A Story Beat = A major story event
Step 1. Back Story and Ghost
Step 2. Psychological and Moral Flaws and Need
Step 3. Story World
Step 4. Inciting Incident
Step 5. Desire/Goal/Want
Step 6. Opponent
Step 7. Plan
Step 8. Training
Step 9. Obsessive Drive
Step 10. Apparent Defeat
Step 11. Throw Down the Gauntlet
Step 12. Climax/Battle
Step 13. Self-Revelation
Step 14. Double Reversal
Step 15. New Equilibrium
Story Beat Step 1. Back Story and Ghost
Ghost is an external event from the past that is haunting the Hero/Main Character. Ghost is really a part of Back Story and it’s usually the source of the hero’s flaws and his Need. If you just craft a Back Story, it’s like listing: Name, rank, serial number. It’s important to know how old the Hero is, where he was born, what his habits are, who his family is, whether or not he’s working. Is he homeless? Is he living in an institution, etc. But Ghost is the internal opponent of the hero.
Because Ghost leads to the Hero’s psychological and moral flaws, the writer must ask, “What is the great fear of the Hero that is holding him back?”
For example, in Good Will Hunting, the Ghost of the Hero is that his father beat him mercilessly. In Hamlet, the Ghost literally is Hamlet’s father, who was murdered.
Key point: Crafting Back Story and Ghost is important for all characters in the Character Web of a story. If a character only appears for one or two scenes, at least three of the Story Beats should be apparent to the audience/reader: The psychological and moral flaws and the Desire/Want.
Story Beat Step 2. Psychological and Moral Flaws and Need
Time to roll up the proverbial sleeves! In addition to crafting the Ghost in the Back Story of the Hero, Psychological and Moral Flaws and Need are also part of the Back Story, which must be established before one word is written.
It will involve some deep thought on the part of the writer to craft characters who will behave and think and react and dream, etc. all according to how the writer has crafted them in this very powerful Story Beat step.
A simple way to distinguish between psychological and moral flaws: With psychological flaws, the Hero is hurting himself. With moral flaws, the Hero is hurting others. For example, extreme shyness, depression, shame, guilt are psychological flaws, whereas acting out, lying, cheating are moral flaws.
Although this is not intended to be psychology 101, it helps to distinguish early on what is keeping your Hero in pain as the story opens. In Die Hard, the Hero is estranged from his wife, and he’s drinking, barely able to get through the day without painkillers.
Excessive drinking, per se, is not a psychological flaw. It’s a symptom of a psychological flaw, such as guilt, or shame, etc. If the character is physically abusive while drunk, again, excessive drinking is not the moral flaw. The acting out or physical abuse is the moral flaw, not the alcohol. Not all people act out when they’re drunk. Some people become obsessively withdrawn or compulsive liars, etc.
The Need of a Hero is not the same as the Desire/Want. The Hero may want a Mercedes, but that is not his Need. Maybe the Need is to get a new job, or renew a relationship, or return home to see a sick relative, or help a friend, etc.
Key Point: On page one of the story, the Hero’s Need is wrong. The audience/reader sees the truth, but the Hero does not. It’s not until the Self-Revelation moment after the Climax/Battle scene that the Hero understands clearly that she was wrong about her Need, which leads to the Self-Revelation.
If you have a Hero who knows throughout the story what his Need is, there’s no conflict, no growth. There are many reasons why a Hero doesn’t know what his Need is. It has to do with a Hero’s Ghost, his psychological and moral flaws, the genres the writer is working with, etc.
Story Beat Step 3. Story World
The Story World is a mirror of the Hero’s flaws, unlike “real life.”
The Story World is a description of the natural, social, technological advances of the time. Have you ever seen a funeral scene in a movie where it isn’t raining? Well, ok. In Sleepless in Seattle it’s a sunless day. A wedding scene is usually bright and sunny. Thunder and lightning and a driving rainstorm accompany a psychopath in a haunted house.
Where does the story take place? On a ship, on the plains of the American Indian in the 1800’s? In a city like New York? Is the apartment a penthouse or is it a shack with no running water? Is the work space plush, situated in the heart of Wall Street? Is the Hero a billionaire? Is the Hero homeless?
What kind of tools are being used: Guns, bows and arrows, cannons, kitchen knives, pottery, etc. Is it winter or summer? Is the city like a prison? Or is the city like an endless ocean of tall buildings and nameless people? Is the city like a jungle, dark and foreboding?
Key Point: All of the Story World needs to be mapped out during the beginning process, before even one word is written.
Story Beat Step 4. Inciting Incident
The Inciting Incident is an external event that causes the hero to engage in action and conflict for the rest of the story.
The Hero needs to realize that what he’s been doing from page one in the story needs to change. In film or stage play, the Inciting Incident occurs on page ten or eleven, or ten or eleven minutes into the story. In a novel, the Inciting Incident might be on page ten or twenty, but it is what the reader is waiting for to get the story moving with a ramped up Desire on the part of the Hero.
Key Point: The Inciting Incident will reflect the Desire/Want of the story, according to the genre(s). In Ghost, there are four genres: Romance/Drama/Fantasy/Thriller. The Inciting Incident involves the Hero, prophetically watching a t.v. disaster scene and thinking about his “expiration date” with his love, in bed (Romance).
But because the Hero’s best friend (fake ally) hires someone to rob him, and the robbery goes sour, the Hero ostensibly is killed off in Act 1 of the story (Drama and Thriller). His Ghost literally takes over (Fantasy) and he continues with his Desire/Want to bring the killer to justice and prevent the Opponent from killing his great love.
The Spine of the story is Thriller, but in this unusual case, the Romance genre is part of the Inciting Incident because the writer wanted to establish the Hero’s great love for his partner before he is killed off.
Story Beat Step 5. Desire/Goal/Want
The Desire/Want Story Beat must be in sync with the genre(s) in the story. And the Desire/Want must be a physical goal, such as: Get the gold medal; get the girl; find the hidden manuscript; find the killers; discover the island; bring a murderer to justice; win the battle against all odds.
The genre determines the Desire/Goal. For example, in Drama, the Desire is intimate, linked to a known entity, whereas in Science Fiction, the Desire is tied to an unknown entity that the Hero has never encountered before. In Mythology, the Desire/Want is encountered on a physical journey, littered with unknown Opponents.
A Desire/Want will change or morph as the story progresses, but it won’t be an entirely different Desire. In the Detective genre, for example, the Detective (Hero) Desires/Wants to find clues, such as a missing diamond ring, which belonged to a top executive, who is also missing.
When the Detective realizes the top executive is a thief and is involved with a government that seeks to destroy her country, the Desire/Want is ramped up and morphs into finding a governmental agency of spies, etc.
Key Point: When there are multiple genres, the Desire/Want that should take precedence must be determined from the outset. Generally, the technical genres take precedence, such as: Crime, Thriller, Detective, Action, where weapons, ordnance, high tech tools, etc. are involved.
Story Beat Step 6. Opponent
At least a Hidden Opponent; other Opponents with a varying degree of moral compasses and internecine struggles. Refer to the post, Create Opposition to Increase Conflict and the post, The Value of a Hidden Opponent.
Story Beat Step 7. The Plan
The Plan comes at the end of Sequence 3, which is the end of Act 1 in a screenplay or stage play, or approximately, on p. 30 or 40 in a novel. By the time the Hero has formulated a Plan to get to the Desire/Goal of the story, the Opponent has also formulated a Plan to get to the Desire/Goal of the story, which might be the same as the Hero’s Goal.
The job of the Opponents in the story is not only to attack the Hero’s greatest flaw, but to block the Hero from getting to his Desire/Goal.
The Hero will make a Plan to stage a heist, or the Hero will map out a route to discover the hidden treasure. The Hero will plan an ambush of the Opponents and will assign other characters to take up their positions. The Hero will dress up as a British Nanny in order to be with his kids (Mrs. Doubtfire).
Story Beat Step 8. Training
The Training Story Beat appears in Heist, Sports, and War stories – Collect the allies, round up friends to help the Hero get to the Desire/Goal.
In The Hunger Games, the Hero must practice the bow and arrow, fighting, deception, and strategy with a mentor, and build strength, etc. Note: This Story Beat is not in all genres.
Story Beat Step 9. Obsessive Drive
With the Desire – The hero has a goal. But with Obsessive Drive, the hero is driven to that goal and may be forced to take immoral actions to get to that Goal. For example, in Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, the Hero and his best friend are ruthlessly pursued by a band of hired lawmen, the likes of which the two buddies have never experienced.
They lightheartedly are on the run in the beginning of the story, and they continue to rob banks. Even when they supposedly hide out in Bolivia, they obsessively take on the Bolivian army, with ridiculous, unlikely odds of winning: Two against a thousand.
Key Point: Obsessive Drive increases the stakes of the story. When the Hero and Opponents are obsessed with winning, this is a set up for the conflict that reaches a resolution in the Climax/Battle, Act 3 of the story.
Story Beat Step 10. Apparent Defeat
The Apparent Defeat occurs approximately three fourths of the way into the story, or at the end of Act 2, Sequence 9. This moment is extremely emotional for the Hero and for the audience/reader. No matter where the Hero turns, he’s going to lose to the Opponents.
This is the lowest moment for the Hero, who feels boxed in, nowhere to go. The flaws that the writer has crafted for this Hero will come into play when the Hero is up against what seems like an insurmountable wall.
The Fake Ally is often revealed at the Apparent Defeat moment. Again, it depends on the genre. If it’s Thriller, the Fake Ally might be revealed by the Midpoint of the story, or even in Sequence 2, after the Inciting Incident. In Ghost, the Fake Ally is revealed to the audience before he is revealed to the Hero, by the end of Act 1.
The writer must consider where in the story to put the Reveal moment, with genre always in mind, and this Reveal is important because it contributes to the Hero’s feeling of defeat. Betrayal by a Fake Ally is a powerful moral value to have to deal with, along with everything else that’s gone wrong for the Hero.
Story Beat Step 11. Throw Down the Gauntlet and Regroup
The knight regroups and throws down the gauntlet as a challenge to battle. The Hero goes to a moral depth, which leads to a moral epiphany, a choice between two moral values the writer has established throughout the story. The Hero is grappling with moral choices. Now, he makes a moral choice:
Sophie’s Choice: Should the Hero give up her son or her daughter to the Nazis, who are demanding only one child, or else, all three will die. (sacrifice one child and kill one’s soul, or sacrifice both children and die)
Sleepless in Seattle: Should the Hero stay with her fiancé, whom she really doesn’t love, or should she go for an unknown widower she heard about on talk radio, a guy who’s waiting on top of the Empire State Building with his son, the catalyst who made this happen.
Woman in Gold: Should the Hero go up against the country of Austria, alone and courageous, or should she go back to Los Angeles and forget about the “David vs. Goliath” moment in her life?
Gone With the Wind: Should the arrogant Hero go with the man who will give her everything for his love, or should she go for the illusion/delusion of a man who has given his heart to her friend?
Story Beat Step 12. Climax/Battle
As the Climax/Battle approaches, the Hero pursues the Opponent(s) or is pursued by the Opponents into a narrower and narrower space, which intensifies the Battle scene. ie. Argo in the airport scene. The top of the Empire State Building in Sleepless in Seattle. The winding staircase on a dark, stormy night in Gone With the Wind.
In Cast Away, although most of the story takes place on a deserted island, the Climax/Battle is in a driving rainstorm at night in a car. In a Jason Bourne film, the final battle is fought in a sewer.
Story Beat Step 13. Self-Revelation
Self-Revelation comes when the Hero realizes he was wrong about his Need after the Climax/Battle scene.
In Woman in Gold, for example, the Hero’s Need throughout the story was to get the painting back so she could have justice. But after the Climax/Battle, the Hero says she was wrong thinking she could ever get justice for her family who were murdered in the Holocaust, even if she took on the Austrian government and succeeded in getting her prized family painting returned.
The Self-Revelation of each character in the Character Web will depend on their Character Arcs. Ie. Does a Character die in Sequence 7? Does he even have a Self-Revelation? Does a character walk away? Go on the attack? Remain silent? Collude with the enemy? What is the motivation? What is the Set-Up, the Reveal?
Story Beat Step 14. Double Reversal
Just as the Hero has a Self-Revelation, the Main Opponent (sometimes) has a Self-Revelation. Ie. The Hero learns from the Opponent and grows. The Opponent learns from the Hero and grows.
BUT – You have to have Opponents who are capable of learning. For example, in Runaway Jury, the Main Opponent is defeated, but he’s just as arrogant and greedy as he was in the beginning of the story.
Story Beat Step 15. New Equilibrium
This is the shortest Story Beat because it comes after the Climax/Battle, which is almost anti-climactic, so the writer needs to wrap up the story line quickly: The car driving down a road scene in Good Will Hunting has a moral value meaning (moral argument through action) in the genre of Drama because the audience knows the flawed genius Hero is “going for the girl.”
The car driving down the road scene in Shooter, a Drama/Thriller has a different meaning: The Hero, who’s been set up and on the run for most of the story has taken care of the Opponents and shut them down on his own terms (moral argument through action).