This is an important concept to tackle, so here comes a thread.
Understanding how to tell a story often involves being very reductionist, understanding that there are only two types of stories - comedies & tragedies - and that there are only a limited number of story structures.
Understanding how to tell a story often involves being very reductionist, understanding that there are only two types of stories - comedies & tragedies - and that there are only a limited number of story structures.
Yes, when you boil it down, there are very few stories to tell & very few ways to tell them. "There's nothing new under the sun," as the saying goes. But that's not true. In stories, the details matter. Your voice matters. Times change, as so too do the stories we want to hear.
These elements we read about - the number of stories, 3 act structure, theme, tone - these are the bones & muscle of a story. Saying all stories are the same because of this is like saying you may as well marry anyone at all, since we're all the same skeleton and bone underneath.
But it does matter who you marry. Because there's a lot more to a relationship then having all the requisite parts. And it does matter what you have to say. The details of your story, the choices the characters make, the times they are set in - all of these things matter.
So don't let yourself get bogged down in "This has all been done before," because, really, it hasn't. There is enough variation in voice and place and time to make each story unique in its own ways. And. all that aside, audiences like familiarity. They crave it.
It's their entry point to the story.
So let the familiar story structures be the familiar and let your voice, your details, your truth, be the NEW that audiences also crave.
So let the familiar story structures be the familiar and let your voice, your details, your truth, be the NEW that audiences also crave.
