Using Artificial Intelligence to Generate a One-Page Synopsis
Streamlining Story Synopses: Enhancing Understanding with Subtxt's AI
Many writers find themselves challenged with being able to answer the question, What is your story about? They will know what happens when, and to whom, but they'll pause when it comes to defining that illusive meaning. And meaning is what story is all about.
Recently, while uploading some fine-tuning data into Subtxt, I found an opportunity to make this process even easier for everyone. Now, when you complete the synopses for the Throughlines in your story, you can ask Subtxt's AI to generate a one-page synopsis for you.
The Relationship Story Throughline
The Relationship Story Throughline is that part of the narrative that explores the conflict and inequities that exist between two people. Left out of many an incomplete narrative, the presence of this Throughline ensures a balanced and meaninigful story. In Collateral, that relationship plays out between Max Durocher (Jamie Foxx) and Vincent (Tom Cruise).
The RS Throughline is often thought of as the "heart" of the story in that it explores the emotional side of conflict. This can appear as empathizing, or caring for another. While it may seem unusual to think of Max developing feelings for Vincent, that is what happens--and not just from his perspective.
They both grow towards one another.
The Relationship Story Throughline of Collateral explores a captor/hostage relationship--with a dash of Stockhom syndrome attached to it. Understanding this to be the focus of thematic exploration, I dropped that into the Relationship Story Throughline description in the Conceptualizing tab of Subtxt:
With that basic understanding in mind, I then moved into the Illustration tab of the Relationship Story Throughline and developed both the Subtext and Storytelling of the general area of conflict in their relationship.
RS Domain of Psychology: Storytelling
The captor/hostage relationship between Max and Vincent is manipulative in that it calls to mind Stockholm Syndrome. Even though Vincent is a horrible and despicable captor and Vincent has no respect for Max, there are moments when the two of them grow closer together when they start to engage in a more dysfunctional relationship where they open up and start to care for one another. The egging on and coercion plays against these growing feelings for one another, and challenges the relationship’s natural inclination to be together and sympathetic.
RS Domain of Psychology: Subtext
For a relationship to be dysfunctional, there is typically a power imbalance where one person has control over the other. This power imbalance can be a means of growth for the relationship if the person with the power uses it to help the other person grow and develop. For example, the person with power may help the other person learn new skills or develop new interests. The power imbalance can also be a means of growth for the relationship if the person with power uses it to help the other person feel loved and valued.
Focusing on the thematic Domain of Psychology, I started with the Subtxt AI button down below to generate an understanding of the subtext based on the General Illustration of "being in a dysfunctional relationship." This Illustration is Psychology put into action: dysfunctional manners of thinking are on way to explore Psychology as a source of conflict.
Once completed, I then transformed that Subtext into Storytelling by tapping the up-arrow located next to the Subtxt AI button. This request asks Subtxt to surface Storytelling that combines the meaning of the Storypoint (RS Domain of Psychology) with the particular Storytelling for this narrative (the Relationship Story Throughline Description mentioned above).
The result did not go untouched: I did step in there and massage some of the Storytelling to accurately portray their conflict, but it was close to what you see above.
I then proceeded to do the same with the next level of detail down in the Storyform: the Relationship Story Concern of Becoming:
RS Concern of Becoming: Storytelling
After being kidnapped by Vincent, Max slowly begins to develop a close bond with him. At first, Vincent is just a faceless captor to Max, someone who is holding him against his will. But over time, as Max spends more time with Vincent, he begins to see him as a complex person with his own motivations and feelings. He starts to feel closer to him, both emotionally and mentally. This bond is put to the test when Vincent is seriously injured and Max has to decide whether to help him or escape.
RS Concern of Becoming: Subtext
Being close to someone can mean different things to different people. For some, it may mean being physically close and intimate with one another. For others, it may mean simply being emotionally and mentally close, sharing one another's thoughts and feelings. But no matter what, growing closer together can be a means of growth for a relationship because it allows both people to better understand and know one another. It also creates a stronger bond between them, which can make the relationship more resilient to difficulties.
Again, I first set the General Illustration (in this instance, I selected "growing closer together"), and then generated the Subtext below. Once I felt that accurately portrayed the source of conflict and growth in their relationship, I then surfaced some Storytelling from it. This time, I didn't do anything to the Storytelling (except maybe crop the last sentence). That last bit about Max deciding "whether to help him or escape" is completely AI-generated--and completely on point for the emotional standpoint between them at the end of the film.
The Concern is the intention or point of growth for the Relationship, and it will almost come off as the "goal" of the Relationship--at least, from the Author's point-of-view. It is clear in this film, that the Author wished to explore the emotional bond between hostage and captor, even if for just a moment.
With just those two Storypoints fully illustrated (there are many more available in Subtxt), I then proceeded to the Synopsis tab of the Relationship Story Throughline.
Summarizing a Throughline in Subtxt is a process whereby the application gathers up all the relevant thematic material for a specific Throughline and then combines it together into one coherent thought. In this way, Subtxt mimics the same thought-process that goes on within an Author, even if they don't possess a command of narrative theory or story structure. This "blended" view of story structure is where many start...but where many fall short. A blended view, by definition, is one that does not see the whole picture.
Subtxt grants you the entire picture.
Summarized RS Throughline
Max is kidnapped by Vincent, and at first, Vincent is nothing more than a faceless captor to Max. However, as time goes on and Max spends more time with Vincent, he begins to see him as a complex individual with his own motivations and feelings. This creates a bond between the two of them, which is put to the test when Vincent is seriously injured and Max has to decide whether to help him or escape. In the end, their growing closeness is their downfall, as they are tempted to be something more than just captor and hostage.
Note the added extra material here at the end of the summary.
Subtxt did that all by itself.
If you took the time to read the elaborate Storypoints above, you likely recognized them in the first half of the Synopsis. The remaining two Storypoints of the Relationship Story Throughline, the RS Issue of Commitment and the RS Condition of Temptation, have yet to be fully illustrated.
Subtxt understood that, knew the meaning and intent of the Throughline, and responded by filling in the blanks for you. The result is nothing short of astonishment. In fact, one could say that the completion is much more subtle and sophisticated than it would have been if the entire Throughline had been illustrated from top to bottom.
The takeaway? You do not have to illustrate every Storypoint in Subtxt. If you forget one or two, Subtxt will be there to fill those story holes in for you--without complaint.
And you have to admit, that last bit about being "tempted" to be something more than captor and hostage perfectly describes the source of conflict in the heartfelt sector of their relationship.
The only thing left to do was to download the Throughline Synopsis.
Downloading the One-Page Synopsis
Having taken the same approach with the other three Throughlines, I then moved on to the Writing section of Subtxt and downloaded the Throughline Synopsis. Here's how it looks in Highland (my go-to app for doing the actual writing):
And this is what those Four Throughlines look like in greater detail:
Objective Story Throughline Synopsis
A group of people are being assassinated, and the police are brought in to try and solve the murders. The killer is on the run, and he forces a taxi cab driver to take him from hit to hit. The assassin uses some pretty messed-up approaches towards killing his marks: particularly in the jazz club when he makes friends with the guy, has him reminisce about the old days, and then shoots him when he is happiest. In addition, the assassin just does his job, fulfilling the mission he was assigned to do, without any care of who he has to kill or who gets in his way. He’s also a cold-blooded assassin whereas the police officers have the attitude that this should be relatively easy to solve.
Achieving something no matter the cost is their issue in this story. Their real problem underneath it all is stopping a group's project from going forward.
Main Character Throughline Synopsis
Max is a taxi driver who is content with his life but has a dream of owning his own limo business. He is risk-averse and never takes chances, which has prevented him from achieving his dream. His mother is hopeful for him and believes he can do it, but he is in denial about how important it is to him.
The story is about dreaming and how important it is to take risks to achieve those dreams. Max is content with his life but his mother knows he has the potential to do more. She is hopeful for him and believes he can achieve his dream, but he is too afraid to take any risks. In the end, he needs to realize that dreaming is important, but taking risks is what will make those dreams a reality.
Obstacle Character Throughline Synopsis
The story is about a man named Vincent who loves to kill people. He is very proactive and goal-oriented, and he is always looking for new ways to challenge himself. In the story, he challenges himself by putting the poor taxi-cab driver into difficult situations. He forces him to drive from hit to hit, and he also puts him in positions where he can’t easily get out of. Vincent also stands out in a crowd. He is extremely well-dressed, has bright silver hair, and doesn’t seem to care one bit that he stands out and puts himself out there. He is completely willing to put himself out there, regardless of what preconceptions people have about killers.
Relationship Story Throughline Synopsis
Max is kidnapped by Vincent, and at first, Vincent is nothing more than a faceless captor to Max. However, as time goes on and Max spends more time with Vincent, he begins to see him as a complex individual with his own motivations and feelings. This creates a bond between the two of them, which is put to the test when Vincent is seriously injured and Max has to decide whether to help him or escape. In the end, their growing closeness is their downfall, as they are tempted to be something more than just captor and hostage.
All Four Throughlines are necessary to communicate a complete and meaninigful story. By leveraging a balanced look at conflict from all different sides, the Author presents an argument as to the best way for us to approach and resolve conflict.
Weaving All Four Throughlines Together
While tuning and submitting this work to Subtxt, it occurred to me that it would be great if the app could somehow weave all these together for the Author. After all, that would be the fourth and final step: to take the above Synopses and then blend them together into that one-page synopsis.
So why not just build a button to do it for you?
And that's what I did.
You can now weave all Four Throughlines with a tap of the button. All you have to do is go to the Conceptualizing tab, and hit the button labeled Generate Logline Summary. Subtxt will then gather up the synopses from each Throughline and combine them together in order to deliver a complete understanding of the narrative.
Generated Logline from the Four Throughlines
The story is about a group of people who are being assassinated, and the police are trying to solve the murders. The killer is on the run, and he forces a taxi cab driver to take him from hit to hit. The assassin uses some pretty messed-up approaches towards killing his marks, and he is also a cold-blooded assassin. The police officers are trying to stop the group's project from going forward. Max is the taxi driver who is kidnapped by the assassin, and he begins to see him as a complex individual with his own motivations and feelings. In the end, their growing closeness is their downfall, as they are tempted to be something more than just captor and hostage.
Again, you would need to go in there and massage a few sentences here and there, but still--this is an incredible advancement in the creation and development of stories.
And you can do the same with your story.
Visit Subtxt for more.
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