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8c — Aftermath, Closing Image, Dramatic Irony, Inciting Incident, Literary Drama 1a — The Quiet World, Opening Image, Scene 1 — The Opening Image, Sentence Rhythm, Sequence 1 — The Opening Context, Sequence 2 — The Inciting Incident, Setting as Character, Show Don’t Tell, The Story’s Central Question, Subtext, Thematic Premise

Children of Men, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Gravity, Succession, The Wire

closing image, inciting incident, opening image, show don’t tell, subtext, thematic premise

Competence Principle, Dramatic Irony, In Medias Res, Lie the Character Believes, Literary Drama 1b — The Inner Life, Literary Fiction, Positive Change Arc, Scene 4 — The Arrival, Scene 5 — The Wound in Operation, Scene 6 — Desire and Need, Sequence 1 — The Opening Context, Sequence 2 — The Inciting Incident, Subtext, Want vs Need

Marriage Story, Silence of the Lambs, Succession, The Remains of the Day, Whiplash

inciting incident, the lie the character believes, subtext, want vs need

Antagonists and Opposition, Chekhov’s Gun, Dramatic Irony, Literary Drama 1c — The Unexamined Tensions, Literary Fiction, Prose Style, Retrospective Inevitability, Scene 8 — The Thematic Statement, Scene 9 — The Last Quiet Moment, Sequence 1 — The Opening Context, Setup and Payoff, The Story’s Central Question, Tension and Suspense

A Quiet Place, Breaking Bad, Get Out, Hereditary, Jaws, No Country for Old Men, Parasite, Pride and Prejudice, The Dark Knight, There Will Be Blood, The Shining, The Social Network, Toy Story, Whiplash

Jane Austen

chekhov’s gun, false peak, foreshadowing, inciting incident, retrospective inevitability, setup and payoff

2b — The Cascade of Consequences, 2c — The Failed Restoration and the Threshold, Dramatic Irony, Lie the Character Believes, Literary Drama 2a — The Change in Understanding, Retrospective Inevitability, Scene 10 — The First Disturbance, Sequence 2 — The Inciting Incident

Casablanca, Get Out, Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, Jaws

inciting incident, retrospective inevitability

2a — The Disruption, Antagonists and Opposition, Conflict Escalation, Identity-Level Disaster, Inciting Incident, Internal vs External Conflict, Literary Drama 2b — The Resistance to Implications, Scene 13 — The Immediate Aftermath, Scene 14 — The Social Ripple, Scene 15 — Escalating Pressure, Sequence 2 — The Inciting Incident, Stakes, The Story’s Central Question, Threshold Crossing

Breaking Bad, Gone Girl, Gravity, Kramer vs. Kramer, Manchester by the Sea, Marriage Story, Moonlight, No Country for Old Men, Schindler’s List, Succession, The Road, The Silence of the Lambs, The Wire, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy

Cormac McCarthy

inciting incident, threshold crossing

8c — Aftermath, Lie the Character Believes, Literary Drama 2c — The Threshold into Self-Examination, Lock-In, Mentor Archetype — From Introduction to Death, Mentor Figure, Opening Image, Scene 16 — The Full Restoration Attempt, Scene 18 — The Acceptance of the Challenge, Sequence 2 — The Inciting Incident, Threshold Crossing

A Beautiful Mind, Chinatown, Good Will Hunting, Star Wars, The Empire Strikes Back, The Godfather, The Hobbit, The Hunger Games, The Shawshank Redemption, The Wizard of Oz, True Grit, Whiplash

inciting incident, opening image, subtext, threshold crossing

3b — Wrong Strategy Deployment, 3c — The First Cost, Fish-Out-of-Water Specificity, Literary Drama 3a — Reluctant Engagement, Lock-In, Scene 19 — The New World Arrival, Scene 20 — First Contacts, Sequence 3 — Entering the New World, Setting as Character, Special World

Chinatown, Good Will Hunting, Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, No Country for Old Men, Ordinary People, The Godfather, The Matrix, The Wire

fish-out-of-water, the special world

3c — The First Cost, 4a — The Tests, 4b — The Allies, Antagonists and Opposition, Dramatic Irony, False Confidence, Fish-Out-of-Water Specificity, Lie the Character Believes, Literary Drama 3b — Avoidance as Strategy, Midpoint, Psychology of the Wrong Strategy, Scene 23 — Strategy in Action, Scene 24 — Alliance and Pressure, Sequence 3 — Entering the New World, Threshold Crossing

fish-out-of-water, the lie the character believes, threshold crossing

3b — Wrong Strategy Deployment, 4a — The Tests, 4b — The Allies, Antagonist Revealed, Dramatic Irony, False Confidence, Fun and Games, Literary Drama 3c — The Truth Spoken, Sequence 3 — Entering the New World, The Story’s Central Question

fun and games

3c — The First Cost, B-Story Launch, Fun and Games, Literary Drama 4a — Noticing What Cannot Be Unnoticed, Sequence 3 — Entering the New World, Sequence 4 — Tests, Allies, and Enemies, Subtext, The Trial

Arrival, Breaking Bad, Good Will Hunting, Mad Max: Fury Road, Succession, The Dark Knight, The Godfather, The Remains of the Day, There Will Be Blood, Whiplash

fun and games, subtext

4c — The Enemies, 7b — Dark Night Confrontation, Defining Choice, Displacement Activity Intimacy, False Ally, False Confidence, Literary Drama 4b — The Thematic Relationship, Narrative Distance, Sequence 4 — Tests, Allies, and Enemies, Sequence 7 — The Dark Night of the Soul

Breaking Bad, Casablanca, Good Will Hunting, The Talented Mr. Ripley

defining choice

7c — The Turn, Autobiographical Misread, B-Story Launch, Displacement Activity Intimacy, False Confidence, Fun and Games, Inescapability Construction, Jeopardy vs Drama, Literary Drama 4c — The Forces of Self-Deception, Partial Knowledge, Sequence 3 — Entering the New World, Sequence 4 — Tests, Allies, and Enemies, Sequence 7 — The Dark Night of the Soul, Subtext, Ticking Clock

Heat, No Country for Old Men, Sicario, The Dark Knight

fun and games, subtext, ticking clock

5b — The Revelation, Dramatic Irony, Literary Drama 5a — The Self-Narrative Holds, Midpoint Revelation — False Victory and False Defeat, Retrospective Inevitability, Sequence 5 — The Midpoint, Subtext

Breaking Bad, Chinatown, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Fleabag, Good Will Hunting, Heat, Lolita, Manchester by the Sea, Marriage Story, No Country for Old Men, Parasite, Pride and Prejudice, Sicario, Succession, The Godfather, The Social Network, The Wire, Whiplash

Vladimir Nabokov

false defeat, false peak, false victory, retrospective inevitability, subtext

5c — The New Commitment, Accumulated Investment, Character Arc, False Ally, Literary Drama 5b — Unwanted Clarity, Positive Change Arc, Retrospective Inevitability, Sequence 1 — The Opening Context, Sequence 3 — Entering the New World, Sequence 5 — The Midpoint, Twist vs. Revelation

American Beauty, Atonement, Breaking Bad, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Gone Girl, Good Will Hunting, Manchester by the Sea, Marriage Story, Of Mice and Men, Parasite, Schindler’s List, The Remains of the Day, The Sixth Sense, The Wire, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy

Henry James

accumulated investment, false defeat, false peak, false victory, foreshadowing, retrospective inevitability

5a — The False Peak, Enacted Transformation, Literary Drama 5c — The New Understanding Forced, Pinch Point 2 — The New Commitment Under Fire, Sequence 5 — The Midpoint, Want vs Need

Breaking Bad, Good Will Hunting, Gravity, Knives Out, Mad Max: Fury Road, Moonlight, The Empire Strikes Back, The Godfather, The Lord of the Rings, The Remains of the Day, The Shawshank Redemption, The Wire, Toy Story

J.R.R. Tolkien

enacted transformation, false defeat, false peak, false victory, want vs need

Defense-Down Conversation, False Confidence, Literary Drama 6a — Attempting to Live with Recognition, Proximity as Commitment Signal, Sequence 6 — The New Strategy, Sequence 7 — The Dark Night of the Soul, Subtext

Breaking Bad, Chinatown, Inside Out, Mad Max: Fury Road, Marriage Story, No Country for Old Men, Parasite, The Dark Knight, The Empire Strikes Back, The Wire

subtext

1c — Status Quo and Foreshadowing, 5c — The New Commitment, 6a — Rebuilding, 6c — Rising Stakes, Literary Drama 6b — Recognition vs. Circumstances, The Narrative Argument, Qualitative Line, Sequence 6 — The New Strategy

Breaking Bad, Heat, Mad Max: Fury Road

foreshadowing

Foreshadowing, Literary Drama 6c — The Self-Narrative Collapses, Second-Topic Expansion, Sequence 6 — The New Strategy, Strength Before Self-Knowledge, Three-Act Structure, Three-Level Escalation

foreshadowing

6c — Rising Stakes, Identity-Level Disaster, Last Temptation, Sequence 6 — The New Strategy, Sequence 7 — The Dark Night of the Soul

Brokeback Mountain, Marriage Story, No Country for Old Men, Ordinary People, The Shawshank Redemption

Blake Snyder

all is lost, dark night of the soul

1b — Protagonist Introduction, 4b — The Allies, 7a — The Collapse, 7c — The Turn, Active Surrender, All Is Lost, Emotional Truth, Free Indirect Discourse, Midpoint, Sequence 6 — The New Strategy, Sequence 7 — The Dark Night of the Soul, Sequence 8 — The Climax and Resolution

Moonlight, The Leftovers, The Remains of the Day

Kazuo Ishiguro

all is lost, dark night of the soul, free indirect discourse

7a — The Collapse, 7b — Dark Night Confrontation, All Is Lost, Climactic Decision, Defining Choice, Enacted Transformation, Last Temptation, Point of No Retreat, Sequence 7 — The Dark Night of the Soul

Arrival, Casablanca, Good Will Hunting, Moonlight, No Country for Old Men, Ordinary People

Blake Snyder

all is lost, dark night of the soul, defining choice, enacted transformation, save the cat

7c — The Turn, 8b — The Climax Scene, All Is Lost, Chekhov’s Gun, Climactic Decision, Defining Choice, Enacted Transformation, Epiphany, Foreshadowing, Sequence 1 — The Opening Context, Sequence 8 — The Climax and Resolution, The Story’s Central Question, Triple Obligation

Aliens, Good Will Hunting, Kramer vs. Kramer, No Country for Old Men, Silence of the Lambs, Succession, The Leftovers, The Silence of the Lambs, The Wire

all is lost, chekhov’s gun, defining choice, enacted transformation, foreshadowing

All Is Lost, Climax and Resolution, Defining Choice, Deus Ex Machina, Resolution Sequence Order, Scene 51 — The Antagonistic Escalation, Scene 67 — The Darkest Moment, Scene 68 — The Climactic Decision, Scene 69 — The Resolution, Sequence 1 — The Opening Context, Sequence 7 — The Dark Night of the Soul, Sequence 8 — The Climax and Resolution, The Story’s Central Question, Triple Obligation

all is lost, defining choice

1a — World Establishment, 1c — Status Quo and Foreshadowing, Accumulated Investment, All Is Lost, Climactic Decision, Closing Image, Opening Image, Resolution Sequence Order, Sequence 1 — The Opening Context, Sequence 7 — The Dark Night of the Soul, Sequence 8 — The Climax and Resolution, Show Don’t Tell

Arrival, Brokeback Mountain, Fleabag, Manchester by the Sea, Marriage Story, The Return of the King, The Wire

accumulated investment, all is lost, closing image, foreshadowing, opening image, show don’t tell

5a — The False Peak, 5b — The Revelation, 5c — The New Commitment, 7b — Dark Night Confrontation, Active Surrender, Midpoint, Narrative Distance, Narrative Transportation, Psychology of the Wrong Strategy, Sequence 3 — Entering the New World, Sequence 6 — The New Strategy, Why Stories Move Us

accumulated investment, false peak, ghost and wound

Antagonists and Opposition, Character Arc, Enacted Transformation, The Narrative Argument, Sacrifice Beat, Stakes, Thematic Premise

Aliens, Rocky, The Dark Knight, The Road

Cormac McCarthy

enacted transformation, subtext

4b — The Allies, 7a — The Collapse, 7b — Dark Night Confrontation, 7c — The Turn, Enacted Transformation, Retrospective Inevitability, Sequence 6 — The New Strategy, Transformation Over Healing

Good Will Hunting, The Shawshank Redemption

retrospective inevitability

Empathy and Identification, Fantasy, Fantasy 8b — The Defining Choice, Literary Fiction, Lord of the Flies, Subtext and Implication, Symbol and Motif, Tension and Suspense, Thematic Premise, Theme vs Message, The Trial

Lord of the Flies, The Great Gatsby, The Handmaid’s Tale

George Orwell, J.R.R. Tolkien, N.K. Jemisin, Ursula K. Le Guin

defining choice, subtext

Archplot Beats — Act 2, B-Story, The Dark Night of the Soul — Patterns and Variations, Pinch Point 1 — The First Real Cost, Pinch Point 2 — The New Commitment Under Fire, Romance 7a — The Full Cost of Loss

Breaking Bad, Ordinary People, The Return of the King

J.R.R. Tolkien

all is lost, black moment, dark night of the soul

Allegory, Closing Image, The Narrative Argument, Subtext and Implication, Thematic Premise, Theme vs Message

George Orwell

closing image, narrative argument, subtext, thematic premise

3c — The First Cost, Dramatic Irony, Midpoint, The Narrative Argument, Shadow Archetype — Antagonist Construction, The Story’s Central Question

Breaking Bad, Gone Girl, No Country for Old Men, Silence of the Lambs, The Wire

narrative argument

6c — Rising Stakes, 7a — The Collapse, Crime and Punishment, Internal Consistency, Internal vs External Conflict, Lie the Character Believes, Negative Change Arc, Positive Change Arc, Sequence 6 — The New Strategy, Thematic Premise, Thriller 4c — The Antagonist Emerges, Thriller 8b — The Direct Confrontation, Want vs Need

Breaking Bad, Middlemarch, The Dark Knight, The Silence of the Lambs, To Kill a Mockingbird

Negative Change Arc, Redemption Arc, Shadow Archetype — Antagonist Construction

Breaking Bad, The Wire

Archplot Beats — Act 2, Character Archetypes, Chekhov’s Gun, In Medias Res, Key Event, Literary Fiction, Opening Image, Opening Image and Closing Image, Sequence 1 — The Opening Context, Sequence 2 — The Inciting Incident, Structural Map — Tropes by Sequence, Threshold Crossing, Want vs Need

American Beauty, Arrival, Avatar, Breaking Bad, One Hundred Years of Solitude, Parasite, Pulp Fiction, Rebecca, The Fellowship of the Ring, The Matrix, The Shawshank Redemption, Whiplash

chekhov’s gun, closing image, foreshadowing, inciting incident, opening image, threshold crossing

All Is Lost, Archplot Beats — Act 3, B-Story, Character Archetypes, The Dark Night of the Soul — Patterns and Variations, False Ally, False Confidence, Love Interest, Mentor Archetype — From Introduction to Death, Midpoint Revelation — False Victory and False Defeat, Pinch Point 1, Pinch Point 1 — The First Real Cost, Pinch Point 2, Pinch Point 2 — The New Commitment Under Fire, Rising Stakes: Raising the Cost of Failure, Sequence 3 — Entering the New World, Sequence 4 — Tests, Allies, and Enemies, Sequence 5 — The Midpoint, Sequence 6 — The New Strategy, Ticking Clock

Aliens, Carol, The Empire Strikes Back, The Social Network

Blake Snyder

all is lost, false defeat, false peak, false victory, ticking clock

All Is Lost, Archplot Beats — Act 1, Archplot Beats — Act 2, Closing Image, The Dark Night of the Soul — Patterns and Variations, Defining Choice, Deus Ex Machina, Genre Tropes, Opening Image, Opening Image and Closing Image, Point of No Retreat, Sacrifice Beat, Sequence 7 — The Dark Night of the Soul, Sequence 8 — The Climax and Resolution, Showdown, The Story’s Central Question, Structural Map — Tropes by Sequence, Triple Obligation

Arrival, Atonement, Breaking Bad, Brokeback Mountain, Casablanca, Chinatown, Manchester by the Sea, Ordinary People, The Matrix, The Sixth Sense, The Terminator

all is lost, closing image, dark night of the soul, defining choice, hero’s journey, opening image

Fantasy, Literary Fiction, Romance, Secondary Character Arcs, Thematic Premise, Thriller and Suspense

Good Will Hunting, Pride and Prejudice, The Lord of the Rings, The Wire

foreshadowing, thematic premise

Description and Imagery, Dramatic Irony, Genre Conventions, Literary Fiction, The Narrative Argument, Pacing, Point of View, Prose Style, Sentence Rhythm, Setting as Character, Show Don’t Tell, Symbol and Motif, Tension and Suspense

Blood Meridian, Housekeeping, Rebecca, The Haunting of Hill House, The Maltese Falcon, The Road, The Turn of the Screw, Wuthering Heights

Cormac McCarthy, Henry James, Shirley Jackson

show don’t tell

4c — The Enemies, Deep POV, Free Indirect Discourse, Internal vs External Conflict, Lie the Character Believes, Partial Knowledge

Atonement, Rear Window, The Remains of the Day

Kazuo Ishiguro

deep pov, free indirect discourse

The Dark Night of the Soul, Dialogue, Flashback, Interiority, Lie the Character Believes, Scene 58 — The Wound Revealed

The Remains of the Day

Ernest Hemingway, Kazuo Ishiguro

Deep POV, Dramatic Irony, Free Indirect Discourse, Inescapability Construction, Literary Fiction, Love Interest, Opening Image, Point of View, Romance 1c — The Emotional Armor, Sequence 1 — The Opening Context

Beach Read

Emily Henry, Jane Austen

deep pov, forced proximity, free indirect discourse, meet-cute, opening image

All Is Lost, B-Story, Dan Harmon’s Story Circle, Fun and Games, The Hero’s Journey, Inciting Incident, Key Event, Opening Image, Save the Cat Beats, Structural Diagnosis — Finding What’s Wrong with a Draft

The Hero with a Thousand Faces, The Writer’s Journey

Blake Snyder, Christopher Vogler, Dan Harmon, Joseph Campbell

all is lost, call to adventure, dark night of the soul, false defeat, false victory, fun and games, hero’s journey, inciting incident, opening image, save the cat

Character Arc, Genre Conventions, Pacing, Scene, Structural Diagnosis — Finding What’s Wrong with a Draft, Structural Revision

Chekhov’s Gun, The Objective Correlative, Point of View, Scene, Subtext

Anton Chekhov

chekhov’s gun, subtext

All Is Lost, The Dark Night of the Soul — Patterns and Variations, Love Interest, Mentor Archetype — From Introduction to Death, New Situation: Learning the Rules of the Changed World, Romance Tropes by Structure, Threshold Crossing

Good Will Hunting, The Lord of the Rings

all is lost, threshold crossing

4a — The Tests, All Is Lost, The Dark Night of the Soul, Fun and Games, Lie the Character Believes, Sequence 4 — Tests, Allies, and Enemies, Subplot and Parallel Plotting, Subtext, Theme vs Message, The Trial, Want vs Need

Arrival, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Pride and Prejudice

all is lost, fun and games, subtext, want vs need

Accumulated Investment, Emotional Truth, Empathy and Identification, Horror

Hereditary, Poetics

Aristotle

Commercial Fiction, Literary Fiction, Multiple POV Strategies, Opening Hook, Summary vs Scene, Thriller and Suspense

The Remains of the Day, The Road

Cormac McCarthy, Henry James, Kazuo Ishiguro

Antagonists and Opposition, Character Arc, Climax and Resolution, Love Interest, Strength Before Self-Knowledge, Supporting Characters, Thriller and Suspense, Want vs Need, Young Adult Fiction

Arrival, Die Hard, Gone Girl, Pride and Prejudice

want vs need

Arc Interaction and Ensemble Structure, Defining Choice, Ensemble Characters, Flat Arc, Lie the Character Believes, Negative Change Arc, Positive Change Arc, Secondary Character Arcs, The Story’s Central Question, Supporting Characters, Thematic Premise, Theme and Character Arc

defining choice, ghost and wound, the lie the character believes, thematic premise

Defining Choice, False Ally, Love Interest, Mentor Archetype — From Introduction to Death, Midpoint Revelation — False Victory and False Defeat, Pinch Point 1, Pinch Point 1 — The First Real Cost, Shadow Archetype — Antagonist Construction, Showdown, Subverting and Deconstructing Tropes, Threshold Crossing

A Song of Ice and Fire, Gone Girl, The Dark Knight, The Hunger Games, The Matrix, The Wizard of Oz, The Writer’s Journey

Christopher Vogler, Joseph Campbell

call to adventure, defining choice, inciting incident, threshold crossing

Antagonists and Opposition, Character Agency, Fantasy, Genre Conventions, Literary Fiction, Mystery and Detective Fiction, Pacing, Plotting vs Discovery Writing, Positive Change Arc, Romance, Structural Revision, Thriller and Suspense, Ticking Clock

Breaking Bad, Die Hard, The Godfather

ticking clock

Character Arc, The Dark Night of the Soul, Enacted Transformation, Genre Tropes, Lie the Character Believes, Midpoint, Positive Change Arc, Want vs Need

dark night of the soul, enacted transformation, ghost and wound, the lie the character believes, want vs need

Antagonists and Opposition, Empathy and Identification, Lie the Character Believes, Love Interest, Moral Conflict, Stakes, Supporting Characters, Want vs Need

Gone Girl, Poetics, Schindler’s List

Aristotle, Lajos Egri

the lie the character believes, want vs need

Antagonists and Opposition, Character Agency, Character Voice, Competence Principle, Empathy and Identification, Opening Hook, Save the Cat Beats, Show Don’t Tell, Supporting Characters, Want vs Need

Good Will Hunting, No Country for Old Men, The Hunger Games, The Talented Mr. Ripley

E.M. Forster

save the cat, show don’t tell

Deep POV, Dialogue, Dramatic Irony, Free Indirect Discourse, Interiority, Narrative Distance, Point of View, The Remains of the Day, Sentence Rhythm

Ernest Hemingway, Henry James, Kazuo Ishiguro

free indirect discourse

Archplot Beats — Act 1, Deus Ex Machina, Foreshadowing, Genre Conventions as Trope Systems, Midpoint Revelation — False Victory and False Defeat, Retrospective Inevitability, Sequence 1 — The Opening Context, Sequence 4 — Tests, Allies, and Enemies, Sequence 5 — The Midpoint, Sequence 7 — The Dark Night of the Soul, Sequence 8 — The Climax and Resolution, Setup and Payoff, Structural Diagnosis — Finding What’s Wrong with a Draft, Structural Map — Tropes by Sequence, Subverting and Deconstructing Tropes, Twist Ending — Setup and Revelation

Breaking Bad, No Country for Old Men, Toy Story

Anton Chekhov

chekhov’s gun, false defeat, false victory, foreshadowing, inciting incident

Fantasy, Midpoint Revelation — False Victory and False Defeat

J.R.R. Tolkien

The Dark Night of the Soul, Defining Choice, Enacted Transformation, Epiphany, Last Temptation, Literary Fiction, The Narrative Argument, Sequence 1 — The Opening Context, Sequence 8 — The Climax and Resolution, Triple Obligation

A Beautiful Mind, No Country for Old Men, The Remains of the Day, Toy Story

Cormac McCarthy

defining choice, enacted transformation

8a — Showdown Entry, 8b — The Climax Scene, 8c — Aftermath, Climactic Decision, Closing Image, Defining Choice, Deus Ex Machina, Earned vs. Unearned, Epiphany, Inciting Incident, Opening Image and Closing Image, Prologues and Epilogues, Resolution: Closing the Story’s Open Questions, Resolution Sequence Order, Sequence 8 — The Climax and Resolution, Showdown, The Story’s Central Question, Subplot and Parallel Plotting, Subplots — Structural Mirroring and Integration, Triple Obligation

Casablanca, The Great Gatsby

closing image, defining choice, inciting incident, opening image

1a — World Establishment, 8c — Aftermath, Accumulated Investment, Emotional Truth, Literary Fiction, Narrative Satisfaction — The Psychology of Closure, The Objective Correlative, Opening Image, Resolution Sequence Order, Sentence Rhythm, Show Don’t Tell, Visual Bookending

American Beauty, Breaking Bad, Schindler’s List, The Great Gatsby, The Leftovers, The Sixth Sense, The Wizard of Oz

accumulated investment, closing image, opening image, show don’t tell

Fawlty Towers, Pride and Prejudice

Want vs Need

Bridesmaids, Groundhog Day

Sequence 1 — The Opening Context, Sequence 2 — The Inciting Incident

Fargo, Some Like It Hot

False Confidence, Inciting Incident

Catch-22, Liar Liar, Some Like It Hot

inciting incident

Groundhog Day, Some Like It Hot

All Is Lost, Sequence 3 — Entering the New World, Sequence 6 — The New Strategy

all is lost, point of no return

Sequence 2 — The Inciting Incident

Bridesmaids, Catch-22, Some Like It Hot

Some Like It Hot

All Is Lost, Dramatic Irony, Sequence 3 — Entering the New World, Sequence 6 — The New Strategy

Alfred Hitchcock

all is lost

All Is Lost, Sequence 6 — The New Strategy

Liar Liar

all is lost

Romance, Want vs Need

Some Like It Hot

Sequence 4 — Tests, Allies, and Enemies, Sequence 6 — The New Strategy, Ticking Clock

Bridesmaids, Fargo

ticking clock

Midpoint Revelation — False Victory and False Defeat, Want vs Need

Some Like It Hot

false victory

Peripeteia, Sequence 3 — Entering the New World, Sequence 6 — The New Strategy

false victory

Comedy 4b — The Genuine Relationship, New Situation: Learning the Rules of the Changed World, Sequence 4 — Tests, Allies, and Enemies, Sequence 6 — The New Strategy, Sequence 7 — The Dark Night of the Soul, Tone and Thematic Register, Want vs Need

Sequence 3 — Entering the New World, Sequence 6 — The New Strategy

All Is Lost, Sequence 3 — Entering the New World, Sequence 7 — The Dark Night of the Soul

all is lost

All Is Lost, Sequence 7 — The Dark Night of the Soul, Sequence 8 — The Climax and Resolution, Tone and Thematic Register

Bridesmaids, Groundhog Day

all is lost

Comedy 4b — The Genuine Relationship, Sequence 8 — The Climax and Resolution

Sequence 4 — Tests, Allies, and Enemies

Bridesmaids, Pride and Prejudice

Sequence 1 — The Opening Context, Sequence 8 — The Climax and Resolution

Sequence 7 — The Dark Night of the Soul, Setup and Payoff

Defining Choice, Sequence 8 — The Climax and Resolution

Four Weddings and a Funeral

defining choice

Romance, Sequence 1 — The Opening Context, Sequence 8 — The Climax and Resolution

Pride and Prejudice, Some Like It Hot

All Is Lost, Comic Timing, Dramatic Irony, Tone and Thematic Register, Want vs Need

Bridesmaids, Catch-22, Fargo, Four Weddings and a Funeral, Groundhog Day, Pride and Prejudice, Some Like It Hot, Succession, When Harry Met Sally

all is lost, want vs need

All Is Lost, Character Arc, The Dark Night of the Soul — Patterns and Variations, Defining Choice, Inciting Incident, Key Event, Midpoint Revelation — False Victory and False Defeat, Opening Image, Pinch Point 1 — The First Real Cost, Sequence 3 — Entering the New World, Sequence 4 — Tests, Allies, and Enemies, Setup and Payoff, Tone and Thematic Register, Want vs Need

Bridesmaids, Catch-22, Fargo, Fawlty Towers, Four Weddings and a Funeral, Groundhog Day, Liar Liar, Pride and Prejudice, Some Like It Hot, When Harry Met Sally

all is lost, defining choice, false peak, inciting incident, meet-cute, opening image, want vs need

Comedy and Satire, Comic Timing, Dramatic Irony, Lie the Character Believes, Rule of Three, The Sequence Approach: Why Eight Units Beat Three Acts

All Is Lost, Closing Image, Comedy 4b — The Genuine Relationship, Comedy and Satire, Comic Timing, Conventions and Obligatory Scenes, The Dark Night of the Soul — Patterns and Variations, Defining Choice, Inciting Incident, Key Event, Midpoint Revelation — False Victory and False Defeat, Opening Image, Opening Image and Closing Image, Pinch Point 1, Pinch Point 1 — The First Real Cost, Setup and Payoff, Threshold Crossing, Tone and Thematic Register, Want vs Need

Beat home:, Groundhog Day, Job:, Obligatory., Story Grid

closing image, defining choice, false peak, false victory, inciting incident, opening image, want vs need

Sequence 1 — The Opening Context, Want vs Need

Bridesmaids, Catch-22, Fawlty Towers, Pride and Prejudice, Some Like It Hot

Jane Austen

want vs need

Inciting Incident, Sequence 2 — The Inciting Incident, Sequence 3 — Entering the New World, Sequence 6 — The New Strategy

Fargo, Groundhog Day, Liar Liar, Some Like It Hot

inciting incident, point of no return

All Is Lost, Dramatic Irony, Sequence 3 — Entering the New World, Sequence 5 — The Midpoint

Catch-22, Fawlty Towers, Groundhog Day, Some Like It Hot

all is lost

Comedy 4b — The Genuine Relationship, Midpoint Revelation — False Victory and False Defeat, Sequence 3 — Entering the New World, Sequence 4 — Tests, Allies, and Enemies, Sequence 5 — The Midpoint, Ticking Clock, Want vs Need

Bridesmaids, Liar Liar, Some Like It Hot

ticking clock, want vs need

Midpoint Revelation — False Victory and False Defeat, Peripeteia, Sequence 2 — The Inciting Incident, Sequence 4 — Tests, Allies, and Enemies, Sequence 5 — The Midpoint, Sequence 7 — The Dark Night of the Soul

Bridesmaids, Some Like It Hot

false victory

All Is Lost, Sequence 2 — The Inciting Incident, Sequence 6 — The New Strategy, Tone and Thematic Register

Bridesmaids, Fargo, Groundhog Day

all is lost

All Is Lost, Character Arc, Comedy 4b — The Genuine Relationship, The Dark Night of the Soul — Patterns and Variations, Sequence 1 — The Opening Context

Bridesmaids, Groundhog Day, Pride and Prejudice

all is lost

Sequence 1 — The Opening Context, Sequence 6 — The New Strategy, Sequence 7 — The Dark Night of the Soul, Sequence 8 — The Climax and Resolution, Setup and Payoff

Four Weddings and a Funeral, Pride and Prejudice

All Is Lost, Dramatic Irony, Pacing, Rule of Three, Scene Structure, The Sequence Approach: Why Eight Units Beat Three Acts, Setup and Payoff

Fawlty Towers

setup and payoff

Conflict Escalation, Emotional Truth, Fantasy, Genre Conventions, Historical Fiction, Horror, Internal Consistency, Literary Fiction, Mystery and Detective Fiction, Opening Hook, Pacing, Prose Style, Reader-Writer Contract, The Remains of the Day, Romance, Scene Endings and Scene Transitions, Science Fiction, Stakes, Thriller and Suspense

Ernest Hemingway, Kazuo Ishiguro, Stephen King, Virginia Woolf

Character Introduction, Climax and Resolution, Foreshadowing, Literary Fiction, Positive Change Arc, Setup and Payoff, Special World, Strength Before Self-Knowledge, Thriller Sequence 1 — The World Before Danger, Transformation Over Healing

Aliens, Avatar, Knives Out, Rocky, The Social Network, The Terminator

foreshadowing, setup and payoff

Frank Daniel’s Eight Sequences: One Story Told in Eight Dramatic Units, Reversal: The Turn That Rewrites the Goal, Sequence 4 — Tests, Allies, and Enemies

Tootsie

The Character Engine: How the Inner Life Drives the Plot, Conflict Escalation, Internal vs External Conflict, Layered Pressure, Moral Conflict, Qualitative Line, Stakes, Ticking Clock

ticking clock

All Is Lost, The Dark Night of the Soul, Inescapability Construction, Layered Pressure, Lock-In, Pinch Point 1, Qualitative Line, Retrospective Inevitability, Scene 23 — Strategy in Action, Scene 25 — The Overreach, Scene 31 — The Alliance Deepening, Scene 38 — The False Peak, Special World, Three-Level Escalation

Kramer vs. Kramer, Macbeth, No Country for Old Men, The Godfather, The Silence of the Lambs

all is lost, dark night of the soul, false peak, false victory, retrospective inevitability

Genre Conventions, Reader-Writer Contract, Red Herring, The Sequence Approach: Why Eight Units Beat Three Acts, Structural Map — Tropes by Sequence, Subverting and Deconstructing Tropes, Threshold Crossing, Ticking Clock, What Tropes Are

Story Grid

call to adventure, grand gesture, meet-cute, red herring, threshold crossing, ticking clock

Comedy and Satire, Hardboiled and Noir Fiction, Horror, Mystery 4b — The Confidant, Setting as Character, Thriller and Suspense, Tone and Thematic Register

Gone Girl, In the Woods

Agatha Christie, Tana French

Antagonists and Opposition, Catharsis, Character Arc, Character-Driven vs Plot-Driven, Psychology of the Wrong Strategy, Thematic Premise

Crime and Punishment

narrative argument, thematic premise

Dramatic Irony, Hardboiled and Noir Fiction, Tension and Suspense, Ticking Clock, Unreliable Narrator

Gone Girl, The Silence of the Lambs

Agatha Christie, Alfred Hitchcock, Tana French

ticking clock

Frank Daniel’s Eight Sequences: One Story Told in Eight Dramatic Units, Resolution: Closing the Story’s Open Questions, Sequence 7 — The Dark Night of the Soul

Casablanca

dark night of the soul

Earned vs. Unearned, Fun and Games, The Hero’s Journey, New Situation: Learning the Rules of the Changed World, Positive Change Arc, Save the Cat Beats, The Sequence Approach: Why Eight Units Beat Three Acts, Series Structure — Multi-Book Arcs, Special World, Three-Act Structure, Threshold Crossing, Want vs Need

Blake Snyder, Dan Harmon, Joseph Campbell

fun and games, hero’s journey, threshold crossing, want vs need

4b — The Allies, 7a — The Collapse, 7b — Dark Night Confrontation, 7c — The Turn, All Is Lost, Crime and Punishment, Epiphany, Fantasy 7a — The Hero Stripped, Fantasy 7b — The Descent, Identity-Level Disaster, Lie the Character Believes, Literary Fiction, Midpoint, Positive Change Arc, Save the Cat Beats, Sequence 5 — The Midpoint, Sequence 6 — The New Strategy, Sequence 7 — The Dark Night of the Soul

Breaking Bad, The Silence of the Lambs, Toy Story

Blake Snyder

all is lost, dark night of the soul, save the cat

All Is Lost, Character Agency, Deus Ex Machina, Dramatic Irony, Science Fiction, Science Fiction 7b — The Existential Reckoning, Showdown

Arrival, Atonement, Manchester by the Sea, The Matrix, The Return of the King, The Sixth Sense

Anton Chekhov

all is lost, dark night of the soul

Commercial Fiction, Genre Conventions, Internal Consistency, Love Interest, Romance, Tone and Thematic Register

Filtering Verbs, Free Indirect Discourse, Head-Hopping, Literary Fiction, Narrative Distance, Point of View, Romance, Thriller and Suspense, Unreliable Narrator, Young Adult Fiction

Middlemarch

Jane Austen

deep pov, free indirect discourse

6a — Rebuilding, Displacement Activity Intimacy, Enacted Transformation, Interiority, Midpoint, The Remains of the Day

Marriage Story, Schindler’s List

Kazuo Ishiguro

enacted transformation

Pyrrhic Victory, The Story’s Central Question, Triple Obligation

Breaking Bad, Casablanca, Chinatown, Manchester by the Sea, The Matrix, The Terminator

defining choice, inciting incident

Atmosphere and Mood, Filtering Verbs, Historical Fiction, The Objective Correlative, Point of View, Rule of Three, Symbol and Motif

Lolita

Vladimir Nabokov

Chekhov’s Gun, Closing Image, Deus Ex Machina, Earned vs. Unearned, Foreshadowing, Opening Image and Closing Image, Reader-Writer Contract, Retrospective Inevitability, Setup and Payoff, Twist vs. Revelation

chekhov’s gun, closing image, foreshadowing, opening image, retrospective inevitability, setup and payoff

Archplot Beats — Act 1, B-Story, Chekhov’s Gun, Comedy and Satire, First Draft, Narrative Satisfaction — The Psychology of Closure, Redemption Arc, Retrospective Inevitability, Setup and Payoff, Structural Diagnosis — Finding What’s Wrong with a Draft, Subverting and Deconstructing Tropes

Poetics

Aristotle

chekhov’s gun, retrospective inevitability, setup and payoff

Blocking and Physical Choreography in Prose, Character Voice, Displacement Activity Intimacy, Hills Like White Elephants, Iceberg Principle, Pacing, Subtext

Cormac McCarthy, Ernest Hemingway

subtext

B-Story, Defense-Down Conversation, Inescapability Construction, Setup and Payoff, Subtext

Moonlight, No Country for Old Men

Cormac McCarthy

subtext

First Draft, Plotting vs Discovery Writing, Revision, Scene, Structural Revision

Archplot Beats — Act 1, Catharsis, Chekhov’s Gun, The Dark Night of the Soul — Patterns and Variations, Midpoint Revelation — False Victory and False Defeat, Scene 1 — The Opening Image, Suspense vs Surprise, Thriller 3b — The Wrong Theory, Thriller 8a — The Approach, Thriller and Suspense, Twist Ending — Setup and Revelation, Unreliable Narrator

Breaking Bad, Gone Girl, Macbeth, Oedipus Rex

Alfred Hitchcock, Aristotle

chekhov’s gun, false defeat, false victory, inciting incident

Accumulated Investment, Epiphany, Genre Conventions, Interiority, Mentor Figure, The Narrative Argument, Retrospective Inevitability, Setup and Payoff, Show Don’t Tell, Structural Revision

The Remains of the Day

accumulated investment, ghost and wound, retrospective inevitability, setup and payoff, show don’t tell

Show Don’t Tell

Hamlet

show don’t tell

Point of View, Save the Cat Beats, Science Fiction

Lolita

Blake Snyder, Vladimir Nabokov

save the cat

7c — The Turn, The Dark Night of the Soul, Defense-Down Conversation, Defining Choice

A Beautiful Mind, Good Will Hunting, The Godfather, The Road

Cormac McCarthy

defining choice, enacted transformation

All Is Lost, The Dark Night of the Soul — Patterns and Variations, Dramatic Irony, Emotional Truth, Midpoint Revelation — False Victory and False Defeat, Opening Image, Pinch Point 1 — The First Real Cost, Reader Trope Literacy, Romance Tropes by Structure

Pride and Prejudice, The Hating Game

all is lost, black moment, false peak, forced proximity, grand gesture, inciting incident, opening image

Arc Interaction and Ensemble Structure, Character Agency, Character Arc, Character Introduction, Character Voice, Multiple POV Strategies, Relationship as Story Engine, Scene Structure, Supporting Characters

Succession, The Wire

Arc Interaction and Ensemble Structure, Character Arc, Midpoint Revelation — False Victory and False Defeat, Supporting Characters

Succession, The Hours, Toy Story

Virginia Woolf

7b — Dark Night Confrontation, 7c — The Turn, 8a — Showdown Entry, Climactic Decision, The Dark Night of the Soul, Free Indirect Discourse, Interiority, Lie the Character Believes, Setup and Payoff

Good Will Hunting, Toy Story

free indirect discourse, setup and payoff

Motivation-Reaction Unit, Pacing, Rising Stakes: Raising the Cost of Failure, Scene Endings and Scene Transitions, Scene Structure, The Sequence Approach: Why Eight Units Beat Three Acts, Structural Diagnosis — Finding What’s Wrong with a Draft, Three-Act Structure

Aspects of the Novel, The Leftovers, The Wire

E.M. Forster

Dramatic Irony, Frame Narrative, Multiple POV Strategies, Unreliable Narrator

Frankenstein

Backstory, Fantasy, Flashback, In Medias Res, Literary Fiction, Science Fiction, Show Don’t Tell, Subtext, World-Building Foundations

The Lord of the Rings

J.R.R. Tolkien

subtext

Dramatic Irony, Literary Fiction, Pinch Point 1, Pinch Point 2, Shadow Archetype — Antagonist Construction, Unreliable Narrator

Harry Potter, The Empire Strikes Back

5a — The False Peak, Dramatic Irony, Foreshadowing, Fun and Games, Lie the Character Believes, Midpoint, Retrospective Inevitability, Scene 33 — False Confidence, Setup and Payoff

Chinatown, Knives Out, Parasite, There Will Be Blood

Blake Snyder

false peak, foreshadowing, fun and games, retrospective inevitability, setup and payoff

Point of View

A Song of Ice and Fire

Alfred Hitchcock

foreshadowing

Accumulated Investment, Character Agency, Character Foundations, Conflict Escalation, Internal vs External Conflict, Layered Pressure, Love Interest, Relationship as Story Engine, Stakes, Tension and Suspense

The Remains of the Day

Kazuo Ishiguro

accumulated investment, subtext

Allegory, Chosen One — Trope Analysis, Fantasy and Adventure Tropes by Structure, Fantasy and Sci-Fi World-Building, Fantasy Sequence 1 — The World Before the Call, Genre Blending, The Hero’s Journey, Historical Fiction, Iceberg Principle, Internal Consistency, Literary Fiction, Magic and Technology Systems, Prose Style, Romantasy, Special World, World-Building Foundations, Young Adult Fiction

Brandon Sanderson, J.R.R. Tolkien, N.K. Jemisin, Ursula K. Le Guin

call to adventure

Character Foundations, Dramatic Irony, Setup and Payoff

Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, The Hobbit

J.R.R. Tolkien

setup and payoff

Character Arc, Chosen One — Trope Analysis, Strength Before Self-Knowledge

The Hobbit

J.R.R. Tolkien, Ursula K. Le Guin

Atmosphere and Mood, Dramatic Irony, Foreshadowing, Setup and Payoff, Story Questions and the Dramatic Question, The Story’s Central Question

The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings

J.R.R. Tolkien

foreshadowing, setup and payoff

Character Agency, Inciting Incident, Mentor Figure

call to adventure, inciting incident

Character Agency, Chosen One — Trope Analysis

Fantasy and Sci-Fi World-Building, Lock-In, Point of No Retreat, Special World, Threshold Crossing

J.R.R. Tolkien

foreshadowing, the special world, threshold crossing

Fantasy and Sci-Fi World-Building, Iceberg Principle, Internal Consistency, Special World

A Wizard of Earthsea

Brandon Sanderson, J.R.R. Tolkien, Ursula K. Le Guin

the special world

Competence Principle, Special World, Strength Before Self-Knowledge

the special world

Character Agency, Mentor Archetype — From Introduction to Death, Mentor Figure

Ursula K. Le Guin

Character Agency, Setup and Payoff, Three-Level Escalation, The Trial

A Wizard of Earthsea, The Hobbit

J.R.R. Tolkien, Ursula K. Le Guin

setup and payoff

Character Archetypes, Ensemble Characters, Relationship as Story Engine, The Story’s Central Question, Supporting Characters

J.R.R. Tolkien

Antagonists and Opposition, Pinch Point 1 — The First Real Cost, Setup and Payoff, Shadow Archetype — Antagonist Construction

J.R.R. Tolkien

setup and payoff

Atmosphere and Mood, Dramatic Irony, Scene Structure, Setup and Payoff

A Wizard of Earthsea

J.R.R. Tolkien, Ursula K. Le Guin

setup and payoff

Accumulated Investment, Character Arc, Identity-Level Disaster, Midpoint, Midpoint Revelation — False Victory and False Defeat

A Wizard of Earthsea, The Lord of the Rings

J.R.R. Tolkien

false defeat, false victory

All Is Lost, Character Arc, Relationship as Story Engine, Setup and Payoff

Ursula K. Le Guin

all is lost, setup and payoff

Character Arc, Ensemble Characters, Relationship as Story Engine, Supporting Characters

Character Agency, Jeopardy vs Drama, Ticking Clock

ticking clock

Ensemble Characters, Point of No Retreat, Relationship as Story Engine, Sequence 4 — Tests, Allies, and Enemies, Subplot and Parallel Plotting

J.R.R. Tolkien

All Is Lost, Character Arc, Identity-Level Disaster, Sequence 4 — Tests, Allies, and Enemies, Sequence 5 — The Midpoint, Strength Before Self-Knowledge

all is lost

Character Arc, The Dark Night of the Soul, The Dark Night of the Soul — Patterns and Variations, The Hero’s Journey, Shadow Archetype — Antagonist Construction

A Wizard of Earthsea

Ursula K. Le Guin

dark night of the soul, hero’s journey

Epiphany, The Hero’s Journey, Setup and Payoff

The Lord of the Rings

J.R.R. Tolkien

hero’s journey, setup and payoff

Atmosphere and Mood, Scene Transitions and Scene Order, Setup and Payoff, Subplot and Parallel Plotting

J.R.R. Tolkien

setup and payoff

Character Agency, Climactic Decision, Defining Choice, The Story’s Central Question

J.R.R. Tolkien

defining choice

Climax and Resolution, Closing Image, The Hero’s Journey, Opening Image and Closing Image, Prologues and Epilogues, Special World, The Story’s Central Question

The Lord of the Rings

J.R.R. Tolkien

closing image, hero’s journey, opening image

Chosen One — Trope Analysis, The Dark Night of the Soul — Patterns and Variations, Defining Choice, The Hero’s Journey, Mentor Archetype — From Introduction to Death, Mentor Figure, Midpoint Revelation — False Victory and False Defeat, Opening Image, Opening Image and Closing Image, Pinch Point 1, Pinch Point 1 — The First Real Cost, Pinch Point 2, Pinch Point 2 — The New Commitment Under Fire, Point of No Retreat, Reader Trope Literacy, Rising Stakes: Raising the Cost of Failure, Sacrifice Beat, Sequence 4 — Tests, Allies, and Enemies, Showdown, Special World, Subgenre Trope Differentiation, Threshold Crossing

The Hero with a Thousand Faces, The Wizard of Oz, The Writer’s Journey

Christopher Vogler, Joseph Campbell

call to adventure, closing image, defining choice, hero’s journey, inciting incident, opening image, the special world, threshold crossing

Exposition, Iceberg Principle, Internal Consistency, Magic and Technology Systems, The Narrative Argument, Pacing, Science Fiction, Science Fiction 1a — The World as It Appears, Stakes, Thematic Premise

Arrival, A Song of Ice and Fire, Metamorphoses of Science Fiction, The Left Hand of Darkness

Brandon Sanderson, Darko Suvin, J.R.R. Tolkien, N.K. Jemisin, Ursula K. Le Guin

fish-out-of-water, narrative argument, thematic premise

Chosen One — Trope Analysis, Deus Ex Machina, Fantasy, Fantasy and Adventure Tropes by Structure, Fantasy Sequence 1 — The World Before the Call, The Hero’s Journey, New Situation: Learning the Rules of the Changed World, The Sequence Approach: Why Eight Units Beat Three Acts, Setup and Payoff, Special World, Threshold Crossing

hero’s journey, the special world, threshold crossing

All Is Lost, Chosen One — Trope Analysis, Closing Image, Conventions and Obligatory Scenes, The Dark Night of the Soul — Patterns and Variations, Defining Choice, Fantasy 7a — The Hero Stripped, Fantasy 7b — The Descent, Fantasy 8b — The Defining Choice, Fantasy and Adventure Tropes by Structure, The Hero’s Journey, Internal Consistency, Mentor Archetype — From Introduction to Death, Midpoint Revelation — False Victory and False Defeat, Opening Image, Opening Image and Closing Image, Pinch Point 1, Pinch Point 1 — The First Real Cost, Sacrifice Beat, Sequence 6 — The New Strategy, Showdown, Special World, Threshold Crossing

Beat home:, Job:, Obligatory., Story Grid, The Hero with a Thousand Faces, The Writer’s Journey

Brandon Sanderson, Christopher Vogler, Joseph Campbell

all is lost, call to adventure, closing image, defining choice, false peak, fish-out-of-water, hero’s journey, inciting incident, opening image, the special world, threshold crossing

Character Foundations, The Hero’s Journey, Thematic Premise

J.R.R. Tolkien, Ursula K. Le Guin

hero’s journey

Chosen One — Trope Analysis, Inciting Incident, Lie the Character Believes, Mentor Figure, The Story’s Central Question

call to adventure, inciting incident, threshold crossing

Exposition, Fantasy and Sci-Fi World-Building, Mentor Archetype — From Introduction to Death, Special World

Brandon Sanderson, Ursula K. Le Guin

the special world

Antagonists and Opposition, Character Archetypes, Ensemble Characters, Sequence 6 — The New Strategy, Sequence 7 — The Dark Night of the Soul, Shadow Archetype — Antagonist Construction

J.R.R. Tolkien

Dramatic Irony, Midpoint, Midpoint Revelation — False Victory and False Defeat, Sequence 4 — Tests, Allies, and Enemies, Sequence 5 — The Midpoint, Setup and Payoff

J.R.R. Tolkien

false defeat, false victory, setup and payoff

Ensemble Characters, The Narrative Argument, Supporting Characters, Ticking Clock

J.R.R. Tolkien

call to adventure, ticking clock

The Dark Night of the Soul, The Dark Night of the Soul — Patterns and Variations, Epiphany, Fantasy 7a — The Hero Stripped, Fantasy 7b — The Descent, Shadow Archetype — Antagonist Construction, Strength Before Self-Knowledge

A Wizard of Earthsea

J.R.R. Tolkien

dark night of the soul

Climax and Resolution, Defining Choice, Fantasy 8b — The Defining Choice, The Hero’s Journey, Sequence 4 — Tests, Allies, and Enemies, Sequence 5 — The Midpoint, Setup and Payoff, The Story’s Central Question

J.R.R. Tolkien

defining choice, foreshadowing, hero’s journey, setup and payoff

Deep POV, First Draft, Free Indirect Discourse, Interiority, Narrative Distance, Revision, Show Don’t Tell

Jane Austen

deep pov, free indirect discourse, show don’t tell

Internal Consistency, Outlining Methods, Revision, Scene 14 — The Social Ripple, Subplot and Parallel Plotting, Thematic Premise

Ernest Hemingway, Vladimir Nabokov

thematic premise

False Confidence, Genre Conventions, Literary Fiction, Romance, Sequence 4 — Tests, Allies, and Enemies, Setup and Payoff, Three-Level Escalation

Die Hard, Sicario, Some Like It Hot

setup and payoff

3b — Wrong Strategy Deployment, Competence Principle, Dramatic Irony, Interiority

Arrival, Whiplash

fish-out-of-water, ghost and wound

Backstory, In Medias Res, Midpoint Revelation — False Victory and False Defeat

Ordinary People

Character Arc, Lie the Character Believes, Mystery 1b — The Detective’s Method, Mystery and Detective Fiction, Negative Change Arc, Point of View, Positive Change Arc, Supporting Characters, Western

To Kill a Mockingbird

Antagonists and Opposition, Shadow Archetype — Antagonist Construction, Subplots — Structural Mirroring and Integration

Hamlet

Archplot Beats — Act 1, Chekhov’s Gun, The Dark Night of the Soul — Patterns and Variations, Deus Ex Machina, First Draft, Lie the Character Believes, Midpoint Revelation — False Victory and False Defeat, Mystery and Detective Fiction, Red Herring, Retrospective Inevitability, Setup and Payoff

Breaking Bad, Chinatown, Macbeth, No Country for Old Men, Of Mice and Men, The Godfather, The Great Gatsby

Cormac McCarthy

chekhov’s gun, false defeat, false victory, foreshadowing, red herring

Chekhov’s Gun, The Dark Night of the Soul — Patterns and Variations, Ensemble Characters, Pinch Point 2 — The New Commitment Under Fire, Series Structure — Multi-Book Arcs

chekhov’s gun

All Is Lost, The Dark Night of the Soul, Lock-In, Midpoint, Midpoint Revelation — False Victory and False Defeat, New Situation: Learning the Rules of the Changed World, Series Structure — Multi-Book Arcs, The Story’s Central Question, Structural Diagnosis — Finding What’s Wrong with a Draft

Story Engineering

Larry Brooks

all is lost, dark night of the soul, false defeat, false victory

Character Arc, The Character Engine: How the Inner Life Drives the Plot, Genre Conventions, Point of View, The Sequence Approach: Why Eight Units Beat Three Acts, Show Don’t Tell

call to adventure, false victory, meet-cute

Character Voice, Free Indirect Discourse, Narrative Distance, The Remains of the Day, Unreliable Narrator

Frankenstein, The Remains of the Day, Wuthering Heights

Kazuo Ishiguro

free indirect discourse

Complications: When the Plan Meets New Trouble, Critical Choice: The Decision That Commits to the Climax, New Situation: Learning the Rules of the Changed World, Resolution: Closing the Story’s Open Questions, Reversal: The Turn That Rewrites the Goal, Rising Stakes: Raising the Cost of Failure, The Sequence Approach: Why Eight Units Beat Three Acts, Setup: The World Worth Disrupting, Story Structure Overview, Three-Act Structure, Trigger: The Event That Ends the Ordinary World

Deep POV, Filtering Verbs, Interiority, Lie the Character Believes, Narrative Distance, The Remains of the Day, Scenic Summary, Summary vs Scene, Unreliable Narrator

Mrs Dalloway, Pride and Prejudice, The Remains of the Day

Jane Austen, Kazuo Ishiguro, Virginia Woolf

free indirect discourse, the lie the character believes

4a — The Tests, All Is Lost, B-Story Launch, Competence Principle, Dramatic Irony, Episodic vs. Causal Structure, False Confidence, Foreshadowing, Genre Conventions, Inescapability Construction, Lie the Character Believes, Logline, Midpoint, Pacing, Retrospective Inevitability, Special World, The Trial

Blake Snyder

all is lost, foreshadowing, fun and games, retrospective inevitability

Emotional Truth, Interiority, Love Interest, Subtext, Theme and Character Arc, Want vs Need

Carol, Chinatown, Mad Max: Fury Road

subtext

Comedy and Satire, Fantasy, Genre Conventions, Hardboiled and Noir Fiction, Horror, Literary Fiction, Mystery and Detective Fiction, Reader Expectations and Genre Psychology, Reader Trope Literacy, Romance, Romantasy, Romantic Suspense, Science Fiction, Thriller and Suspense, Tone and Thematic Register

Gone Girl, Pride and Prejudice, Rebecca, The Maltese Falcon, The Martian

Commercial Fiction, Cozy Mystery, Genre Blending, Genre Conventions as Trope Systems, Literary Fiction, Mystery and Detective Fiction, Reader Expectations and Genre Psychology, Reader Trope Literacy, Reader-Writer Contract, Romance, Romantic Suspense, Sentence Rhythm, Subgenre Trope Differentiation, Subverting and Deconstructing Tropes, Thriller and Suspense, What Tropes Are

meet-cute

All Is Lost, Chosen One — Trope Analysis, The Dark Night of the Soul — Patterns and Variations, Enemies to Lovers — Full Structural Arc, Fantasy, Genre Conventions, Genre Tropes, The Hero’s Journey, Horror, Inciting Incident, Literary Fiction, Midpoint Revelation — False Victory and False Defeat, Mystery and Detective Fiction, Reader Trope Literacy, Romance, Thriller and Suspense

all is lost, black moment, forced proximity, hero’s journey, inciting incident

Cozy Mystery, The Dark Night of the Soul, The Dark Night of the Soul — Patterns and Variations, Enemies to Lovers — Full Structural Arc, Hardboiled and Noir Fiction, Horror, Inciting Incident, Love Interest, Midpoint, Midpoint Revelation — False Victory and False Defeat, Mystery and Detective Fiction, Reader Trope Literacy, Science Fiction, Sequence 4 — Tests, Allies, and Enemies, Structural Map — Tropes by Sequence, Subgenre Trope Differentiation, Subverting and Deconstructing Tropes, Thriller and Suspense, Ticking Clock, What Tropes Are

The Fellowship of the Ring, Toy Story

black moment, call to adventure, dark night of the soul, fish-out-of-water, forced proximity, grand gesture, inciting incident, meet-cute, ticking clock

Backstory, Dramatic Irony, Exposition, Flashback, Free Indirect Discourse, Interiority, Literary Fiction, Nonlinear Narrative, Pacing, Scene, Scene Endings and Scene Transitions, Scenic Summary, Summary vs Scene

The Hours

free indirect discourse

Flat Arc, Mystery and Detective Fiction, Negative Change Arc

Gone Girl, The Maltese Falcon

Deep POV, Multiple POV Strategies, Point of View

Jane Austen

deep pov

All Is Lost, Climactic Decision, The Dark Night of the Soul, Fantasy Sequence 1 — The World Before the Call, Lie the Character Believes, Lock-In, Mentor Figure, Save the Cat Beats, Sequence 4 — Tests, Allies, and Enemies, Sequence 5 — The Midpoint, Sequence 8 — The Climax and Resolution, The Sequence Approach: Why Eight Units Beat Three Acts, Shadow Archetype — Antagonist Construction, Special World, Three-Act Structure, Threshold Crossing, The Trial, Want vs Need

The Hero with a Thousand Faces, The Lord of the Rings, The Silence of the Lambs, The Wizard of Oz, The Writer’s Journey

Anton Chekhov, Christopher Vogler, Joseph Campbell, J.R.R. Tolkien, Virginia Woolf

all is lost, call to adventure, hero’s journey, inciting incident, the lie the character believes, point of no return, save the cat, the special world, threshold crossing, want vs need

Dialogue, Iceberg Principle, Interiority, Narrative Distance, The Objective Correlative, Show Don’t Tell, Subtext, Subtext and Implication

Ernest Hemingway

show don’t tell, subtext

Emotional Truth, Fish-Out-of-Water Specificity, Free Indirect Discourse, Interiority, Literary Fiction, Magical Realism, Mystery and Detective Fiction, Narrative Distance, Point of View, Reader-Writer Contract, Romance, Science Fiction, Setting as Character, World-Building Foundations

fish-out-of-water, free indirect discourse

Atmosphere and Mood, Horror Tropes by Structure, Iceberg Principle, Reader-Writer Contract, Setting as Character, Subverting and Deconstructing Tropes, Suspense vs Surprise, Symbol and Motif, Tension and Suspense

Cormac McCarthy, Henry James, Shirley Jackson, Stephen King

Atmosphere and Mood, Iceberg Principle, Opening Image, Setting as Character

The Haunting of Hill House

Shirley Jackson

opening image

Backstory

Hereditary, The Shining

ghost and wound

Chekhov’s Gun, Foreshadowing, Retrospective Inevitability, Sequence 1 — The Opening Context

chekhov’s gun, foreshadowing

Hereditary, The Conjuring

inciting incident

Sequence 3 — Entering the New World

Sequence 2 — The Inciting Incident

The Conjuring, The Haunting of Hill House, The Shining

False Confidence, Partial Knowledge

The Conjuring

Pinch Point 1 — The First Real Cost

Hereditary

Ticking Clock

The Babadook, The Haunting of Hill House

ticking clock

A Quiet Place

Get Out, Hereditary

False Confidence

A Quiet Place, It Follows, The Conjuring

Accumulated Investment

Jaws

Stephen King

accumulated investment

Alien, Halloween

Sequence 7 — The Dark Night of the Soul

Pinch Point 2 — The New Commitment Under Fire, Sequence 6 — The New Strategy

It Follows, The Shining

All Is Lost, Retrospective Inevitability, Sequence 7 — The Dark Night of the Soul, Setting as Character

all is lost

The Dark Night of the Soul — Patterns and Variations, Inescapability Construction, Reader-Writer Contract, Sequence 1 — The Opening Context

Hereditary

Character Arc, Enacted Transformation, Sequence 1 — The Opening Context

Hereditary, The Babadook

enacted transformation

Character Arc, Emotional Truth, Showdown

dark night of the soul

Reader-Writer Contract, Sequence 4 — Tests, Allies, and Enemies

false victory

Closing Image, Opening Image, Opening Image and Closing Image, Sequence 1 — The Opening Context

closing image, opening image

Dramatic Irony, Horror, Horror Tropes by Structure, Partial Knowledge

All Is Lost, Atmosphere and Mood, Closing Image, Conventions and Obligatory Scenes, The Dark Night of the Soul — Patterns and Variations, Defining Choice, Dramatic Irony, False Confidence, Horror, Horror Tropes by Structure, Iceberg Principle, Inciting Incident, Midpoint Revelation — False Victory and False Defeat, Opening Image, Opening Image and Closing Image, Pinch Point 1, Pinch Point 1 — The First Real Cost, Reader-Writer Contract, Setting as Character, Showdown, Threshold Crossing, Ticking Clock

Beat home:, Get Out, Job:, Obligatory., Story Grid, The Babadook

closing image, defining choice, false peak, inciting incident, opening image, threshold crossing, ticking clock

Accumulated Investment, Foreshadowing, Sequence 1 — The Opening Context, Sequence 2 — The Inciting Incident

Hereditary, The Haunting of Hill House

accumulated investment, foreshadowing

Dramatic Irony, Red Herring, Sequence 2 — The Inciting Incident, Threshold Crossing

Stephen King

inciting incident, point of no return, red herring, threshold crossing

Genre Conventions, Partial Knowledge, Pinch Point 1, Pinch Point 1 — The First Real Cost, Sequence 3 — Entering the New World

A Quiet Place

Midpoint Revelation — False Victory and False Defeat, Sequence 4 — Tests, Allies, and Enemies, Ticking Clock

Hereditary

Stephen King

ticking clock

Iceberg Principle, Sequence 5 — The Midpoint, Sequence 8 — The Climax and Resolution

Halloween, Jaws

All Is Lost, Pinch Point 2 — The New Commitment Under Fire, Sequence 3 — Entering the New World, Sequence 5 — The Midpoint, Sequence 6 — The New Strategy, Sequence 7 — The Dark Night of the Soul

A Quiet Place, It Follows, The Shining

all is lost

The Dark Night of the Soul — Patterns and Variations, Sequence 7 — The Dark Night of the Soul

Hereditary, The Babadook

dark night of the soul

Closing Image, Opening Image and Closing Image, Sequence 7 — The Dark Night of the Soul, Sequence 8 — The Climax and Resolution

A Quiet Place, Halloween, Hereditary, The Babadook

closing image

All Is Lost, Backstory, The Dark Night of the Soul — Patterns and Variations, Defining Choice, Dramatic Irony, Enacted Transformation, False Confidence, Genre Conventions, Inciting Incident, Midpoint Revelation — False Victory and False Defeat, Opening Image, Pinch Point 1 — The First Real Cost, Pinch Point 2 — The New Commitment Under Fire, Sequence 3 — Entering the New World, Sequence 4 — Tests, Allies, and Enemies, Sequence 7 — The Dark Night of the Soul, Showdown, Threshold Crossing, Ticking Clock

A Quiet Place, Get Out, Halloween, Hereditary, It Follows, The Babadook, The Conjuring, The Haunting of Hill House, The Shining

all is lost, defining choice, inciting incident, opening image, point of no return, threshold crossing, ticking clock

Backstory, Description and Imagery, Exposition, Interiority, Point of View, Show Don’t Tell

The Lord of the Rings

Ernest Hemingway, J.R.R. Tolkien, Ursula K. Le Guin

show don’t tell

7a — The Collapse, 7b — Dark Night Confrontation, All Is Lost, The Dark Night of the Soul, Free Indirect Discourse, Interiority, Last Temptation, Midpoint, Positive Change Arc, Sequence 6 — The New Strategy, Series Structure — Multi-Book Arcs

Atonement, Breaking Bad, The Remains of the Day

Blake Snyder, Kazuo Ishiguro

all is lost, dark night of the soul, free indirect discourse

2a — The Disruption, 2b — The Cascade of Consequences, The Hero’s Journey, Key Event, Mystery Tropes by Structure, New Situation: Learning the Rules of the Changed World, Point of View, Structural Map — Tropes by Sequence, Threshold Crossing, Thriller and Crime Tropes by Structure

call to adventure, hero’s journey, inciting incident, threshold crossing

B-Story, B-Story Launch, Displacement Activity Intimacy, Emotional Truth, False Confidence, Fun and Games, Internal vs External Conflict, Midpoint, Positive Change Arc, Relationship as Story Engine, Romance 2a — The Forced Proximity, Setup and Payoff, The Story’s Central Question, Subplot and Parallel Plotting

Gravity, Marriage Story

forced proximity, fun and games, setup and payoff

3b — Wrong Strategy Deployment, 3c — The First Cost, Dramatic Irony, Lie the Character Believes, Midpoint, Psychology of the Wrong Strategy, Want vs Need

want vs need

Frame Narrative, Nonlinear Narrative

Gone Girl, Pulp Fiction, Rebecca

inciting incident

Character Voice, Dramatic Irony, Filtering Verbs, Free Indirect Discourse, Literary Fiction, Narrative Distance, Subtext, Want vs Need

Mrs Dalloway, Normal People

Henry James, Jane Austen, Virginia Woolf

free indirect discourse, show don’t tell, subtext

Character Arc, Character Foundations, Chekhov’s Gun, Deus Ex Machina, First Draft, Foreshadowing, Lie the Character Believes, Magic and Technology Systems, Reader-Writer Contract, Retrospective Inevitability, Revision, Setup and Payoff

Brandon Sanderson

chekhov’s gun, foreshadowing, retrospective inevitability, setup and payoff

Antagonists and Opposition, Climax and Resolution, Layered Pressure, Lie the Character Believes, Literary Fiction, Moral Conflict, Positive Change Arc, Psychology of the Wrong Strategy, Scene Structure, Stakes, Thematic Premise, Want vs Need

Atonement, Breaking Bad

want vs need

Dramatic Irony, Prose Style, Thematic Premise, Unreliable Narrator

Catch-22, Lolita, The Great Gatsby, The Remains of the Day, The Turn of the Screw

Henry James, Vladimir Nabokov

thematic premise

Internal vs External Conflict, Lie the Character Believes, Positive Change Arc, Shadow Archetype — Antagonist Construction, Want vs Need

The Social Network

the lie the character believes, want vs need

The Hero’s Journey, Inciting Incident, Mentor Figure, Structural Map — Tropes by Sequence, Threshold Crossing

Joseph Campbell

inciting incident, threshold crossing

Fantasy, Fantasy and Sci-Fi World-Building, Historical Fiction, Internal Consistency, Science Fiction

Brandon Sanderson, J.R.R. Tolkien, Ursula K. Le Guin

7c — The Turn, Identity-Level Disaster, Lie the Character Believes, Point of No Retreat, Sequence 6 — The New Strategy, Show Don’t Tell, Three-Level Escalation

Fleabag, The Dark Knight

show don’t tell

All Is Lost, Character Agency, Conventions and Obligatory Scenes, The Dark Night of the Soul, False Stakes, Genre Conventions, Internal vs External Conflict, Relationship as Story Engine, Romance, Subplot and Parallel Plotting, Three-Level Escalation, Thriller and Suspense

Breaking Bad, Hamlet, The Road

all is lost, dark night of the soul

Backstory, Character Arc, Climax and Resolution, Internal vs External Conflict, Negative Change Arc, Positive Change Arc, Thematic Premise, Want vs Need

Pride and Prejudice

Jane Austen

the lie the character believes, thematic premise, want vs need

Free Indirect Discourse, Opening Image, Point of View, Prose Style

Mrs. Dalloway, The Hours, The Remains of the Day

Anton Chekhov

opening image

Housekeeping, Normal People, Revolutionary Road, The Remains of the Day

ghost and wound

Foreshadowing

Housekeeping, Normal People, Revolutionary Road

Anton Chekhov

foreshadowing

Unreliable Narrator

Mrs. Dalloway, Revolutionary Road, The Remains of the Day

Anton Chekhov

ghost and wound

Free Indirect Discourse, Unreliable Narrator

Mrs. Dalloway, Normal People

Anton Chekhov

Epiphany, Threshold Crossing

Revolutionary Road

Anton Chekhov

threshold crossing

3a — Arrival and First Encounter

Housekeeping, Mrs. Dalloway

Virginia Woolf

3b — Wrong Strategy Deployment, Pinch Point 1 — The First Real Cost

Lolita, Mrs. Dalloway, Revolutionary Road

Anton Chekhov

3c — The First Cost, Unreliable Narrator

The Remains of the Day

4a — The Tests

Mrs. Dalloway, The Hours

Anton Chekhov

4b — The Allies

Normal People, Revolutionary Road, The Hours, The Remains of the Day

Joseph Campbell, Virginia Woolf

4c — The Enemies, Unreliable Narrator

Lolita

Mrs. Dalloway, Revolutionary Road, The Hours, The Remains of the Day

Kazuo Ishiguro

false peak

Epiphany, Midpoint Revelation — False Victory and False Defeat, Unreliable Narrator

Normal People, Revolutionary Road, The Remains of the Day

Dramatic Irony, Pinch Point 2 — The New Commitment Under Fire, Sequence 6 — The New Strategy

Sequence 6 — The New Strategy

Normal People, Revolutionary Road, The Hours

Epiphany

All Is Lost, The Dark Night of the Soul — Patterns and Variations, Literary Fiction, Unreliable Narrator

The Hours

all is lost

All Is Lost

Revolutionary Road, The Remains of the Day

Kazuo Ishiguro

all is lost

Manchester by the Sea

Defining Choice, Sequence 7 — The Dark Night of the Soul

Atonement, Housekeeping, Manchester by the Sea, Normal People, The Hours, The Remains of the Day

defining choice, grand gesture

Defining Choice, Sequence 7 — The Dark Night of the Soul

Housekeeping, The Hours

Anton Chekhov

defining choice

Closing Image

Revolutionary Road, The Remains of the Day

Anton Chekhov, Kazuo Ishiguro

closing image

Closing Image, Opening Image, Opening Image and Closing Image

Mrs. Dalloway, The Remains of the Day

closing image, opening image

Enacted Transformation, Free Indirect Discourse, Literary Drama Tropes by Structure, Literary Fiction

free indirect discourse, inciting incident, subtext

All Is Lost, Closing Image, Conventions and Obligatory Scenes, The Dark Night of the Soul — Patterns and Variations, Defining Choice, Epiphany, Inciting Incident, Interiority, Literary Drama 1a — The Quiet World, Literary Drama 1b — The Inner Life, Literary Drama 1c — The Unexamined Tensions, Literary Drama 2a — The Change in Understanding, Literary Drama 2b — The Resistance to Implications, Literary Drama 2c — The Threshold into Self-Examination, Literary Drama 3a — Reluctant Engagement, Literary Drama 3b — Avoidance as Strategy, Literary Drama 3c — The Truth Spoken, Literary Drama 4a — Noticing What Cannot Be Unnoticed, Literary Drama 4b — The Thematic Relationship, Literary Drama 4c — The Forces of Self-Deception, Literary Drama 5a — The Self-Narrative Holds, Literary Drama 5b — Unwanted Clarity, Literary Drama 5c — The New Understanding Forced, Literary Drama 6a — Attempting to Live with Recognition, Literary Drama 6b — Recognition vs. Circumstances, Literary Drama 6c — The Self-Narrative Collapses, Literary Drama Tropes by Structure, Literary Fiction, Midpoint Revelation — False Victory and False Defeat, Negative Change Arc, Opening Image, Opening Image and Closing Image, Pinch Point 1, Pinch Point 1 — The First Real Cost, Pinch Point 2, Pinch Point 2 — The New Commitment Under Fire, Pyrrhic Victory, Subtext, Threshold Crossing, Ticking Clock, Unreliable Narrator

Beat home:, Job:, Lolita, Mrs. Dalloway, Obligatory., Revolutionary Road, Story Grid, The Hours, The Remains of the Day

Anton Chekhov

closing image, defining choice, false peak, inciting incident, opening image, subtext, ticking clock

Dramatic Irony, Literary Drama 1a — The Quiet World, Literary Drama 1b — The Inner Life, Literary Drama 1c — The Unexamined Tensions, Thriller and Suspense

Mrs. Dalloway, Normal People, Revolutionary Road, The Remains of the Day

foreshadowing, ghost and wound

Inciting Incident, Literary Drama 2a — The Change in Understanding, Literary Drama 2b — The Resistance to Implications, Literary Drama 2c — The Threshold into Self-Examination, Nonlinear Narrative

The Hours, The Remains of the Day

Anton Chekhov

inciting incident

Literary Drama 3a — Reluctant Engagement, Literary Drama 3b — Avoidance as Strategy, Literary Drama 3c — The Truth Spoken, Sequence 3 — Entering the New World, Sequence 4 — Tests, Allies, and Enemies

Revolutionary Road, The Hours, The Remains of the Day

threshold crossing

Literary Drama 4a — Noticing What Cannot Be Unnoticed, Literary Drama 4b — The Thematic Relationship, Literary Drama 4c — The Forces of Self-Deception, Mentor Figure, Sequence 4 — Tests, Allies, and Enemies, Ticking Clock

ticking clock

Epiphany, Literary Drama 5a — The Self-Narrative Holds, Literary Drama 5b — Unwanted Clarity, Literary Drama 5c — The New Understanding Forced, Midpoint Revelation — False Victory and False Defeat, Sequence 5 — The Midpoint, Unreliable Narrator

Mrs. Dalloway, Revolutionary Road, The Remains of the Day

false peak

All Is Lost, Literary Drama 6a — Attempting to Live with Recognition, Literary Drama 6b — Recognition vs. Circumstances, Literary Drama 6c — The Self-Narrative Collapses, Rising Stakes: Raising the Cost of Failure, Sequence 6 — The New Strategy

all is lost

All Is Lost, The Dark Night of the Soul — Patterns and Variations, Epiphany, Sequence 5 — The Midpoint, Sequence 6 — The New Strategy, Sequence 7 — The Dark Night of the Soul, Sequence 8 — The Climax and Resolution

Manchester by the Sea

all is lost, dark night of the soul

Closing Image, Epiphany, Pyrrhic Victory, Sequence 8 — The Climax and Resolution

Manchester by the Sea, Normal People, The Remains of the Day

closing image

All Is Lost, The Dark Night of the Soul — Patterns and Variations, Defining Choice, Epiphany, Inciting Incident, Key Event, Literary Fiction, Midpoint Revelation — False Victory and False Defeat, Opening Image, Opening Image and Closing Image, Pinch Point 1, Pinch Point 1 — The First Real Cost, Pinch Point 2 — The New Commitment Under Fire, Pyrrhic Victory, The Remains of the Day, Sequence 4 — Tests, Allies, and Enemies, Threshold Crossing, Ticking Clock, Unreliable Narrator

Beloved, Lolita, Manchester by the Sea, Mrs. Dalloway, Revolutionary Road, The Hours, The Remains of the Day, The Trial

Anton Chekhov

all is lost, closing image, defining choice, inciting incident, opening image, threshold crossing, ticking clock

Commercial Fiction, Crime and Punishment, Free Indirect Discourse, Genre Conventions, Hills Like White Elephants, Historical Fiction, Iceberg Principle, Interiority, Magical Realism, The Narrative Argument, Narrative Distance, Negative Change Arc, Point of View, Prose Style, The Remains of the Day, Science Fiction, Sentence Rhythm, Subtext, Theme vs Message

Cormac McCarthy, Ernest Hemingway, Gabriel García Márquez, Jane Austen, Kazuo Ishiguro, Stephen King, Virginia Woolf

free indirect discourse, narrative argument, subtext

3a — Arrival and First Encounter, Lie the Character Believes, Point of No Retreat, Special World

Chinatown, Good Will Hunting, No Country for Old Men, Ordinary People, Story Engineering