The Beginning Dissected

I had summed up the beginning of the story. “Clive learns of murder.”

Now it is time to further dissect the story.  The best way to do this is to expand on what we last talked about. Beginning, middle, and end.

But first, a disclaimer: Story dissection is not something to be intimidated by. It is very intuitive and straightforward.

Now, pressing on.

While each story has a beginning, a middle, and an end, the same is true of each part of the story.

What I’m saying is the the beginning of the story also has a beginning, middle, and end.  We can break it down thusly:

Beginning Beginning

Beginning Middle

Beginning End

Now we have subdivided the first 1/3 of our story into three parts. If you are reading this blog and writing your own story, now is the time when you do the same.

However that is not all.  In order to properly craft a story, we must understand that each subcategory of the acts has its own subdivisions.  To avoid confusion, we will use the numbers 1, 2, and 3 to express the three acts in each of these sections. Further, acronyms will be used for the sake of brevity.

BB1, BB2, BB3, BM1, BM2, BM3, BE1, BE2, BE3

And while most amateur screenwriters will tell you that nine sections will suffice for a short film, I will tell you that they are wrong and their stories are nonspecific pieces of garbage.

As a professional unpaid screenwriter, it is necessary to understand that each of these sections has RISING ACTION, CONTINUED TENSION, and a CATHARTIC PAYOFF.

We can see how our story is dissected thusly:

BB1RABB1CTBB1CPBB2RABB2CTBB2CPBB3RABB3CTBB3CPBM1RABM1CTBM1CPBM2RABM2CTBM2CPBM3RABM3CTBM3CPBE1RABE1CTBE1CPBE2RABE2CTBE2CPBE3RABE3CTBE3CP

And in order to maintain interest, the end of each subdivision should have an UNEXPECTED REVERSAL and the end of each act should have a MEMORABLE GO-OUT.

BB1RABB1CTBB1CPURBB2RABB2CTBB2URCPBB3RABB3CTBB3CPURMGBM1RABM1CTBM1CPURBM2RABM2CTBM2CPURBM3RABM3CTBM3CPURMGBE1RABE1CTBE1CPURBE2RABE2CTBE2CPURBE3RABE3CTBE3CPURMG

So yeah. There’s my story guide for you writers out there. Just do that.

NEXT TIME: The best tattoo parlors in Los Angeles and the merits of having the story guide permanently inked into your forearm.