Thomas Funicello's Blog - Posts Tagged "antithesis"
3-ACT STORY STRUCTURE
A critical part of structuring a story is to understand what the main character is experiencing, physically, emotionally, relationally, spiritually, etc.
The 3-Act story structure will help, and my expansion of the concept can help even more.
There are plenty of resources to describe the standard 3-Act story structure, here is my expanded concept of the traditional Thesis, Antithesis, Synthesis.
OMNITHESIS - This represents the story universe with people and events that form the story setting.
DIATHESIS - This is the everyday normal routine of the character in the Normal World. Many times, presented as backstory or Prologue.
THESIS (Act 1) - This is what I call the last day in the Normal World.
HYPOTHESIS (Act 2a) - This is the naive view of the Strange World through the Normal World normalcy bias of the main character.
ANTITHESIS (Act 2b) - This is the literary "punch in the nose" where the main character is faced with the realities of the Special World.
SYNTHESIS (Act 3) - This is where the main character is able to combine the Normal World with the Special World to survive in the New World.
NEOTHESIS - This is the new normal routine of the New World, typically seen in an Epilogue.
Next time I will show how these elements are utilized at every level of storytelling.
The 3-Act story structure will help, and my expansion of the concept can help even more.
There are plenty of resources to describe the standard 3-Act story structure, here is my expanded concept of the traditional Thesis, Antithesis, Synthesis.
OMNITHESIS - This represents the story universe with people and events that form the story setting.
DIATHESIS - This is the everyday normal routine of the character in the Normal World. Many times, presented as backstory or Prologue.
THESIS (Act 1) - This is what I call the last day in the Normal World.
HYPOTHESIS (Act 2a) - This is the naive view of the Strange World through the Normal World normalcy bias of the main character.
ANTITHESIS (Act 2b) - This is the literary "punch in the nose" where the main character is faced with the realities of the Special World.
SYNTHESIS (Act 3) - This is where the main character is able to combine the Normal World with the Special World to survive in the New World.
NEOTHESIS - This is the new normal routine of the New World, typically seen in an Epilogue.
Next time I will show how these elements are utilized at every level of storytelling.
Story Quarters
In a previous post I discussed the concept of breaking down your story into Act Parts or quarters: Thesis, Hypothesis, Antithesis, and Synthesis.
This quartering concept can be used to further breakdown your story. Here is my method:
A story has 4 quarters called Act Parts (Act I, Act IIa, Act IIb, Act III).
Each Act Part has 4 quarters called Sequences.
Each Sequence has 4 quarters called Scenes.
Each Scene has 4 quarters called Segments.
Each Segment has 4 quarters called Elements.
Each Element has 4 quarters called Moments.
These are the terms I prefer to use; they may not align with industry terms, but I find this concept critical.
This structure helps me know what should be happening at any point in the story.
Once again, a good story structure is not to be rigid or restrictive, it should help a writer track events, emotions, and knowledge.
Next time I will discuss External Pressures and Internal Responses
This quartering concept can be used to further breakdown your story. Here is my method:
A story has 4 quarters called Act Parts (Act I, Act IIa, Act IIb, Act III).
Each Act Part has 4 quarters called Sequences.
Each Sequence has 4 quarters called Scenes.
Each Scene has 4 quarters called Segments.
Each Segment has 4 quarters called Elements.
Each Element has 4 quarters called Moments.
These are the terms I prefer to use; they may not align with industry terms, but I find this concept critical.
This structure helps me know what should be happening at any point in the story.
Once again, a good story structure is not to be rigid or restrictive, it should help a writer track events, emotions, and knowledge.
Next time I will discuss External Pressures and Internal Responses
Hero Flaws
The main character must learn critical lessons from their flaws and problems to succeed or survive. These lessons are best represented as Flaws, Secrets and Problems. The main character starts off as flawed and must overcome the triggers and beliefs that hold him or her back from becoming the Hero of the story. Some of the issues the main character must overcome are: External Problems, Internal Problems, Flaws, Secrets, and a Tragic Flaw. These various issues may not all be present but the ones that need addressing will continue to trigger reactions and choices that cause problems until they are overcome. Each time there is a surprise or crisis it is a good time to trigger a Flaw. It is the story finale where the Hero has resolved the issues and flaws, and any secret or false belief is out in the open.
Thomas Funicello
Thomas Funicello
