Christopher Vogler’s The
Writer’s Journey has long been my Go To book for plotting and story
structure. So I was intrigued when Eric Edson presented “Cracking Screen Story
Structure” to the Palm Springs Writers Guild. Edson has developed a new paradigm that builds upon Vogler’s work and takes it in a new direction. He
shares all in his book, The Story
Solution: 23 Actions All Great Heroes Must Take.
Edson is a screenplay writer for movies and television, and
is a Professor of Screenwriting and Directing of the Graduate MFA Program in
Screenwriting at California State University, Northridge. He lectures through
the UCLA Extension Writers’ Program and holds a Master of Fine Arts in
Playwriting from UCLA. So it is no surprise that he developed his theory of
story structure after analyzing numerous successful movies.
Hero Goal Sequences
At the heart of Edson’s approach to story structure are Hero
Goal Sequences.
“A Hero Goal Sequence generally consists of 2 to 8 pages of
screenplay…in which the hero pursues a single physical, visible, short-term
goal as one immediate step in achieving the main overall story objective
driving the plot. The Goal Sequence ends when the hero discovers FRESH NEWS,
which is some form of new information that effectively ends the necessity to
pursue the current goal and creates a new physical, visible, short-term goal - thereby beginning the next Hero Goal Sequence.”
The day after I attended Edson’s presentation, I went to the
local Regal Cinema and saw The Grand
Budapest Hotel. Then I viewed (for the third time) The Hunger Games. Two very different movies, but the Hero Goal
Sequences leapt out at me in both. The next movie you watch, see if you can
spot the Hero Goal Sequences.
As with other well-known approaches to screenwriting and story
structure, Edson’s paradigm includes rising tension and major hooks at the end
Acts I and II. But his interpretation is a little different and well worth a
visit to his website http://www.thestorysolution.com
for a free download of his analysis of Back
to the Future. Or, for a more full explanation and more analysis, consider
purchasing The Story Solution: 23 Actions
All Great Heroes Must Take.
Happy writing!
~Ariella Moon
Thank you!
~Ariella
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