6 Elements Of A Strong Story
Using the Story Grid 5 Commandments and Value Change
The Story Grid breaks the story into three acts of five parts each for a total of fifteen core scenes. The five parts of each scene are called the 5 Commandments of storytelling. These 5 Commandments can be used at the act and the scene level.
For the sake of this example, let's use a scenario of a single father, Bill, and his son, Ryan. Bill and Ryan live in a small farming town and Ryan has always dreamed of traveling the world but has never had the time or means.
Inciting Incident
This is the thing that knocks the world out of balance for your protagonist; it can be causal or coincidence.
Using our example story, the Inciting Incident might be Ryan coming home and telling Bill that he has joined the Army to travel the world.
Turning Point
This is the thing that forces the protagonist out of their status quo and causes them to make a decision; this can be caused by a revelation or a character action.
Bill is not happy, but he understands Ryan is fulfilling his dream. After going to a routine medical check-up, he finds out that he has cancer, and this is the Turning Point of this act.
