Category Archives: Message

Message and Context

Posted on April 13, 2018 by Melanie Anne Phillips

The message of a story comes from context. It is context that eventually convinces Scrooge that his way of looking at the world is incorrect. Yet, before he was shown the bigger picture, his personal experience presented quite a different … Continue reading →

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The Four Throughlines in To Kill A Mockingbird

Posted on January 30, 2017 by Melanie Anne Phillips

By Melanie Anne Phillips There are four throughlines that must be explored in every story for it to feel to readers or audience that the underlying issues have been fully explored and the message fully supported. Objective Story Throughline: The Objective … Continue reading →

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Story Development Tip: Message Reversals

Posted on June 20, 2014 by Melanie Anne Phillips

Here’s a tip that can fascinate your readers or audience by setting them up to believe one thing, only to provide additional information that had been withheld and changes their loyalties once revealed. This technique can be seen very clearly … Continue reading →

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Message Reversals

Posted on June 14, 2014 by Melanie Anne Phillips

Message Reversals (Shifting Context to Change Message) When we shift context to create a different message , the structure remains the same, but our appreciation of it changes. This can be seen very clearly in a Twilight Zone episode entitled, … Continue reading →

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Story Structure – Part 2 (Video)

Posted on March 22, 2012 by Melanie Anne Phillips

Here’s a link to the next class in my 113 part series on story structure. In this episode, we explore how story structure came to be in the first place, beginning with the earliest storytellers and evolving into a linear, … Continue reading →

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Narrative Space

Posted on January 6, 2012 by Melanie Anne Phillips

“Narrative Space” describes the complete breadth and depth of subject matter in which you seek to define a story. Simply put, most authors don’t come to a story with a complete structure immediately in mind.  Rather, they are attracted to … Continue reading →

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Both Sides of the Thematic Argument

Posted on April 2, 2010 by Melanie Anne Phillips

Every powerful theme pits a “Message Issue” against a “Counterpoint”, such as “Greed vs. Generosity”, or “Holding On To Hope” vs. “Abandoning Hope”. The Message Issue and Counterpoint define the thematic argument of your story. They play both sides of … Continue reading →

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The Purpose of Stories

Posted on February 23, 2010 by Melanie Anne Phillips

This is the purpose and function of story: to show that when something has previously served you well one hundred percent of the time, it may not continue to hold true, or conversely, that it will always hold true. Either … Continue reading →

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