The 10 story parts
Every story ever told is built from different combinations of these ten parts.
Every part comes with one question. Answer it, and you’ve built that part.
The bones · 3
The three you need for a story to exist at all.
Protagonist
Would my audience want to be this person for the length of the story?
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Goal
What does my protagonist want? And could the audience see it, hold it, and fight for it?
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Antagonist
What is this story built to defeat? And would my audience cheer when it goes down?
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The soul · 2
The two that create emotional character arcs, and make us laugh, cry, or anything in between.
The body · 5
The five events that give stories their familiar shape.
Inciting incident
What happens to break the ordinary world? And what does my protagonist decide to do about it?
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Midpoint
What does my protagonist discover halfway through? And why can they never go back to who they were?
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Crisis
What is the hardest choice my protagonist has to make? And what will it cost them to do the right thing?
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Climax
What is the one confrontation my story has promised? And does my protagonist win it by finally becoming who they needed to be?
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Resolution
What does the world look like once the story is over? And does my ending reward the belief I want my audience to keep?
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