STORY: The First Law of Storytelling

One of the best books I ever read on marketing is "The 22 Immutable Laws of Marketing" by Al Ries and Jack Trout. This book boils the entire topic of marketing down into a relatively small number of easily understood laws, which if broken usually end up producing negative results.

As I began thinking about the art of storytelling, it occurred to me that there might also be a set of unchangeable laws for the crafting of great tales. After more thinking and a couple glasses of wine, some positive results started to emerge. Here then is the first law, which all others are subservient to:

#1: We must care about the protagonist and the problem he/she is trying to solve.

This seems so obvious and fundamental, and yet it is seemingly one of the most violated rules. If the protagonist is not likable or at least someone you can empathize with, the story will be a flop. After all, the protagonist is the character who pursues the main goal of the story, so if we don't care about him/her, or the goal the character is trying to achieve, there really isn't any story worth listening to. This is the main emotion that pushes the story forward--empathy for the protagonist.

One particular movie where this rule was violated is "Alexander." This was a huge budget movie, with massive sets, CG effects, and actor payrolls, and yet it violated this basic principle. Alexander the Great is really not someone you can care about. He had profoundly misguided ideas of freedom, had a strange relationship with his mother, and really was a power-hungry megalomaniac. No matter how much the filmmakers tried to make him likable and worthy of our empathy, they did not succeed.

So, when evaluating a story for it's potential of success, ask yourself whether the protagonist is someone the audience will like or at least empathize with. Once you have a character that is potentially likable (he's not a Hitler), there are several ways to ensure that he is likable, and you would be wise to include one or more of these in the first act of your screenplay.

1. Make him do something that reveals the good nature of his heart, without making him look like a "goody goody."
2. Show his human weakness, especially if his weakness is something that most of the audience also struggles with. This can be a weakness with some vice, or a weakness in abilities. Weakness of character will likely result in some disliking him, seeing him as someone who deserves punishment.
3. Cause him to be victimized in a way that makes the audience feel sorry for him. It's important that the audience not feel that he/she deserves the victimization, but rather that the suffering is unjust. This is especially powerful if many in the audience either experienced the same victimization, or have lived in fear of it.