The Metaphor is King

Using these same underlying structures, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle created a unique London for his famous detective, Sherlock Holmes. Dashell Hamett created a San Francisco unlike any other, and William Faulkner created Yoknapatawpha County in Mississippi – a world that was uniquely his own.

In short, given a well-constructed and well-told story, the surest way to success is a brilliant and unique metaphor – i.e. you are only as good as the metaphor you create – the new life you breath into the underlying structure. If you can find your own, unique and original world, there will be no stopping you. You will create your own Harry Potter, Godfather, Michael Clayton, or Milk.

My next two articles will be about Genre and Narrative Structure – two other

important dimensions that play a critical role in making the great stories that ride

upon the underlying, universal structure appear different and unique. The genre

governs the plots and subplots, the emotional adventure, and the entertainment

values of the story and arise when you focus on certain dominant qualities or

dimensions. The Narrative Structure governs how the story is told – the arrangement of the incidents, the sequence of events, the emphasis each dimension or quality is given – the central event, central character and central action that comprise the focus of the story and the various points of view by which the events of the story are perceived. This creates clarity and meaning and also power and magic.

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