Section 10 – Preparation and Recounting
Section 10 – Preparation and Recounting
TROUBLE BREWING
Story Creation Step 10 is generally a setting up of the confrontation to come in the next Step. It usually focuses on some or all of the following three main scenes or sequence of scenes:
TRANSITIONAL INCIDENT OR RECOUNTING (Optional)
In many stories, Step 10 can begin with a short incident or a recounting of events by the Hero. This explains how the Hero got from the point of the major change (in the previous Step) to his/her current situation. It may be very short, and in some stories it may not even occur. Note that in some stories the confrontation, which normally begins at the next Step, may be so long that it needs to begin at this Step. In such instances, this Step might start with only a very short set-up scene (if it has one at all) before beginning the confrontation.
HERO PREPARES FOR CONFRONTATION
The majority, if not the entirety, of this Step is devoted to readying the main characters for the confrontation, which will begin immediately in the next Step. The Hero may have a renewed sense of confidence and may be busy preparing for the confrontation, perhaps by testing his or her new adult qualities and knowledge.
ANTAGONIST PREPARES FOR CONFRONTATION
The Antagonist is also preparing for a confrontation with the Hero and is possibly even pursuing the Hero. In the previous Steps, the Antagonist has had all of his/her sophisticated plans and efforts thwarted by the Hero. But the Hero has been winning lately in spite of the Antagonist’s best efforts. The Antagonist might therefore now conclude that the only way to deal with the Hero is to remove him/her – in some cases by killing the Hero. Thus this Step always gives the sense that the stakes, and tension levels, are now very high.
EXAMPLE
* On Leo’s 13th birthday in The Go-Between, a thunderstorm outside has broken the heatwave and tea is set with the presents ready to open, but Marian does not appear. There is rising tension in the room, with Marian’s mother suspecting where her daughter is.
TIMELINE
The scenes in this Step should take up about 11 percent of your story.