When it comes to storytelling, many people will bring up the concept of the “three act structure”. I highly recommend checking out a YouTube critic, Lindsay Ellis (once referred to as the Nostalgia Chick). Reason being, her video essays on film critique are also incredibly useful for any writer in any medium, including creative writing. Watching her videos has reminded me of so many structural tools I was introduced to within writing and media studies. Lindsay's video on the three act structure is very comprehensive in its explanation of story beats and when an act officially ends with the pulse that brings the next act to life.
A particular screenwriter whose words I tend to hang on is Dan Harmon, who has adapted Joseph Campbell's Hero's Journey analogue into a simple structure any writer can use to tell even the shortest of stories. Boiling a story down to its bare components like the “call to adventure” and the “meeting with the goddess” can assist in structuring a basic narrative with which to build upon. As far as foundational storytelling goes, it's highly effective. The most famous use of this structure is the original Star Wars film, A New Hope, with George Lucas mentioning this narrative tool was part of his inspiration.
In Live to Tell, Stephen's journey begins with Jacinta's appearance, his call to adventure her offering her father's story for his new book. But there is a refusal of this call with his indecision and instinct to say no. Given his personality and propensity for indecision, it was natural for him to go this way. You'll find a true hero by their own nature, if they're human enough, won't jump into action without some hesitation and ambivalence.
Looking into screenwriting and film critique has also helped me remember the principles of “show, don't tell”. It reminds the author not to be blatant with their descriptions. Rather than saying a character is fastidious or messy, you can use descriptive language to paint the picture.
Within Live to Tell, I tried to go back to these principles as often as I could. I've tended to fall back on a “screenwriter” approach to my work, where I've relied too heavily on dialogue to set a scene, thus shortchanging the descriptions of a scene to give the reader an image, so this is something I'm working on now with any new piece. Creative writing allows for so much scope provided the words are there to paint the picture and drive the narrative. Incorrect framing in a film can misrepresent a character who, on paper, was depicted as well-rounded and vital to the story.
Readers tend to instinctively know when a character has reached a pivot in their journey, and writers also tend to naturally write within the frame of the three act structure. It's not necessary to use this as an absolute, but as a foundation it's a good place to start. Film owes its birth to more ancient forms of storytelling which involved dance and pictorial carvings to depict certain legends among isolated societies, and learning about these mechanisms can actually be useful for creative writers. Reading isn't the only valuable tool to teach us how to tell a story. Leaving the door open for other mediums to influence can be extremely beneficial for any writer. As I said before, it was a movie that inspired me to finish Live to Tell, not a book.
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