7 Key Structure Steps

In the Great Screenwriting Course, we begin by breaking story structure into the basic steps of human action. These basic steps of human action are:

Problem/Need: the difficult situation affecting the hero and what's missing within the hero

Desire: what the hero wants in the story

Opponent: the character competing for the same goal as the hero

Plan: how the hero will overcome the opponent and succeed

Battle: the final conflict that decides who gets the goal

Self-Revelation: a fundamental understanding the hero gains about himself/ herself, fulfilling the need

New Equilibrium: the world back to normal with the hero at a higher or lower level

Notice just these 7 steps can make a big difference in how you structure your story. Unlike 3-act, the 7 steps (along with the more detailed 22 steps of every great script) actually exist in your story. They are hidden, embedded in the story idea, and you must discover them and detail them.

When you have found the 7 key structure steps, you have begun to build the foundation of a script that works.