The Ultimate Story Map

I've been doing lectures on the Seven Basic Plots, but plot is only one component of the Ultimate Story Map, which also includes:
Plot
Character
Atmosphere
Viewpoint
In this video I'll go over how all four of these elements come together to generate the power, meaning and impact of a good story.
To watch the lectures I’ve done on the seven basic plots, take a look at this playlist:
• The Seven Basic Plots

[@RonCopperman]

I watch your videos because they help me see the bible and spiritual life with a different "lense". Thanks for the insights. (Jonathan Pageau-ing )

[@justinsmorningcoffee]

Thank you Ron

[@captainnolan5062]

Gandalf and Dumbledore, both come from Merlin (the magician bearded elder mentor) who in turn, likely came from the Greek mythological character Mentor. In the Odyssey, Mentor (Greek: Μέντωρ, Méntōr; gen.: Μέντορος) was the son of Alcimus. In his old age Mentor was a friend of Odysseus. When Odysseus left for the Trojan War, he placed Mentor in charge of his son Telemachus, and of Odysseus' palace.

[@MrGeoxen]

Now that you mention it, Sopranos plays with these elements of water in the underworld a lot as well. Between the pool in Tony's house, the visits to the ocean on his boat, there is a lot at play.

[@justinsmorningcoffee]

That’s true!

[@captainnolan5062]

Plot is not the "What" of a story; Theme is What the story is about. Plot is part of the delivery mechanism of Theme. Theme is what the story is about. Perhaps you could think of it as: Plot is what happens on the surface of the story, and theme is what the story is about (the 'deeper' "what". (i.e. there are two different kinds of whats). Also take a look at Story Genius by Lisa Cron. Cron's definition of story: “A story is how what happens affects someone who is trying to achieve what turns out to be a difficult goal, and how he or she changes as a result. . . . As counterintuitive as it may sound, a story is not about the plot or even what happens in it."

[@captainnolan5062]

John Truby's book "The Anatomy of Story" is quite good at explaining how all of these things (plot, character, setting, etc.) must interrelate and mesh to tell the story as a master storyteller level (he focuses on screenplays).

[@justinsmorningcoffee]

Yes that’s a good one. Truby has been a big influence on my thinking

[@JessPurviance]

This is great. I'm excited to see this expansion into these different areas. I heard someone say (in an exaggerated way) that the main character in Children of Men was the background. I've thought about that a lot.

[@justinsmorningcoffee]

Yes that’s probably true of Children of Men

[@captainnolan5062]

Also, Dramatic Story Creation in Plain English by Maxwell Alexander Drake also tackles the importance of Theme (and he describe plot as the physical layer). You can not have the ultimate story map without including "theme."

[@aktionfragezeichen2342]

Books on Charakters 45 Master Characters by Victoria Lynn Schmidt. Awakening the Heroes within by Carol S. Pearson

[@justinsmorningcoffee]

Thani you, I’ll check those out!

[@christianbaxter_yt]

🍿 😊

[@christianbaxter_yt]

Storyteller - Meta

[@TheMeaningCode]

8:20, what do you do with stories like Hezekiah, who after his rebirth from illness he screws up his legacy?

[@justinsmorningcoffee]

@@TheMeaningCode I suspect that if I was asked to write a dramatic version of that story, it would probably structure out in a nice five act tragedy, ending with the tragic destruction of the city, which, on my story map, is the fall off of the first mountain. I’m not saying you would have to do it that way, but it would probably work to do it like that. Remember, these maps are suppose to be tools to help you structure a story, not a comprehensive theory that you have to fit all stories into. It depends on what you are tying to do with it. Also remember, the presence of any one element, a monster, a sword, an antagonist, a love interest, a journey to the underworld et cetera is never, as far as I’ve seen, relegated to one plot type only. For example there are almost always monsters in the quest archetype. In fact, it’s like a little mini overcoming the monster story *within* that larger, more complex story type. So there’s always a kind of fractal quality to it, in the sense that there are mini patterns inside of the bigger ones. Think of them like musical motifs, phrases or sequences which can be used in adjacent musical genres. In my studies, I have noted an intimate connection in fact between the tragedy and the rebirth types, in that they typically share the first four acts (anticipation, dream, frustration, nightmare) and only differ in that final act - the tragic figure doubles down on folly while the rebirth protagonist learns how to repent. That’s probably actually something to look for in the Hezekiah story.

[@justinsmorningcoffee]

*laden

[@captainnolan5062]

in Lord of the Rings, Dwarves live in the Mountains (not elves), the Elves live in the forest (which is a paradise like area). Note: Elves are the good, and orcs are corrupted elves. Per the internet: In J.R.R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings, orcs are a race of humanoid monsters that are said to be a corrupted race of elves. According to The Silmarillion, the Dark Lord Morgoth either bred the orcs or turned them savage through cruelty and torture. Morgoth may have done this out of envy and mockery of the elves, and in an attempt to create life himself.

[@justinsmorningcoffee]

Very helpful!

[@captainnolan5062]

@@justinsmorningcoffee I sent you an e-mail some time ago about speaking by phone. Did you receive it?

[@justinsmorningcoffee]

@@captainnolan5062 I’m sorry man, I don’t see it in my email but there’s a lot of spam on that one. Can you just DM me on Twitter? It’s @onejwells

[@captainnolan5062]

@@justinsmorningcoffee I got a notification that @onejwells can't be messaged. I sent you one on Facebook.

[@captainnolan5062]

The jump from Carl Jung to the seven basic plots At 3:12 was not explained well. Jung spoke of architypes and not 7 basic plots. So, I can see how the Characters were influenced by him, but the leap you made from Jung to the 7 basic plots was not logical nor did you give evidence for it ( I have watched your other videos on the 7 basic plots). Campbell spoke of the monomyth and could be linked to the voyage and return, but not the other 6 plots. Please explain how you make that leap in your argument from Jung to the 7 basic plots.

[@justinsmorningcoffee]

Christopher Booker used a Jungian lens for story analysis in The Seven Basic Plots. Yes I could have made that more clear, thank you for the feedback.

[@captainnolan5062]

Writers call "atmosphere" the "setting."

[@justinsmorningcoffee]

Yes, that’s also a term that could work