{"id":952,"date":"2019-12-12T20:40:13","date_gmt":"2019-12-12T20:40:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.danielparente.net\/en\/2019\/12\/12\/8-steps-to-a-powerful-structure\/"},"modified":"2019-12-12T20:40:13","modified_gmt":"2019-12-12T20:40:13","slug":"8-steps-to-a-powerful-structure","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.danielparente.net\/en\/2019\/12\/12\/8-steps-to-a-powerful-structure\/","title":{"rendered":"8 Steps to a Powerful Structure"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> [ad_1]<br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<p>Writer Dan Harmon, the creator of TV\u2019s <em>Community<\/em>, has a reputation for being a story structure evangelist. For over a decade, he\u2019s been known to \u2018break\u2019 the stories he\u2019s working on with a system he known as \u2018The Embryo,\u2019 \u2018The Dan Harmon Story Circle,\u2019 or just \u2018The Story Circle.\u2019 It\u2019s an approach that many other writers have since adopted, including <a href=\"https:\/\/www.telegraph.co.uk\/news\/celebritynews\/11351923\/Does-this-circle-represent-every-TV-show-and-film-there-is.html\" data-wpel-link=\"external\" rel=\"nofollow external noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><em>IT Crowd<\/em> creator Graham Linehan<\/a>.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_12570\" style=\"width: 310px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><noscript><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-12570\" class=\"wp-image-12570 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/d2ybmm5cpznb3i.cloudfront.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Dan-Harmon-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"362\" srcset=\"https:\/\/d2ybmm5cpznb3i.cloudfront.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Dan-Harmon-1.jpg 300w, https:\/\/d2ybmm5cpznb3i.cloudfront.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Dan-Harmon-1-249x300.jpg 249w, https:\/\/d2ybmm5cpznb3i.cloudfront.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Dan-Harmon-1-182x220.jpg 182w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\"\/><\/noscript><img decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-12570\" class=\"lazyload wp-image-12570 size-full\" src=\"data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg%20xmlns=%22http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg%22%20viewBox=%220%200%20300%20362%22%3E%3C\/svg%3E\" data-src=\"https:\/\/d2ybmm5cpznb3i.cloudfront.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Dan-Harmon-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"362\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/d2ybmm5cpznb3i.cloudfront.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Dan-Harmon-1.jpg 300w, https:\/\/d2ybmm5cpznb3i.cloudfront.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Dan-Harmon-1-249x300.jpg 249w, https:\/\/d2ybmm5cpznb3i.cloudfront.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Dan-Harmon-1-182x220.jpg 182w\" data-sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\"\/><\/p>\n<p id=\"caption-attachment-12570\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Dan Harmon<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>There&#8217;s perhaps no better example of this system in action than the sci-fi comedy series, <em>Rick <\/em>and<em> Morty<\/em>, which Harmon co-created. In little over 30 episodes, <em>Rick and Morty<\/em> has\u00a0gained one of the most devoted fan-bases of any animated show since Matt Groening\u2019s <em>Futurama<\/em>. Known for its fast-paced, pop-culture inflected humor, <a href=\"https:\/\/reedsy.com\/discovery\/blog\/best-sci-fi-books\" data-wpel-link=\"internal\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">affection for science fiction tropes<\/a> (and its not-so-passing resemblance to characters from <em>Back to the Future<\/em>) the show has also been praised for its dense storytelling, often fitting in a feature film\u2019s worth of plot within a 21-minute runtime.<\/p>\n<p>But you might be thinking, <em>this is a blog for authors, not TV comedy writers. Why are they talking about a cartoon with a <a href=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/7c-hiuqSxu8?t=4s\" data-wpel-link=\"external\" rel=\"nofollow external noopener\" target=\"_blank\">burping granddad<\/a>?<\/em> Well, it has to do with something no novelist can avoid: <a href=\"https:\/\/blog.reedsy.com\/story-structure\/\" rel=\"noopener\" data-wpel-link=\"internal\" target=\"_blank\">structure<\/a>.<\/p>\n<h2 id=\"what-is-the-dan-harmon-story-circle\">What is the Dan Harmon Story Circle?<\/h2>\n<p>The Story Circle is an approach to plotting that Harmon adapted from <a href=\"https:\/\/blog.reedsy.com\/heros-journey\/\" rel=\"noopener\" data-wpel-link=\"internal\" target=\"_blank\">The Hero\u2019s Journey<\/a> \u2014 which itself derives from the work of academic Joseph Campbell. It lays out a kind of <a href=\"https:\/\/blog.reedsy.com\/narrative-arc\/\" data-wpel-link=\"internal\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">narrative arc<\/a> that&#8217;s commonly used by myths from all over the world and emphases how almost all forms of storytelling have a cyclical nature. In broad strokes, they always involve:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Characters venturing out to get what they need, and<\/li>\n<li>Returning, having changed.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>To get an idea of how The Story Circle differs from other, similar structures, here are the stages of The Hero\u2019s Journey as laid out by screenwriter Christopher Vogler:<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li>Ordinary World<\/li>\n<li>Call to Adventure<\/li>\n<li>Refusal of the Call<\/li>\n<li>Meeting the Mentor<\/li>\n<li>Crossing the Threshold<\/li>\n<li>Tests, Allies, Enemies<\/li>\n<li>Approach to the Innermost Cave<\/li>\n<li>Ordeal<\/li>\n<li>Reward (Seizing the Sword)<\/li>\n<li>The Road Back<\/li>\n<li>Resurrection<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p>Some of these labels allude to a particular type story: tales of squires becoming sword-wielding knights, recovering potions from some hidden cave. Real life-and-death stuff. What Harmon did is refine these to just eight steps (which kind of coincide with <a href=\"https:\/\/blog.reedsy.com\/plot-point\/\" data-wpel-link=\"internal\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">standard plot points<\/a>). These are comprised of basic human motivations, actions, and consequences, which he lays out on a circle:<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_12567\" style=\"width: 260px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><noscript><img decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-12567\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12567\" src=\"https:\/\/d2ybmm5cpznb3i.cloudfront.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Harmon-Circle.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"250\" height=\"206\"\/><\/noscript><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-12567\" class=\"lazyload size-full wp-image-12567\" src=\"data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg%20xmlns=%22http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg%22%20viewBox=%220%200%20250%20206%22%3E%3C\/svg%3E\" data-src=\"https:\/\/d2ybmm5cpznb3i.cloudfront.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Harmon-Circle.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"250\" height=\"206\"\/><\/p>\n<p id=\"caption-attachment-12567\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">(via Channel 101)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<ol>\n<li>A character is in a zone of comfort,<\/li>\n<li>But they want something.<\/li>\n<li>They enter an unfamiliar situation,<\/li>\n<li>Adapt to it,<\/li>\n<li>Get what they wanted,<\/li>\n<li>Pay a heavy price for it,<\/li>\n<li>Then return to their familiar situation,<\/li>\n<li>Having changed.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p>The benefit of Harmon\u2019s version over Vogler\u2019s is that it focuses more specifically on <a href=\"https:\/\/blog.reedsy.com\/character-development\/\" data-wpel-link=\"internal\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">character<\/a> and is much easier to apply to a wider range of story.<\/p>\n<h2 id=\"the-story-circle-in-rick-and-morty\">The Story Circle in Rick and Morty<\/h2>\n<p><noscript><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-12577 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/d2ybmm5cpznb3i.cloudfront.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Rick-and-Morty-Story-Wheel-Annotated.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"900\" height=\"600\" srcset=\"https:\/\/d2ybmm5cpznb3i.cloudfront.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Rick-and-Morty-Story-Wheel-Annotated.jpg 900w, https:\/\/d2ybmm5cpznb3i.cloudfront.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Rick-and-Morty-Story-Wheel-Annotated-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/d2ybmm5cpznb3i.cloudfront.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Rick-and-Morty-Story-Wheel-Annotated-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/d2ybmm5cpznb3i.cloudfront.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Rick-and-Morty-Story-Wheel-Annotated-450x300.jpg 450w, https:\/\/d2ybmm5cpznb3i.cloudfront.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Rick-and-Morty-Story-Wheel-Annotated-330x220.jpg 330w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 900px) 100vw, 900px\"\/><\/noscript><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"lazyload aligncenter wp-image-12577 size-full\" src=\"data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg%20xmlns=%22http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg%22%20viewBox=%220%200%20900%20600%22%3E%3C\/svg%3E\" data-src=\"https:\/\/d2ybmm5cpznb3i.cloudfront.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Rick-and-Morty-Story-Wheel-Annotated.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"900\" height=\"600\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/d2ybmm5cpznb3i.cloudfront.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Rick-and-Morty-Story-Wheel-Annotated.jpg 900w, https:\/\/d2ybmm5cpznb3i.cloudfront.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Rick-and-Morty-Story-Wheel-Annotated-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/d2ybmm5cpznb3i.cloudfront.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Rick-and-Morty-Story-Wheel-Annotated-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/d2ybmm5cpznb3i.cloudfront.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Rick-and-Morty-Story-Wheel-Annotated-450x300.jpg 450w, https:\/\/d2ybmm5cpznb3i.cloudfront.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Rick-and-Morty-Story-Wheel-Annotated-330x220.jpg 330w\" data-sizes=\"(max-width: 900px) 100vw, 900px\"\/><\/p>\n<p>In the video below, Harmon applies the story circle to an episode of Rick and Morty entitled \u201cMortynight Run.\u201d For enough context to understand the clip, here\u2019s some background info:<\/p>\n<p><em>Rick is a mad, drunk, egomaniacal scientist who has invented a portal gun that allows him to have debauched adventures across time and space. He almost always drags his sensitive, anxious grandson Morty along for the ride. In this episode, the also bring along Morty\u2019s father, Jerry, for whom Rick only has disdain.<\/em><\/p>\n<p align=\"center\"><iframe src=\"\/\/www.adultswim.com\/utilities\/embed\/PpIRl7aVTRGkiygRDY2DVw\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>Let&#8217;s take another look at how the episode\u2019s \u201cA\u201d story \u2014 which centers on Morty&#8217;s journey \u2014 fits into the story circle.<\/p>\n<h3 id=\"1-a-character-is-in-a-zone-of-comfort\">1. A character is in a zone of comfort<\/h3>\n<p>The first beat of the story sees Rick and Morty on what seems like just another one of their adventures. \u201cMorty exists in comfort until he finds out that Rick is an arms dealer,\u201d which leads to&#8230;<\/p>\n<h3 id=\"2-but-they-want-something\">2. But they want something<\/h3>\n<p>As Harmon points out, \u201cThis is an ethical quandary for Morty.\u201d The boy is put in a situation of guilt that compels him to \u201cgo across a threshold and search for a way to undo the ethical damage that he perceives Rick as doing.\u201d That takes us to the next stage.<\/p>\n<h3 id=\"3-they-enter-an-unfamiliar-situation\">3. They enter an unfamiliar situation<\/h3>\n<p>Even though he rarely defies his grandfather\u2019s instructions, Morty takes Rick\u2019s car keys and chases after the assassin, accidentally killing him.<\/p>\n<h3 id=\"4-adapt-to-it\">4. Adapt to it<\/h3>\n<p>Morty discovers an alien gas entity named \u2018Fart\u2019 \u2014 who was the assassin\u2019s target. Going against Rick\u2019s instructions once more (and making what he believes to be the ethical choice), Morty liberates Fart from space jail.<\/p>\n<h3 id=\"5-get-what-they-wanted\">5. Get what they wanted<\/h3>\n<p>Morty has achieved his goal: he\u2019s saved a life \u2014 and can now rest assured that he\u2019s done the right thing.<\/p>\n<h3 id=\"6-pay-a-heavy-price-for-it\">6. Pay a heavy price for it<\/h3>\n<p>\u201cIn the second half of the story, we start finding out that the act of saving that life is going to cost a lot of other people their lives,\u201d Harmon explains, as we see Fart slaughter many space cops while Rick and Morty make their escape.<\/p>\n<h3 id=\"7-then-return-to-their-familiar-situation\">7. Then return to their familiar situation<\/h3>\n<p>After the escape, the gang returns to a place resembling \u2018normal life,\u2019 crossing what Harmon calls \u201cthe return threshold.\u201d At this point, Morty realizes that Fart is a truly malevolent creature and means to return with his people to destroy all carbon-based life.<\/p>\n<p><em>Note: On the circle diagram, Step 7 is directly opposite to Step 3, where Morty crossed the threshold into the unfamiliar situation. Balance and harmony are a big part of storytelling.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n<h3 id=\"8-having-changed\">8. Having changed<\/h3>\n<p>\u201cSo Morty makes the decision to change into someone who kills.\u201d He terminates Fart, thereby saving the universe and becoming someone different from the person he started as. As Harmon points out, this is not a show for kids: not all protagonists need to learn universally positive messages for a story to ring true.<\/p>\n<p>Harmon has laid out his process for using the story circle in a <a href=\"http:\/\/channel101.wikia.com\/wiki\/Story_Structure_101:_Super_Basic_Shit\" data-wpel-link=\"external\" rel=\"nofollow external noopener\" target=\"_blank\">fascinating set of posts<\/a> (warning: contains swears) where he also talks about the nature of storytelling, answering questions like\u2026<\/p>\n<h2 id=\"why-is-this-structure-a-circle\">Why is this structure a circle?<\/h2>\n<p>You might be asking why Harmon doesn\u2019t just lay this structure out in a flat line. He lightly touches on the rhythms of biology, psychology, and culture: how <a href=\"http:\/\/channel101.wikia.com\/wiki\/Story_Structure_102:_Pure,_Boring_Theory\" data-wpel-link=\"external\" rel=\"nofollow external noopener\" target=\"_blank\">we all move cyclically<\/a> through phases of life and death, conscious and unconscious, order and chaos.<\/p>\n<p>The fascinating thing he points out is that cycles like these are, in part,\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/channel101.wikia.com\/wiki\/Story_Structure_103:_Let%27s_Simplify_Before_Moving_On\" data-wpel-link=\"external\" rel=\"nofollow external noopener\" target=\"_blank\">what have allowed humans to evolve<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBehind (and beneath) your culture creating forebrain, there is an older, simpler monkey brain with a lot less to say and a much louder voice. One of the few things it&#8217;s telling you, over and over again, is that you need to go search, find, take and return with change. Why? Because that is how the human animal has kept from going extinct, it&#8217;s how human societies keep from collapsing and how you keep from walking into McDonald&#8217;s with a machine gun.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe need [to] search \u2014 We need [to] get fire, we need [to find a] good woman, we need [to] land [on the] moon \u2014 but most importantly, we need RETURN and we need CHANGE, because we are a community, and if our heroes just climbed beanstalks and never came down, we wouldn&#8217;t have survived our first ice age.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>What Harmon&#8217;s getting at is that stories are a basic, universal part of human culture because of their millennia-long history as both a teaching and a learning tool. This idea of questing, changing, and returning is not a hack concept concocted by lazy writers, but an ingrained part of our collective psyche. That\u2019s why stories from one culture are able to resonate with people across the world.<\/p>\n<p>In Harmon\u2019s philosophy, when a book, film, show or song doesn\u2019t meet the criteria above, it\u2019s not necessarily bad writing: it\u2019s simply not a story.<\/p>\n<h2 id=\"does-the-story-circle-really-apply-to-every-story\">Does the story circle really apply to every story?<\/h2>\n<div id=\"attachment_12572\" style=\"width: 910px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><noscript><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-12572\" class=\"wp-image-12572 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/d2ybmm5cpznb3i.cloudfront.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Great-Expectations.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"900\" height=\"469\" srcset=\"https:\/\/d2ybmm5cpznb3i.cloudfront.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Great-Expectations.jpg 900w, https:\/\/d2ybmm5cpznb3i.cloudfront.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Great-Expectations-300x156.jpg 300w, https:\/\/d2ybmm5cpznb3i.cloudfront.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Great-Expectations-768x400.jpg 768w, https:\/\/d2ybmm5cpznb3i.cloudfront.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Great-Expectations-576x300.jpg 576w, https:\/\/d2ybmm5cpznb3i.cloudfront.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Great-Expectations-400x208.jpg 400w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 900px) 100vw, 900px\"\/><\/noscript><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-12572\" class=\"lazyload wp-image-12572 size-full\" src=\"data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg%20xmlns=%22http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg%22%20viewBox=%220%200%20900%20469%22%3E%3C\/svg%3E\" data-src=\"https:\/\/d2ybmm5cpznb3i.cloudfront.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Great-Expectations.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"900\" height=\"469\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/d2ybmm5cpznb3i.cloudfront.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Great-Expectations.jpg 900w, https:\/\/d2ybmm5cpznb3i.cloudfront.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Great-Expectations-300x156.jpg 300w, https:\/\/d2ybmm5cpznb3i.cloudfront.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Great-Expectations-768x400.jpg 768w, https:\/\/d2ybmm5cpznb3i.cloudfront.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Great-Expectations-576x300.jpg 576w, https:\/\/d2ybmm5cpznb3i.cloudfront.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Great-Expectations-400x208.jpg 400w\" data-sizes=\"(max-width: 900px) 100vw, 900px\"\/><\/p>\n<p id=\"caption-attachment-12572\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">(image: BBC)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>According to Harmon, yes.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cStart thinking of as many of your favorite movies as you can, and see if they apply to this pattern. Now think of your favorite party anecdotes, your most vivid dreams, fairy tales, and listen to a popular song (the music, not necessarily the lyrics).\u201d<\/p>\n<p>So let\u2019s put that theory to the test. Let\u2019s pick an example that\u2019s the furthest away from a profane cartoon for adults and see if it applies: Dickens\u2019s <em>Great Expectations<\/em>.<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li style=\"list-style-type: none;\">\n<ol>\n<li><strong>Zone of Comfort:<\/strong> Pip, a young orphan, lives a modest life on the moors.<\/li>\n<li><strong>But they want something:<\/strong> He becomes obsessed with Estella, a wealthy girl of his age.<\/li>\n<li><strong>They enter an unfamiliar situation:<\/strong> A mysterious benefactor plucks Pip from obscurity and throws him \u2014 a fish out of water \u2014 into London society.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Adapt to it:<\/strong> He learns to live the high life and spends his money frivolously<\/li>\n<li><strong>Get what they wanted:<\/strong> Pip is finally a gentleman, which he believes will entitle him\/make him worthy of Estella.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Pay a heavy price for it:<\/strong> Pip discovers that his money came from a convict, he drowns in debt, he regrets alienating his Uncle, he realizes that his pursuit of Estella is futile.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Then return to their familiar situation:<\/strong> Pip makes peace with his Uncle Joe (who nurses him back to health). Pip disappears to Egypt for years, and once again returns home\u2026<\/li>\n<li><strong>Changed:<\/strong> Back once again where the story started, a now-humbled Pip reunites with Estella who, due to some plot, is ready to open her heart to him.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p>Although <em>Great Expectation<\/em> was a serial, written week-by-week, Dickens must have consciously or unconsciously been aware of this cycle. He sent his characters on a journey towards something they wanted \u2014 \u00a0only for them to pay the price and return home, changed.<\/p>\n<p>As with any sensible advice about structure, the takeaway here is not that you must slavishly adhere to a set formula or risk ruining your story. This story circle, along with other popular <a href=\"https:\/\/blog.reedsy.com\/story-structure\/\" data-wpel-link=\"internal\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">story structures<\/a> like the <a href=\"https:\/\/blog.reedsy.com\/three-act-structure\/\" data-wpel-link=\"internal\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">three-act structure<\/a>, are simply tools based on observations of stories that have managed to resonate with readers over the centuries. Just know this: if you <a href=\"https:\/\/blog.reedsy.com\/writers-block\/\" data-wpel-link=\"internal\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">find yourself at an impasse<\/a> with any story you\u2019re writing \u2014 you could do a lot worse than to crack out the story wheel, identify where you are, and see what comes next in the cycle.<\/p>\n<hr\/>\n<p><strong>What other novels could you break down using the Dan Harmon Story Circle? Take your favorite book and tell us what all 8 plot points are in the comments below.<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><script>!function(f,b,e,v,n,t,s){if(f.fbq)return;n=f.fbq=function(){n.callMethod?\n    \tn.callMethod.apply(n,arguments):n.queue.push(arguments)};if(!f._fbq)f._fbq=n;\n    \tn.push=n;n.loaded=!0;n.version='2.0';n.queue=[];t=b.createElement(e);t.async=!0;\n    \tt.src=v;s=b.getElementsByTagName(e)[0];s.parentNode.insertBefore(t,s)}(window,\n    \tdocument,'script','https:\/\/connect.facebook.net\/en_US\/fbevents.js');\n    \tfbq('init', '309892496034295');\n    \tfbq('track', 'PageView');<\/script><br \/>\n<br \/>[ad_2]<br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/blog.reedsy.com\/dan-harmon-story-circle\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>[ad_1] Writer Dan Harmon, the creator of TV\u2019s Community, has a reputation for being a story structure evangelist. For over a decade, he\u2019s been known to \u2018break\u2019 the stories he\u2019s working on with a system he known as \u2018The Embryo,\u2019 \u2018The Dan Harmon Story Circle,\u2019 or just \u2018The Story Circle.\u2019 It\u2019s an approach that many [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":953,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[188],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-952","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-animation"],"blocksy_meta":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/e928cfdc7rs.exactdn.com\/info\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2019\/12\/8-Steps-to-a-Powerful-Structure.jpg?strip=all","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p2TFCd-fm","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.danielparente.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/952","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.danielparente.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.danielparente.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.danielparente.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.danielparente.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=952"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.danielparente.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/952\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.danielparente.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/953"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.danielparente.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=952"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.danielparente.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=952"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.danielparente.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=952"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}