“The Help” –Context and Concept

I sat down this afternoon to write a post about the second quartile of “The Help,” better known as Part 2 (Act 2, or the first half of it, for screenwriters), which in story architecture is labeled The Response. Bears slipping in right here… response to what?  Answer: the First Plot Point, as set up […]

“The Help” – A Closer Look at the First Plot Point

There are a million heroic stories that unfolded – true and fictional – in the era during which racism in America was exposed, called out, reviled, and when forces began to align to fight it and create a level and more moral playing field.  “The Help” is just one of them.  Which happened to become […]

“The Help” – Ripping Into The Opening Act

Part of a continuing series that deconstructs the mega-bestseller for the benefit of writers seeking to understand story structure and the dynamics of the six core competencies of successful storytelling. In the last post we looked at the entirety of the structure of this novel, as divided into four contextually-driven parts, separated by three major […]

“The Help”: Structure From 10,000 Feet

I’m a big fan of context.  It informs and empowers each moment of a story, and on several levels.  It also informs life, but that’s another series of posts.  Worth noting, however, how the principles that govern storytelling – structure, character, thematic weight, mission-driven exposition, even voice – are very much those that govern successful […]

Deconstructing “The Help”

My opinion: with all the workshops… all the how-to books… all the blogs… … with all that to help us, I think the most illuminating, clarifying and empowering thing writers can do is to read or see – and then analyze – stories (books and movies) in all genres with a view toward seeing what […]

The Flip Side of “Concept”

However you define it, “concept” is one of the Six Core Competencies of successful storytelling.  It is an essence of storytelling that becomes a powerful tool in that development process, as described ad nauseum here on Storyfix.  And in my new book. And since we’re about to deconstruct “The Help” over the next few weeks, […]

Getting Ready for “The Help”

Not long ago I announced that I’ll be deconstructing the bestselling novel “The Help,” by Kathryn Stockett, in a series of Storyfix posts.  This is the first in that series. If you don’t recall my past deconstructions of novels and films (dive into the archives, there are a half dozen or so buried there), these […]