Narrative Integrity Test

Great art and marketing can’t save a broken story. Before you commit your budget and time to the pages and panels, run your IP through this 5-point stress test. If your story fails any of these pillars, your foundation is weak.

The stress test below is built on an actionable, answers-first approach. It touches on several core principles covered in depth within Storycraft for Comics (see the sidebar) and over at StorytoScript.com.

My goal with every educational resource I create is simple: to give the next generation of creators the exact tools they need to produce their best work, doing it right the first time to minimize costly editing.

Writing commercial fiction at the highest level is a deeply complex process. If you have the tools but struggle with the implementation, I always do my best to make time to help indie writers cross the finish line.

Five Foundational Pillars of Fiction

1. The Thematic Argument

Stories without a point, meander aimlessly, often leading to an anti-climatic conclusion.

  • The Test: Is your story about something more than just the plot events? Do you have a Master Theme, a single lined message to the reader?
  • Reality Check: “And then this happened, and then this happened.” Some writing books actually teach this flawed construct. Truth is, a series of events, no matter how cool, is not a story; it’s a list. It’s a joke without a punchline. But more than anything, it’s wasted time.
  • Define your philosophical message (Master Theme). All story fundamentals point to it.

2. Protagonist’s Arc

Readers experience story through its characters and everything ties to the protagonist’s arc. A standard transformational arc hinges on a protagonist whose foundational self-perception is wrong, proven such by the story’s plot and Master Theme.

  • The Test: Can you identify the protagonist’s singular character flaw and the misperception it creates? Do you see how those two elements misdirect the character’s key decisions across the narrative?
  • Reality Check: Most writers don’t build their character arcs structurally from the start. Instead they either ignore the arc completely or try to slap one on after the fact, throwing in a changed state in the third act, thinking that’s enough to carry it. No patterns of flawed decisions across the story. No escalating cost to maintain their internal lie. A sudden, unearned, cosmetic transformation… that never works.
  • Proper character arcs all starts with 1 core flaw, which cause a cascade of “errors” in judgement and action across the entire narrative, until the character’s inevitable big choice where they either learn to correct their ways… or not. If you’re having trouble with character arcs, check out my SCAR system which gives you the complete structural blueprint to nail your character arcs every time. And by the way, if you’re not running a standard transformational arc, you’re probably running an Endurance Arc and don’t even realize it. Also taught in the SCAR system. 

3. The Engine of Want

Contrary to popular opinion, stories don’t hinge on obstacles or problems… They hinge on a protagonist’s attempt to achieve something.

  • The Test: Can you define the protagonist’s primary story goal in a single sentence? Does that goal force them into direct conflict with the MAF (Main Antagonistic Force) across all acts of the narrative?
  • Reality Check: Many writers create “passive protagonists” who have things happen to them, rather than making things happen. Their goal never solidifies and when it does, is often mundane. Establishing the protagonist’s primary goal late, creates early acts that drag. Sometimes irrevocably.
  • Ensure the lead character has a desperate, specific desire driving every scene. Establish this desire early. 

4. Outclassed, Outgunned, and Out of Bullets

Cakewalk stories never land. Harmony of the story world is always earned through a crucible of fire. Friction, Conflict, Jeopardy, Stakes, and Tension; these are the things that make readers turn pages… and finish a book. In most cases, the MAF or villain is the primary source of all this.

  • The Test: Is the MAF stronger, smarter, or better resourced than the protagonist at the start of the story?
  • Reality Check: A hero is only as strong as the villain he defeats. Without struggle, there is no tension. The opposition must represent “impossible” odds to overcome, forcing the protagonist to become the best version of themselves.
  • Punch the super trifecta hard at least once in each act. The protagonist should be under relentless pressure until the final confrontation.  

5. The World is Not Enough

While we just mentioned stakes above, it’s really worth a second mention. Underdeveloped stakes repel readers. Stakes give the plot purpose, without which, nothing anchors the story in place.

  • The Test: What is the specific consequence of failure? If the hero walks away at any given moment, how much of the story world changes?
  • Reality Check: Generic, soft consequences, bore. Specific, life-changing, earth shattering consequences entertain. Where complex stakes develop, simple stakes simplify. Simple stakes can quickly undermine a more complex story.
  • Establish internal stakes for the protagonist, negative consequences to his way of life and well being arising from failure or refusing the call, but also, external stakes, negative consequences to those he cares about, or the world at large.

Did your story pass the test?

If you hesitated on any of these five points, your project has structural cracks. If the core is cracked, the rest of the narrative will eventually collapse. Fixing them in the discovery phase costs pennies. Fixing them in production costs thousands.

Secure your foundation:

 

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