Previously, we created a skeleton outline of the external plot using the 60-Minute Plot Method. Now it’s time to develop the internal story arc using Dan Harmon’s Story Circle. Originally created for TV scripts, Harmon takes Joseph Campbell’s Monomyth and simplifies it into 8 steps. These steps focus on the characters’ needs, as opposed to their wants.
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Need vs. Want
Need and want are two terms that are often confused when trying to plot a book. In this case, the need refers to something that is often intangible and reflects the character’s internal story arc. Their want is the item they are searching for or a goal they have in the external story.
For the sake of consistency, I will continue to use the Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins as an example.
Want: Katniss wants Prim to stay safe and to survive the Games so she can return to District 12. Once in the Games, she wants to survive so she can return home.
Need: Katniss needs to learn how to keep her humanity in a world where being a monster would make it easier to survive.
Applying Dan Harmon’s Story Circle
You: A character is in a zone of comfort.
Katniss is in District 12. She has survived by cutting herself off. She is suspicious, closed-off, and focused on survival and protecting her family.
Need: The internal thing they are missing.
She needs to reclaim her humanity. She wants to keep Prim safe (external plot), but her humanity is about to tested even further when she takes Prim’s place as the tribute.
Go: They enter an unfamiliar situation
Katniss volunteers as tribute and leaves District 12. She enters the unfamiliar world of the Capitol and later the Arena. The Capitol contrasts her humanity with their cruelty.
Search: Adapt to it
In the Arena, Katniss tries to survive by being on her own. She learns the rule of kill or be killed, which also challenges her humanity.
Find: They find what they wanted
Katniss forms an alliance with Rue. Rue is like Prim. Young and vulnerable. Katniss finds her humanity in protecting Rue the way she would protect Prim.
Take: Pay a heavy price
Rue is killed, and Katniss realizes that the true enemy isn’t the other tributes, but the Capitol, who is manipulating the Games. Katniss honors Rue, which defies the Capitol’s desire to show the tributes as combatants.
Return: They return to their familiar situation
Katniss continues to defy the order that she must kill everyone else. After Rue’s death, Katniss finds Peeta and helps him heal instead of taking advantage of his weakened state. This shows her growth as she is actively working with Peeta, instead of trying to standalone.
Change: Having changed
When the Capitol changes the rules and tries to force Katniss to fight Peeta, Katniss proves her humanity by threatening to eat poisonous berries in a pact with Peeta. Thus, both she and Peeta end up surviving, and she becomes the unwilling symbol of a revolution.
Why The Story Circle Matters
The Story Circle is the bridge between your skeleton outline and your first draft. If the 60-Minute Plot ensures your story has friction, the Story Circle ensures your story has meaning.
If Katniss had won the games by killing everyone without a second thought, she would have her want (survival), but she would have lost her humanity (need). Her character arc would be negative, and the story would be a tragedy. Because she kept her humanity when challenged, her character arc is positive, and she returns as a hero.
Need versus Want can be hard to define. If you want someone to help you work through your character’s wants and needs, then check out my Author Services to schedule a one-on-one meeting.