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Part I: The Protagonist’s Journey as Narrative Imperative -- Chapter One: The Protagonist’s Journey – Due to their central role, engaging the Protagonist is the most important aspect of the story-crafting process -- Chapter Two: Character Arc – In movies, there exists a recurring variety of character arcs including the most popular: positive transformation -- Chapter Three: Disunity – The Protagonist needs to change as reflected in their initial state of disunity -- Chapter Four: Deconstruction – Entering the New World, a series of challenges and trials deconstructs the Protagonist’s old ways of being -- Chapter Five: Reconstruction – Freed from their old ways of being, the Protagonist is reconstructed by embracing heretofore untapped inner potential.-Chapter Six: Unity – The Protagonist brings together all they have learned in the story’s final struggle and in doing so achieves unity -- Chapter Seven: The Protagonist’s Place Within the Screenplay Universe – The Protagonist’s journey interweaves between the External World and the Internal World -- Part II: The Protagonist’s Journey as Family of Characters -- Chapter Eight: Primary Character Archetypes – Five narrative dynamics common to movies represented by these archetypes: Protagonist, Nemesis, Attractor, Mentor, Trickster -- Chapter Nine: Nemesis – By providing opposition to the Protagonist, the Nemesis generates sustained conflict which creates the central drama of the story -- Chapter Ten: Attractor – During their journey, the Protagonist intersects with Attractor characters who connect with the Protagonist’s emotional development -- Chapter Eleven: Mentor – The Protagonist meets another type of ally, the Mentor who provides wisdom and contributes to the Protagonist’s intellectual growth -- Chapter Twelve: Trickster – A shapeshifter tests the will of the Protagonist by switching from ally to enemy, enemy to ally, and generating complications -- Chapter Thirteen: Subplots – Each Protagonist relationship with key characters is a mini-story with its own arc, theme, and contribution to the overall narrative -- Chapter Fourteen: Character Map – There is a structure to the Protagonist’s relationships with the story’s major characters -- Part III: The Protagonist’s Journey as Screenplay -- Chapter Fifteen: Breaking the Story I – Begin the story-crafting process by engaging the story’s central character with a Protagonist Character Treatment -- Chapter Sixteen: Breaking the Story II – Use a series of brainstorming exercises to explore the story universe and develop its characters -- Chapter Seventeen: Breaking the Story III – A first pass at wrangling the plot by working with Four Primary Plotline Points -- Chapter Eighteen: Breaking the Story IV – Track the Protagonist’s transformation arc through Four Themeline Movements -- Chapter Nineteen: Breaking the Story V – Expand the framework of the plot by identifying Ten Major Plotline Points -- Chapter Twenty: Breaking the Story VI – Construct the final story structure, both Plotline and Themeline into a Narrative Throughline -- Chapter Twenty-One: Writing the First Draft – Break down the writing process into sets of scenes from one Plotline Point to another all the way through the Denouement. . Character drives plot. Based on this principle, this book walks aspiring writers through the fascinating world of character-driven screenwriting. When a writer engages their characters, they start a process which naturally leads to the story’s structure and everything else that makes for a well-written narrative. Exploring the protagonist’s journey and their “unity arc,” Myers explains how a family of characters surrounds the protagonist and influences their transformation process. This easy-to-follow guide features activities that will help writers of any level develop their stories from concept to scene-by-scene outline. Based upon a popular workshop Myers has led with over a thousand writers at all levels of experience, this book is a must-have for screenwriting students, both undergraduate and graduate, and those looking at advanced story development.
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