movie Speed.

All subplots are directly influenced by and connected to the main plot. Just as all supporting character stories are related to the main plot, all other subplots should also be related to the main plot. This is the best way to keep the tension moving. Think about Jurassic Park. Even the setup and introduction of characters relate to the events of the story. When we first meet the paleontologists they talk about the raptor’s hunting strategies. This foreshadows the disaster to come when they meet a real raptor face-to-face.

There may be several storylines going with different Supporting Characters. Again, these storylines all relate in some way to the main plot events. For example, if a bus filled with people is hijacked, the Supporting Characters will either have family and friends on the bus or they will be involved with rescuing those people somehow. We don’t have time to learn about their hopes and dreams. To deviate from this by presenting a subplot entirely unrelated to the main plot would just slow the story down.

All characters must be introduced in Act I so the plot can do its job and take off.

• How many Main Characters and Supporting Characters will you have in the story? Are they all introduced here?

• How will you introduce the Villain? What do you want the reader to know right away about the Villain? How will you show it?

• What does the Main Character want? How do the events of the plot cut short his true plans? (For example, in Independence Day, Will Smith just wants to be with his family and live a normal life. In fact, when he catches an alien, he yells that he should be “relaxing at a barbeque right now.”)

• How many Mini Climaxes will you have here? Are they all justified and organic to the story?

There are several Mini Climaxes with beginnings, middles, and ends of their own. Perhaps the Main Character needs to rescue several people in different locations and each rescue is very dramatic on its own.

The Villain may become larger than life, pulling out all his resources to stop the Main Character from ruining his plans—especially if he is desperate.

If possible, the Stakes get bigger. The Main Character may think he is on the verge of reaching his goal only to find the goal has gotten farther away from him.

Secondary Time Elements may come into play. If the bomb is going off in one hour, maybe the Main Character has five minutes to find the one woman who can disarm it before she gets on a plane to London.

• How many Mini Climaxes will you have? Are they too similar to Act I or Act III?

• How far will the Villain need to be pushed to be villainous? Is there any redeeming quality about him? Why is he doing what he’s doing?

Another Mini Climax or two takes place, each with its own beginning, middle, and end. One or two Dark Moments can happen between each Climax, setting in motion the next Climax to follow.

The Time Element intensifies. Perhaps the bomb diffuser made a mistake and now the bomb is going to go off in three minutes. Or the Villain got upset and changed the detonation time or some other rule of the game.

Subplots resolve themselves quickly or get all tied up with the final Climax. As the Main Character reaches his goal, everything else falls into place.

• Should the Time Element intensify? Will it enhance the plot? Will it make things harder on the Main Character?

• How has the Main Character’s life changed from this story? Is his true Goal the same? Have his priorities changed in any way? (For example, in Independence Day, Will Smith decides to propose to his girlfriend because family has become the most important thing to him and he realizes life is too short to play around.)

Scientists clone dinosaurs to populate a theme park that suffers a major security breakdown, releasing the dinosaurs to wreak havoc.

Aliens come to Earth and their Goal is to invade and destroy. Fighting superior technology, a group of men try to figure out how to save Earth as the countdown to invasion begins.

A young cop must save the passengers of a bus that has a bomb set to explode if the bus goes below fifty miles per hour.