I
wasn’t going to post this until next Wednesday, but then I realized I will be
gone all next week. My kids have spring break and we are headed to Grandma’s
house :) So you get two days of crafting advice.
Like
I said yesterday, Blake Snyder’s book Save the Cat is awesome. He talks
about the 10 different story types. Every
type has rules that if you follow them will make your story stronger.
If
you missed yesterday here’s the link to the first 5 story types: What is mytype—Part 1.
1. Wish Fulfillment Story: Somehow
the MC makes a wish that changes everything. It doesn’t matter if the wish
comes from a genie, wishing well, love potion, or magic beans. The wish must
somehow change the wisher.
The Purpose: This is so simple—your MC
must be someone we want to root for. Who wants to see a billionaire get another
million dollars? But human nature being what it is, we don’t want to see
someone have it too easy :) Ultimately the MC must learn that magic isn’t
everything. It is better to be normal—like the reader—and grateful for what you
have.
Examples: Freaky Friday, My Unfair Godmother (side note—I had a hard time
finding good examples of this story type, so if you have a great wish
fulfillment story—the field is wide open)
2. Coming of Age Story: This type
of story is as old as time. We love it because every one of us has gone through
it and can relate.
The Purpose: To say these stories
are about change is terribly obvious. They are about the pain, growth, and
torment of LIFE. But usually the catalyst of the story is an outside source.
Only going through the experience can offer the solution.
Examples: Catcher in the Rye, Paper Towns, Are You There God? It’s Me Margret
3. The Love Story: This is of
course the obvious romantic “love story” but stories about two friends also
fall into this category. Ultimately this story type is about relationships.
The Purpose: At first the two MC’s
hate each other (or have some other kind of conflict), but as they go along
they realize how much they need each other, but that just leads to more
conflict. Then we have the inevitable “all is lost” moment (a personal
favorite). But the final resolution comes in the moment when both characters
surrender a little of themselves for the other. In my opinion sacrifice is true
love!
Examples: The Kite Runner, Pride and Prejudice, Charlotte’s Web
4. Regular Guy Huge Problem: I love
this kind of story because it is so relatable. Who doesn’t feel like their life
is one ongoing huge problem?
The Purpose: Take one regular guy
(or gal) give them a GIGANTIC problem and shake HARD! The worse the problem is
the more potential for heroics. The real
key to this story is that your MC must overcome his/her problem because of a
talent or ingenuity that ONLY they have! Why is your MC uniquely perfect to
solve this problem?
Examples: The Maze Runner, Night, Harry Potter (we can debate my choice to
classify Harry here, but I think of all the story types this one fits the best.
I know Harry is not a regular guy, but he thinks of himself as average. And we
all have to admit that Voldemort is a HUGE problem!)
5. Monster in the House: I borrowed Snyder’s title (I couldn’t think of
a better one :) This is also a very primal story type, “Something is trying to kill
me, and I must get away!” The monster can be lots of things: zombies, monsters,
animals, crazed killers, toxic viruses.
The Purpose: According to Snyder
the rules of this story type are VERY strict. You break the rules the story
will fail. Rule 1) The must be some
kind of “house” or contained place: an island, a house, a spaceship—a place
characters cannot easily escape. If you break this rule it will undermine your
tension. Rule 2) A sin is committed
(usually some form of greed) that creates this monster bent on punishing its
creators and sparing those who recognize the sin. Rule 3) The rest is run for your life!
Examples: Jurassic Park, I’m Not a Serial Killer, Cujo
Here are all 10: Monster in the House, Regular Guy
Huge Problem, The Love Story, Coming of Age, Wish
Fulfillment, Superhero, Underdog, Mystery, Family Saga, and the Quest.
I
had tons of people say that their stories are multiple story types. I just
wanted to say—Your main plot is really only one type, but then you can have
subplots that use the other types.
One
reason you need to focus on one type is that different stories have different motivations.
A quest story is about learning
something about yourself through a journey. A love story is about sacrificing a little of your ego for love. Wish fulfillment is about learning to
be grateful for what you have. If you try and mix too much you get split
motivations.
I
hope this was helpful :) I love this kind of stuff. Story structure fascinates
me. So now that you have all ten—what type
of story are you writing? Remember only pick one!
-Angie
15 comments:
I really like reading wish fulfillment stories, they are a lot of fun! As a writer though, it's usually love. I have done coming of age before too, but very rarely. :)
I love monters is the house! Not my house of course. In someone elses house is preferred.
One of my WIPs is a family saga. The other is... a mystery. I think. And, probably not coincidentally, those are my favorite types to read, though I like books from basically every type.
This reminded me of how much I would love to read a good coming of age story!
Have fun at Grandmas's:)
This is actually very helpful with a new shiney idea that I just started putting to paper yesterday. If I continue on the path that it is currently heading, then I think it will fall in the Wish Fulfillment category. But I'm at the very beginning, so I'll see how things progress.
"And we all have to admit that Voldemort is a HUGE problem!"
I cracked up at that. Ha ha.
Anyway, very informative post. If I had to pick one, I'd call my story a Coming of Age, but it has Love Story subplots and Average Guy undertones.
Good stuff here. Again!
Did you know you can schedule posts in advance? ;)
Great posts, Angie! I learned a lot. But I don't know where my stories fall. HA. I guess Coming of Age or Underdog!
Excellent two posts. Glad you had plans next week so I didn't have to wait that long to read part 2.
On a quest for the perfect quest...
regular guy, huge problem? but i'm working on why he is right for the job, and he definitely has to overcome big obstacles to solve it...
sigh, i doubt myself sometimes if it's worth all this effort to be shot down again...woe is me (sorry for the pity party!)
go have a nice spring break!
I like the regular guy, huge problem story as well. I am a big fan of Blake Snyder. I have all of his Save the Cat books and the workbook. I really believe that scriptwriting or screenwriting (not sure which to call it) techniques are an invaluable tool for novelist.
Um uh oh. I don't know which one mine fits into! Agh!
And btw, Jurassic Park and Cujo scared the pee out of me.
Coming of age! Angsty, so much trauma & drama, YA Contemporary all the way!
I think one of my books is a mystery (at least it is now with the rewrites) and the other is a monster in the house (aka YA horror).
There's a STC workbook?????
My current WIP is a coming of age. Excellent posts!
Post a Comment