Bork's Elements of a Successful Story
The 21st-Century Creative is a podcast by Mark Macguinness that helps you “thrive as a creative professional amid the demands, the distractions and the opportunities of the 21st century.” As a writing coach, I was interested in the episode “The Essential Elements of a Successful Story,” where Mark interviews Erik Bork, a renowned screenwriter and published author of “The Idea: The Seven Elements of a Viable Story for Screen, Stage Or Fiction.”
Erik Bork classifies three different stages in the execution of his scripts: specifying the basic idea, defining the story structure, and writing the scene.
In his book, Bork also suggests seven essential elements to create a successful story, using the acronym PROBLEM.
Punishing: Characters must be under siege, their challenges difficult to resolve.
Relatable: The audience must identify with the character or characters.
Original: The story should be unique, a fresh twist on something familiar.
Believable: Even in fantastical storylines there should be a sense of coherence.
Life Altering: There should be substantial importance to the conflict in the story. Stakes should be high enough to make your readers care about the hardships your characters are enduring.
Entertaining: You should consider the value of the experience your story provides to the audience.
Meaningful: Beneath the surface of the plot, there should be something that resonates with people’s lives beyond the limits of the fictional universe.
A writing coach can talk with you about tools like Bork’s PROBLEM acronym, and how you can use them in your own work. Never hesitate to ask your writing coach about advice you hear in podcasts or find in online articles so they can help you figure out what’s most relevant to your projects.
