Preliminary Structure: Examples    

Step 8: Preliminary Structure

Examples:

The Lord of the Rings (The Fellowship)
Beginning: Frodo lives in the Shire when he is given the One Ring by his Uncle Bilbo. Frodo wants to hide it.

Story Goal: Gandalf says the Ring must be destroyed in the fires of Mount Doom.

Door: Frodo leaves the Shire with Sam.

Journey: Frodo and Sam meet friends and form the Fellowship. They have many adventures and trials traveling toward Mount Doom.

Slide: Orcs fall upon the group, and Frodo and Sam are separated from the others.

Resolution: The story is continued in the next two books, but in this one Frodo and Sam continue alone. Frodo realizes that only he is able to bear the Ring long enough to destroy it.

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The Wizard of Oz
Beginning: Dorothy is a farm girl in Kansas when her dog Toto is taken from her by Miss Gulch.

Bridging Story Goal: She decides to get Toto back.

Door: A tornado lifts Dorothy and Toto into the Land of Oz.

Story Goal: Dorothy wants to convince the Wizard of Oz in the Emerald City to get her home.

Journey: Dorothy meets friends, and they have many adventures and trials traveling towards the Emerald City.

Slide: Dorothy kills the witch so she can bring the witch's broomstick to the wizard, then he will help her go home.

Resolution: Dorothy learns the wizard is a fraud but she uses the ruby slippers she's already wearing to get home.

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Now write the stages for your own story.