Bone Structure
Setting, Spine, and Arc
Know Your World:
The Quest for Authenticity
 How do your characters make a living?
 Who has power in your world?
 What are the rituals of your world?
 What are the values of your world?
 Does your protagonist share these values?
 What is the genre of your story?
 What is the backstory? (Focus on the Flaw)
 How did the protagonist’s experiences lead to this
internal moment of reckoning?
Find the Spine
 What is the problem? What does the protagonist want?





(Dramatic Question)
What internal flaw prevents the protagonist from solving
the problem or getting what he/she wants? (Fatal Flaw)
What shift of consciousness needs to take place
internally in order for the protagonist to resolve the
problem?
How will this internal shift in consciousness play out in
the protagonist’s key relationships?
What action does he/she take at the climax of the story
that determines whether he/she will achieve or fail to
achieve that desire?
What can the protagonist achieve at the end of the story
that he/she could not achieve at the beginning?
Spine = Structure
 Inciting Incident > Sets up the problem (Dramatic




Question)
Protagonist’s Reaction Rooted in Fatal Flaw > No
Immediate Solution
Quest to Solve Problem > Must Overcome Fatal Flaw
Faces Ultimate Test (Crisis – Obligatory Scene) > No
Going Back (Climax)
Overcomes Fatal Flaw and Triumphs or Does not
Overcome Fatal Flaw and Fails
Spine = Finding Nemo
Transformation
Marlin must learn to trust
others and let go of fear
Crisis
Does Marlin
let Nemo go?
TP#2
Marlin thinks he has truly
lost Nemo – Nemo is dead
TP#1
Marlin finds address to Australia
Inciting Incident
Nemo taken from the reef
Climax
Marlin lets
Nemo go
Resolution
Marlin finds
Nemo
Story Arc
 More than anything, (protagonist) wants (deepest
desire). But (protagonist) has a flaw. He/she (fatal
flaw). When (inciting incident) happens,
(protagonist) world is turned upside down and now
(protagonist) has to (main plot objective). Along
the way he learns (transformation of flaw into
strength). When faced with (climax), (protagonist)
has to decide (crisis) and (resolution).
Story Arc – Finding Nemo
 More than anything, Marlin wants to keep his son
safe. But Marlin has a flaw. He is so afraid of losing
his son that he doesn’t trust him to make his own
decisions and keeps him from growing and
experiencing life. When his son is captured by
divers and taken off the reef, Marlin’s world is
turned upside down, and now he has to find Nemo.
Along the way, he learns to trust others and let go of
his fear. When faced with the possible death of his
son, Marlin decides to trust him and let him go.
Nemo saves the day, and he and Marlin now enjoy a
relationship built on mutual trust and respect.
Story Arc - Questions
 Does the inciting incident expose or play on the
character’s fatal flaw?
 Does your protagonist have to overcome his/her
fatal flaw to resolve the central problem?