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The Four Throughlines
The balance of conflict found in a complete and lasting story is not a matter of luck—it's the result of an intuitive sense of narrative as an analogy to the mind's problem-solving process.
James Hull
A complete argument—or complete story—is an analogy to a single human trying to solve a problem. Character, Plot, Theme, and Genre simply stand in for this psychological process we all know. Reducing the problem-solving process down to its larger pieces, one finds Four Throughlines in every complete story
Complete narratives establish four distinct points of perspective on the story’s central conflict. Correlating with the four different ways our minds perceive inequity, these Throughlines set the areas of exploration for the Author to write and the Audience to experience.
A complete narrative represents a single approach towards resolving an inequity. To encapsulate all the different ways one can solve an inequity, the construct of 'a story' presents four different perspectives on this same imbalance. Conflict plays out differently depending on the point-of-view you take and therefore, it's essential that we see everything.
A functioning narrative is an artifice—a construct for understanding the means by which we resolve an inequity within a set of contexts. The purpose of these Throughlines, therefore, is to offer different ways to see the same inequity.
The kind of conflict encountered in the Four Throughlines of a narrative determines the Genre of that story. Align the Objective Story Throughline in Psychology and the Main Character Throughline in either Universe or Mind and establish the foundation for a Psychological Thriller. Or rather, establish the umbrella for a Psychological Thriller.
A complete narrative examines conflict from all points-of-view. We can’t simultaneously be both within ourselves and without; in a story we can. With both objectivity and subjectivity present, greater meaning rises from the text.
Complete stories require the presence of all Four Throughlines. In order to make a convincing or coherent argument, the Author needs to include all the different points-of-view one can take in regards to a particular problem
To tell a complete story one must consider all points-of-view. To leave one out risks writing a one-sided argument that many discount as imbalanced or unfair. With a balanced and fair look, the narrative simply functions as an argument against the inappropriateness of the methods use to address this problem.
Complete stories provide Audiences with an account of conflict from all different sides. Instead of focusing on one point-of-view to the exclusion of others, an effective narrative quad-rangulates subject matter leaving no stone unturned.
The Four Throughlines of a complete story provide an opportunity for the Author to communicate his or her point-of-view on the best way to approach solving problems. Rather than thinking of them as "storylines" or individual characters, if you see them for what they really are--four separate perspectives--their purpose shines clear.
If conflict is the stuff of narrative, then looking at conflict from every possible angle ensures a completeness of that narrative. With no stone left unturned, Audiences respond with gratefulness towards the respect and thoughtfulness of the Author (think Oscar).
For a story to be functionally complete within the minds of the Audience, it must serve up four different contexts from which to examine the story's problems.
Regardless of how tragic, a story connects to an Audience when it adequately covers the four major contexts of conflict. By crafting a complete story, *Manchester* tells more than a tragedy--it tells something lasting and meaningful.
When identifying the source of conflict in a complete story, only one arrangement works across all Four Throughlines. You can always find elements of each Domain in every Throughline, but there were only be one Domain for a Throughline that resonates with the other three Throughlines.
Visually stunning and cleverly cast, this Jon Favreau take on a classic beloved by animators tells an effective and complete story by addressing all Four Throughlines.
The arrangement of the Four Throughlines sets the personality of a story. Rambunctious time-travel is a conflict of physics, with everything else falling into complementary positions.
Complete stories last an eternity, through culture and generation, as timeless as the problems and solutions they explore. While our stories may trend towards triumph, there will always be a place to speak the horrors of unbridled ambition.
A well-constructured narrative accounts for much of this film's critical acclaim. An atypical approach to a typical arrangement of Throughlines, the film acts as a wonderful example of how fantastic storytelling transforms effective structure into something truly unique.
Though typical in its arrangement, the Throughlines of this Academy Award-winning narrative still work together to seamlessly deliver the Author's message.
Genre, as seen from a Dramatica point-of-view, clues us into the way a story feels. The various arrangements of Throughlines carry with them an undeniable je ne sais quois for the story in question. In short, the Domains the Throughlines fall into determine the narrative's unique personality.
