# The form of stories

Every story has a main character (protagonist), who always experiences an [inner conflict](people-conflicts-inner.md) and is either [favored (hero) or shamed (anti-hero)](people-image-why.md) by the [creator](mind-creativity.md). A hero will always [decide](people-decisions.md) toward a sacrifice, and an anti-hero will only pursue sacrifice for self-interest.

The emphasized [values](values.md) and message will be on about the scope of that sacrifice. The sacrifice will be the catalyst for the character to [change](people-changes.md) and may be caused by the character [anticipating](imagination.md), [performing](people-decisions.md), or [experiencing consequences](results.md).

The [creative](mind-creativity.md) [quality](values-quality.md) of the character and their experiences is *directly* proportional to the quality of the creator's [ability](understanding.md) to [communicate](language.md) their experiences. Naturally, that person would need [worthwhile experiences](maturity.md) worth communicating in the first place, which is why the [culture](people-culture.md) of the creator is critically important.

Across the duration of *any* story, it contains 7-8 "[movements](people-changes.md)" that alter the flow or [feeling](mind-feelings.md) of the story. The story itself is a consequence, not just of a setting, of the main character (who is defined as a Hero). The main character is always facing [the unknown](unknown.md) through a ridiculously predictable set of circumstances:

1. A Hero starts comfortably in the Ordinary World, but is missing something.
2. The Hero experiences an Inciting Incident and receives a Call to Adventure.
   - Optionally, the Hero rejects the Call, meets the Mentor, and the Mentor gives the Hero the [courage](mind-feelings-fear.md) to accept the Call.
3. The Hero crosses the Threshold, enters an unfamiliar situation in a Special World to get a Treasure.
4. The Hero encounters both Enemies and Allies, and endures experiences that will serve as their Initiation.
   - Those encounters must require the Hero to have [adapted](people-changes.md) to the situation to prepare for encountering the Villain.
5. The Hero confronts the Villain, acquires the Treasure they [wanted](purpose.md) because of a [change](people-changes.md) in the Hero that doesn't reflect on the Villain.
   - The Villain doesn't have to *stay* the Villain, but the Villain change will be at least part of the Treasure (even if it's not immediately apparent).
6. The Hero tries to "get home" and escapes the Special World.
   - Optionally, the Villain pursues the Hero, and the Hero must fight or escape again.
7. The Hero returns to the Ordinary World with the Treasure, reintegrates into the Ordinary World, but the ordeal and journey's experiences have changed them.
   - By the end, the Hero must pay a heavy price for the ordeal.
   - Alternately, the Hero loses a Treasure (and maybe more), but is still changed.

Each phase of the story contains even *more* specific elements that provide context. This context expresses through general variations in severity to create comparative contrast across the timeline of the story.

In retelling, the timeline of a story will move at several different relative speeds:

1. Real - the timing of the consumer's experience reflects the timing of the characters' experience, which can only happen in some media (such as movies or video gmes).
2. Compressed - the timing of the consumer's experience is *much* faster than the timing of the characters' experience, and is the typical speed for most stories.
3. Expanded - the timing of the consumer's experience is *much* slower than the timing of the characters' experience, and used for intensifying the [feelings](mind-feelings.md) associated with the experience.

## Beginning (exposition/thesis)

The beginning of the story starts with a "normal" environment. The main character is in a zone they feel [safe](safety.md) in, which often includes a comfortable setting and [culturally](people-culture.md) typical [family](people-family.md). However, they want something they can't get in that zone. In nonfiction facts (e.g., [self-help guides](https://adequate.life/habits/), [philosophy](philosophy.md), [science](science.md)), the main character is typically the author or the reader.

At times, the starting point is in the middle of a [conflict](people-conflicts-why.md). Other times, it's *extremely* long documentation of the environment. But, it's always a starting point the audience has some [familiarity](understanding.md) with.

Often, the main character has [companion characters](people-friends-why.md) who share in their [safety](safety.md). Sometimes, at least one of their friends won't be *entirely* in the safe zone.

By the very end of the exposition, the main character must *always* want something they don't have they sincerely believe can be accomplished by performing a [risk](socialrisk.md).

The starting point has a *massive* impact on the story because it determines the audience's [expectations](imagination.md). It requires tremendous [skill](mind-creativity.md) to [choose](people-decisions.md) it correctly as the storyteller, and effective stories don't waste much time on it compared to the rest of the story.

## Transition to middle (antithesis)

The middle of the story is where the character is first exposed to a [conflict](people-conflicts-inner.md) that provokes them to [change](people-changes.md). It's usually signaled by something that announces the coming change (herald):

- A [creation](creations.md) from outside the main character's group.
- [Another person](groups-member.md) inside the group who dabbles in the group's [taboos](morality-taboo.md), which may include the half-safe friend.
- An outsider who attacks the group, usually to make [the leader](groups-small.md) feel [fearful](mind-feelings-fear.md).

For whatever reason, the main character desires to interact with this change. Even if it's just to *prevent* change from what they're familiar with, they're still making a [conscious](humanity.md) [decision](people-decisions.md).

The critical moment for the transition is when the main character [expects](imagination.md) a [result](results.md) from their environment. Great stories will either make their efforts absolutely ineffective (proving that they must try harder to [succeed](success-1_why.md)) or far *too* effective (proving that the other extreme is also awful). However, they can *never* stop and return to normal after they've performed the action, or the story won't have any [meaning](meaning.md).

In an [influential](influence.md) story, the [arguments](logic.md) and [values](values.md) presented within the antithesis will have as much sincerity and clarity as the thesis. This can be *very* difficult for things that may have good aspects because they must persist through much of the story uncontested.

Complex stories (which draw in audiences more) involve the main character severely wanting something, but also [torn](people-conflicts-inner.md) about that decision without being [aware](awareness.md) of it. This tends to explore itself by making the best possible situation become the worst, or vice versa.

## Middle (rising action)

The structure of the middle of stories varies wildly. Many events happen, usually as a barrage of changes. Frequent enough changes will force the audience to rely strictly on [feelings](mind-feelings.md) to follow the story since they won't be able to [keep track](people-image-why.md) of them all or [understand](understanding.md) their implications, though the audience's [logic](logic.md) will eventually catch up in [retrospect](mind-memory.md).

The first change will come from a threshold guardian. They will have to change to push past the limits that kept them in the safety of their zone. The threshold guardian could be *anything*:

- Something breaking through the main character's safe zone
- The main character pushing past their safe zone
- The safe zone falling apart entirely
- The main character discovering the safe zone isn't actually safe

Usually, the main character will interact with a mentor who gives [wisdom](understanding.md) about what to do, a bit like a [parental proxy](people-family.md). However, the mentor can also be [a creative work](creations.md) that [communicates or implies](language.md) the idea.

There will also often be an antagonist the main character is [opposed to](imagination.md). The antagonist will [believe](understanding-certainty.md) their opposing cause about as much as the hero, and often more. To drive the point home, they'll often be [evil](morality-evil.md) in other ways beyond the scope of necessity.

Great stories require the challenges for the character to be difficult, and tend to use [changes](people-changes.md) which directly [confront](people-conflicts-inner.md) the main character's [fears](mind-feelings-fear.md).

In stories larger than a few minutes, the middle of the story takes up most of the time. If the middle is large enough, good stories will also add at least one subplot that creates an ironic contrast to the protagonist's journey.

## Transition to end (falling action)

Somewhere in the middle, the main character will have to make a choice. They will always make a heavy sacrifice of something, often despite their [fears](mind-feelings-fear.md). It'll be something they [value](power.md) and must give up to get something else, often what they were missing in the beginning.

In a story longer than a few minutes, the character has a period beforehand where they're [willing](purpose.md) or [conflicted](people-conflicts-inner.md), but not [acting](results.md) yet (turning point). The storyteller will usually capitalize on their [fears](mind-feelings-fear.md) and [hopes](understanding-certainty.md), usually in a relatively quieter setting compared to the rest of the story's middle.

Even when the results are predictable, the story *must* [surprise](unknown.md) the audience. Otherwise, people will find it boring.

At the turning point, the character is crossing a threshold into a new thing, often for *both* the character and the audience. To drive it home and make it feel harsher, the character will go through a *ton* of [pain](mind-feelings-fear.md) to get there:

- [Trauma](hardship-ptsd.md) they must [fight](people-conflicts-inner.md) against
- Bad and incorrect [ideas](values.md) they had believed
- Limits to their [understanding](understanding.md) they hadn't realized
- Difficult [moral decisions](morality.md) they must perform or reconcile

The style of the story heavily defines what the main character's transition sits on. The audience's [gender](gender.md), [age range](maturity.md), [intelligence](understanding.md), [sense of humor](humor.md), and [moral beliefs](morality.md) all play a part into the [ideals](values.md) worth communicating. Generally, sophisticated stories are far more subtle. Longer stories have more turning points.

## End (conclusion/synthesis)

The end of the story converges the beginning and middle of the story. The main character is now clearly [motivated](purpose.md) to act, and the audience is observing the [results](results.md) of that action on the story's assembled world.

The end will represent a final conflict (climax), with everything the main character had done, including their new [skills](understanding.md) and [friendships](people-friends-why.md), helping to [achieve](results.md) their [purpose](purpose.md).

The final conflict will often [symbolize](symbols.md) the main character's first encounter to highlight how the character [transformed](people-changes.md). But this time, the character will act with more [certainty](understanding-certainty.md) and [understanding](understanding.md) than they ever had before. No matter what, they will somehow find [meaning](meaning.md) or [closure](understanding-certainty.md) in their new action.

At the conclusion, most of the information disappears except for whatever was [meaningful](meaning.md) for the main story's events. This is a subconscious release of the excess information ("catharsis"/"closure").

If there's a distinct antagonist, the main character will have [changed](people-changes.md) while the antagonist will have stayed the same, though it will be reversed in the case of an anti-hero. In a bad story, *neither* the hero nor anti-hero will have changed.

APPLICATION: If a story is bad, it's often the best the creator can do, especially in with media designed for large-scale appeal. Don't judge them too harshly, since they're attempting to conquer the [unknown](unknown.md). If they're representing a destructive value as a good thing, we should [feel](mind-feelings.md) pity before anger.

Often, adding irony to the result will heighten its emotional impact:

- Getting what they [wanted](purpose.md), but too late to have it.
- Being pushed further and further from a goal, only to find they were led right to it. Or, reaching a goal they unwittingly were trying to run from.
- Throwing away what they later find critical for their [happiness](goodlife.md).
- The actions they take to destroy something are precisely what they needed for that thing to destroy them.
- Coming into possession of something they're certain will make them miserable and does everything possible to get rid of it, to discover it's the cause of their happiness.

The audience will admire characters *much* more for [trying](people-decisions.md) than for [succeeding](results.md).

There's always a message at the end of the story. The [mood](mind-feelings.md) of the ending determines *everything* about the [values](values.md) the story is [communicating](language.md), and is often magnified by [symbolically](symbols.md) reproducing the beginning of the story with adaptations ("bookends"). It's why the last few minutes of a story, no matter how long, can destroy or redeem it.

APPLICATION: If you're [working on a task](success-4_routine.md), do *not* stop. If you stop, that's the end of the experience, and the task will [feel](mind-feelings.md) longer by the time you're *actually* done.

When done correctly, the end is the conclusion of a larger story, with a final [image](people-image-why.md) that leaves the audience with a personal [decision](people-decisions.md) for themselves. They can accept an expanded [understanding](understanding.md) (according to the creator) of what constitutes [the good life](goodlife.md) or reject that [perspective](people-image-why.md) outright.

APPLICATION: To live a [good life](goodlife.md), we must experience great stories, which means we must routinely veer into extremes.

To make a good story, the conclusion must inspire a strong [feeling](mind-feelings.md) (usually [love](people-love.md) but sometimes [fear](mind-feelings-fear.md)) that provokes [action](results.md) in the audience. The only way to accomplish this is through giving an ending they want (to clarify [purpose](purpose.md) to them), but in a way they don't expect (to provoke [trust](understanding-certainty.md) in the [unknown](unknown.md)).

APPLICATION: People would rather have the experience of climbing social classes from lower to middle than drop from upper to middle, even if the second would be a more pleasant experience.

We tend to remember the end of a story along with details within the middle that were the most [emotionally intense](mind-feelings.md). We can typically endure a boring story with a good ending, but a bad ending can *destroy* our [impression](people-image-why.md) of a story. While we don't tend to remember most of the details, the beginning and middle details evoke the most context for an ending.