GESTALT STORY BUILDER
T H E F O U R Q U E S T I O N S
1a. Who is the main character (Hero)?
Alex Stark, 62, American living in Australia on his 602,000-acre sheep station Stark Haven
1b. What is the main character (Hero)'s identity (whatever it is he sees himself as being)?
1c. What is the main character (Hero)'s essence/truth (whatever's left when identity is stripped, i.e., the "death" of one's identity)?
1d. What is the main character (Hero)'s wound (unhealed source of continuing pain)? The main character (Hero)'s driving fear is he will feel that pain again.
The image that haunts Alex's soul is his standing as a grieving, angry, lonely 15-year-old at the graves of his parents, feeling all the weight of the world on his young shoulders. He never wants to feel that helpless and terrified again.
2. What is the main character (Hero) trying to accomplish?
- Professional (Visible Goal (Wish)/Ordinary World/Outer Journey): have his nephew live with him and the Starks on Stark Haven for a year in order for Damon to get a fresh start and complete his recovery
- Personal (Visible Goal (Want)/Special World/Inner Journey): fix the strained relationship he has with his son Simon
- Private (Invisible Goal (Need)/Special World/Inner Journey): understand finally that lo these many years he's been running away from processing and moving beyond his hurt and loss (i.e., he, too, like Damon, has been stuck) concerning the tragic loss of his parents when he was so young
- Professional (Visible Goal (Wish)/Ordinary World/Outer Journey): have his nephew live with him and the Starks on Stark Haven for a year in order for Damon to get a fresh start and complete his recovery
- Personal (Visible Goal (Want)/Special World/Inner Journey): fix the strained relationship he has with his son Simon
- Private (Invisible Goal (Need)/Special World/Inner Journey): understand finally that lo these many years he's been running away from processing and moving beyond his hurt and loss (i.e., he, too, like Damon, has been stuck) concerning the tragic loss of his parents when he was so young
3. Who (Nemesis) is trying to stop the main character (Hero)?
- Professional (Visible Goal (Wish)/Ordinary World/Outer Journey): Damon (coming over here was *not* his idea)
- Personal (Visible Goal (Want)/Special World/Inner Journey): Simon (as far as he's concerned, there's been too much water under the bridge; basically, Simon is royally pissed off at Alex, and that mixed with his bullheadedness is a bad, bad combination)
- Private (Invisible Goal (Need)/Special World/Inner Journey): Alex himself (the pain of actually admitting he's angry and hurt at his parents—especially his father—abandoning him has proven too intense to deal with—Alex has buried it under the veneer of having honored his father by "being the great father he was"—at his core, Alex feels his father was anything but a great, or even good, father)
- Professional (Visible Goal (Wish)/Ordinary World/Outer Journey): Damon (coming over here was *not* his idea)
- Personal (Visible Goal (Want)/Special World/Inner Journey): Simon (as far as he's concerned, there's been too much water under the bridge; basically, Simon is royally pissed off at Alex, and that mixed with his bullheadedness is a bad, bad combination)
- Private (Invisible Goal (Need)/Special World/Inner Journey): Alex himself (the pain of actually admitting he's angry and hurt at his parents—especially his father—abandoning him has proven too intense to deal with—Alex has buried it under the veneer of having honored his father by "being the great father he was"—at his core, Alex feels his father was anything but a great, or even good, father)
4. What happens if the main character (Hero) fails?
- Professional (Visible Goal (Wish)/Ordinary World/Outer Journey): Damon's recovery may very well derail and he very well may disappear (possibly forever) back into his addictions
- Personal (Visible Goal (Want)/Special World/Inner Journey): his relationship with Simon will continue to deteriorate until they become completely estranged
- Private (Invisible Goal (Need)/Special World/Inner Journey): Alex will never finally be at peace from the hurt and anger that have poisoned his happiness all these years
- Professional (Visible Goal (Wish)/Ordinary World/Outer Journey): Damon's recovery may very well derail and he very well may disappear (possibly forever) back into his addictions
- Personal (Visible Goal (Want)/Special World/Inner Journey): his relationship with Simon will continue to deteriorate until they become completely estranged
- Private (Invisible Goal (Need)/Special World/Inner Journey): Alex will never finally be at peace from the hurt and anger that have poisoned his happiness all these years
S T O R Y S Y N O P S I S
Story Synopsis: Our story begins when Alex, 62 but emotionally a teenager because of the tragic loss of his parents in a train accident when he was 15, brings Damon, his seventeen-year-old nephew, from Damon’s divorcing parents' home in Virginia to Alex’s sheep station in Australia. To rescue Damon from his drug addiction, Alex chooses to employ "sweat therapy" and works the teenager hard from sunup to sundown. Alex constantly makes excuses for Damon’s recalcitrant, obnoxious, and foul-mouthed behavior. At the same time, Alex continues to engage the angry verbal sparring with Simon, his grown son, an exchange that’s been going on for years and has eroded their relationship. One Saturday night Damon gets drunk and high on drugs, and has sex with an equally wasted daughter of a neighboring station owner during a night on the town. A few days later, Damon nearly sets fire to the entire station by a carelessly tossed cigarette, during which event Alex must make a Sophie's Choice: rescue his son or his nephew. (Fortunately, both young men do survive.) This combination of events finally forces Alex to stop trying to be the teenager's replacement father and start being what he actually is, not only the boy's uncle but also his own children's and grandchildren's father figure and protector. Alex agrees with his wife, Julie, that they must send Damon back to his soon-to-be divorced parents' home, but Damon has to get his father's permission first. Uncle and nephew both at last confront (and surmount) the respective causes of each having become emotionally stuck: the nephew receives and accepts the evidence that his father has no interest in his welfare and that it has always been this way; the uncle at last has the courage and fortitude to ride out the emotional rollercoaster when his anger about his brother-in-law's unfair and horrible treatment of his nephew segues into Alex’s at last dealing with his unresolved anger at his parents, for abandoning him to grow up so fast and yet so unprepared for a complex world.
T H E F O U R A R C H E T Y P E S
Act One
Hero as Orphan: Both of Alex's parents died in a train accident in 1939 when Alex was 15. His grandmother took over the raising of him and his sister. Alex had to grow up very fast. Also, he has orphaned himself from his son Simon as well as from his pain and loss (he's never allowed himself to finish the grieving process of his parents).
Act Two
Hero as Wanderer: Alex sticks to his strategy of "sweat therapy" with Damon despite the lack of results—Damon remains sullen, resentful, and obstinate. Alex witnesses his nephew's interactions with his cousins and with the station hands, and Alex makes excuses for his bad behavior and lack of progress. He has taken the same "head in the sand" approach with Simon—he engages Simon in the same old, same old tiffs and verbal sparring and arguments—insanity is constantly doing the same things while expecting different results. (What is fueling all this is the template Alex is unconsciously following of being stuck in his grief—emotionally, Alex has not matured past the fifteen-year-old who is still standing over his parents graves.)
Hero as Warrior: Alex has got to be willing to die as a false father (to the station hands, to Damon) and resurrect as a true father to Simon if he has any hope of dislodging the psychic blockage that's keeping him emotionally fifteen. The gamut of feelings he goes through during the fire and subsequent rescue of Damon (the Sophie's Choice demanded of Alex: Simon, his son, or Damon, merely his nephew) from drowning in the wash makes him aware of the crime against all three of them (Damon: Alex was so busy trying to be a replacement father, he stopped being faithful to their true relationship of nephew and uncle; Simon: Alex was indeed trying to take the easy way out and merely replace Simon with Damon; and himself: Alex has wasted so much of his life not being able to interact with the world and with his children on a fully-realized emotional level) he's been perpetrating.
Act Three
Hero as Martyr: Alex stops making excuses for Damon and he agrees with Julie to send him back home *with his father's permission*. (Alex officially severs his attempt to be Damon's father and takes on his proper role as Damon's uncle and, more importantly, as his children's and grandchildren's father figure and protector.) Alex's martyrdom leaves him open to at last heal, as evidenced when his anger at the pain Ben's wanton callousness causes Damon segues into his own pain and hurt and loss at his own father's accidental abandonment of him and leaving him adrift in a complex world.
T H E F O R M U L A
T H E C E N T R A L Q U E S T I O N
Will Alex save Damon and, by so doing, save his wrecked relationship with Simon and even his own wounded soul?
S T O R Y
Important Resources
Christopher Vogler's The Hero's Journey
Michael Hauge's Six Plot Structure
Michael Hauge: The 5 Key Turning Points
AboutEducation: The Hero's Journey
CrackingYarns: A New Character-Driven Hero's Journey
Plot Points
Michael Hauge's Six Plot Structure
Michael Hauge: The 5 Key Turning Points
AboutEducation: The Hero's Journey
CrackingYarns: A New Character-Driven Hero's Journey
Plot Points
Act One
Orphan
→ Ordinary World
→→ Outer Journey #1: Setup
→→ Inner Journey #1: Lives completely within identity
→→→ Plot Point #1 (OJ: Ordinary World/IJ: Limited Awareness): Alex accompanies Damon home to Australia. While sitting beside his nephew, Alex makes a list of his approach to helping Damon get better.
→→→ Plot Point #2 (OJ: Ordinary World - cont'd/IJ: Limited Awareness - cont'd): Jake (stakes character—one of many, namely the entire Stark clan) picks them up and even mildly gets on his father's case when Alex makes excuses for Damon's language and behavior.
→→→ Plot Point #3 (OJ: Ordinary World - cont'd/IJ: Limited Awareness - cont'd): They drive past Simon's station. Damon asks if he'll be at the ANZAC barbie. Tension as Alex replies no.
→→→ Plot Point #4 (OJ: Ordinary World - cont'd/IJ: Limited Awareness - cont'd): Dek moves to offer Damon a beer. Alex catches this in time and stops him. This speaks to the general lack of understanding of Damon's problem.
→→→ Plot Point #5/Inciting Incident (10% Turning Point #1: Opportunity—OJ: Call to Adventure/IJ: Increased Awareness): After the first day of working Damon hard, Alex has exchange in the barn which culminates in his warning Damon about the danger of fire on the station (a warning he then softens by making an excuse for Damon's behavior). Inciting Event: Damon's true colors and, more importantly, the persistence of his true colors (Damon has no intention of cooperating).
→→ Outer Journey #2: New Situation
→→ Inner Journey #2: Living Within Essence
→→→ Plot Point #6 (OJ: Refusal/IJ: Resistance to Change): Prank with cold water (Alex's reaction speaks to his flaw and to his private goal)
→→→ Plot Point #7 (OJ: Meeting with the Mentor/IJ: Overcoming Resistance to Change): (Alex *wants* to rescue Damon and to repair his relationship with Simon, but he *needs* to become unstuck at fifteen, finally grow up, and become emotionally whole by finishing the grieving of his parents and, specifically, forgiving his father for "abandoning" him.) (Damon punches Jake. The hat buying can be seen as a reward.) "crazy" Vietnam vet, Freaky Freddie, who has taken up residence on a street corner and espouses "The end is nigh!" and such. Alex and Damon walk by. Vet takes a look at Alex, into his eyes: "You want to save him the boy, you gotta first save you the boy." Alex: "You're crazy." Vet: "Crazy, but free. Can you say the same?"
→→→ Plot Point #8: At the Old Australia Hotel, Damon treats waiter rudely, and Alex lapses back into making excuses for him.
→→→ Plot Point #9: (Alex is telling Julie what a great time they had in town, leaving out choice parts of the day.) Damon picks a fight with Vic during footy match (setback everyone but Alex notices).
→→→ Plot Point #10: Prank with fertilizer pile. Damon goes for the jugular. Alex's superficial, one-dimensional handling of the matter.
→→→ Plot Point #11: Kids approach Julie abut how unhappy Damon's making them. She tells them to be patient (it's clear she's trying to convince herself just as much as them).
→→→ Plot Point #12 (25% Turning Point #2: Change of Plans—OJ: Crossing the Threshold/IJ: Committing to the Change): Alex asks Sarah to work with Damon with Sparky. Alex tells Peter how his cousin has become stuck and how they need to help him grow and heal.
Act Two
Wanderer
→ Special World - Descent
→→ Outer Journey #3: Progress
→→ Inner Journey #3: Moves towards Essence without Leaving Identity
→→→ No #1 (OJ: Test, Allies, Enemies - cont'd/IJ: Experimenting - cont'd): Alex has to reprimand Damon about smoking in the barn.
→→→ Yes #2 ( (OJ: Test, Allies, Enemies - cont'd/IJ: Experimenting - cont'd): Damon reacts well enough to the presence of a cop that he's willing to talk to the officer.
→→→ No #2 (OJ: Test, Allies, Enemies - cont'd/IJ: Experimenting - cont'd): Sarah is convinced the officer's there to take Damon away, which hurts Damon's feelings.
→→→ Yes #3: (OJ: Test, Allies, Enemies - cont'd/IJ: Experimenting - cont'd): Damon's helping Jake with the engine. Fun exchange at airstrip (Damon seems to be fitting in).
→→→ No #3 (OJ: Test, Allies, Enemies - cont'd/IJ: Experimenting - cont'd): Alex hears Damon confide in Sparky his feelings of guilt, hurt, self-recrimination, and loneliness. Damon admits to Sparky he's ruining everything here, just like he ruined everything at him, including his parents' marriage.
→→→ Yes #4 (OJ: Test, Allies, Enemies - cont'd/IJ: Experimenting - cont'd): Simon and family visit. Everyone's excited.
→→→ No #4 (OJ: Test, Allies, Enemies - cont'd/IJ: Experimenting - cont'd): Right on cue, Simon and Alex go at it, in the same-old-same-old verbal sparring.
→→→ No #7 (50% Turning Point #3: Point of No Return—OJ: Ordeal, Death, and Rebirth/IJ: Big Change):
Warrior
→ Special World - Initiation
→→ Outer Journey #4: Complications & Higher Stakes
→→ Inner Journey #4: Fully Committed to Essence, but Growing Fear
→→→ No #14 (75% Turning Point #4: Major Setback—OJ: The Road Back/IJ: Rededication to the Change):
Act Three
Martyr
→ Ordinary World
→→ Outer Journey #5: Final Push
→→ Inner Journey #5: Living one's truth, with everything to lose
→→→ Big No (90-99% Turning Point #5: Climax—OJ: Resurrection - cont'd/IJ: Final Attempt - cont'd):