Story Line

by Jennifer Grisanti

  Dilemma—This section goes into what I consider to be one of the most important parts of your story: a powerful dilemma and a clear establishment of your goal, either stemming from or leading to your dilemma, or both. By going into the dilemmas and goals you’ve faced in your own life, you will learn how to draw from them to help you to build dilemmas and goals in your story. I also cover backstory in this section and how a well-revealed backstory links into the goal and dilemma.

  Action—In this section, you will learn how a powerful dilemma and clear goal will lead your central character into action. By going into your own life experience and looking at your pursuits, the obstacles you’ve faced, the successes and failures that you’ve experienced, and the themes and symbolism that have emerged in your own life, you will see how to utilize these, add fiction to them, and work them into your writing.

  Goal—In this section, we look at life after the attainment of a goal, both in regards to your own life and the lives of your characters. We will also go in depth into the message of your life and how this can be translated into your story lines.

  Throughout this book, I will use plot examples from some of the best TV and feature films around. Most of what I discuss is current. I do this intentionally because the writing has been so strong in the past several years and I want it to be fresh in your mind in the event you don’t have time to watch it again. Some of the examples will make sense in the context of the chapter with the concept I am discussing, while in other chapters, I will give you more background to understand the context of the discussion. To really dig deeper, I’m going to recommend that you fire up your Netflix account, iTunes (www.apple.com/itunes/), and Hulu.com and actually watch these TV shows and films so that you get a thorough understanding of the story lines being discussed. You can also go to the individual network websites to watch episodes.

  WHO THIS BOOK IS FOR

  This book is for any writer, novice or professional, as well as anyone who is interested in writing but hasn’t taken the first step. In my business, I work with writers of every background. I work with writers in television, film, novels, fiction, non-fiction, reality, and documentaries. I also work with people who just want to understand a story that has happened in their life and want to figure out the best platform with which to tell it. My goal with this book is to teach every type of writer the value of drawing from their well of experience as a way to connect their audience with their story lines. I designed this book to bring different things to each type of storyteller.

  Television Writer—This book will appeal to novice and veteran writers because it gives new tools to draw from for their craft. By going through this book, the TV writer will learn how to start with a personal moment and evolve it into a log line for a spec (writers submit a “spec” script hoping to be hired for the show) or pilot. One thing a TV writer needs to know how to do and do well is pitch his show or his idea for an episode. When you’re doing a pitch, you want to think of what I refer to as the three Ps: pitch line, paragraph, page. Your line pitch is what will give your audience the first impression of your story. Learning to write strong log lines will help TV writers to build faultless pitches, increasing their confidence in the room. Knowing how to communicate strong life moments will help them to connect with executives in their writer meetings. TV writers will learn that by building a strong dilemma and establishing a clear goal, they will be able to map their act breaks in a more concise way that reflects back to the goal. They will learn the value of writing powerful dilemmas that lead to or stem from the goals of their central characters. Having a strong dilemma and a clear goal will help their story to succeed. They will learn how to use their universal life moments in their themes, symbolism, and messages helping the audience to identify at a higher level with their vision. Through learning to identify their truth, writers will strengthen their dialogue. By learning to organize their story in the strongest way possible, they will increase their chances of selling their pilot and getting hired to go on staff of a TV series (“getting staffed”).

  Feature Writer—This book is designed for feature writers at all levels. By having a clear understanding of how to write strong log lines, starting with log lines for their lives, they will be able to begin writing from a stronger place. Also, the log line is everything in the feature world. If they start with a strong log line, their script will have a much stronger chance of being read. This book will also show feature writers the value of the clear establishment of the goal of their central character by the end of Act I. It will show the strength of dilemmas in story. It will show writers how the setup of these two points will create a stronger opportunity for their story to succeed. All their other points—obstacles, escalating obstacles, mid-point, “all is lost” moment, theme and symbolism—should reflect their goal and dilemma. By going through memorable moments in current and past films and log lines from current and past films, feature writers will gain a stronger understanding of how to create pivotal moments at places such as the mid-point and the “all is lost” moment in their story. They will see how drawing from their story will add depth to these moments and make the audience feel their story more.

  Fiction Writer—The fiction writer will also see the value of non-fiction in their fiction. I am a believer that there is fiction in non-fiction and non-fiction in fiction. It is all interconnected. The writer who writes from her core is in every one of her stories. In fiction, the clear establishment of the goal and the strength of the proper placement of dilemmas will make a difference in the outcome of their story. The fiction writer has a stronger responsibility than the feature and TV writer to paint the picture of the story through words, description, and information. He will see how extracting and revealing his truth does inform and elevate his fiction.

  Non-Fiction Writer—The non-fiction writer should also be conscious of the goal of the concept or central character and the strength of the dilemma, obstacles, and escalating obstacles. With non-fiction, I think you should also be very cognizant of the question, “What is in it for you?” By “you,” I am referring to your reader. Whether you’re writing about a topic or your experience of something, Story Line will help you to define it and add clarity. This book also gives a lot of information on theme, symbolism, and message. These components will help the non-fiction writer to better understand how to draw on the right moments in their life story and bring it to the page, making their concept concise and more sellable.

  Playwright—Playwrights will find many tools from this book that will help to deepen their story lines. By going into their well of experience, understanding their truth at a new level, they will be able to transform this truth into their writing. By understanding the value of a powerful dilemma and a well-placed goal, playwrights can make a tremendous difference in the overall effect of how they tell story. Playwrights will learn a lot from the sections on theme, symbolism, and message that can further add depth to their content and bring alive their intention.

  Documentary Writer—The writer of documentaries will discover that digging beneath the story that they are covering and learning to add their own truth to their subject will put more of a human face on their work. I love documentaries that fully take me into a world I don’t know and make me feel it. The key to feeling something is understanding the truth behind why you feel so much for the topic, and then being able to convey this in your documentary.

  Reality TV Show Writer—One of the most important tools for the writer of reality TV shows is understanding character and back-story. Why do we care? What situations will draw your audience in? What draws you into the concept you are covering? This book will show you how to find the depth in any situation and bring it to the surface. It all comes down to learning how to connect your audience to your vision.

  Songwriter—Learning to identify universal life moments and themes, symbolism, and messages will help songwriters enhance the stories in their songs and write lyrics that come directly from their truth. The exercises in th
is book will help songwriters to add depth and organization to the stories that are told through the lyrics in their songs. Story Line will provide them with more ideas of where to draw story from and how to tell story in a way that will be more universally felt by their audience.

  Novice Writer—This book is designed to help you learn to examine your pivotal life moments and extract the truth within them. By learning to write log lines for your life and going into your universal life moments, you will be able to communicate your story in a clearer and more concise way. This book will also introduce you to the different platforms that can be used to tell your story. By having a clearer understanding of your story, you will start thinking about the best platform to use to connect others to your experience.

  Business/Speechwriter—By learning how to write a log line for your life and understanding how to organize story in the best way possible to sell your point, you will learn to write better speeches and business presentations. It’s all about humanizing your subject and adding meaning to your words. This will help you to sell anything.

  WORD ON WORDS

  Most of the terms I use in this book are well known. However, there are a special few that I would like to touch on now so that you can better appreciate their mention throughout the book and enhance your reading experience.

  Log Line—A brief description of the plot of your story that often involves an emotional hook and a twist of irony. I encourage you to take care in your setup of who, dilemma, action, and goal when you create a log line. By structuring your log line well, you make clear the direction of your story. By starting with a strong log line, you increase your chance of writing a strong story.

  Spec Script—In film, a spec script (speculative screenplay) is written in the hope that it will be purchased and filmed, or to gain representation for its novice screenwriter. In TV, a spec script is a portfolio piece to help the writer get staffed on a current series. In this instance, the TV writer writes a script for a show similar to that for which she wishes to be hired. (Most shows won’t read specs for their own series to avoid future legal liabilities.)

  “All Is Lost” Moment—Your “all is lost” moment is when your central character is as far away as possible from achieving his or her goal. This moment heightens the stakes and creates what appears to be a point of no return, thus triggering the central character into action. In film, the “all is lost” moment happens between pages 75 and 90 (the end of Act II). In television, your “all is lost” moment occurs at the end of your second-to-last act break.

  Universal Life Moments—When your world is turned upside and reality as you know it shifts. I urge you to draw from these moments in your life. If you experienced something that deeply affected you, chances are millions of others have gone through similar life experiences. By tapping into your universal life moments, you increase your chances of connecting with your audience.

  By better understanding these terms (which are central to my philosophy of writing), you will add power to your screenplays. If you draw from your personal experience as you write, you increase your chances of writing stronger log lines and outstanding spec scripts; drawing upon universal life moments will connect you with your audience, and creating “all is lost” moments will motivate your readers to care for your protagonist.

  EXPLORING STORY BY

  UNDERSTANDING THE VALUE

  OF THE LOG LINE

  Goal We reach our destination. What does it look like? We hit our gold.

  Action We take action with a goal in mind. We face obstacles. They escalate.

  Dilemma What choice do we make?

  Setup of Who Why do we care?

  Log Line for Your Story Organizing and summing up your story in setup of who, dilemma, action, goal.

  Log Line for Your Life Drawing from your truth.

  One of the first writing exercises you will find in this book is the Log Line for Your Life. As in other exercises, it will be important to focus on your own log line, a summation of your story with an emotional hook and twist of irony. I like to tell writers to think in terms of setup of who, dilemma, action, and goal. You will learn to add fiction to your truth. However, your truth will be at the core of it. An example of a log line that reflects a long ago moment in my life is, “A new bride who lives in a fairy tale fantasy falls through a rabbit hole and when she awakens, finds herself President of Cheated On Anonymous.” So, this is the starting point. From here, I evolve the core of it into possible log lines for television, feature, and novel concepts. Utilizing this log line, a log line for a TV show could be, “An idealistic bride soon discovers the truth about her marriage and must redefine her fairy tale, only this time in the real world.” A log line for a feature could be, “In an effort to experience her ‘fairy tale’ moment, a young woman marries the wrong guy and discovers her truth in the process of going down the wrong road in order to get back on track.” It could be called “After Happily.” This symbolizes the idea of life after the fairy tale. A non-fiction log line could be, “A betrayed young woman goes on a spiritual journey for truth, which reflects a touch of wish fulfillment, while learning to balance real life and shed the fantasy.” This illustrates how you can start with a truth, add fiction, and then further evolve it into different platforms of story.

  HOW TO APPLY THIS BOOK

  TO YOUR CREATIVE PROCESS

  Rewrites—This book can be a valuable tool when it comes time to rewrite your scripts. With rewriting, you want to start by looking at the strength of your dilemma and clear establishment of your goal. You can read about these in chapters 6, 7, and 11. Next, you’ll want to make sure you hit the depth in your universal moments. These are often explored the most around your “all is lost” moments in both TV and features. You can refer to chapters 2 and 4 for this. If you’re looking to elevate your story by heightening the emotional stakes, refer to chapter 15. To add the icing on your story with theme, symbolism, and a strong message, refer to chapters 17, 19, 21, and 23.

  Acknowledging Studio Notes—Many of you have heard the note “Punch it up” or “Raise the stakes.” To “Punch it up” and “Raise the stakes,” you’ll want to look at the power of your dilemma and strength of your obstacles and emotional stakes. You can refer to chapters 7, 11, 13, and 15 to help you do this. Another studio note is “Connect us more with your central character.” To do this, you’ll want to think about backstory and how you reveal this in your story in an organic way, as well as what drives your central character. For this, you can refer to chapters 9 and 19.

  Dialogue—Throughout Story Line, you’ll find memorable lines of dialogue in current films and television projects that really stand out. If you’re worried about your dialogue falling flat, you can review the chapters on universal life moments, backstory, and dilemmas, chapters 2, 4, 8, 9, 10, and 11. By going into your own story in some of these chapters, you will discover how to make your dialogue more authentic and how to deepen the meaning behind your words.

  Pitching—By understanding the value of a strong log line, you will feel more confident when it comes to pitching your story. If you have a strong log line, you increase your chances of a sale. To understand more about how to construct your log lines both in your life and your story, go to chapters 1, 3, and 5.

  The Value of Writing—To be clear about this, the value of writing can be established when someone hands you a check for your work, or when you know you’ve fulfilled your vision and stayed true to your story. The ability to honestly and carefully communicate something deep and personal is a priceless experience. I encourage you to help your audience connect, feel, inspire, understand, and root for the outcome in your story lines. By reading this book, you will learn how to deepen, clarify, elevate, and empower your storytelling.

  INTRODUCTION

  Story Line: Finding Gold in Your Life Story embodies the idea of learning to delve inside your personal well of experience to find story. In your well, you will find your gold. Your gold is your truth. It comes fro
m being able to add a voice to all your personal life experiences. This well is where we carry everything that happens in our life. It is filled with happiness and joy, inspiration and accomplishment, love and hope, anger and disappointment, sadness and sorrow, heartbreak and despair. The list goes on. We store it all inside. We all have a story that is worth exploring and worth recording. If you are writing television, features, or novels, this book is designed to show you how to find, utilize, and fictionalize your truth into your writing. If you’re someone who is just interested in understanding your own story more, this book will show you how to find your gold, and my hope is that it will also inspire and encourage you to write.

  I believe that we are all writers. We are all creating story in our life every day. Sure, there are some of us who have the courage to make a career out of this expression, but the potential is there for every single one of us to reap the rewards and understand the gift of our own story. Our truth can be fictionalized in a way that will reach a wide audience, stop isolation, and create community. Story unites us. It builds intimacy. In a time when we are all so overcome with the changes going on in our world, connecting through the power of story is a beautiful way to bring us together while so much else threatens to pull us apart.

  A log line is a brief description of story that often has an emotional hook and a twist of irony. Learning how to write log lines will help connect you to your universal life moments. In your universal life moments, you will find the gold in your story. Through understanding your own story, looking at your goals and accomplishments, thinking about your sorrows and your heartbreaks, and watching for recurring themes, symbolism, and messages, you will begin to see just how rich your story is and how much of it you have inside you. You just need to learn how to access it.