The Twelve Sequences of Story - Beta

20140723

Based on the following works: Blake Snyder’s “Save The Cat” & “Save The Cat Goes to The Movies”, Joseph Campbell’s “The Hero’s Journey”, Scott Myer’s “Create a Compelling Protagonist Workshop”, Jeffrey Gordon’s “Writers Boot Camp” & Tamara Hawkinson’s “Statement of Purpose for 12 Sequences” and most importantly, my own personal in-depth analysis of films, stories and synthesis.

S01 - Open Six

Ordinary World

(Life As Is) Establish Main Character, Misbehavior & Six Key Conflicts

RE: Misbehaviors: There are four types of misbehaviors¹:
- Mavericks/Outsiders - people who can’t follow rules or fit in
- Driven/Visionaries - people who are passionate, ambitious or stubborn about a position
- Headstrong/Idealistic - people who are stuck on “the way things are”
- Naïve/Immature/Romantic/Lost - someone who needs to grow up and face reality, take ownership or responsibility of their and other lives.
RE: Six Key Conflicts: Show how the MC’s misbehavior affects/creates his relationship with himself (internally)… attractor, mentor, allies/family (interpersonally)… his world/home (e.g. tribe, work, city, society), and villain/opponent/shadow-self (externally).

Theme Stated

Someone poses a question or says something to MC that subtly foreshadows the moral dilemma of this story.

Inciting Incident

Externalized event (e.g. call, package, meeting, news) establishes want, stakes (urgency/scope) & consequences KEY SCENE

RE: Relationship Between Misbehavior & Incident: When MC doesn’t (or refuses to) address his or her misbehavior (which is really a subconscious internal unmet need), the “world” creates external conscious problems for MC that forces him/her to face it and react to “conscious wants”. This initiates the core story and answers the questions of “why this MC, this time”. It’s an “unconscious need” they’ve personally ignored or refused to acknowledge, and in doing so, created this misbehavior – a defense or coping mechanism. This “unconscious need” dates back to a trauma, tragedy or incident in the MC’s backstory that they never overcame.

S02 - Catalyst

Raise Stakes: Show how those six key conflicts create consequences due to MC’s misbehavior in reaction to the inciting incident.

RE: Amplify Misbehavior: By the end of this sequence, MC will have made the dumbest, most extreme possible decision that takes his misbehavior to a new level in a KEY SCENE
RE: Introduce Dynamic Character: It can be the attractor, mentor or even the opponent (depending on the type of story you’re telling)… but one relationship will be key for the MC to interact with, be manipulated by and causing him/her to transform throughout the adventure in Act 2 & 3. (May be subplot in Act 1).

S03 - Debate

Misbehavior 10X: Play out sequence 2’s decision based on the misbehavior - in a series of escalating scenes - which forces the MC to go on the Act 2 Adventure.

RE: Plunging into Act 2 Adventure: Yes, the hero must proactively make the decision to go on the “adventure”… but their lack of options was due to the decision they made in the last sequence based on misbehavior. So while he wasn’t externally lured, tricked or deceived… in a way, they did it to themselves². The results of that decision pushes them into the adventure. KEY SCENE

S04 - B-World

The Adventure

MC goes to the “Upside Down World” with the DC. There’s usually exploration and experimentation here.

RE: The Ten Plot Types: Based on “Save the Cat Goes to The Movies”, every “middle” or Adventure (acts 2&3 out of a 4-act structure) is based on one of these ten plots…

REACTIVE PLOTS:

Monster In The House: Defend/Protect from Monster/Villain
Institutionalized: Escape Prison OR Fight/Rebel System
Superhero: Avenge/Justice/Rescue (Crime, World at Stake)
Dude With A Problem: Run Away From (Caught in Craziness)
Whydunnit: Solve Mystery (Crime, Police Procedural)

PROACTIVE PLOTS: 6. Out of the Bottle: Tempted by Magical Shortcut 7. Rite of Passage: Tempted by Something Morally Wrong 8. Buddy Love: Fall In Love (Romance or Friendship) 9. Golden Fleece: Seek X w/Team OR Rescue Y (McGuffin) 10. Fool Triumphant: Achieve Impossible Goal (Underdog)

Opponent Acts

In a “Reactive Plot” the threat and menace of the OP rears its ugly head and sets a ticking time bomb, mystery or McGuffin or in a “Proactive Plot” the MC/DC team makes plans, cases out a joint or goes on an adventure… and identifies the OP, his strengths & other obstacles, etc.

S05 - Games

Experiments Cont’d

We’re in the thick of the B-World now. There’s some exposition, training, discoveries, warnings, foreshadowing – but all naively “fun”.

RE: Fun & Games in S04 & S05 (REACTIVE PLOTS): This is the “promise of the premise”. In “Reactive Plots”, this is where OP kills more people, plays with its food, puts MC/DC in tons of crazy situations… while the MC/DC is trying to figure out what they’ve gotten themselves into.
RE: Fun & Games in S04 & S05 (PROACTIVE PLOTS): In “Proactive Plots”, this is where MC/DC explore, start training or have fun misadventures with their new love, new team or new power. Everything is fresh and new.
RE: Secret Exposed: One of MC’s embarrassing secrets is exposed to a third party (outside of the MC/DC/OP relationship) which creates a subplot that intensifies MC’s dilemma. KEY SCENE

OP Takes Control

Whether MC/DC know or not, the OP is doing stuff to shore up control and set counter-plot in motion.

S06 - Point of No Return

Games End

In the first half of this sequence, the fun starts to end and wrap up.

Point of No Return

MC is about to have his first battle with OP. He has a lot of faith and confidence with his newfound X.

RE: The Mirror Moment: About three quarters into this sequence, right before MC/DC/OP enters their first battle, the MC will have a “mirror moment” and ask himself, “Who am I? What am I doing here? What do I stand for?” KEY SCENE
RE: Point of No Return: It’s not just about prepping for this battle. There’s also usually a midpoint twist that makes this upcoming fight interesting. Even though the audience isn’t stupid and thinks the story will end here, we’re still rooting and hoping they do. KEY SCENE

S07 - False Victory

MC/DC are in simpatico, kicking ass and things are going their way…

RE: False Victory: This is a thrilling sequence of scenes where the hero seems to kickass with their newfound power, team, situation, love… but it is also seeds their destruction… Just because you have “new B-World stuff” doesn’t mean you get to win. KEY SCENE(S)

S08 - Evil Chokes

Bad Guys Close In: OP throws everything at MC/DC and they have no idea what went wrong… DC starts to doubt, team dissents, infighting, jealousy

RE: Bad Guys Close In: OP takes control of the game. If he was “caught” last sequence, he planned it. If MC/DC won several small victories in S07, the OP was saving the best for last, Ace in the Hole. OP is fucking with MC/DC. KEY SCENE(S)

S09 - All is Lost

Whiff of Death

OP kills someone close to MC/DC or comes very close to it - mentor, attractor, or even DC himself.

RE: Whiff of Death: According to Snyder, this is where mentors go to die. But it can also be attractors (love interest, best buddy). And it may not be actual death, it could be mortal danger, greatest jeopardy. KEY SCENE

Dark Night of the Soul

MC & DC are estranged, separate, apart. MC is in the pit of despair. Everything went wrong. What happened?

RE: Dark Night of The Soul: MC has been having so much fun in the B-World, that he misses on some key things that estranges him from DC. When “everything is lost” after OP makes his most devastating move… MC will sit alone somewhere and be depressed. But it’s not “all bad”. Hero discovers he had something in himself. An epiphany. KEY SCENE

S10 - Resort

Misbehaving Again: Alone, MC tries to fix things, but resorts to his misbehavior to get things done. It fails.

RE: Back In The Ordinary World. The MC will try to fix things by resorting to his misbehavior. It won’t work. The point of every story in the history of stories is so the protagonist will overcome his misbehavior, “grow up” and transform. KEY SCENE

S11 - Rally

MC Rallies: MC rallies himself, DC, team and/or allies for the final battle.

RE: Rallying The Troops: Having overcome his misbehavior… and synthesizing his newfound powers from B-world into his life… MC has to rally allies, team and DC back into a cohesive unit. They put together a new plan, and get ready to execute on it. KEY SCENE

S12 - Battle

Climax: The final battle

RE: The Final Battle: Dispatch bad buys in ascending order from henchman to boss. Everything leads to the final conflict. Crisis moment. KEY SCENE
RE: Resolution: In standalone stories, it’s a brief final moment. Possibly a mirror image of the beginning. In a series, you set-up the sequel or next part. KEY SCENE

Further observations on Misbehaviors:
- MAVERICKS/OUTSIDERS… do the Least Amount because… “people suck” (I’ve been cheated, hurt, it’s not worth it). They have a hole they are hiding don’t want others to see… don’t build relationships, get as much as you can now, transactional
- DRIVENS/VISIONARIES… go overboard and overcompensate because… “prove I’m better” (chip on shoulder, redemption, “not good enough”). They have a hole they want to fill… must accomplish goals
- HEADSTRONGS/IDEALISTICS… always do what’s “right” even if it costs because… “I have values/mission” (resentful obligation, an ideal sense of self, superiority complex, loyalty, threatened by loss). They have a hole they must defend… must uphold values, rules, order, power
- IMMATURES/NAÏVE/ROMANTIC/LOST… go with gut instinct and animal urges because… “It feels good” (it’s more fun, life is short, justify things later, I’ve got time, get what I can now). They have a hole they are running away from… must experience as much as you can now, experiment without care for consequences.
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In a television series or book serial – the pilot is Act 1. Every subsequent episode is in Act 2 & 3 mode. The MC doesn’t solve their misbehavior until the series finale (if you ever get there). The point of Bond, House, CSI, Sherlock, etc. is to have as many adventures (acts 2&3) as possible, for as long as possible, showing their misbehavior as often as possible in multiple entertaining ways with different relationships. This applies to “serious” serials too like Sopranos, Mad Men, Breaking Bad, etc ↩︎