The Logline

In case I haven’t mentioned it already, when it comes to writing stories, I’m a bit of a pants-er, as in, fly by the seat of my pants when I write. Trying to pre-plan stories or write down the plot ahead of time is largely demotivating for me. Especially when I already generally have the start to finish plotted in my head. My brain loses patience and I lose writing time.

However, because I also have immense respect for the art of writing and I know, somehow in some way I have been exposed to various forms of plot structuring and am therefore influenced by that subconscious knowledge, I like to go back and assign my story to a plot structure. In this case, my research led me to the discovery of the Plot Embryo structure. This structure is graphed out in a circular manner and has “quadrants” of development the character moves through and 8 stages of events: You, Need, Go, Search, Find, Take, Return, Change.

The first stage is You: This is where the exposition takes place. In the case of my story, this is where we meet eight-year-old Isabella, eight-year-old Tobie, Rise, and Dr. Moore. We establish the Metroman/Megamind type comedic and in my case, sympathetic arch-rival dynamic between Rise and Dr. Moore, as well as the friendship between Isabella and Tobie. We also experience the tragic loss that leads to Isabella and Tobie being raised by their fathers’ respective sidekick/henchman.

The next stage is Need: Like how it sounds, the main character will have a need of some kind that must be fulfilled. In this case, Isabella is preparing to take on the mantle of Rise, but learns that Tobie being her arch-rival was only so he could shield her from facing real villains. Following her discovery, she is launched into an identity crisis and a need to prove she can handle real villains without interference.

Following the establishment of Need, we have the Go stage: When a real villain arises, using corrupt AI to steal from the company Rise’s ex-sidekick now works at, Isabella is reluctant to help, thinking it is still Tobie scheming, but nonetheless she is obligated to assist. She may not realize it yet, but she has accepted the rivalry of a true supervillain.

Next is the Search stage: Isabella confronts Tobie, assuming he is responsible, but realizes quickly that something else is at play. She receives information regarding a new suspect, Mr. Smit, and makes contact. He insists upon his innocence and further has the evidence to prove it, making this search a dead end. Worse, the villain is using the customer information from the company to commit fraud on a massive scale.

Giving our main character renewed motivation, we have the Find stage: Lamenting to her father’s sidekick, he reminds her that Rise had a team to create a complete panel of skills, prompting Isabella to go to the super-genius Tobie for help. Tobie agrees gladly, and easily finds a new informant: a minor technopath villain who is easily swayed. More significant however is the potential that the main villain is one of Rise’s true supervillains, Zero-Day, come back from retirement. This revolution of Rise Senior’s past coming to the surface leads to the introduction of a pair of underworld informants Rise once won over who may be able to find the villain.

The Take stage is the moment of the highest price to pay and the lowest emotion point: Isabella and Tobie manage to win over the informant twins, who help them get in contact with Zero-Day, who unfortunately refuses admit guilt or help. With no success, Isabella is ready to give up and her frustration is further increased by the kidnapping of her father figure from her home base. The group is forced to circle back to their only lead, Mr. Smit, and set a trap for him once and for all despite the lack of evidence.

In the Return stage, the main character can finally see the light at the end of the tunnel: The true villain launches an attack on Tobie’s lair, but Tobie’s well-experienced henchman manages to lock down the building, trapping the villain somewhere inside. When the team arrives, they find one of Rise’s past hero teammates to be the culprit, jealous of Rise’s popularity, and enraged by Rise’s mercy on villains. He is not only guilty of the current fraud scheme, in which he managed to frame Zero-Day, but also the “accidental” death of Rise and Dr. Moore.

Finally, we have the Change stage, where the main character’s growth is shown to have a positive effect: Isabella chooses to rely on her new team to help defeat the villain and no longer pushes Tobie to the side out of pride. His superpower turns out to be just what is needed to defeat the villain. More importantly, when faced with the chance to get revenge on the villain, she chooses not to. Isabella finally understands what her father stood for and why, and through that understanding, avoids adopting the mentality of the villain she faced.

A lot to take in, right? Trust me, it’s much more relaxing in script format. Isabella’s character arc has a strong focus on a misunderstanding of the source from which she derives her identity. As she grew up, in her desire to be Rise, she became distanced from what made her father so successful (having a team) and what his mission was (restoration). This leads to her pushing away the people who mean well for her and thinking only in terms of status and appearance, not the deeper goals of the hero, Rise. Her adventure reveals to her the real legacy of her father, in perhaps the only way she would understanding after investing in a false reality for so long. This in the end cuts off a mindset of vengeance before it can start and gives her a strong foundation to end the story on, leaving us satisfied that she will be a great hero.

Thanks for reading, of course, and stay tuned for more updates on some of my other projects!