Brilliant explanation of story and plot for writing fiction. Risks interpretation as advocating formulaic writing, but many classics fall into her interpretation of good story structure.
Every story needs one, and to be story-worthy they need:
Their flaw(s) or problem(s) gives the story something to fix and a reason to care. Their wants/goals can, and often do/will, change as the story progresses. What they truly need, though, is what becomes the story’s theme. If what they truly need is to learn how to open themselves up emotionally, then the theme of the story is about exactly that.
Brody therefore says there are really two stories: the A Story, the surface-level plot, and the B Story, the true theme and what the story is really about.
She suggests the following ten themes:
Brody outlines how there are fifteen core “beats” to most (if not all) successful, well-known stories, which are then split into three main acts:
The emphasis here is on this being an image—presenting the status quo world as it is for our hero within a single scene or chapter, right at the very beginning. This is a snapshot of their world as it is before the events that happen in the book.
A secondary character speaks to what the theme of the plot is but is roundly ignored by the hero because they are resistant to change.
Where we see the status quo of the world and the hero before everything changes.
“The possibilities are endless, but the objective is the same: to make the reader understand why this person needs to go on a journey of transformation. Because clearly things aren't working out in this status quo world of Act 1.” (Page 36)
Disrupt the status quo with a life-changing event; it must be significant. It must be big!
“How do you know if your Catalyst is big enough? Ask yourself the following question: Can my hero easily return to their normal life and continue doing what they were doing after this happens? If your answer is yes, your Catalyst isn't big enough. If your answer is Heck no! then you're on the right track.” (Page 38)
Here, the hero takes a step back; will they carry on down the path that the catalyst appears to have set them on? There is much debate, hemming and hawing.
Act 2 is the total antithesis of Act 1: it must be as different as possible to Act 1, ushering us into an entirely new world.
This is where we must establish how we are, most firmly, in the new world of Act 2. This Act must belong entirely to the hero, but what happens here is still only a temporary solution to the hero’s core, true need. They are fixing things, but doing it in the wrong way.
The B story is the “real” story, or the theme; it’s the transformation that the main character has to go on. This is where we introduce characters important to the B story. They are usually love interests, friends, mentors, or in some cases a nemesis. They must represent the upside down of the Act 2 world, and guide the hero toward their ultimate life lesson.
This section delivers on the “promise of the premise” of the book overall. For example, the boy wizard goes to wizarding school and experiences all that this entails. It’s dynamic: many ups and downs, but in any event either heading towards failure or success.
(This is usually the longest beat in the story, followed by the finale.)
The midpoint is, according to Brody, a magic kind of pivot point:
Here’s how this plays out:
There is, overall, a shift from wants to needs.
“Bad guys” here are anything that is external and negative in influence. It could be literal bad guys, illness, a storm, disease, or internal, abstract things, such as flaws or behaviors. These become much more intense and immediate.
This is where the hero hits true rock bottom, true defeat, true abject horror.
“It's a single-scene beat (one scene or one chapter), approximately 75 percent of the way through the novel, in which something happens to your hero that tosses them deep, deep down into defeat. ... Whatever it is, it's BIG. Even bigger than the Catalyst! It seems insurmountable. Your hero must be worse off than they were at the start of the book.” (Page 60)
There is a “whiff of death” about the place. The killing of a mentor is a common tactic at this point.
This beat is, in many ways, another form of catalyst.
“The hero must be in some way responsible. Otherwise, there's no lesson to be learned. And that is the whole point of the All Is Lost. Now your hero has nothing else to do but wallow in their defeat and reflect upon their choices and their life. Little do they know that it'll be the most powerful, life-changing reflection they've ever done.” (Page 62)
This is the hero’s reaction to the “all is lost” beat, and where the hero figures out their way through to a resolution. This is the second “debate” section of the story, filled with hopeless wallowing, or anger, or denial, or similar.
It’s typical for revelations or epiphanies to happen here, often leading us to ask: “What will they do now?”
This beat brings us into Act 3 with the hero finally fixing the problems created in Act 2 and finally fixing themselves. Can be a single scene, or even shorter, at around the 80% mark in the book.
This beat resolves all Act 2 problems created and proves the transformation of the hero. It’s another very long beat, but Brody suggests splitting it up into what she calls the “five-point finale” where we storm the figurative—or indeed literal—castle:
“[Dig deep down] is also called a touched-by-the-divine moment. No, your story doesn't have to be spiritual or religious to have a touched-by-the-divine moment. But your story does have to have a soul. It has to speak to us on some deeper level. And here's where the hero takes a final leap of faith.” (Page 71)
The final beat offers a snapshot of the “after” for the hero:
“How far have they come? What have they learned? How much have they grown as a human being? What does their life look like now that they've journeyed through the Dark Night of the Soul, faced their demons, ripped out their shard of glass, and come out the other side better and stronger than ever before?” (Page 73)
Most stories fit into one of roughly ten genres that Brody outlines as follows:
Brody argues that you cannot create a new genre, but that you can have a fresh take one. Not only that, there’s not necessarily a black or white division between them: there may be considerable blending of two or more genres together in one story.
Logline format: “On the verge of a stasis = death moment, a flawed hero Breaks Into 2; but when the Midpoint happens, they must learn the Theme Stated before the All Is Lost.” (Page 267)
There’s urgency, movement, necessity, and just enough of the plot in this format to help the reader understand why they should even care in the first place. Also, it’s short and punchy.
Don’t reveal spoilers here, but do not make it too vague, either. Vague is boring.
As for synopses, Brody suggests the following:
There’s more wiggle room here, more options. But be careful to only hint at the really pivotal information so you can leave the reader wanting more.
Start with a good hero first. A powerful problem/flaw, want/goal, and need. This alone gives a good idea of what act 1 should look like. Which in turn, gives an idea of what a good act 2 might look like.
Then flesh out the five foundation beats:
These are the most important ones, about which the rest can hang. Brody also lists a series of other questions here that help develop these:
Her advice for writing multi-main character stories is to write a beat sheet for each. Sames goes for writing series (e.g. a trilogy): a beat sheet for each, and a beat sheet for the overall series.
This is a method to use when you have an unlikeable hero: get them to do something kind-hearted or generous early on so the reader can cling onto something (or pitch them against a nemesis so evil you have to root for them regardless).
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