Sage Scribbling Structure

Feb 6

Great stories don’t just appear out of thin air. They’re designed and built. If you’ve ever felt overwhelmed when crafting your screenplay, you’re not alone. Thankfully, some of the greatest minds in storytelling have mapped out frameworks to guide us.

Here are some of my favorite insights from John Truby, Syd Field, Blake Snyder, Robert McKee, Michael Hauge, and Christopher Vogler regarding the weaving of narrative magic.

Truby: Foundation of Growth and Conflict

Weakness and Need: Start with your protagonist’s internal flaw. What do they need to overcome emotionally or morally?
Desire: Define what your protagonist wants—this is the engine of your story.
Opponent: Introduce forces or characters that oppose your hero.
Plan and Battle: Develop your hero’s strategy and showcase their climactic confrontation.
Self-Revelation: Let them discover something profound about themselves.
New Equilibrium: End with a changed world and a changed protagonist.

Syd Field: Three Acts to Rule Them All

Act One (Pages 1–25): Set up your hero, their world, and an inciting incident by page 15.
Act Two (Pages 25–90): Throw obstacles at your protagonist and build the tension.
Act Three (Pages 90–120): Resolve the story and tie up loose ends.

Blake Snyder: The Beat Sheet

Opening Image (Page 1): A snapshot of your protagonist’s starting world.
Catalyst (Page 12): The disruption that forces your protagonist out of their comfort zone.
Break into Act Two (Pages 25–30): The hero’s decision to embark on their journey.
Snyder’s 15-beat structure ensures a roadmap from opening to finale.

Robert McKee: Conflict and Revelation

Focus on conflict in every scene. The inciting incident should occur by page 15 and should pack enough punch to sustain your story.

Michael Hauge: Identity vs. Essence

Introduce your protagonist’s current reality (identity) and hint at their potential transformation (essence). Use a turning point by page 15 to propel them into the unknown.

Christopher Vogler: The Hero’s Journey

Contrast the hero’s Ordinary World with the adventure to come. By page 15, your protagonist should receive the Call to Adventure that pushes them toward action.

Making the First Five Pages Count

Your opening is your handshake with the audience. It needs to be firm, intriguing, and unforgettable.

Hook (Page 1): Start with action, mystery, or movement.
Tone and Genre: Use visuals and dialogue to establish what kind of story you’re telling.
Introduce a Memorable Protagonist: Make them compelling through quirks, habits, or actions.
Set Stakes: Reveal a problem or question that keeps readers invested.
World-Building: Use subtle details to show, not tell.
Bang by Page 5: End your first five pages with a moment that leaves them wanting more.

From Truby’s exploration of human need to Snyder’s cat-saving beat sheet precision, these frameworks have been insanely helpful to my scribbling endeavors. Take the advice of all these movie masters: Introduce your conflict early, craft characters who can grow, and create a compelling world that begs exploration.

With wisdom like this on tap, it’s nice to know we’re not facing the blank page w/o backup. We have our scribblers toolbox. So, let’s get back to work. ABS.

Always. Be. Scribbling.

Jesse Alexander