4. Todorov’s Equilibrium
Breaks down stories in to
five simple steps.
Great for generating
story ideas.
Helps you bring structure
and order to your
narrative.
This is how humans have
told stories for thousands
of years.
5. Propp’s Characters:
Propp suggested that in all of folklore and fairy tales, there were just 8 types of characters. Every character fits in to one
of the following:
• The villain — an evil character that creates struggles for the hero.
• The dispatcher — any character who illustrates the need for the hero's quest and sends the hero off. This often overlaps with the
princess's father.
• The helper — a typically magical entity that comes to help the hero in their quest.
• The princess or prize — the hero deserves her throughout the story but is unable to marry her as a consequence of some evil or
injustice, perhaps the work of the villain. The hero's journey is often ended when he marries the princess, which constitutes the
villain's defeat.
• The Princess's Father — is a key figure for the Hero to persuade, as the Father is almost always protective of his daughter. The Father
may also be in competition in some way with the Hero for the Princess's affections and a triangle may form.
• The donor — a character that prepares the hero or gives the hero some magical object, sometimes after testing them.
• The hero — the character who reacts to the dispatcher and donor characters, thwarts the villain, resolves any lacking or
wronghoods and weds the princess.
• The false hero —Figure who tries to take credit for the hero's actions or tries to marry the princess. They appear heroic but they are
not.
6. Who, What, Where, Why, When and How?
Journalist technique for telling a story. The idea is you get all of these elements in the first paragraph or two so that
people know what is going on.
Can also be good for generating ideas for a story or getting a simple outline ready to pitch a project to someone.
Idea 1
Who Aaron is the main character, Axal is the main antagonist, The unnamed man who got chased away, Masked Men.
What Aaron is a recently discharged solider therefore he is on the streets begging for anything to keep him alive. Aaron then
gets kidnapped by masked men who gas him and wakes up in an unknown location. All Aaron can see around him is a
black room with one dim light hovering above one of the masked men. The Main antagonist enters the room and sits
opposite him and offers Aaron a deal he can't refuse which is €1,000,000 or get back to living on the streets. The main
antagonist reveals his nickname as Axal and explains that Aaron needs to complete a special quest to receive the money.
Aaron decides to take up the offer and Axal leads him to a mysterious door, Aaron wharfs into the door and there is no
escape. He wakes up and notices changes to his body and looks like a younger version of himself. He then later stumbles
across a busy village where there are lots of unusual people when he is approached by a man who seems to be concerned
and explains that he made the wrong decision coming here, he then gets chased away by the masked men. Aaron finds
out that to survive and win the final prize jackpot he must kill 2 men 1 child and pregnant woman and a horse. Aaron is an
innocent man and wants to reject the offer, but he knows that if he doesn't kill anyone, he will die poor. Aaron is starting
to wonder if killing these men will be worth it in the end however he comes to his senses and realises it’s the only option
to choose himself.
Why • The masked men had been watching him for days and noticed he was struggling living in poverty.
• He accepts the deal because he is desperate.,
7. Who, What, Where, Why, When and How?
Journalist technique for telling a story. The idea is you get all of these elements in the first paragraph or two so that
people know what is going on.
Can also be good for generating ideas for a story or getting a simple outline ready to pitch a project to someone.
Idea 2
Who Erin the older sister, Archie and Ameila the two younger siblings, Lenny the gremlin, The Hunter, Lennys friend, The kids
mum and dad.
What It was summer the McKay's went on abroad to their family home and the oldest of the 3 children Erin snuck off
to a party that her parents refused to let her go to. Her friends Sabrina and Maddie peer pressured her into
drinking alcohol and to taking cocaine as they quoted "You're boring, don’t be such a goody too shoes". Erin
then went to the bathroom to take a breather and she seen out the corner of her eye a gremlin taking a
shower. She then proceeds to wipe her eyes as she thought it was just the drugs. Erin went back to her friends
and acted as if everything was normal and headed outside for a smoke, when there was a shimmer of light in
the midnight sea when she saw the gremlin again. She asked her friends if they could see anything in the water
and they said, "no it’s the drugs Erin". She ignored the gremlin and went home unnoticed. The gremlin then
gathers a plan to see Erin because he feels there is a special bond between them both. The following morning
the 2 younger kids Archie and Ameila head out to their private beach where the gremlin has set up a booby
trap hoping that they will help him and take him to their house. Archie and Ameila are running alongside the
beach when they hear a faint sound of chocking by the rocks they was warned not to go near by their parents.
They are concerned about this noise, so they head back and get their older sister Erin who then follows them
out to the rocks (Erin was sceptical at first). When they arrive at the beach Erin notices that the sound is
coming from the forbidden rocks and has no interest in going so, she turns around and heads back to the
house. UNTIL Lenny the gremlin his first official appearance by launching himself into the air and landing
Infront of Erin. Erin pulls in her younger siblings to protect them, and Lenny explains that he means no harm
8. Who, What, Where, Why, When and How?
Journalist technique for telling a story. The idea is you get all of these elements in the first paragraph or two so that
people know what is going on.
Can also be good for generating ideas for a story or getting a simple outline ready to pitch a project to someone.
Idea 3
Who Sammual Wilson, Imagine Harris, Ettie Smith, Bonnie Lewis, Annie Wilson, Mike Wilson, The long-lost child
What Samuel's mother disappeared on the night storm Katrina hit a small village they live in. Police didn’t really
investigate so Samuel and his friends decided to take it upon themselves to discover what really happened to
his mother. His dad is not here to help him because he died a few years back and he doesn’t have any family
left so all he has is his close friends Imogen, Ettie and Bonnie. Samuel started to accept the loss of his mother
and clear out all her things from her office when he came across a folder with many different addresses in
them which he thought was suspicious, he then became curious as to where those addresses were located and
searched them up where he noticed a similarity, all the addresses were adoption centres. He later told his
friends and they all agreed that he should ring all the adoption centres up asking if his mother has stopped by.
The adoption centre receptionist informs him that Annie Wilson (his mother) hasn’t visited but someone by
the name Mike Wilson recently contacted all different adoption centres in our region looking for his daughter.
Samuel makes the receptionist aware that Mike Wilson is his father, and he asks for an updated address, but
she refuses as I against the company's policy. Ettie hacks into the data base and easily gathers the new
address. Samuel is convinced that his dad is dead therefore he sees no reason to go to this random address.
His friends are suspicious and travel there the next morning without Samuel. When they arrive at the address,
they peer in through a window and spot Samuel's dad, so they take a picture and quickly leave. The friends
head back to show Samuel the picture, he is shocked that his dad is alive, however he is more fixated on the
fact that he has his mums scarf covered in blood. Samuel and his friends go to confront his dad, but they see
