Page 3
Some storytelling concepts:
We could also say that there are two ways to create stories. In the first place, the traditional one that generates a linear narrative structure, where the story flows following a backbone, with a beginning and an end that closes the plot. The receiver of the story receives it with relative passivity because no other function than that was previously assigned to it. This form is the one used by narrators-storytellers, in English-since past times and is the model most used by children's stories, novels, comics and movies.
But with the introduction of participatory formats, this way of counting no longer applies. The interactive narrative poses the challenge of incorporating an unpredictable element, such as the player's action. The writer of interactive stories and scripts is more of a builder, a storybuilder, as he is called lately in the Anglo-Saxon professional world.
Let's continue with the example of video games. In them we command an avatar or character. The progression system moves the story forward There is a part of the story that is presented in a succession of actions in the traditional way, but there will also be events that occur at indeterminate times and order that the player can activate at will. Whether these events and scenes are incorporated into the game's narrative will depend solely on the player's activity. According to the order,the amount and types of events, the progress of the narrative occurs. That can affect the path the player follows and in certain cases will also alter the story.
The storybuilder is not only going to lower a message or speech through the narrative, but also creates the conditions for some type of situation (events) to be generated that will affect the story in one way or another due to the action or omission of the player.
The great fear that keeps writers awake is how to achieve those moments of effect, of dramatic tension, the climax, which in a traditional story are easily controlled. In a video game, the player tends to do whatever comes to mind at the time, sometimes bending the rules; almost certainly he will try to do things that the game does not foresee.
four essential elements
In The Screenwriter's Manual, Syd Field proposes three paradigms or models to consider when writing a story. The subject paradigm will tell us what the story is about. The paradigm of the characters will tell us what they are like - their inner life and their outer life - including their motivation. And the paradigm of the dramatic structure will give us a scheme where to locate the elements of the plot, as we explained in the Recapitulating of <The tower of stone>.
4 Acts Structure
Often, inherited from Professor Aristotle, we will think of dividing the story into three acts. From the perspective of the protagonist we will say that he wants something, that he tries to get it, and that he will succeed or fail. A story is, after all, a journey that is undertaken with an uncertain destination. We go from point A to point B. overcoming obstacles overcoming challenges. Obstacles oppose what the character, particularly the main character, wants or needs.
(...)
There must be as much pressure as risk. Small or Uninteresting Problems Don't Work There is another way to think about the story, which is when we divide it not into three but four acts. This occurs when
1) the protagonist wants something,
2) tries to get it,
3) realizes that he wants something else (and tries to get it), and
4) succeeds or fails. Obviously, that third act corresponds to what the character needs, as Weiland would say.
Sometimes, thinking about the plot with this division into four parts helps to shape it, especially the most difficult area.
The confrontation problem
We chose an exciting ending, a dynamic beginning in medias res, we worked a good incipit... and when we made our way after the first turning point, we faced some wild territory. The confrontation is full of traps. We don't know what the future holds. Hopefully, we've got some headlights burning in the distance. We arm ourselves with courage and, with the blows of a machete, we set off towards the dim light.
Medias res: In the middle of the action, or point of attack.
Incipit: The beginning of a literary text, especially a novel, but also the beginning of a mythical poem or epic composition. It must be a good hook
Act II is twice as large as the others, and that's where the best action is. Those scenes are the ones we'll put at the end of the trailer as chest-pounding music and explosions fill the screen. So how do we make our way? The answer is: with tools that make us feel comfortable, such as Campbell's Monomyth or Save the cat!, our favorites. With these we will fill the gaps that remain between the headlights. and we'll move steadily through the action scenes as our long-suffering characters react, have their revelation, and become active until the plot closes. In closing, we should notice them changed, honestly committed to their new truth. Those blessed headlights—the calipers, midpoint, second center pivot point, and climax—will help keep us on track.
Campbell's Help
The monomyth gives clues to the fill of the plot. We know that there will be a call to adventure, that the protagonist will refuse, that something will happen to compel him to act, that he will find a mentor (he will give him an amulet for the journey), he will meet his allies and enemies (including a " magical animal" symbolizing his contact with nature), he will be engulfed by something in a scene of rebirth in the extraordinary world and that there will be some kind of labyrinth (uncertainty) and forest (unconscious). Finally, after a hard road of tests and understanding what his real fight is (what his allies need and, therefore, himself), he will face in a monumental combat against the antagonistic force that fights him. has pursued so far. Defeated this, he will assume his heroic role and will return (or not), bringing freedom to his own.
Then we will have clues to cover the plot holes. If we had not thought of a mentor and an amulet, we can incorporate it. The same with the remaining elements of the monomyth. They are beacons too, in their own way. Although it is not necessary to put them all or always respect the same order, they will undoubtedly help to follow the path of history. They will enrich it and give us ideas.
The Four Page Treatment
Nothing more useful for the writer or screenwriter. Once we have the narrative design (for example, we have arranged the elements along the dramatic structure and then we have an idea of what the story will be like and what will happen at its most relevant points), we are still not sure what could happen. when writing it. In truth, although we have already planted lighthouses everywhere, when the words begin to flow there will be inevitable changes. These changes occur because the imagination will do its job based on what it knows and where it needs to go, but it will want to add more details, some subtle ones that will not change the structure, others that will. They will always be changes for the better, because the idea is that the paradigm serves as a mold, but the real plot will emerge from the actual act of writing. At that time we will be able to distinguish subtleties or needs that may have escaped us.
An excellent way to get to know the plot before writing it in detail is to do a four-page Explore treatment to outline the plot.
Nallar, D. A. (2021). 3 - Narrative design and interactivity. In Diseño de Juegos en América latina: Teoría y práctica (2021st ed., Vol. IV, pp. 176–177). Book, Game design LA.
Last updated
