The Big Five

[davidbishop]

In the latest Permanent Damage (3/30/05), mention is made of the Big Five questions of storytelling. These seem to have been attributed to story structure guru Robert McKee, but IIRC the Big Five Questions were developed by Paddy Chayefsky, Oscar screenwriter of the film Network.

Paddy Chayefsky's Five Questions were:-
Who is the protagonist?
What does he want?
Who or what is keeping him from getting it?
What do we as the audience want for the protagonist?
How does he get it?

davidbishop

[bartl]

Paddy Chayefsky's Five Questions were:-
Who is the protagonist?
What does he want?
Who or what is keeping him from getting it?
What do we as the audience want for the protagonist?
How does he get it?

Of course, that is a Western view. In Japanese literature, it is far more common for the protagonist to fail to get what he or she wants; the philosophy there is that the victory is in doing everything you can to achieve your goal, even if it is not achievable.