Basic Plotting with Transits

Are you ready for the next exciting step in our narrative exploration? We're about to delve into the intriguing realm of "Basic Plotting with Transits". This is where we'll learn how to skillfully interweave the Transits from different Throughlines into meaningful Moments that illuminate each Act.

It's a subtle art, much like crafting a tapestry, each Throughline a thread, each Moment a color, and each Act a row that builds upon the last. But fear not, it's a journey we're embarking on together, and it promises to deepen your understanding of narrative structure and enrich your storytelling craft.

Initial Approach

When it comes to structuring your story, first start with the four Transits from each Throughline, and the Story Drivers found in the Objective Story Throughline. So you might have:

OS: Past - Progress - Future - Present
MC: Doing - Learning - Obtaining - Understanding
OC: Conceptualizing - Being - Becoming - Conceiving
RS: Subconscious - Preconscious - Conscious - Memory

With Five Story Drivers, weaved together it might look something like this:

Act One

Initial Story Driver
Past
Doing
Conceptualizing
Subconscious

Act Two

Second Story Driver
Learning
Progress
Being
Preconscious

Act Three

Third Story Driver (Midpoint)
Future
Conscious
Becoming
Obtaining

Act Four

Fourth Story Driver
Memory
Understanding
Conceiving
Present
Concluding Story Driver

Right there you have an awesome story. But it might be a tad anemic when it comes to fleshing out a two-hour screenplay (and even more so if you’re writing a novel). So you’ll want to break down those individual Transits into the Progressions that lie underneath.

More Detailed Approach

For screenplays, and most stories, I suggest only using the Objective Story Progressions. These are the breakdowns of the Transits found in each Transit. The other Throughlines I only look at if I need to “cheat” and I can’t come up with something on the spot that feels right. If you’re nearing a deadline, the Progressions become your best friend.😊

So, if we take the sequence of Progressions for the Objective Story Transits we get:

Past: Approach, Self Interest->Altruism, and Attitude
Progress: Prerequisites, Strategy->Analysis, and Preconditions
Future: Senses, Conditioning->Instinct, and Interpretation
Present: Wisdom, Skill->Experience, and Enlightenment

What you do is you REPLACE the instances of the Objective Story Transits with these Progressions. In the first Structural Act you will now have THREE beats of Past: Past in terms of Approach, Past in terms of Self-interest to Altruism, and Past in terms of Attitude.

Your structure might now look something like this:

Act One

Initial Story Driver
Past in terms of Approach
Doing
Past in terms of Self-interest to Altruism
Conceptualizing
Subconscious
Past in terms of Attitude

Act Two

Second Story Driver
Learning
Progress in terms of Prerequisites
Being
Progress in terms of Strategy to Analysis
Preconscious
Progress in terms of Preconditions

Act Three

Third Story Driver (Midpoint)
Future in terms of Senses
Conscious
Future in terms of Conditioning to Instinct
Becoming
Future in terms of Interpretation
Obtaining

Act Four

Fourth Story Driver
Present in terms of Wisdom
Memory
Present in terms of Skill to Experience
Understanding
Conceiving
Present in terms of Enlightenment
Concluding Story Driver

From there you might add an extra beat or two from the Main Character Throughline or the Relationship Story Throughline - whatever feels right for your story.

I’ve also found that as you get closer and closer to the end - these beats tend to weave tighter and tighter with each other, especially in comparison to where they began in the first Act.

Concluding Story Driver

The Concluding Event or Final Story Driver in Star Wars is when the Death Star goes Ka-blooie. The Story Drivers in Dramatica are tied to the Overall Story Throughline and when the inequity in that Throughline is resolved (or unresolved as the case may be)–not when the presentation of the narrative ends.

My outline above was to show how you would break up individual Signposts into individual sequences, not an exact outline that should be followed to the letter.

Many stories end their Overall Story Throughlines and then carry out their fulfillment of the conclusion of Main Character, Influence Character, and Relationship Story Throughlines.

The Shawshank Redemption is a great example of this. The Concluding Event of that Throughline is when the Warden blows his head off. Then you have a whole bunch of Main Character stuff, then a smidge of Influence Character, and then finally you wrap up with Relationship Story Throughline.

Conclusion

With this approach you end up with 28-32 STRUCTURAL story beats from which you can start to write a treatment/master outline or even the story itself. You’ve kept the perspective of Author consistent throughout the structuring process.

Plus, it’s a ton of fun. 🎉