1. Dominique Gerald M Cimafranca
This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share
Alike 3.0 Philippines License. To view a copy of this license, visit
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/ph/ or send a letter to Creative
Commons, 171 Second Street, Suite 300, San Francisco, California, 94105, USA.
| blog: villageidiotsavant.com
| email: dominique@cimafranca.com
Story: A Meditation

2. What is story?

3. “Story is
what happens
to someone.”

4. Two essentials of story
Character
Events

5. Is this a story?
Sonny is a tall, handsome, fair-skinned young man,
with bright eyes and a quick wit. He is well-liked
because he is kind, charming, and generous.
However, he parties a bit too much and gambles at
cards and dice more often than is good for him.

6. Is this a story?
Mera thinks she's a normal teenager but she's
actually the daughter of the sea god Maguayan
and a mortal maiden. Mera was banished to earth
to live life as the child of a fisherman. When she
turned sixteen, Mera learned that she could talk
to fish.

7. No. So far those are just
character concepts.
Nothing has happened
to them yet.

8. Is this a story?
Down to his last P5,000, Sonny decides to act on a
horse-racing tip. He puts P4,000 on O Happy Fault,
keeping P1,000 in his wallet just in case. O Happy
Fault looks like she's about to win but stumbles at
the last moment! Sonny is dejected, but thankful
he had the foresight to save some money. He feels
for his pocket and discovers, to his horror, that
his wallet is gone!

9. Is this a story?
While gathering seashells at a beach, Mera sees a
drowning boy out at sea. She swims to the rescue,
but it turns out to be a trap! Three siokoy attack
her. She is about to be overwhelmed, but
instinctively she calls out to dolphins for help
and they save her. The dolphins lead her back to
shore. Before departing, they seem to bow and say:
"Princess Mera, daughter of Maguayan."

10. Character? Yes.
Event? Yes.
So? Story?

11. No. Rather, our characters are
in a situation.
Something has happened, but it
is only a single event.

12. In a story, we expect a
sequence of interrelated
events.

13. “Story is a sequence of events
that happens to someone.”
Refining our definition further...

14. Is this a story?
Down to his last P5,000, Sonny decides to act on a
horse-racing tip. He puts P4,000 on O Happy Fault,
keeping P1,000 in his wallet just in case. O Happy
Fault looks like she's about to win but stumbles at
the last moment! Sonny is dejected, but thankful
he had the foresight to save some money. He feels
for his pocket and discovers, to his horror, that
his wallet is gone!
He feels a tap on his shoulder. It's an old woman.
“Excuse me, is this yours?” She holds up a wallet.
It's his.
“Oh, thank you!” Sonny exclaims, hugging the woman.

15. Is this a story?
While gathering seashells at a beach, Mera sees a
drowning boy out at sea. She swims to the rescue,
but it turns out to be a trap! Three siokoy attack
her. She is about to be overwhelmed, but
instinctively she calls out to dolphins for help
and they save her. The dolphins lead her back to
shore. Before departing, they seem to bow and say:
"Princess Mera, daughter of Maguayan."
The next day, a sea carriage driven by mermaids
lands on the shore of their village. They dress
Mera in fine clothes and bring her to their
kingdom where she was reunited with her true
father.

16. What's wrong here?
We already have a sequence of
events, right?

17. Our characters have
no agency.
Things just happen to them.

18. Unfortunately, this is far too
common, viz. popular fairy
tales.
In other words, “Mary Sue.”

19. Refining our definition further...
“Story is a sequence of events
that happens to someone as a
consequence of their actions.”

20. What if we continued our two stories
like so...?
Fortunately, Sonny still has his cellphone. He
dials his Dad and tearfully explains what
happened. His Dad sends a limousine to pick him
up.
* * *
Mera relates the strange events to her mother. Her
mother reveals her true parentage to Mera. “You
were born of Maguayan, but we love you as your
true daughter.” They embrace.

21. Aaargh.

22. Character? Check
Situation? Check.
Action? Check.
Consequence? Check.
What's wrong?

23. It's too easy for our
characters.
We go in a line from point A
to point B.
It's not interesting.
It's boring.

24. Story is about the character's
struggle to solve a
complication.

25. Refining our definition further...
Story is about a character's
struggle to solve a
complication and the sequence
of events that happens to
them as a consequence of their
actions.

26. Whose story complication
provides more promise? Sonny's
or Mera's?
Why?
Side question

27. Sonny's complication is
external: he needs money.
Mera's complication is
internal: it goes to the core
of her identity.

28. It's a question of what's
at stake.
What does the character stand
to lose or gain from resolving
the complication.

29. The higher the stakes, the
more interesting the
complication.

30. However, don't overdo it.

31. Overused complications
● Death
● Illness
● Parental
Separation
● Eros
● Chosen One

32. Overused complications
● Death
● Illness
● Parental
Separation
● Eros
● Chosen One
Simplistic understanding of
dramatic situations as a
result of years of pre-
conditioning through
telenovelas and bad
anime.

33. Going from beginning to end:
from complication to action to
resolution.

34. Once upon a time there was
___. Every day, ___. One day
___. Because of that, ___.
Because of that, ___. Until
finally ___.
--Pixar's Rules of Storytelling

35. Story has a beginning, middle,
and end.

36. Beginning Middle End→ →
Ratio of the three parts

37. A template
(character) is a (age, occupation, etc.)
he is in trouble because of (problem)
he (decision/action in response to problem)
and so (consequence of action)
However (problem)
he (decision/action in response to problem)
and so (consequence of action)
:
Until finally (ultimate action and consequence)

38. Character responses: The Four D's
● Does
● Discovers
● Decides
● Deals with
From “Novelist's Boot Camp” by Todd Stone

39. Structure of a story
(character) is a (age, occupation, etc.)
he is in trouble because of (problem)
he (decision/action in response to problem)
and so (consequence of action)
However (problem)
he (decision/action in response to problem)
and so (consequence of action)
However (problem)
he (decision/action in response to problem)
and so (consequence of action)
However (problem)
he (decision/action in response to problem)
and so (consequence of action)
:
Until finally (ultimate action and consequence)

40. Structure of a story
(character) is a (age, occupation, etc.)
he is in trouble because of (problem)
he (decision/action in response to problem)
and so (consequence of action)
However (problem)
he (decision/action in response to problem)
and so (consequence of action)
However (problem)
he (decision/action in response to problem)
and so (consequence of action)
However (problem)
he (decision/action in response to problem)
and so (consequence of action)
:
Until finally (ultimate action and consequence)
beginning
end
movement
movement
movement
middle

41. Structure of a story
(character) is a (age, occupation, etc.)
he is in trouble because of (problem)
he (decision/action in response to problem)
and so (consequence of action)
However (problem)
he (decision/action in response to problem)
and so (consequence of action)
However (problem)
he (decision/action in response to problem)
and so (consequence of action)
However (problem)
he (decision/action in response to problem)
and so (consequence of action)
:
Until finally (ultimate action and consequence)
beginning
end
movement
movement
movement
PLOT

42. By the end of the story, where
is the character in relation
to the situation?

43. The ending doesn't necessarily
resolve the complication for
the character.
However, it must relate
to the complication
in an integral way.

44. It must complete the story
satisfactorily.

45. Cheat Ending
“...it was all a dream...”
The whole struggle was
meaningless.

46. Other cheat endings
Deus Ex Machina – someone arrives at the
last moment to solve all the problems
“And they all died...” - gratuitous death
meant to incite sympathy

47. What would be possibe endings
for Sonny's and Mera's stories?

48. Thinking of good endings can
be hard.

49. So far...
Story is about a character's
struggle to solve a
complication and the sequence
of events that happens to
them as a consequence of their
actions.

50. “Story is the
essential progression of
incidents that occur
to the hero in pursuit
of his one goal.”
--David Mamet

51. How did we get to the
story-less “stories” that seem
so popular today?
Question

52. Possibly: influences
● Manga, anime, and series – longer story arcs but young
writers emulating might not have the stamina
● Videos – can get away with no story based on
characters, unique situations, imagery
● Social media – short but ongoing conversations;
translated to story, context removed
● Flash fiction – rising in popularity, but tends to
establish situations without proper endings

53. Questions?

54. Acknowledgments
Thanks to the fellows of Ateneo de Davao
Writers Workshop 2014 for helping refine
the presentation with their input and
criticism.
The font used in this presentation is
Traveling Typewriter by Carl Krull
(www.carlkrull.dk)
Download from http://www.dafont.com/traveling-typewriter.font

55. Dominique Gerald M Cimafranca
This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share
Alike 3.0 Philippines License. To view a copy of this license, visit
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/ph/ or send a letter to Creative
Commons, 171 Second Street, Suite 300, San Francisco, California, 94105, USA.
| blog: villageidiotsavant.com
| email: dominique@cimafranca.com
Story: A Meditation