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Thursday, November 10, 2022

The Expanded Ultimate Story Checklist!

I’m expanding The Ultimate Story Checklist!  

The Checklist came to be when I took all the advice I’d offered up to that point on the blog and rephrased the posts as a series of questions you could ask about your manuscript.  Each question linked back to the original post that inspired it.  Then I later rewrote everything when I turned it into my book, The Secrets of Story.

Later, I kept studying examples and came up with various posts called Rulebook Casefile that backed up my points, and various posts called Straying from the Party Line that seemed to contradict them.  

For the expansion, I’m redoing every entry to use the text from the book, tacking on any Casefiles or SftPLs afterwards, and including a chart of how 30 movies answered that question.  

This expansion is ongoing.  So far, I’ve only done the first three Parts and the rest still link back to the original posts that inspired them.  

If you still want to read the original posts (and the original comments), I’ll leave that version up, too, underneath this one.  

I’ve used this list to evaluate my favorite stories and my own work. The result: my favorite stories all pass and my own work always fall short. This tells me what I’m doing wrong.

The goal is simple: Try to answer yes as often as possible. Of course, every story is unique and no story that I’ve evaluated has answered yes to all 122 questions, nor should it. Check out the Checklist Roadtests over there in the sidebar, to see how lots of great movies did. If you want to try it yourself, a downloadable version of this list as a word document is available here (link fixed!)

(This list is primarily for stand-alone stories such as
screenplays, novels and plays, but don’t worry, theres a separate “pilot” checklist for the first episode of continuing stories such as TV series, book series, web series, and comics)

PART 1: CONCEPT

The Pitch: Does this concept excite everyone who hears about it?

Story Fundamentals: Will this concept generate a strong story?
 Does this challenge represent the hero’s greatest hope and/or greatest fear and/or an ironic answer to the hero’s question?

The Hook: Will this be marketable and generate word of mouth?
 Does the story satisfy the basic human urges that get people to buy and recommend this genre? 

PART 2: CHARACTER

Believe: Do we recognize the hero as a human being?

Care: Do we feel for the hero?

Invest: Can we trust the hero to tackle this challenge?

PART 3: STRUCTURE (assuming that the story is about the solving of a large problem)

1st Quarter: Is the challenge laid out in the first quarter?

2nd Quarter: Does the hero try the easy way in the second quarter?

3rd Quarter: Does the hero try the hard way in the third quarter?

4th Quarter: Does the challenge climax in the fourth quarter?

PART 4: SCENEWORK

The Set-Up: Does this scene begin with the essential elements it needs?
 Were tense and/or hopeful (and usually false) expectations for this interaction established beforehand?
 Does the scene eliminate small talk and repeated beats by cutting out the beginning (or possibly even the middle)?
 Is one of the scene partners not planning to have this conversation (and quite possibly has something better to do)?
 Is there at least one non-plot element complicating the scene?
 Does the scene establish its own mini-ticking-clock (if only through subconscious anticipation)?

The Conflict: Is this a compelling collision of competing agendas?  
 Does this scene both advance the plot and reveal character through emotional reactions?
 Does the audience have (or develop) a rooting interest in this scene (which may sometimes shift)?
 Are two agendas genuinely clashing (rather than merely two personalities)?
 Does the scene have both a surface conflict and a suppressed conflict (one of which is the primary conflict in this scene)?
 Is the suppressed conflict (which may or may not come to the surface) implied through subtext (and/or called out by the other character)?
 Do characters use verbal tricks and traps to get what they want, not just direct confrontation?
 Is there re-blocking, including literal push and pull between the scene partners (often resulting in just one touch)?
 Are objects given or taken, representing larger values?

The Outcome: Does this scene change the story going forward?
 As a result of this scene, does at least one of the scene partners end up doing something that he or she didn’t intend to do when the scene began?
 Are new questions posed that will be left unanswered for now?
 Does the scene cut out early, on a question (possibly to be answered instantly by the circumstances of the next scene)?
 Is the audience left with a growing hope and/or fear for what might happen next? (Not just in the next scene, but generally)

PART 5: DIALOGUE

Empathetic: Is the dialogue true to human nature?
 Does the writing demonstrate empathy for all of the characters?
 Does each of the characters, including the hero, have a limited perspective?
 Do the characters consciously and unconsciously prioritize their own wants, rather than the wants of others?
 Are the characters resistant to openly admitting their feelings (to others and even to themselves)?
 Do the characters avoid saying things they wouldn’t say (and doing things they wouldn’t do)?
 Do the characters listen poorly?
 Do the characters interrupt each other often?

Specific: Is the dialogue specific to this world and each personality?
 Does the dialogue capture the jargon and tradecraft of the profession and/or setting?

Heightened: Is the dialogue more pointed and dynamic than real talk?
 Is the dialogue more concise than real talk?
 Does the dialogue have more personality than real talk?
 Is there a minimum of commas in the dialogue (the lines are not prefaced with Yes, No, Well, Look, or the other character’s name)?
 Do non-professor characters speak without dependent clauses, conditionals, or parallel construction?

Strategic: Are certain dialogue scenes withheld until necessary?
  Does the hero have at least one big “I understand you” moment with a love interest or primary emotional partner?

  Is exposition withheld until the hero and the audience are both demanding to know it?
 Is there one gutpunch scene, where the subtext falls away and the characters really lay into each other?

PART 6: TONE

Genre: Does the story tap into pre-established expectations?
 Is the story limited to one genre (or multiple genres that are merged from the beginning, without introducing a new genre after the first quarter?)
 Is the story limited to one sub-genre (or multiple sub-genres that are compatible with each other, without mixing metaphors)?
 Separate from the genre, is a consistent mood (goofy, grim, ‘fairy tale’, etc.) established early and maintained throughout?

Framing: Does the story set, reset, upset and ultimately exceed its own expectations?
 Is there a dramatic question posed early on, which will establish in the audience’s mind which moment will mark the end of the story
 Does the story use framing devices to establish genre, mood and expectations?
 Does foreshadowing create anticipation and suspense (and refocus the audience’s attention on what’s important)?
 Are reversible behaviors used to foreshadow and then confirm change?
 Is the dramatic question answered at the very end of the story?

PART 7: THEME

Difficult: Is the meaning of the story derived from a fundamental moral dilemma?
 Can the overall theme be stated in the form of an irreconcilable good vs. good (or evil vs. evil) dilemma?
 Is a thematic question asked out loud (or clearly implied) in the first half, and left open?
 Do the characters consistently have to choose between goods, or between evils, instead of choosing between good and evil?

Grounded: Do the stakes ring true to the world of the audience?
 Does the story include twinges of real life national pain?
 Are these issues and the overall dilemma addressed in a way that avoids moral hypocrisy?
 Do all of the actions have real consequences?

Subtle: Is the theme interwoven throughout so that it need not be discussed often?

Untidy: Is the dilemma ultimately irresolvable?
 In the end, is the plot not entirely tidy (some smaller plot threads left unresolved, some answers left vague)?
 Do the characters refuse (or fail) to synthesize the meaning of the story, forcing the audience to do that?

Whew! So how did your story do? Go check out the Checklist Roadtests to see how some great stories line up.

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