Getting Started

Stories and Storyforms

Introduction

When we think of a story, we often focus on the surface elements—characters, events, or settings. But there’s much more to a story than meets the eye. Beneath the plot and dialogue lies a carefully crafted structure, guiding how the story unfolds and what it ultimately communicates. This deeper structure is what gives a story its shape, direction, and meaning. Whether you’re writing a novel, a screenplay, or even a video game, the real power of your story comes from how well its underlying framework supports the message you want to convey. This is where the concept of Storyforms comes in.

Understanding Storyforms

A Storyform is a unique narrative structure that defines the thematic argument of a particular storyline. Every Storyform works as a cohesive blueprint for your narrative, organizing characters, plot points, and themes into a meaningful whole. Many well-known films have more than one Storyform, allowing them to explore different narrative threads within the same overarching story. For example:

  • Raiders of the Lost Ark: An adventure with sophisticated narrative structures (Indy and the Ark, Indy and Belloq).
  • The Empire Strikes Back: Balances multiple perspectives and narrative layers, each with its own Storyform (Luke and Yoda, Han and Leia).
  • Jerry Maguire: A mix of professional ambition and personal growth, handled through separate narrative structures (Jerry and Rod Tidwell, Dorothy and Jerry).
  • Barbie: Incorporates contrasting Storyforms to explore themes of identity, empowerment, and societal expectations (Barbie and Ken, Barbie and Gloria).
  • As Good As It Gets: Weaves together different narrative threads, balancing romance, self-improvement, and interpersonal growth (Simon and Melvin, Melvin and Carol).

While these examples are fantastic, it’s important to note that most stories—whether they’re films, novels, television series, graphic novels, games, or other mediums—typically have just one Storyform. We recommend that you start with a single Storyform when beginning your project, as it provides a strong, focused foundation for your narrative. Once you’re comfortable, you can explore layering multiple Storyforms if your story requires more complexity.

Appreciations of Narrative

At the heart of a Storyform are Appreciations of Narrative—the essential narrative components that define how conflict is viewed and processed throughout the story. These appreciations are like a vast set of datapoints that shape the various perspectives and dimensions of the narrative. They help you decide what the story is really about and how characters and audiences alike will experience conflict.

For example, consider the Story Goal:

  • If the Story Goal is Obtaining, the conflict centers around achieving or gaining something concrete, such as recovering a treasure or winning a race.
  • On the other hand, if the Story Goal is Understanding, the conflict revolves around gaining knowledge or insight, such as solving a mystery or coming to terms with a personal revelation.

Appreciations provide a framework for interpreting the different angles of conflict in your story. They help determine the thematic and dramatic elements that guide the audience’s understanding of why conflict exists and how it is being addressed. Appreciations also account for different perspectives, such as the Objective Story Throughline (the objective view of conflict), the Main Character Throughline (the personal experience of conflict), and the Relationship Story Throughline (the interpersonal conflict between two key characters).

Methods of Conflict

While Appreciations define the what of conflict, Methods of Conflict are the underlying engines that process how conflict is dealt with at a granular level. These are the tiny, often unseen forces at work throughout the story, continuously driving characters to act and react to the obstacles they face. Methods of Conflict reveal the particular strategies or approaches characters use to engage with and resolve conflict.

Think of Methods of Conflict as the dynamic tools or mechanisms that fuel narrative progression. For example:

  • A character might employ a method of Psychology, trying to convince others to change their minds in order to achieve the story goal.
  • Another might rely on Self-interest, focusing on personal gain, even at the expense of others.

These methods allow for nuanced storytelling by showing how conflicts aren’t just about big goals but also about the day-to-day decisions and approaches characters take in the pursuit of those goals. When layered into a Storyform, these methods become the gears that keep the narrative machine running smoothly.

Together, Appreciations and Methods of Conflict form a vast network of interconnected elements that drive the story forward, giving it depth, complexity, and cohesion. While Appreciations help frame the story’s overall thematic argument, Methods of Conflict shape the moment-to-moment tensions and choices that bring that argument to life.

Workspaces

In Subtxt, your writing journey is organized into two distinct Workspaces: the Muse Workspace and the Develop Workspace. Each serves a different purpose, depending on where you are in the creative process and how structured your story needs to be.

Muse Workspace

The Muse Workspace allows you to work on both Stories and Storyforms, giving you the freedom to explore your ideas in a flexible, open-ended environment. Whether you’re brainstorming loose story ideas or refining a more structured Storyform, the Muse Workspace provides a space to experiment without being constrained by a set interface. This makes it ideal for those just starting out, as you can develop your story at your own pace while perhaps working towards forming a cohesive Storyform.

Develop Workspace

The Develop Workspace is a prescriptive environment tailored to help writers develop their Storyform with precision and focus. This workspace comes equipped with specialized tools and features designed to guide you through the process of building a structured narrative. It emphasizes the key elements needed to craft a well-formed story, offering a clear, step-by-step approach to developing Storypoints and Storybeats.

While the Muse Workspace supports both Stories and Storyforms, the Develop Workspace is specifically tailored for working with fully formed Storyforms. If you’re new to Subtxt, starting in the Muse Workspace can give you the creative freedom to explore your ideas before transitioning into the more structured Develop Workspace.

Narrative Aspects

Whether you’re working on a Story or a fully developed Storyform, Subtxt offers several key narrative aspects that you can create and explore. These aspects help shape and organize your narrative, allowing you to dig deeper into the structure and content of your story. Here are the core narrative aspects available:

Perspectives

Perspectives allow you to explore different viewpoints on the same thematic conflict within your story. By assigning specific Storypoints and Storybeats to different Perspectives, you can see how various characters or thematic arguments contribute to the same central issue.

Overviews

High-level storytelling elements such as Throughline descriptions, plot synopses, and character arcs. These provide a broad picture of your story’s direction and the thematic elements that drive it forward.

Dynamics

Dynamics represent the forces that operate on the structure of your narrative. They define the forces and pressure points that push your story forward. By working with Dynamics, you can explore how and why characters transform—or why they choose not to—providing deeper insight into the underlying tensions that fuel your story.

Players

The cast of characters that populate your story, solely within the Objective Story Throughline. Characters are organized by function, ensuring they fulfill specific roles within the plot.

Storypoints

Thematic elements that run throughout the narrative. These are the key ideas and themes that are woven into the fabric of your story, helping to convey its deeper meaning.

Storybeats

The temporal progression of events within your story. Storybeats track how the plot unfolds over time, marking key moments and transitions.

By working with these narrative aspects, you can shape a more cohesive and dynamic story, whether you’re still exploring your ideas or honing a structured Storyform.