The most fundamental ‘formula’, or elements of story, are the same as a good logline:

A (protagonist) must do (action) in pursuit of (a goal) despite (obstacles), or else (stakes).

You cannot tell a satisfying story if it is missing any of these 5 elements. Try it.

In my experience, the most common issues I see in scripts can be divided into two areas: Problems with story, and problems with craft.

Story Problems

1.) It’s a situation, not a story.

2.) It’s unclear who the protagonist, or antagonist, are.

3.) The protagonist doesn’t:

— a.) Have a goal.

— b.) Face any obstacles to their goal.

— c.) It doesn’t matter if they succeed or fail (to the world, or the character) .

I.e. There are no stakes.

— d.) We don’t care if they succeed or fail.

I.e. No empathy, engagement or identification with the protagonist and their problem.

(You’ll note: All of the above problems are solved by following the ‘formula’ at the start.)

4.) The protagonist does not change

(OR tragically/purposefully fail to change).

— -Usually because they face no difficult decision point(s) where their values/beliefs are tested.

—Where we wonder, ‘will they remain their old selves or become their new self?’

5.) The story starts too early.

— -With meaningless scenes that don’t sufficiently advance story, or reveal character.

The story starts too late.

— -E.g. Over halfway through script before any inciting incident/change to equilibrium of world.

Or not at all.

— -See ‘situation, not story.’

6.) There is no meaningful conflict.

— -That is, conflict as a result of obstacles encountered in pursuit of the protagonist’s goal.

7.) The story has no sense of direction or momentum.

— -We don’t have a sense of what’s going to happen next, let alone a *need* to find out.

I.e. The story isn’t unfolding as a series of necessary cause-and-effect reactions stemming from the protagonist’s decisions, made in pursuit of their goal.

Rather, it’s a series of things that just kinda happen.

Craft Problems

1.) Insufficient character description.

— -Characters are indistinguishable from one another (also in their dialogue).

2.) Insufficient scene direction.

— -There is no sense of setting or place.

— -It’s purely dialogue, with no visual storytelling.

3.) Alternatively, too much scene direction.

— -Trying to play director with camera angles, movement, or blocking that doesn’t impact story.

— -Getting bogged down over-describing actions or objects, where it is not relevant to story.

— -Trying to write prose or poetry, to the detriment of clarity, pace, or story.

4.) Telling us what we can’t see or know on screen.

— - Characters’ thoughts, feelings, intentions, backstory.

There are 3 basic levels that story operates on:

A.) An External Journey.

B.) An Internal Journey.

C.) A Thematic Journey.

This article has mainly dealt with A.) The External Journey.

I could write much more on how the internal journey and thematic journey intersect and work together with the external journey, but that’s for another time. However:

BONUS ROUND:

Your theme is the statement that is unavoidably made as a result of those 5 elements of story.

‘When (this kind of person) takes (this kind of action) in pursuit of (this kind of goal) despite (these kinds of obstacles) with (this at stake) and the result is (climax/resolution of your story), it shows that (theme).’

E.g. ‘Good will always triumph over evil’ or ‘Greed never pays’ (or something more complex than these oversimplifications.)

Hope this helps.

xo Nick.

@_njwatson