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@booksbyjayna Now i want to see this method! it might be fun plotting one story I’ve already written….working backwards y’know?
Where'd I get ya this time? The liver? The kidney? I'm runnin' outta places to put holes in ya.
When I get the chance, I’ll definitely check out the Signposts! 👍 Is it in a book or an article/website?
Write what should not be forgotten. — Isabel Allende
Now i want to see this method! it might be fun plotting one story I’ve already written….working backwards y’know?
@keilah-h Happy to share! Here’s a quick rundown of the Fourteen Signposts:- Opening Disturbance—something interrupts the hero’s normal world and sets the story in motion.
- Care Package—we see how the hero cares for someone close to him.
- Argument Against Transformation—the hero asserts the premise that he’ll have to rethink by the end of the story.
- Trouble Brewing—something is on the horizon and it’s going to be bad.
- Doorway of No Return #1—the hero is forced into the decision that will change the course of the story.
- Kick in the Shins—things get worse in a way that drives home exactly what is at stake.
- Mirror Moment (the halfway point)—the hero is forced to “look in the mirror” and reckon with (a) what he’s become or (b) the impossibility of the struggle he’s in.
- Pet the Dog—the hero takes time out to help someone weaker, even (or especially) if it comes at his own expense.
- Doorway of No Return #2—we encounter the turning point that will lead into the final climactic sequence.
- Mounting Forces—all the forces of opposition begin to amass against the hero, whether he’s aware of it or not.
- Lights Out—things are getting black for the hero and there’s no way he can win.
- Q Factor—some emotional or physical push, usually planted near the beginning of the story, creates the impetus for the hero to keep fighting or press on.
- Final Battle—the hero and villain duke it out (or, in some cases, the hero dukes it out with himself).
- Transformation—his lessons learned, the hero can step back into his normal world, but he’s not who he used to be.
James Scott Bell refers to scenes 1, 5, 7, 9, and 13 as the “tent poles” of story structure. In his book Super Structure, he says, “The other signposts fall into an organic pattern. Feel free to use them all to map out your book, or wait until you need a suggestion.” I do agree with him that these signposts follow a natural progression—it’s fairly natural for a story to open with a bang (Opening Disturbance), then calm down for a bit while we get to know the character or his family (Care Package). It’s also usually around that early point in the story that we would naturally find out what issue the protagonist has that he’s going to need to get right (Argument Against Transformation). It’s natural to have some kind of impending trouble (Trouble Brewing) that pushes the character into the first major decision point (Doorway of No Return #1). And so on. Of course, the gaps between some of those signposts can be varying lengths and contain varying story elements.
Bell does say that signpost #8, Pet the Dog, can happen either before or after #7, the Mirror Moment. And I have found that, depending on the story and the character, more than one of these signposts can happen in a single scene—the character might have a conversation that simultaneously shows his love for his friends and family (#2) and establishes the lesson he’s going to have to learn (#3). When you get to the last few signposts, they really start to roll into each other. #12, the Q Factor, might be just a paragraph that rolls right into the Final Battle. Or each signpost might be its own completely self-contained scene. It depends on the story.
Jayna Baas
Christian Author/Editor
www.booksbyjayna.comWhen I get the chance, I’ll definitely check out the Signposts! 👍 Is it in a book or an article/website?
@esther-c James Scott Bell’s book Super Structure gives all the details. It’s not very long, and fairly cheap as an ebook on Amazon. His other book Write Your Novel from the Middle contains some of the same information but explores it in different ways. I recommend them both.Jayna Baas
Christian Author/Editor
www.booksbyjayna.comThat is awesome! Thanks for this so much, I’ve already got a few ideas! Now I need to copy-paste this into my documents… 🙂
KaPeefers 'til we're old and gray...
That is awesome! Thanks for this so much, I’ve already got a few ideas! Now I need to copy-paste this into my documents… 🙂
You’re welcome, @whalekeeper! Have fun with it!
Jayna Baas
Christian Author/Editor
www.booksbyjayna.com@booksbyjayna Nice! I’ll have to come back to that sometime. (Bookmarked KP’s email telling that you sent this, lol)
Where'd I get ya this time? The liver? The kidney? I'm runnin' outta places to put holes in ya.
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