The Tools (Not Rules) of Story Structure: The Craft of Storytelling with Mark Hennigan

Course Summary

Whether it’s in film, theatre, a novel, or a video game, storytelling is a craft. And like any craft, there are universal principles. These are tools we can use to help ourselves as writers, editors, or readers. In this six part course, participants will learn what makes stories really work, how to avoid common pitfalls, and what tools to use when we get stuck.

Participants should bring a story they are writing or editing, or an idea they are ready to outline to work on throughout in a supportive atmosphere.

Note: examples will be mostly film for shorthand purposes.

Course Outline

Session 1: Why Structure Is Story
Unity of Action; 3 Act and 5 Act structure; Character Want vs Need

(Prime Sources: John Yorke; Aristotle; Meg LeFauve & Lorien McKenna)

Session 2: The Plot and the Story

The Plot/Story Double-Helix; Intro to the 8 Story Stages; Act I: Before the Change

(Prime Sources: Mary Kate O’Flanagan; Frank Daniel; Craig Mazin; Michael Arndt)

Session 3: Why Some Stories Sag (and what to do about it)

The Two Kinds of Protagonists; The Long 2nd Act and the Journey of Change

(Prime Sources: John Yorke; Robert McKee; Craig Mazin, Meg LeFauve & Lorien McKenna)

Session 4: Why Endings Define Stories

Act III: After the Change; False Resolutions, True Resolutions, Climactic Decisions, and Epilogues

(Prime Sources: Mary Kate O’Flanagan; Frank Daniel; Michael Arndt; Craig Mazin)

Session 5: Making Good Stories Great

Theme and Tensions: Scenes, Sequences, and Fractal Structure

(Prime Sources: John Yorke; Robert McKee; Danny Rubin)

Session 6: Why we care — Characters as the engine of meaning

Premise / Protagonist Harmony, Defining Relationships, and Character Architecture

(Prime Sources: Robert McKee; John Yorke; Michael Arndt; Meg LeFauve & Lorien McKenna)

Every week, participants will have a small amount of analysis or writing homework (1-2 hours) to develop their practice / story.

Course Outcomes

You will learn:

— how to define what any story is really “about”

— tools to identify exactly why a story isn’t working

— why that beginning feels so nondescript
— why that long middle part feels so long and shapeless

— why that ending just doesn’t feel satisfying

— why a story can start to lose pace, or why characters feel ‘flat’

— most importantly, the tools that will help you to act on this understanding.

Mark Hennigan is a writer, story consultant, script editor, and teacher. As a story consultant, he’s worked with producers, directors, and writers of film, TV, video games, and novels in Ireland and the UK. He’s read for competitions run by Ardán, RTÉ, and Fís Eireann; and has been a regular trusted reader for The Abbey Theatre. He’s taught for The National Film School, Griffith College, and Publishing Ireland. He is also the creator of the podcast Mark Overanalyses Film.

Booked out? To be added to the waiting list for this course, please email bookings@irishwriterscentre.ie.